Questions and Feedback on the Future of FINAL FANTASY XIV

Lots of hot topics in here... but one thing I would like to see addressed properly is targeting.

Targeting has been and continues to be inconsistent. The few fixes we've seen for hit HAVE made it better, but it's still way under par.

Some suggestions:

Dedicated target keys (Nearest NPC/PC/ENEMY etc.) should NOT target self. The we already have a dedicated target self key, F1. Trying to target something specific and getting yourself is annoying at best, or deadly if that cure for a friend went off on you instead by mistake.

With how many enemies we're taking on now, and in groups, tab targeting is utterly insufficient as is. For some odd reason tab targeting will decide to target unrelated monsters, or every monster BUT the one trying to kill me or a friend.

If a party member is taking enmity from a drake, it would be great if tab targeting focused those first before jumping to the random sheeps and marmots in the background.

Also, an option to have switch between the current targeting noise, a less harsh one, and muting it would be nice. Not necessary but I wanted to bring it up while on the subject. I'd also love to see this done with the sound effect played when activating abilities from the bar (which goes off whether the ability triggers or not)

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Originally Posted by kurokawa

Q ) What if, by the time ffxiv 2.0 is launched on ps3 late 2012, Sony announce the Ps4 for release early 2013?

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Very little. First of all, Sony are insisting they won't do that. Second, even if they did (which is entirely possible), MMORPG's on consoles do not need to be on the most advanced machine, they need to be on one with a large install base. The Playstation 3's install base is, by my understanding, growing faster than ever, so it ought be very healthy come the release of the PS3 version, PS4 or no.

Even if the PS4 has come out by then, it will probably be very expensive, will likely take a significant while after to match the install base of the PS3, and you might even see a little benefit to FF XIV's PS3 version from the large number of people who will still have PS3's snapping up a decent game for their system with longterm playability in the face of focus beginning to move away from the console they presently have.

Either way, if the theoretical Playstation 4 is backwards compatible, that ought allay a lot of our concerns.


That being said, one other thing MMORPG's need is future-proofing, so I'd like to ask a question in a similar vein:
What will Square-Enix do to prevent the technical limitations of the PS3 holding back the PC version of Final Fantasy XIV as PC technology continues to improve and the PS3, of course, remains static? Final Fantasy XI suffers in this fashion from the limitations of the Playstation 2.

Also, is the possibility of an eventual Playstation 4 (should it ever happen) version or switch-over, or even implementation on other platforms such as the Playstation Vita, something that might be considered at some point? There has recently been suggestion from S-E of a Playstation Portable Final Fantasy XI client after all.

Will there every be a time where we no longer stop when using abilities or starting to cast spells? Or will the animations for these actions ever be sped up?

I have a couple of questions for the development team and for Mr. Yoshida. You mentioned that you want to give the game that dynamic adventurous feel that final fantasy games are known for. If i might make a suggestion, i think it would be neat to have special quests or leves where you go up against some villains or bosses from past final fantasy titles. I know alot of the folks on the forums will probably disagree with this idea but i think it would give the game a little more FF flavor lol. On to my questions: How will the gamepad UI for 2.0 be different from the one we use today and are the jobs going to level like the other classes on the game. In closing i just want to say that you guys are doing a fantastic job on this game. Dont listen to all the negativity in these forums. This game is going to succeed and i can see that there is already a bright future for Final Fantasy XIV. You guys have won me over with these new changes and ill gladly pay you the monthly fee to continue enjoying my time in eorzea. Thank you and have a great day.

What are the plans for Linkshells and companies? Will we blend them together, or are they two separate systems?

Will linkshell/companies have their own levels?
Will they have their own perks when you level?
Like Banks? Taxes? special linkshell company quests?
Support of a log in message when members equip the pearl, is that planed?

What are your plans for the UI for linkshell/companies?

Several other MMO's out there have very nice guild systems, are you looking at those systems to see what you want to add to ours?

What can you tell us are your goals for the community features of this game for 1.20 and beyond?

What is the most exciting thing about the 2.0 UI that you can share with us today?

Is FFXIV headed to more of a western game or are you still trying to be unique?

Will the New FFXIV support alt-tabbing out of full screen mode without crashing the game? lol

And what about Direct X 11 support?

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Originally Posted by LlenCoram

2. I'm disappointed that the game will include a way to have UI Addons. I remember seeing my step brothers play WoW and it was always, "You need this addon and you need that addon." I don't want to have to need anything.

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Same. That annoyed the hell out of me in WoW.

