1UP.com's new interview with Yoshida regarding 2.0

An interview that doesn't ask asinine questions? What happened here?

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Originally Posted by Duelle

I don't consider it to be feasible dungeon design in an MMORPG, especially considering that players have a very bad tendency to pick the "efficient" route. It was neat in FFVI where you had to split your characters into three parties to climb Kefka's Tower, but it wouldn't work in an MMO with different classes lacking that LCD that allowed it to work in VI.

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Actually, as a counterpoint - that would be the perfect kind of content to empasise the 'Class' aspect of the current system. More flexiable classes could split into groups to advance through a multi-section dungeon. It would create a type of dynamic teamwork that's really been lacking in many MMO's which has basically reduced itself to: "Go to this boss/chest get key item, go to next." The dungeons and instances lack any real unique feel to them

The only crux on this matter really is the time limit effecting loot. If they were to make a 'point total' sytem in which the highest tier drop-rate could be achieved without the timely clear bonus, then the system would be perfect. But that's a different issue.

As far as saying FFVI dungeons are a bad thing to implement into an MMO, I can't disagree stronger. In fact, I was about to make a thread suggesting that they do this kind of 24 man dungeon.

Its a pretty good interview.

But why didn't they slip the new shiny screen shots into the article? It sends a strange message, Hey guys this game is picking up steam in its turn around. Here is some eye candy that you saw two years ago to help get you excited.

the interview was pretty decent, we got some nice bits of information
but i didnt like the attitude of the guy to be honest, calling the game dead right of the bat which is just not true, interrupting yoshida one time with a needless snarky remark (which wasnt completely accurate either)
and i really wonder why he chose pics from the 1.0 launch when we just got nice new material
it just rubbed me the wrong way...

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Originally Posted by Griss

Its a pretty good interview.

But why didn't they slip the new shiny screen shots into the article? It sends a strange message, Hey guys this game is picking up steam in its turn around. Here is some eye candy that you saw two years ago to help get you excited.

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Well the writer is in my ls he said he wanted to see the game but he forced him self not to look to ask more questions. He said Yoshi-p would start playing the game he would turn his then try to sneak a peak then Yoshi-p would say look he's looking! XD.

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Originally Posted by Hyrist

Actually, as a counterpoint - that would be the perfect kind of content to empasise the 'Class' aspect of the current system. More flexiable classes could split into groups to advance through a multi-section dungeon.

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Again, assuming my wish of people being locked into their jobs upon entry so that this community can actually learn to work with what they have becomes true, that's not really going to fly.

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The only crux on this matter really is the time limit effecting loot. If they were to make a 'point total' sytem in which the highest tier drop-rate could be achieved without the timely clear bonus, then the system would be perfect. But that's a different issue.

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This has more to do with loot and dungeon design. I'd hope they'd do away with the silly timers, abolish speed runs altogether while putting in timed events in dungeons where appropriate.

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As far as saying FFVI dungeons are a bad thing to implement into an MMO, I can't disagree stronger. In fact, I was about to make a thread suggesting that they do this kind of 24 man dungeon.

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My point comes entirely from how parties would split themselves up while still working with a reasonable raid composition. Granted, this entirely falls on class design, ability spread and DPS, which I'd like to see addressed first. You seem to also miss the fact that the Lowest Common Denominator in FFVI was the fact that everyone could learn the same magic, which means that regardless of character you could have someone in charge of heals or have everyone able to heal, buff and so on. And I mean heal/nuke/cast reliably without stat limitations and discrepancies in MP pools.

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The current generation of MMOs and MMO players expect more. They expect to be able to, especially casual players, to be able to have a little taste of pretty much everything.

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I hope he realized that in other MMOs switching classes isn't possible :3

Yoshi: Your argument is invalid.

I really hope Yoshida doesn't make the same mistake of homoginizing the jobs as bad as they had the class system originally.

I don't imagine he will considering he was behind the job system and even specializing the classes to an extent, but some of the comments throw me off a bit. But I have faith, just can't wait until it's all a reality that we can see and play with.

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Originally Posted by Madruk

An interview that doesn't ask asinine questions? What happened here?

