Quote:
Originally Posted by Naoki_Yoshida View Post
Hello everyone, Producer/Director Yoshida here.
I appreciate the lively discussion that’s been taking place here.
Before I start, I’d like to apologize that my post is late as we were struggling through a dizzyingly busy week. While I was busy running around, you were busy creating a range of topics that even touched on the in-game economy! But today, I’ll be going back to basics. Let me start with our plans for the item repair system in 1.19 and from 1.20 onwards! (As for the in-game economy, we cannot really get into this subject at the moment until every single element of the system becomes “normal.” Otherwise there are too many aspects to talk about and it’ll end up too confusing to discuss)
Premise
Over the next few days I can promise you more posts after this one, and in the next producer’s letter I will let you know more of my thoughts about the fundamental direction where FFXIV and current generation MMORPGs should be heading. I hope you are looking forward to my new letter which will be out soon. However, due to our current situation and progress, the letter will be posted just before 1.19 is released. So in the meantime let me explain what 1.19 has to offer through videos which you have been requesting!
General policy about the repair system
When I consider the death penalty and FFXIV as a current generation MMORPG, which entails striking a balance between risk and reward and taking your lifestyle and work into account, the common link seems to be the “concept of equipment durability”. I mentioned it before and it’s still on my mind. Equipment worn in battles will lose their durability over time; this could be seen as a small milestone in your long journey. It will motivate you to get new equipment, crafters can demonstrate their repairing skills, and players can feel the reality of seeing their equipment age over time. So I believe we should keep degrading armor and repair systems as they are. (Some have pointed out that it’s not really a death penalty for crafters as they can fix their gear, though I don’t see any problem with that. Players can raise their crafting level with some serious grinding, so I think this balances out the death penalty)
Yet we have a massive problem with the current repair system
I know it has been a huge issue that we ask you to devote a tremendous amount of effort to repairs. As I mentioned above, the concept of equipment durability and degradation has an impact on various systems, player motivation, settings and the death penalty, for only minor rewards. Therefore, I understand there is a big problem with the imbalance between the amount of work needed and the stat increases that can be gained. In short, I concluded that repairs should become a lot easier, if I take balance into consideration (Although I wouldn’t be able to respond if you were to say it’s a long time coming)
There are two ways to repair items
We already implemented two different ways to repair items in the game: paying NPCs or disciples of the hand. However, both methods have their respective problems and the solutions are also different. Therefore, I’d like you to understand the tweaks and changes below which address each method. We will evaluate the system comprehensively when it comes to actually implementing changes. However I wanted to be clear about the features, as the discussion may go off track on the forum.
Adjustments in Patch 1.19 (Focusing on NPC Repair Adjustments)
Currently the goals we’ve set for ourselves for 1.19 are pretty extensive, and it won’t be possible to implement most of the new features in a single patch. Therefore it looks like there will be several stages of implementation over patch 1.19 and 1.20 to improve the repair system.
The updates in patch 1.19 will mainly focus on NPC repairs.
(In a way, I suppose the adjustments will involve crafter repairs)
1. There will be a “Repair NPC” and a “Merchant NPC” stationed at every Aetheryte/Settlement.
2. When an NPC repairs an item, the level of durability will be restored to 99% of the item’s condition.
3. Only crafters are able to restore an item’s durability to 100% (As per the design)
4. The price for NPC repairs will be greatly lowered.
(The price per item will be fixed at 100G/500G/1000G/2100G/5000G according to the level of the equipment)
5. The cost of Dark Matter will be lowered.
(G1/G2/G3/G4/G5 = 50G/300G/700G/1500G/3500G)
6. The decrease in condition based on equipment deterioration changes are as follows:
No decrease in status/attributes for durability levels between 100 and 1
If durability reaches 0, it will have a “Damaged” status, and the equipment attributes will be treated as 0
When durability is 10 or below, a yellow icon will appear which will indicate that it is nearing the durability limit
When durability is 0, a red icon will appear which will indicate a damaged item is equipped
So that’s the plan for repair adjustments for patch 1.19. I’ll be sure to keep you updated. To cut it short, equipment deterioration during normal use of items is:
The line for equipment's stat deterioration will be clear and there will be no more need for partial repairs (the icon won’t be annoying)
The pricing for NPC repairs will be reasonable, and it will be possible to have affordable repairs which will restore to durability 99%
When second-hand items go up on the market, repairs carried out by a crafter will be needed
The price of Dark Matter will be lowered, and it will not demand a large amount of gil
These things mean you won’t feel forced to level a crafting class in order to repair your own equipment.
Adjustments for Patch 1.20 Onwards (Focusing on Disciples of the Hand Repair Adjustments)
I’ve finalized the plans for changes to the crafter repair procedure for 1.20.
If there is a chance to speed up the process then we will. In any case, the huge amount of trouble repairers have to go through is a real problem, and I have thought about adopting this basic flow.
1. Perform a command every time when you repair, to cut out the animation which plays each time
2. If Dark Matter can be offered by the one who is getting their equipment repaired this will make work a lot easier for the crafter
3. Add Dark Matter G6 (Level 50+ exclusive equipment) and readjust the specifications and price of G5
Apart from this, making the repair request icon more visible and simplifying the ability to collectively repair equipment is in the works. Furthermore, I was thinking it would be ok if all Disciples of the Hand classes, aside from Alchemist/Culinarian, would be able to repair any equipment.
It doesn’t mean that each disciple of the hand class will be knowingly gathering up all the equipment that they are able to repair, and even if there is a repair request, the parts that can be repaired will differ depending on the crafter. So in the end there are huge losses at stake for both the repairer and the one seeking repairs.
(I have a different plan for Alchemists and Culinarians doing repairs. However, it might be over simplified…? There will be something like a repair kit which crafters can use. (It might be an idea to have something like a repair kit which only crafters can use)
As I really want to get feedback from all of the current crafters out there, I plan to launch a third survey after the release of patch 1.19. ^^
So, my time’s up and as always I have written a lot, however that is it for the repair improvements plans! Looking back on things again I feel I should have done something about this sooner…
From now on, when you are in an emergency let me hear what you have to say and we will work hard to release new contents and make adjustments. So please keep on telling us your opinions/feedback!