Add-ons should never be deemed "mandatory' in a game. Not everyone "requires" nor even desires the "added features" that some of those that were deemed "mandatory" by the "elite" brought about. It's amazing how much BS I saw in that game around guild leaders demanding their players use add-ons or they were kicked from the guild. I was in one that was like that, and my sister was in another. Both of us ended up quitting our respective guilds, 'cause it was ridiculous to have another player dictating to us how we would be playing on our own account, paying with our own money.

Given that I don't think they're going to allow add-ons on PS3 (as I recall reading I believe?), I don't see how people will be able to "require" you to use them.

Further, hopefully SE will prohibit and restrict the type of things add-ons can be used to create. It would be unfair to the PS3 players for PC players to have the advantage of using add-ons that provide information that PS3 players don't have... especially in the PvP settings.

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Originally Posted by LlenCoram

4. I understand why you wouldn't have, but I was really hoping for a look at the new city maps. I'm honestly worried because I've loved Limsa right from the start. I know Gridania is being changed, but what of the other two cities?

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If you look at the map for Central Thanalan (the third map in the PDF), there's a thumbnail image on the left side of what looks like Ul'dah. From the looks of it, it's rather destroyed-looking and there are a couple Garlean vehicles hovering above it. That could be a clue for what will become of Ul'dah anyway.

As far as the addons go, just think of it like the windower plugins from FFXI. If they are little things like that and don't allow people to take it to the extreme i will be good with it.

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Originally Posted by AreeyaJaidee

Agreed. Luminous quality is above Crystal Tools. Looking forward to future info of it myself as well.

FFXIV has an amazing future ahead.

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lol yeah I saw that quick demo vid and thought "What is this a prank? It's someone walking down a ramp with a hand cam..."

Then I realized it was real time 3D and my impression completely changed.

I think a lot of the issues with Crystal Tools is that it was designed around Consoles first and, apparently, is not at all well optimized for PCs. I mean, let's face it, SE's forte is console games, not PC. That's not a statement against them or their capabilities. PC just isn't where their expertise has been for a couple decades now.

I think they were still stuck in that rut, so to speak, with Crystal Tools.

If the new Luminous engine is designed to run well on PCs *and* on consoles, and takes advantage of newer tech, like DX11 and the like that other PC engines utilize.. Then that in itself would be a huge improvement to its performance on a PC.

The screenshot to me in their mock-up, while a "mock-up", looks better overall than even XIV does right now. Things look more "vivid" to me.

I've seen/heard a few remarks about it looking more wow-like... I do not see that at all and am not sure where people are even getting that from.

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Originally Posted by Riv

As far as the addons go, just think of it like the windower plugins from FFXI. If they are little things like that and don't allow people to take it to the extreme i will be good with it.

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Well, some of those windower plugins for FFXI were used for botting or otherwise exploiting the game, too... :-p

They need to be careful of that.

Thank you for continuing support of the game, even through the least favorable of conditions. I hope the team is able to stay warm this winter.
I have to say, I was completely taken by surprise at the 2.0 announcement. I was both very excited and satisfied at the amount of Final Fantasy related content that was shown, but also dismayed that my most highly anticipated features (pets, player housing, etc) may not come til sometime in 2013!
I was under the impression that a lot of the 2012 scheduled tasks were coming far sooner.

I understand that v1 will be getting retro fitted content as it becomes available, but I fear that it won't be enough, paired with the subscription costs, to keep most of my friends who are already very much on the fence playing. At least until the official new version comes out. The exclusive story line doesn't seem like enough incentive to them, when we barely have the numbers to play the current one.

I've made a list of collective concerns from myself and my friends. Hopefully someone is able to read through them.

• Will the reinstated subscription fee be the same as originally intended? Many people feel that a reduced charge is more reasonable.
• Will direct credit card payments be made an option for all regions?
• Why continue to use the extremely limiting armoury system in 2.0? Will there be a way in the future to expand the variety of weapons each class can use or introduce novelty weapons all classes may use? (Such as in FFXI)
• Will region specific servers become an option in 2.0?
• Will the new character creator use sliders?
• Will Free Companies have to consist of people only from the same Grand Company?
• If server population should fall any more for the current game, is combining servers something planned?

It doesn't appear to me that Dragoon will receive a wyvern partner at this time, and that's fine for a few people. But please allow a wyvern pet similar to XI to maybe become available for another class like a beastmaster! I miss my Soryu dearly. :(

Is a max level/level cap increase planned for players to go beyond 50 at or before 2.0 is released? And if so, what level are we looking at being able to reach when it happens?

I got a question that popped yesterday...the wildcard you guys have in the sleeves...the feature that is intented to keep people here even with the start of billing system at the worst moment possible...is that the start of map redesign?