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Too stunned by 2.0 and lost for words apparently LOL

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Originally Posted by Firon

Well the writer is in my ls he said he wanted to see the game but he forced him self not to look to ask more questions. He said Yoshi-p would start playing the game he would turn his then try to sneak a peak then Yoshi-p would say look he's looking! XD.

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One thing we have learned from both of these interviews is that yoshida is a jokester. I still love that the rock on the left is implemented bit from the eozreapeida interview. I Just wonder why the old images were run along with the 1up article instead of the new stuff that came out of e3.

Let the him know he did a damned good job with his questions though.

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Originally Posted by Duelle

Again, assuming my wish of people being locked into their jobs upon entry so that this community can actually learn to work with what they have becomes true, that's not really going to fly.

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That's because your wish is locked into a specific setting. Instead of Job locking, which is too restrictive, IMO. Class lock instead. This, coupled with the idea of being able to have multiple jobs per class eliminates that concern.

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This has more to do with loot and dungeon design. I'd hope they'd do away with the silly timers, abolish speed runs altogether while putting in timed events in dungeons where appropriate.

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I wouldn't even put it anywhere. Speed Runs should be for timing events in which speed makes sense to the lore/plot of the game and nothing further. Perhaps a timer to prevent from holding up the instance server, but the timer should not have any significance beyond that. - or, as a compromise, have speed runs be one of many factors that cause chest to drop as a point total, as I described earlier.

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My point comes entirely from how parties would split themselves up while still working with a reasonable raid composition. Granted, this entirely falls on class design, ability spread and DPS, which I'd like to see addressed first. You seem to also miss the fact that the Lowest Common Denominator in FFVI was the fact that everyone could learn the same magic, which means that regardless of character you could have someone in charge of heals or have everyone able to heal, buff and so on. And I mean heal/nuke/cast reliably without stat limitations and discrepancies in MP pools.

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MP pools, magical stats,etc in FFVI were not equal. They could be MADE to be equal, but the lowest common demonimnator in the game - the Esper system which taught magic, altered stats, etc, has a similarity to the class system, which allows us to socket from any class we learned from.

So the class system becomes our lowest common denominator in FFXIV, and my compromise to your Job-lock system makes the entirety of the FFVI style dungeon possible, as you can blur roles for smaller battles. A Paladin from one stage of the fight can become a 'Dark Knight' (or some other job) as the parties merge, or vice versa.

You're also assuming we're wanting a Tank Party, a DD party, and a Mage party, all with their own support focusing on just them. But with classes that can take multiple jobs, that means they can take multiple roles. AND, it might be better for the group as whole to not have such a focused center as the end boss may be multiple tough enemies instead of just one. Put simply - we don't know if such a dungeon would follow the conventions you're referring to.

In the end, a dungeon built like Phoenix Cave/Kefka's Tower might actually be a good shake-up from the norm - something we really need to be honest. And as this is supposed to be some sort of fan-service game, I can't imagine a better dungeon crawl in Final Fantasy. Phoenix Cave and Kefka's Tower are by far the most memorable of them.

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The next thing we'll be doing is adding a lot more challenging content for higher-level users, a lot of high-end content. We mentioned the Final Fantasy III last dungeon, the Crystal Tower, and we'll have our own Final Fantasy XIV version of the Crystal Tower, which will be aimed at those high-level players.

... We want to assure the players that we haven't forgotten about that high-level content, we're going to be adding a lot of new things for them.

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http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...ppyRageGuy.png

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Originally Posted by Hyrist

That's because your wish is locked into a specific setting. Instead of Job locking, which is too restrictive, IMO. Class lock instead. This, coupled with the idea of being able to have multiple jobs per class eliminates that concern.

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I like this idea. I would be locked into Gladiator, but still have the freedom to choose Paladin or Dark Knight depending on the situation, or Gladiator if I need more cross class skills.

I approve.

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Originally Posted by Avraym

Also did the author seem slightly arrogant? To quote him:

"Michael Vreeland
Freelancer Michael Vreeland has the dubious distinction of being uniquely qualified to cover Final Fantasy XIV, as he's basically the only person in the media playing it, and also the only one that also played Final Fantasy XI."

