Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVII (11/19/2021)

We are pleased to present the full digest of the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVII!  
If you missed the live stream, or if you just want to watch it again (and again), check it out below!

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* Don't forget to select the 1080p option to watch the video in HD! 
* Video includes interpretation from Japanese to English. 

Postponement of Endwalker’s Release

The broadcast began with an important announcement from Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida regarding the delay of Endwalker’s release. Read on for further details: North America / Europe

We have also provided a schedule update regarding ongoing events and campaigns that will be affected by the delay: North America / Europe

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During the broadcast, we also went over an updated schedule up till Patch 6.05.

Launch Trailer

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We revealed the launch trailer for Endwalker.

While we can’t elaborate, there’s a reason that Emet-Selch is providing most of the narration. The trailer emphasizes a theme of “walking towards the end,” as you might expect from an expansion titled “Endwalker.” Creating it was quite the challenge, since essentially every scene is related to spoilers!

What’s to Come in Patch 6.0

New Cities and Areas

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We reintroduced the new cities and areas that will be added in Endwalker.

As mentioned during the Media Tour, Alphinaud and Alisaie’s home is located in Old Sharlayan, a city of many mysteries and a key location during the story. For the Leveilleurs, the tale of FFXIV is also their family history, an aspect we’ll be exploring further during the events of Endwalker.

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Despite its appearances, Labyrinthos is located deep underground. Warriors of Light will travel to this area early on in the story and learn the reason behind its construction, as well as the purposes of each facility.

With Thavnair, considerable handiwork went into designing the atmosphere and a sense of easygoingness. When you have some time, it might be nice to sit back and gaze at the sky for a while. The stretch between Thavnair and Radz-at-Han is also quite pleasing to the eye, with fog effects and color schemes that would make for beautiful screenshots.

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As for Garlemald, the screenshot is all we can share for now. The Garlean Empire has been around since before Yoshi-P joined the FFXIV team, and it’s been through a lot in the eleven years since FFXIV 1.0. Don’t miss out on whatever may happen there next!

The planet Hydaelyn is prominently visible beyond the horizons of Mare Lamentorum. Perhaps the details depicted in this screenshot alone are enough to pique your curiosity.

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There’s also another area, but we can’t reveal its name or even show a screenshot. We tried our best to snap a picture for this broadcast, but there wasn’t anything we could show without spoilers.

Key Characters

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During this segment, we went over the key characters that will be appearing in Endwalker.

Y’shtola seeks to understand the world in its entirety, and she plays a very important role in Patch 6.0 as we uncover various truths about the world. She also provides helpful explanations when the player may be confused.

Urianger was introduced in FFXIV 1.0 as an ominous figure who pops up during the Seventh Astral Calamity with cryptic dialogue, so plenty of care went into presenting his character. We hope you’ll pay close attention to his story, which we’ve written in meticulous detail.

If you’re a fan of Alphinaud and Alisaie, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled in Sharlayan, where we’ll learn more about the twins before they met the Warrior of Light. There were too many of these mini-episodes for the story, so you can instead learn more by talking to nearby NPCs while progressing through the main scenario. We were especially meticulous with the side dialogue this time, plenty of which will only be available in their specific scenes, so don’t miss out!

G’raha Tia comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience that is quite different from the other Archons.
Although we can’t elaborate on how his expertise fits into the mysteries of the world, you can expect him to have an active part in the story.

Since Krile belongs to the Students of Baldesion, she will be the central figure in the events that unfold in Sharlayan. She plays an extremely crucial role in the story, and we hope you’ll look forward to it.

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Additionally, a new system where you can be accompanied by NPCs during quests will be implemented in Patch 6.0. The screenshot is a small glimpse of what it’ll be like.

During specific sequences, you’ll be able to group with characters such as Alphinaud and Alisaie as you head to your objective, though they’ll return to their original location if you go too far outside the intended area.

These sequences are limited in number, but you’ll be able to use Group Pose to take screenshots when accompanied by NPCs.

New Role Quests

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Extra quests for completing all five role questlines won’t be added until Patch 6.1 or later, so you can take some time to level up a variety of jobs during Patch 6.0 to complete all the role quests.

Although Shadowbringers required finishing at least one role questline to complete the main scenario, Endwalker’s main scenario won’t have the same requirement. With that said, role quests will become available as you progress in the main scenario, and you may find it more interesting to work on both of them alongside each other.