I'm sure you guys aren't this naive or reckless to just pick an arbitrary date (like when the free period is completing one year) to start charging without something that would actually appeal the players enough to stay...so i'm really curious about what it is...because it's not the jobs...so all left is the map redesign (since class balancing would never be it...i'm just smelling another disaster when class balance becomes live) or Ishgard.

Will we have to pay for version 2.0 like an expansion or will our client be updated into version 2.0? Also PLEASE dont make this game full of instance like fields. Only missions,quest,raids, and any other content with fighting. I dont want this game to be like a guild wars, i like running around in the fields and running into friends, or teaming up with someone that is killing the same NM as you.

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Originally Posted by Lienn

I got a question that popped yesterday...the wildcard you guys have in the sleeves...the feature that is intented to keep people here even with the start of billing system at the worst moment possible...is that the start of map redesign?

I'm sure you guys aren't this naive or reckless to just pick an arbitrary date (like when the free period is completing one year) to start charging without something that would actually appeal the players enough to stay...so i'm really curious about what it is...because it's not the jobs...so all left is the map redesign (since class balancing would never be it...i'm just smelling another disaster when class balance becomes live) or Ishgard.

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When they started the free to play period they said that they would start charging when they had an adequate roadmap for the future development of the game. They are doing exactly what they said they would be doing a year ago.

Wait, what video?

I only saw the PDFs and screens/artwork. Can someone PM me the link?

Not sure if this has been asked yet so I'm sorry if it has ^^ When V2.0 comes out, will SE keep classes in FFXIV or will they just implement the Job system as the way to go like in FFXI?

Also, when whatever the downfall of the current Eorzea is, you guys mentioned one-time live events. How will current players see these events? Will they be unlockable cutscenes through quests or will there be a scheduled time where a live meteor or something comes crashing down on us? ^^

Question about Dungeon and Primal Gear: Will this gear still be achievable in V2.0 or will it be gone forever and only those who obtain it now - Nov/Dec 2012 will be able to have it?

Will we receive an explanation or some conclusion to the starting movie for the current FFXIV with Bahamut and the ship and what we see in Mor Dhona or will that still be apart of V2.0?

This is a request as much as a question...

Will we be seeing more interesting layouts for dungeon type areas? In other FF games, including XI of course, each dungeon seemed to have its own style and theme, and in most all cases, some very well thought-out layouts.

Thus far, with the exception of Shpoeshae (or however it's spelled), the dungeon areas seem to be just meandering paths and rooms with very little thought put into them. I remember going into Casiopeia Hollow for the first time, excited to see my first FF-style dungeon in XIV, only to be rather underwhelmed by the overall "blandness" of its layout. Graphically it's beautiful... could use more variety.. but graphically beautiful.

I really enjoyed how in XI, dungeons had multiple floors with holes to drop through, staircases or smaller areas with limited access from different entrance in the overworld map (such as Eldiemme Necropolis and Batalia, or Horutoto and Sarutabaruta, etc). Or even the crazier layouts that would make me wonder how the designers even thought them up... like Pso'xja.

Mind you, I'm not asking for duplicates of those areas... but for dungeons with a similar degree of thought and variety and "cleverness" in their design.

Will the new area designs facilitate our ability to jump? It would be fun to climb the terrain like that sometimes (kind of like xenogears jumping) :D

With the addition of new races and the option to change race and gender, will you also allow the option to change the name of your character?

This would make me very happy. I would not like to have a male Miqote with a female name.

With V2.0, will the current main quests get deleted and new main quests be created?

If the above is true, how will new quests work with players who already have level 50 classes? Do they start the main story from scratch as if they stared a new game, and therefore, empowered?

In FFXIV's (distant) future, will the "optimization" for PS3 become more of the "limitation" FFXI has with PS2? As we are all aware, PCs can be upgraded and MMOs can expand and even make use of new technological development with them. With consoles, this is not so.

(A side note, thank you for addressing FFXIV's technical debt with Server / UI system. )

While FFXIV 2.0 is a welcomed change that we've all been waiting. I think it's safe to say that the current dev. team has taken better to change than that of our previous FFXI dev team. I think the current changes regarding 2.0 feel drastic at best.

When comparing how our feedback was received in previous years; I think it's easy to forget how relatively easy change has been on us. By releasing a 2.0 Square Enix as a company is admitting to failure on a grand scale, but want to improve upon it. Where the business side comes into play, is that they think they're justified in charging us for a game that for all intensive purposes won't exist anymore. While I'm not one of the "hardcore" players, I'd like to think that my loyalty was worth more than what has been currently expressed by upper management.