I agree that i'd rather read interviews from a current and informed player than someone who had no idea about FFXIV. But still, seems like a pompous/arrogant statement to make.

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I know I'm going to regret this, but...

I am the author.

I have to say, this really surprised me. How can it be arrogant for me to say I have a "dubious distinction?" That turn of phrase specifically means it's probably not something one would or should brag about. It's like having the world record for dirtiest underwear, or something.

I don't think one could or should "brag" about playing this game or any game, really. But I'm especially not sure how or why anyone would "brag" about playing an unpopular game. And when I wrote that, I was trying to be self-deprecating, because when I tell people that I'm playing FFXIV, they kind of give this pitiful look.

Saying "the media" was probably a bit broad - correctly or incorrectly, I generally make a distinction between sites like Massively, RPGFan and the kind of sites and magazines I've written for, like 1Up, EGM, etc. I'm not sure how NeoGAF fits into this at all, though, since that's a forum and I'm really active over there.

Anyway, glad people seem to have enjoyed the interview, and I guess I'll be more careful with my blurbs in the future.

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Originally Posted by Yumi_Hibiki

but i didnt like the attitude of the guy to be honest, calling the game dead right of the bat which is just not true, interrupting yoshida one time with a needless snarky remark (which wasnt completely accurate either)
and i really wonder why he chose pics from the 1.0 launch when we just got nice new material
it just rubbed me the wrong way...

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Sorry, but by any logical standard, this game is dead. Or maybe undead? And it certainly was dead when Yoshi-P took it over. Even now, though, it is bleeding money, and the only reason you are playing it now is because against all odds Square decided to try and save it, instead of shutting the servers down after a few months, like most other companies would.

And... interrupting him? You weren't there.

It was a pretty conversational and light-hearted interview. He's a pretty open guy, and there were a number of jokes that weren't transcribed or wouldn't have worked.

For example, after his intro spiel about the three pillars, I nearly fell off of my single-legged stool, and I said it needed two more pillars, and everyone had a good laugh.

And then there was when the NA producer, Yasu, was attacked by some kind of large insect, which I deemed a chigoe. He hid in the corner and nearly knocked the TV over while the PR guy killed it. Everyone had a good laugh after that.

They also showed me 2.0... or at least tried to. I said I really wanted to get as many questions asked as possible, so was pretty focused on that. When Yoshi-P was running around that forest area, I looked at it a bit, and he was like "Oh, he's looking!" and we all chuckled, and I went back to asking questions and getting answers.

The attempts to ascertain the entirety of my being from a few questions in an E3 interview is pretty baffling.

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Originally Posted by Griss

But why didn't they slip the new shiny screen shots into the article? It sends a strange message, Hey guys this game is picking up steam in its turn around. Here is some eye candy that you saw two years ago to help get you excited.

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I'm just a freelancer, and not the guy that actually put the article into 1Up's system. I sent them the new screens and asked them to use them, so we'll see what happens. But E3 is an insanely busy time for these guys, so I wouldn't blame them at all if they never got a chance to fix it.

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Originally Posted by Ravidrath

I know I'm going to regret this, but...

I am the author.

I have to say, this really surprised me. How can it be arrogant for me to say I have a "dubious distinction?" That turn of phrase specifically means it's probably not something one would or should brag about. It's like having the world record for dirtiest underwear, or something.

I don't think one could or should "brag" about playing this game or any game, really. But I'm especially not sure how or why anyone would "brag" about playing an unpopular game. And when I wrote that, I was trying to be self-deprecating, because when I tell people that I'm playing FFXIV, they kind of give this pitiful look.

Saying "the media" was probably a bit broad - correctly or incorrectly, I generally make a distinction between sites like Massively, RPGFan and the kind of sites and magazines I've written for, like 1Up, EGM, etc. I'm not sure how NeoGAF fits into this at all, though, since that's a forum and I'm really active over there.

Anyway, glad people seem to have enjoyed the interview, and I guess I'll be more careful with my blurbs in the future.

