Greetings from the Producer!

[Cljader1]

Please bring back Aern Weapons, and revamp the evolith system. Crafting/Synergy needs some original, powerful, and competitive weapons and armor to make.

[Vandheer]

Welcome Akihiko Matsui! I can understand why you would be so overwhelmed. Its impressive for you to dive in so fast. Looking forward to seeing whats in store you you at the helm of FFXI.

[Lastranger]

Please join me in welcoming the new Producer of FINAL FANTASY XI, Akihiko Matsui, who has written a nice greeting for all adventurers of Vana’diel!

Welcome ^^

a Daunting task im sure to weed through the forum, good luck in ur new job.

[Nawesemo]

/em Blm Stares scowlingly..... (towards the blu mage)

NERF BLU!!!!

Thank you,

Blm's

[Gwynplaine]

FINAL FANTASY XI has undergone some radical changes since I left the project two years ago, and although I obviously expected it to evolve in my absence, the degree of change is overwhelming. I will definitely need to familiarize myself with the current state of the game as fast as possible if I want to be effective at this new position.

All right well for a fast primer on the current mood and hopes of the players here's the top remarks I often hear:

*Don't make randomness an important compenant of anything. Recent examples that have drawn the players ire are Nyzul random floor jumps, the initial very large range of random Voidwatch NM triggers, the pointless daily reward system, etc.

*Many players have become tired with powerful NM fights that use such difficult skills they all boil down to a fast zerg using Embrava and Alexander. Players are looking for fun, unique, fights that require strategy and challenge without being so gimmicky it's simplest to zerg.

*There is a lot of criticism of the FFXI enmity system particularly with a new tank job coming. This is probably a difficult thing to address but players think it has fundamental issues.

*Do not waste your team's precious time, money, and talent on game additions that aren't rewarding. In FFXI if there isn't a decent reward, the content is stillborn. Doing anything in FFXI takes forever and players aren't willing to waste time. And if there are rewards, put them on a point system that everyone gets for participation like Campaign or Assault. Random drops such as in Voidwatch are awful and insulting. As a consequence Voidwatch has become known as "logwatch" for it's constant log rewards that aren't even worth selling to an NPC.

[SpankWustler]

With a full informed and logic-based post such as this:

/em Blm Stares scowlingly..... (towards the blu mage)

NERF BLU!!!!

Thank you,

Blm's

We see the thread come full circle back to this:

If I can request one thing Mr. Matsui. Please do not listen to the official forums...

Reading is all good, but granting requests from the official forums. Yeah, not so much :\

The circle of internet-life!

This is also a good example of where the player base is strong and weak. We're great at diagnosing issues or finding fault (magic damage through spells has been moderately-to-extremely marginalized for a very long time) but terrible at offering suggestions for solving those issues (negatively change a job that engages monsters and deals physical damage).

If I could give that poor guy reading these forums one suggestion, it would be to take most problems raised seriously but to take most solutions offered with a grain of salt the size of the moon.

[Nala]

Hmm save for the moon sized salt your last post lacked the wustling spanky spunk i've come to expect from you!

On a more serious note well put, i might also add that delaying answering on serious problems or evading the question with roundabout answers will do you little credit.

[Cyranda]

Hello, and welcome! May the forums be kind to you, and may the ideas and information flow freely!

[Vagrua]

If I can request one thing Mr. Matsui. Please do not listen to the official forums...

Reading is all good, but granting requests from the official forums. Yeah, not so much :\

A request made with most of the community agreeing on something that would benefit the game doesn't sound damaging to me.

For instance, they finally fixed almost all of PUP's automaton issues when this forum started because it was requested and complained about.

They've listened to our requests/suggestions about redoing the whole UI.

Being able to report localization and in-game problems/suggestions from the test server and the game itself is great.

Remember when they fixed Bully? Remember when they changed Abyssea Empyrean NMs' ???s from 1 to 3?

They added the the Pulse Cell system to help those seeking some of the valued items in Voidwatch.

I'm sure there's much more that I can't think of at the moment, but I can't see any of this ever happening without this forum.

Imagine how many people would have quit the game if this forum wasn't here when they introduced Click & Buy and eliminated payment by Direct Credit Cards.

What I'm trying to say is, a lot of good has come from this forum. A company opening up to their customers for feedback about their product is not always a bad thing.

Putting that aside, I also welcome the new producer and hope for a bright future in Vana'diel!

[Volarione]

I'm just hoping my wyvern will one day grow up, if only a tiny bit.