I do believe the development team should be paid for its efforts, and the company has been doing so. Why must we the loyal customers, fit the bill in the final stages of a "beta" product? I think the company should take a serious look at what "we" as fans have for the most part said along. SE is known for poor communication. As a result, this doesn't surprise me, but at the same time where is the honor in correcting a wrong?

I can't speak for everyone, but I felt and still feel like the current dev. team is doing an awesome job. For that I went back and installed FFXI and signed up for an account. I even bought some expansions because I wanted to contribute to the good intentions and effort I saw being made on FFXIV. However, with the current direction management wants to send us in, why should I continue to play until 2.0? I'll be dropped in for all intensive purposes a new world, with new surroundings, and my time will have meant nothing but transferred items that are rendered even more useless than they are now.

Why not setup a donation system of some kind? Why not just close "this" game down completely until you're actually ready to submit a solid product to the gaming market?

Will you be able to level up the upcoming jobs?


Will we have dragons as we play dragoon? If we do, will they evolve physicly as we progress with our job?

With the new engine coming out in 2.0, will the animations change for attacks and normal motions?

In the roadmap, pc search is noted in the 1.20. What exactly is PC search?

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Originally Posted by Zion_Cross

...PC search?

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Playable Character search, a way to do a physical search for a player or players with the letter combinations you input.

IE:
/sea all alt or /search all alt
results (in a list) of all logged on characters on the entire server
Altrage Delaroux
Altara Barabara
Altrouge Mystic
Altanis Mirkwood
etc etc

or

/sea alt
results (list) of all characters in your zone
Altrage Delaroux
Altanis Mirkwood

Most of my questions are about customisation.

Q:

[SIZE="7"]Please can Dragoon have a Wyvern! I want Wuffi back![/SIZE]

Q:

Will there be more customisation options available to stop everyone becoming clones of each other in terms of gear and appearance of said gear?

Q:

Can we please have coloured chocobos? I think a skyblue chocobo would be ever so cute!

Q:

Will we have more ways of customising our characters after creation? Having to use the same hairstyle and colour for years gets boring.

Q:

Can we have more control over our appearance upon creation, much like in Oblivion where we could edit every fine detail?

Q:

I noticed we will have player made add ons which is great, I'm creative and always love making my own levels in games. Can we make sure that at no point these become a requirement, though? I don't want to "need" something to play some mainstream game content.

Q:

Can we make females a little sexier, and males a little manlier? Women need to work what they have more, and men need to show their muscles more!

Q:

Can you please diversify monsters in V2? Having the same monsters as six years from 11 (like, literally the same, cough Opo Opos...) is a little boring.

Q:

Can we please have open world estates but only people with the key or an invite can enter if possible? Instanced houses would take away half the point of owning one.

Q:

Last question, can you please, please, please, please, please, please, please keep Limsa Lominsa's music, thanks!

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Can we please have open world estates but only people with the key or an invite can enter if possible? Instanced houses would take away half the point of owning one.

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You need a Free Company of at least 4 to qualify for an estate (thought I read that in the update .pdf) which would lead me to believe that your "estate" will be linked to everyone else in the Free Company (its like a semi-instanced location where you share a small neighborhood or road with your Free Company; is what I believe will happen, or at least hope)

Will we be able to swim in 2.0?

What's the deal with the floating red atherites in the concept art?

Question 1: I'm noticing that the concept art for Warrior, Dragoon, and White Mage appear to have 2 options for the head gear (Visor/Hood UP and DOWN)... Are you guys really implementing the ability for us to pull them up and down?

Question 2: Now that we have a new graphic engine and this beautiful concept art of Odin with an obvious cape: Will we be seeing capes/cloaks/mantles entering our plethora of gear options finally?

Question 3: Can our security tokens be accessible via mobile app? I'm afraid of losing the dongle.

Question 4: Could AF armor be linked to our lodestone images (like events do) when we earn them in-game?

Question 5: Will moogles play a bigger role in FFXIV 2.0? I would love to be able to have one as a pet!

Question 6: Can we have an emotes favorites tab?

Question 7: Can the animation while teleporting involve more than simply standing there? Simple meditative animation would suffice!

Question 8: Will the redesign accommodate the upcoming jump feature in any functional or immersive way?

Question 9: Any chance Onion Knight is coming as a job? Perhaps after earning a combination of multiple classes?

Question 10: The upcoming mmo ArcheAge has impressive ship crafting and ship battle content planned (not to mention climbing and swimming). Any chances we can get something similar or better?

P.S. FFXIV 2.0 should be subtitled so everyone (especially those that left) knows this is something brand new and reborn.