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You have nothing to be worried about. I was able to see the self-deprecating humor just fine. Let this guy have his own stupid opinion. And ignore the forum haters in general.

Also! Top notch interview! Best XIV one I've read in... well, 2 years~~~~

Who were you in FF11, mystery person Andvari?

I loved all the complaints about the interview. You're such an arrogant jerk, Ravi. Calling this game dead or making snarky comments when someone is talking about Battle Regimen. Oh wait. This game is dead. The only reason I or anyone else (who isn't a masochist) even plays this game is the promise of 2.0. No one could say this game is awesome as is with a straight face. And I have to say, a snarky comment is the least you could do in response to the terrible Battle Regimen system. It didn't work. That's not even snarky. It's just a fact.

And, gah, Ravi? Why didn't you post them new 2.0 pics? Didn't you know that none of us have seen them yet!? WE NEED TO SEE THOSE 2.0 PICTURES AGAIN... FOR THE FIRST TIME!?

Definitely the best 2.0 interview I've read. :D Sounds like it was a fun interview, too!

Don't feel bad about the assholes, it's a rule on the forums that someone has to be an enormous tool and/or misinterpret everything at least once on every thread. :D

Thank you very much for all the detailed questions you asked Ravidrath! I stopped playing the game about 2 or 3 weeks ago because I was burnt out on the luck based drop system and you asking about the drop system and the answer you got gave me hope that 2.0 will be a game I could play for a long time.

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Originally Posted by Ravidrath

I know I'm going to regret this, but...

I am the author.

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Oh, great. :) That means I can thank you for an excellent interview.

Thank you for an excellent interview, Ravidrath. You did an awesome job! :D

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Originally Posted by Hyrist

That's because your wish is locked into a specific setting. Instead of Job locking, which is too restrictive, IMO. Class lock instead. This, coupled with the idea of being able to have multiple jobs per class eliminates that concern.

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Meh, it eliminates "Duelle, you suck because you like playing PLD more than DRK and don't even carry a DRK set. Our needs should be more important than your in-game enjoyment" entirely, which isn't a bad thing. Take it from someone to who got burned with dual specs in late WotLK/Cataclysm.

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I wouldn't even put it anywhere. Speed Runs should be for timing events in which speed makes sense to the lore/plot of the game and nothing further. Perhaps a timer to prevent from holding up the instance server, but the timer should not have any significance beyond that. - or, as a compromise, have speed runs be one of many factors that cause chest to drop as a point total, as I described earlier.

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Timers can be implemented in a way that (while relevant) is non-crucial to the lore of the instance, requires you to know the instance and have sufficient DPS/heals to make it through. The reward for the timed run coule be something nice but not something that gives a massive advantage. The timed run then becomes something to aim for and complete with any group comp with relatively the same amount of effort. (ex: Culling of Stratholme).

It's really something that can be applied to lots of dungeon elements, from hostages that need to be rescued to avoiding some event in the instance that would affect the battles past that point or simply just saving someone who would get captured if you arrive too late.

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MP pools, magical stats,etc in FFVI were not equal. They could be MADE to be equal, but the lowest common demonimnator in the game - the Esper system which taught magic, altered stats, etc, has a similarity to the class system, which allows us to socket from any class we learned from.

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I disagree, because again any character could cover vital spells provided you took the time to teach them the right spells (stat modification through espers naturally came with teaching said spells and were not entirely separate processes). Mash could do healing as well as Edgar could, as well as Gau could as well as Relm could. Not to mention VI had enough jobs with good damage potential to cover that part of the equation with little trouble.

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You're also assuming we're wanting a Tank Party, a DD party, and a Mage party, all with their own support focusing on just them. But with classes that can take multiple jobs, that means they can take multiple roles. AND, it might be better for the group as a whole to not have such a focused center as the end boss may be multiple tough enemies instead of just one. Put simply - we don't know if such a dungeon would follow the conventions you're referring to.

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XI's group structure is the last thing I would ever want to use. What I'm trying to avoid is player trends developing where people are expected to have multiple classes/jobs geared and leveled because the dungeon and encounter design demands it.