As for job quests, the level 80 quests are the end for now, and there won’t be level 90 job quests.

Studium Deliveries

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Studium Deliveries are questlines that can be used to level your Disciples of the Hand and Land classes. Some players have expressed their desire to learn more about the flavor of the infamous Archon loaves, which we’ll learn more about in these quests.

One thing to note is that, unlike their role quest counterparts, the extra quests for completing all five Studium Deliveries questlines will be available in Patch 6.0.

New Dungeons

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We featured a number of screenshots of the new dungeons. Although we can’t elaborate on the details, there will be dungeons where you’ll participate alongside many NPCs. The NPCs have been extremely fine-tuned and we hope you’ll keep an eye out for them.

New Trials

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We can’t elaborate regarding the new trials just yet, but as usual, they’ll be implemented with both Normal and Extreme difficulties. Once you're done with the Normal version from the main scenario quests, give Extreme a try!

New Raid Dungeon

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We went over details regarding the new raid dungeon. The Normal difficulty will be implemented two weeks after Patch 6.0’s release, followed by the implementation of the Savage version two weeks after that.
In the video, you can see gameplay footage of what it’s like inside. We think it’ll turn out to be quite the surprise, and hope you’ll look forward to the encounters you’ll have.

New Treasure Dungeon
　
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A new treasure dungeon will be added in Patch 6.05. It’ll be implemented at the same time as Savage, so those of you who prefer light-hearted content may want to give this a try.

PvP Update

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We went over Crystal Conflict, a new small-scale PvP content that will be added in Patch 6.1.

We felt that short matches that can be played casually would be a better fit for FFXIV players, so we kept the rules as simple as possible. When it came to small-scale PvP content until now, we saw many comments mentioning they felt pressured to play their role flawlessly, so we’ve removed role-based matchmaking and role actions for Crystal Conflict. Instead, we’ve prepared distinctive PvP actions for each job, as well as job-specific Adrenaline Rushes. Each job will be able to heal themselves, so there’s no need to worry about needing to rely on healers.

We did our best to maintain characteristics like dragoon’s Jump, but these are separate from PvE actions. Although the concept of jobs is the same, it should be treated as a brand-new activity. We’d like to cover actions and other specific details in a future broadcast, along with gameplay footage.

For now, we’ve prepared a number of screenshots showing the interior of Crystal Conflict. Simply fighting over the objective wouldn’t make for varied gameplay, so a number of mechanics have been added to the arenas themselves.

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We also went over the rewards that can be obtained through playing Crystal Conflict.

First, there will be season rewards, similar to those we currently have for The Feast. These include ranking rewards for reaching a certain place or tier, and will consist of titles, achievements, and other accolades.

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In addition to these changes, the reward system for PvP overall will be renovated.

Aside from the PvP seasons we currently have, there will also be periods we’re tentatively calling “series.”

During a series period, you’ll be able to accumulate series EXP by participating in any PvP content. When your series EXP reaches a certain amount, your series level will increase and you’ll be awarded with special tokens that can be exchanged for various rewards.

Furthermore, upon reaching certain levels, you’ll obtain item rewards such as equipment and mounts. This new system will allow you to earn rewards by participating in PvP at your own pace, regardless of ranking.

When a new series begins, your series level will be reset and the reward lineup will change, but previous rewards will later be made obtainable with special tokens, so you’ll eventually be able to obtain the rewards you want. We hope you’ll give it a try at your own pace!

“Calling Card” System (Tentative Name)

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We introduced a feature which will allow players to customize their character profiles. The development team will be coming up with different ways to obtain customization options, including methods outside of PvP content.

Some of you may be familiar with customized cards that players create to show off their FFXIV characters on social media; this feature will be something similar to those.

This is scheduled to be added in Patch 6.1 and will be covered in further detail in a future broadcast.

The Feast

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The Feast will be unavailable as of Patch 6.1. You can still hold onto Wolf Collars obtained through The Feast, as they’ll still be obtainable and exchangeable.

Crafting & Gathering Adjustments

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We covered information related to Disciples of the Hand and Land in Patch 6.0.

First, we reviewed how items will no longer be gatherable as high quality items (HQ items). Note that HQ items can still be synthesized through crafting.

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Starting with Patch 6.0, “large-sized” fish will now appear in place of HQ fish, so you’ll still be able to enjoy the activity of catching bigger fish.

Additionally, spearfishing has been made into a mini-game, which we showed through gameplay footage. Because it’s a mini-game, we took extra care in fine-tuning the interface and action timing.