The one MAJOR problem with the game's initial release (excluding the technical/glitchy problems) was lack of content. Since you are wiping most of all forms of content (quests/storyline/current dungeons like Totorak and the like) my question would be:

HOW MUCH of each type of content do you plan on giving us on the initial release of ver2.0?

* If I may offer a suggestion in terms of amount: to me a "just released" game should have at least 5-7 dungeons (timed, instanced, objective based dungeons)

* 50-60 side quests for each main town and a handful of side quests in each zone (1-10 depending on total size and don't make the bulk of them low level spread it across all levels including high levels 40-50; as it stands now there is only a very small number of those quests, maybe 1-3 of them total out of 73 side quests)

* A handful of "subzones" like the Mun-tuy Cellars or the strongholds for example (maybe have 1-3 per zone, make coffers appear here like in the Sph.... dungeon; also since you seem to be going on smaller yet different looking areas, try not to repeat the same format, ie: Mun-tuy looks and feels the same as Tam-tara, this is no good; sorry)

* A story line that is very very close to being complete or preferably...complete; and not ambiguously complete, we want a final boss > it dies > it concludes story. It needs to be no less than 75% complete when released.

* Some form of Long-term goal oriented content! (This game doesn't have one yet sadly) this is most ideally created via the Legendary Weapons and a large scale PvE content that requires months or even years to complete. (yes we need this, they need you to continue to play to get paid, sadly this is the way it works with an MMO, however, the content can also be enjoyable making it not feel as grindy as XI's system)

* A bunch of BCNM style fights (this would likely include Primal Fights; since they are basically zone in and fight the boss, not a traverse through a zone, unlock the boss in the time frame, and fight before you get kicked out) I would say anywhere from 10-20 of these would be ideal

* NMs (both HNM and reg NM) make them Open World as is and I would say have anywhere from 15-30 make them various levels as well from levels 5 to level 50+ and each should have something to make it worth while, ranging from specific special crafting materials for crafters to make cool gear or gear itself.

* PvP! (Yes I know its coming in ver2.0 but it better be there once the ver2.0 goes live imo) I know there are some people that don't prefer it, but that is why I enjoy how you (SE) are doing the PvP; that its optional. Still, people who want it, want it; and if you want them to stay, add it right away. Its that simple. To add to the note of PvP and its content, why not have PvP ONLY abilities that you could purchase through winning battles in the arena? Something like this would add a definite replay-ability to the PvP content, something that MMOs strive on, so that too should also be there when it kicks off.

I feel that with that people would be willing to stay and play without question; and having the best graphics in an MMO to date as well as a release on the PS3, there is no way this MMO won't be the best in the world! Thanks for reading!

MY suggestion

I hope you'll reconsider about having language specific servers. I don't think it is a good idea.

what is the importance of the gods "The Twelve" in the game, I'd like to see if they have a great impact in the story and use within the game. As you know that beastmen have their gods such as leviathan and Ifirit. We on the contrary, have our own gods as we such as Thalik.

are these guardians gods? or what their role ingame-wise?

Do they have temples? such as FFX ones?

will us have to prove that we are worthy to have their blessing? "guardian's related quests"

are they all humanoid-like guardian? such the one in Gridania grand company poster?


Anyway these are my concerns about the guardians I hope you address them in the new FFXIV.

Will 2.0 resest characters ? That would make angry or made quit some current players. Or will you transfer all data to 2.0 with our progress ?

the new engine : crystal tool 2.0 or luminous engine?

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Originally Posted by Synthesis

Will 2.0 resest characters ? That would make angry or made quit some current players. Or will you transfer all data to 2.0 with our progress ?

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Already answered... No data will be lost.

swim in v2.0?

After reading the translated part of 4Gamers interview, i saw that you guys plan on discarding the old FFXIV and replacing itt all by the new one. So my questions are:

Is there a chance of the old one being restored to the point where the original dev team stopped (since the very core of the original FFXIV and the current FFXIV are already different) and having the project resumed as a different game? as a spin-off game maybe? Maybe resumed as Beta or even Alpha test so this time it can be made "right"?

The market is plenty of games where battle is not the most important aspect of it, just like the original FFXIV was meant to be, but most of them are just offline games with multiplayer possibility...wouldn't having a MMO growing under these concepts pretty much an interesting approach to a nearly unexplored online gaming option?

Will our names be reserved in some way. I regret picking the name Jack Daniels, i get lots of random groupies on my adventures which is nice, but it's not a very original name. But to the people who have put a lot of time into picking a unique name, will they run the risk of having someone steal it come 2.0.

Since you're making a new graphics engine, have you looked into PlayStation VITA support? I'd love to able to do some leves while on the move!