I may not actively RP, but certain aspects of it are still very important to me; looking at my character as being a particular class/job being one such aspect. Hence why I used to constantly say that in FFXI, I looked at my Taru as "Duelle the Red Mage", not "Duelle the taru with RDM at 99, DRK at 90 and having PLD underlevelled". Being able to say "my character is this job" and being able to play as such in the content that matters without social expectations and dungeon/encounter mechanics getting in the way greatly increases enjoyment of the game, believe it or not. It's largely why I support performance equality between jobs over niche gameplay, too.

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In the end, a dungeon built like Phoenix Cave/Kefka's Tower might actually be a good shake-up from the norm - something we really need to be honest.

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Difference for the sake of being different hasn't let to much good in the MMO genre. That being said, I'm not entirely against having one dungeon that took that approach, but I will still stress class/job balance is very important in making it properly tick without opening the door for shennanigans like class stacking and exclusion of classes/jobs.

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Originally Posted by Ravidrath

I know I'm going to regret this, but...

I am the author.

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eh, I think you're brave for stepping forward. Either way, it was a good interview, and perhaps one of the most informative articles of all the stuff that's come out of e3.

@ravidrath
i dunno calling it dead is pretty much ignoring all the people that support the game right now, the servers are lively at any time of the day, i wouldn't call that dead, you don't need millions of subscribers to be considered "alive" in my opinion

looks like i misinterpreted that exchange in the interview i am sorry, that's how it looked to me, which of course doesn't mean that's what happened and by no means was it meant as a personal attack

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Originally Posted by Yumi_Hibiki

you don't need millions of subscribers to be considered "alive" in my opinion

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You do however need to make money, with our paltry numbers I doubt that this is happening.

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Originally Posted by Efrye

My respect for Yoshi-P just grew even more.
If he hates Parley as well, he must be a good person with good taste!

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If I know Jesus, and I'm pretty sure I don't except from his TV specials, hating parley is the fastest path to heaven. However, pirate Jesus would disagree me thinks.

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Originally Posted by Duelle

Meh, it eliminates "Duelle, you suck because you like playing PLD more than DRK and don't even carry a DRK set. Our needs should be more important than your in-game enjoyment" entirely, which isn't a bad thing. Take it from someone to who got burned with dual specs in late WotLK/Cataclysm.

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No it doesn't. If the people you're playing with are going to give you crap about the class/job combination you want to play, they'd just give you crap about it before rolling into the dungeon rather than in the middle. The only way around that is to not play with assholes, and instead with friends who don't care how you play as long as you more or less get the job done.

Even in a theoretical world where everything was perfectly balanced, the sort of people that 'force' you to play on a certain job would still be doing it, since without everything being mechanically exactly the same (and then what would be the point of having the illusion of choice?) there would still be certain combinations that were fractionally better and have slightly better synergy than others and they'd leap on it. Or it just suite their play style better and see everything else as inferior.

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Originally Posted by Icecylee

Even in a theoretical world where everything was perfectly balanced, the sort of people that 'force' you to play on a certain job would still be doing it, since without everything being mechanically exactly the same (and then what would be the point of having the illusion of choice?) there would still be certain combinations that were fractionally better and have slightly better synergy than others and they'd leap on it. Or it just suit their play style better and see everything else as inferior.

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When the difference is miniscule enough, people stop caring about that sort of thing and will take anyone they can so long as the roles are filled, and in the case of big raids, the required buffs and debuffs are also filled. The top end raiders are a different story altogether, but that's not the crowd I'm worried about.

Note: As far as ostrasizing before the dungeon run, it wouldn't really happen because at that point the raid leader is thinking of the raid comp they're going to take. This is why I mentioned reasonable parameters for dungeon design, so that you take what you need and not have dead weight (going back to the fictional dungeon that has 6 fights in which only one requires 4 tanks whereas all others require one or two).

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Originally Posted by Jynx

You do however need to make money, with our paltry numbers I doubt that this is happening.

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i doubt that we are so few that it doesn't make a difference at all,
but all this is pure speculation since we don't have an official number of active subscriptions right now.

back in ffxi on the then closed bahamut server, a while before they opened it again after years, THAT was the taste of a truly dead game, same faces everywhere, only people leaving and no new people coming in, which is just not the case with XIV right now
at least on masamune since its open again

We're getting a bit long winded here so I apologize if we skip over any points.

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Originally Posted by Duelle

Meh, it eliminates "Duelle, you suck because you like playing PLD more than DRK and don't even carry a DRK set. Our needs should be more important than your in-game enjoyment" entirely, which isn't a bad thing. Take it from someone to who got burned with dual specs in late WotLK/Cataclysm.

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I understand and agree with the philosophy, but you're not going to get around that without some sort of compromise.

For example, if you're group is supersaturated on Paladins, and you refuse to go on Dark Knight on a Job locked run, your group is either forced to rotate Paladins (not likely in long dungeon runs) or you pretty much get the axe for that run until you find some group that agrees specifically with every stance you have.

With a class locked run, your class preference isn't compromised, and you can alter roles in balance with personal preference and group needs. This is also reflected on more in depth below.

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Timers are] really something that can be applied to lots of dungeon elements, from hostages that need to be rescued to avoiding some event in the instance that would affect the battles past that point or simply just saving someone who would get captured if you arrive too late.

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I disagree as far as something that is tied to a loot system, at least for the overall goals of a dungeon. They can be helpful if applied correctly, but the mechanic itself is toxic and should be dealt with great care. Right now, it's harming the game's overall health.

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I disagree, because again any character could cover vital spells provided you took the time to teach them the right spells (stat modification through espers naturally came with teaching said spells and were not entirely separate processes). Mash could do healing as well as Edgar could, as well as Gau could as well as Relm could. Not to mention VI had enough jobs with good damage potential to cover that part of the equation with little trouble.

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Mash? There was no character called Mash in FFVI my friend.

But you continue to overlook the primary point of what FFVI did right and how it can translated over - namely, role redundancy.

Its not the fact that every class could have access to the same spells - but that as a result of that (for some characters, others like Mog, Gau, Strego, and Gogo bypassed the entire need for the Esper system.) everyone could fit every role.

This to a certain degree can be duplicated with the Class/Job system, especially as more jobs begin to allow certain classes more diversified role.

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XI's group structure is the last thing I would ever want to use. What I'm trying to avoid is player trends developing where people are expected to have multiple classes/jobs geared and leveled because the dungeon and encounter design demands it.

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What FFXI did wrong was bottleneck important roles such as healer and tank into very few jobs. What FFXIV can do to counter that is properly saturate each role with multiple viable alternatives spread out among different base Classes. With that met, Class locking and split dungeons will become both functional and enjoyable, while other more straightforward group events can be far more accessible to players.

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...Being able to say "my character is this job" and being able to play as such in the content that matters without social expectations and dungeon/encounter mechanics getting in the way greatly increases enjoyment of the game, believe it or not. It's largely why I support performance equality between jobs over niche gameplay, too.

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I both agree and feel the same way. But I believe this can be achieved by allowing a class to assume multiple roles through multiple job sets.

Through this the players who want to strike an identity still get that identity by saying "I am a Lancer"(Self example.) And while they have preference to say Dragoon, like I do. They still maintain that base identity when having to switch jobs (and therefore roles).

It matters less to me to have to switch to Templar if I need to tank then it would telling me to jump onto Paladin. And while it's going to be a lot of work for the SE crew to balance, I do believe that is the course they are headed with this system and I support it.

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Difference for the sake of being different hasn't let to much good in the MMO genre.

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I agree, and I also agree that this should be a system that is used sparingly. But I'm stating difference not for the sake of being different, but difference for the sake of variant, and therefore deeper game-play. One or two of these split dungeons in the lineup will actually add some good flavor to the current lineup and make great use of the system that is currently developing.

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eh, I think you're brave for stepping forward. Either way, it was a good interview, and perhaps one of the most informative articles of all the stuff that's come out of e3.

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I'd just like to step in and add my support as well. Good on you for both coming forward and giving what I think was the most impacting interview of the bunch. Thanks for that.

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Originally Posted by Hyrist

I understand and agree with the philosophy, but you're not going to get around that without some sort of compromise.

For example, if you're group is supersaturated on Paladins, and you refuse to go on Dark Knight on a Job locked run, your group is either forced to rotate Paladins (not likely in long dungeon runs) or you pretty much get the axe for that run until you find some group that agrees specifically with every stance you have.

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Which I'm fine with. I've willingly sat out of raids in WoW if they were full on DPS (if I was playing on paladin) or tanks (if I was on my warrior). That's not exactly a bad thing. Specially in the latter because everyone needed a tank for something.

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I disagree as far as something that is tied to a loot system, at least for the overall goals of a dungeon. They can be helpful if applied correctly, but the mechanic itself is toxic and should be dealt with great care. Right now, it's harming the game's overall health.

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There's a reason I said "something nice". In the case of the example I mentioned (Culling of Stratholme), what you got for clearing the 25-minute objective was an extra badge you could use to trade for gear (in a model where you were trading 70 or 80 badges per piece of gear) and a Bronze Drake mount. That's it.

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Mash? There was no character called Mash in FFVI my friend.

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He was renamed to Sabin in the US version of VI. >.>;;;

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This to a certain degree can be duplicated with the Class/Job system, especially as more jobs begin to allow certain classes more diversified role.

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When you have limited MP pools and variances in potency, this is not really the case unless point allocation for classes gets reverted to what it was when the game launched and traits become spread out again.

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I both agree and feel the same way. But I believe this can be achieved by allowing a class to assume multiple roles through multiple job sets.

Through this the players who want to strike an identity still get that identity by saying "I am a Lancer"(Self example.) And while they have preference to say Dragoon, like I do. They still maintain that base identity when having to switch jobs (and therefore roles).

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Story time: I was on the #11 guild on my server in WoW during WotLK. I was able to get away with focusing my class (Paladin) into the DPS spec of that class (Retribution), which I chose solely because I liked hitting things with a light-imbued 2-handed hammer. This was fine and dandy with my guild because respeccing cost money and on any hybrid it was a total pain. Dual specs came in (basically what you're suggesting), and it became the blessing and curse of the hybrids, because my guild started subtly asking me to pick up offspec gear for tanking and healing. I got them to shut up when I decided to pay the 10K gold for dual spec, then specced myself into the very hated and very useless shockadin set up, making them say "yeah, between that shockadin spec and your DPS spec....just come as DPS". And so I was happy again.

I come back for Cataclysm and every hybrid is suddenly expected to have two specs for raiding and keeping them geared. Sure, between justice points and PuGs it is feasible, but I hate healing and hate the pally tanking model. It was harder to get people outside of PuGs to leave me alone for focusing on DPS. There's been arguing over that in and out of the game because I certainly wasn't the only one who liked one aspect of a class and wanted to focus on it, but there you have it. It echoes too much of the BS from FFXI where you instantly sucked for not leveling X job (in my case it was NIN), but forced into the narrow margin of class.

The moral of the story is that flexibility, while nice, needs to be kept on a tight leash.

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When you have limited MP pools and variances in potency, this is not really the case unless point allocation for classes gets reverted to what it was when the game launched and traits become spread out again.

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Actually no. MP variance is irrelevant on the base class so long as the alternative Job carries the innate stat adjustments needed to fill the role. The same can be said for HP values and turning a Lancer's base HP/MP values into something more viable for tanking when it switches to Templar.

Of course the base classes are going to have some limitations on what they can adjust to, they'll be the limits of the base class - pure customization in sacrifice of efficiency.

It sounds like you're letting your personal bad experiences with your guild color your judgement.

There's essentially only two paths here, and the choice is already been made.

Either we make content in which you're stuck to a job and you can't switch roles, in which you're screwed into the the bottleneck of elitism party builds and if you're not the flavor of the patch, you don't get to play.

Or you make the Classes deversifiy into separate roles through the Job system, and you get punished because you don't play the game enough to prepare your class.

Given the ease of leveling the latter is obviously the better solution for our situation. Which is good, seeming that's the way this game is going.

Flexibility does not need a tight leash so much as balancing does.

As far as not wanting to level differing specs due to preference away from playing specific roles - that will depend on how far deviant each class gets from it's baseline functions, and how flexible each group's shell wishes to be.

Hardcore is hardcore. They're going to make you do everything no matter what. Casual groups are more lenient and the Job systems will make things more accessible to them for the more moderate players to be flexible, while retaining their identity. The system is meant to be a compromise, not a total appeasement of either camp.

You can still opt to sit out, but this eases you into other roles without taking you too far from your root identity. The biggest hurtle of which is to get players to identify with their root class more than their specific job. But I have a feeling the gameplay itself will encourage that. Levels are easy. The gearsets can be similar within the same class canopy which makes crafting jobs more focused, even while you're gearing for multiple roles.

And to clarify, this is where I think the game is headed, as all indications seem to point in this direction. How it's reacted to will be up to the players. Speaking for myself, however. I have a positive outlook on it. I think it'll be a fair system that'll do more to bring the community together than many other games out there.

I could say this is the best FFXIV 2.0 interview to date. Because 1UP is a player and know how to ask :)
But seem like Yoshi-P perfect dodge the question about drop rate once again! :)

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Originally Posted by Hyrist

Actually no. MP variance is irrelevant on the base class so long as the alternative Job carries the innate stat adjustments needed to fill the role. The same can be said for HP values and turning a Lancer's base HP/MP values into something more viable for tanking when it switches to Templar.

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Max MP = longevity. Refresh traits and MP regen outside of active mode = longevity. MRD, LNC and MNK have less of both than CON and THM. Either way, we're gonna go back and forth for all eternity on that one, so I'll agree to disagree and leave it at that.

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It sounds like you're letting your personal bad experiences with your guild color your judgement.

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As I mentioned, I wasn't the only one who felt and experienced that (between other individuals ingame and the discussions that would pop up from time to time). Most people take things quietly, but my being part of the hybrid wars in burning crusade (back when all paladins were expected to be healbots over all else) and the bullshit with RDM in FFXI have made me very adverse to anything that might get in the way of individual choice. I as a player can't dictate anything, but I know game mechanics lovingly kicking people in the face while saying "can't let you do that~" does the job nicely.

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Given the ease of leveling the latter is obviously the better solution for our situation. Which is good, seeming that's the way this game is going.

Flexibility does not need a tight leash so much as balancing does.

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I'll disagree because as I said, it's the exact same mentality of "l0l ur dumb f0r n0t uzing/leveling x job", but squeezed into a smaller packaging.

As far as the hardcore thing, my guild was not exactly hardcore. We didn't have an actual roster and never bothered to put one together until we started assembling a group for hard modes (which is why we relied on suicide kings for loot distribution instead of using DKP). I do know that player trends roll downhill, from the top to the bottom. FFXI also proved this. I can admit that I always expect the worst, and given the specter of FFXI that looms over this game, I'll continue to do so until the game blatantly proves me wrong. We haven't quite gotten there yet. ;)

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Originally Posted by DeadRiser

I like how he mentioned about a token system where if you do it so many times, you will get rewarded. I hope this applies to Hamlets and sh*t in the future /crosses fingers.

Was a really good read.

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yeah he actually already started this system with Garuda, wish he would patch it in for the rest of the content.

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Originally Posted by Avraym

I didn't take offense to it either and I agree it was a good interview (even if some of the questions and answers were a little recycled from the last EA interview), I just felt the author lost credability for a well written interview.

For an article that has a mostly serious tone, it feels like an out of place way to finish the article.

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lost his credibility? He obviously knows the game better then 90% of the interviewers out there, that's enough credibility for me

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Originally Posted by Gentaro

I hope he realized that in other MMOs switching classes isn't possible :3

Yoshi: Your argument is invalid.

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eh I think he means the ability for healers not to ONLY heal where as the interviewer suspected WHM to loose any damage abilities yoshi wanted them to still have them but be specialized in healing.