Leve Reward Adjustments

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These leve reward adjustments are not just focused on reducing EXP and gil rewards; as a matter of fact, certain leves saw an increase in rewards. However, since EXP will be downscaled at the same time, the EXP rewards may seem reduced compared to before. Note that you won’t be able to make direct comparisons to the values before and after the adjustments.

System Adjustments

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For the downscaling, we would’ve preferred to round up the EXP accumulated between levels if possible, but doing so requires an immense amount of rewriting values directly into the character database. Rewriting the data would mean halting game operations for several weeks, so we felt that resetting the EXP accumulated between levels would be preferable compared to being unable to play for an extended period of time.

This adjustment will not have any effect on jobs or classes that are already at level 80. If you have a job or class below level 80 with a ways to go before reaching the next level, you can minimize the amount of EXP that will be lost in the reset by reaching the next level before Patch 6.0.

Read on for further details regarding downscaling: North America / Europe

We also showed off some equipment reminiscent of those worn by characters in FFIV. These can be obtained using Allagan tomestones of aphorism, which won’t have a weekly limit, so you’ll be able to obtain multiple sets of equipment for different roles if you so wish.

On that note, some of you may be thinking, “I don’t have enough glamour plates for that!” We’re currently moving forward with plans to expand them in Patch 6.1, and ask you to wait a while longer.

During the process of rebalancing rewards from raids and other content to accommodate the removal of belts, we revisited the number of Allagan tomestones needed to purchase a weapon. In the end, we decided to reduce the number of Allagan tomestones to allow for more flexibility when obtaining equipment.

New hairstyles for Viera will be added in Patch 6.0.

We’d previously announced we’d be unable to add more hairstyles for Viera and Hrothgar as they are designed in a special way compared to other races. However, we saw an extreme number of requests from across the globe, so the development team set out to rework the system and finally made it possible to add more hairstyles after almost two years.

Hrothgar are even more complicated than Viera and will require more time, so their hairstyles will be added in Patch 6.1.

We showed off the new hairstyles for Viera, which you can view in the video.

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The achievement interface will be redesigned to look like an adventuring journal.

The “Near Completion” tab searches your character data to show which achievements are almost complete, whereas the “Recommended” tab will display achievements with rewards and might be helpful if you’re looking for a new goal.

Additionally, we showed gameplay footage of a few mounts and minions, while being mindful of spoilers.

The company action “Back on Your Feet” was too influential in raid content, and will be replaced with a new company action which extends the duration of Sprint within cities.

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During this segment, we were joined by Sound Director Masayoshi Soken, who provided an overview of Immerse Spatial Audio.

Immerse Spatial Audio is a type of virtual surround which allows you to experience FFXIV’s audio in a full 360-degrees around you, just like in the real world. Although certain headphones and speakers come with similar features, the add-on uses a custom profile based on the user’s ear for a personalized spatial audio experience. With this add-on, you’ll be able to experience FFXIV’s in-game sounds all around you, even if your headphones don’t feature spatial audio.

Furthermore, the Immerse Gamepack FINAL FANTASY XIV Edition is something that has been painstakingly fine-tuned over a long period of time for FFXIV. Since FFXIV has been designed for multi-channel surround sound to begin with, we’re very excited to be able to add this feature. A free trial will be available, so we recommend giving it a try if you’re on Windows.

Read on for details.

Housing Update

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In addition to the lottery-based purchasing system coming in Patch 6.1, as of Patch 6.0, it will no longer be possible to relocate to land that isn’t ready for purchase.

Furthermore, the land devaluation system will be removed in Patch 6.1, as it wasn’t fully fulfilling its intended function. We’ve also restricted granting brand-new free company members the authorization to purchase land or the rank of free company master in order to prevent fraudulent transactions of land.

The lottery system can be enabled for individual plots of land, and our current plans are to have a higher percentage of plots available through the lottery system. The development team is still debating how many plots will be available through the current first come, first served system and we’d like to keep an eye on players’ feedback as we finalize our decision for Patch 6.1.

Designating individual wards for free company or personal housing has also been made possible, and the distribution percentages for those are also being adjusted as we continue to monitor the situation.

Rules will be in place to eliminate purchases made in jest, such as limiting lottery entry to once per character, disallowing withdrawal from the lottery, and paying the full price in advance (with refunds if you don’t win).
This is also the reason why winning entrants who don’t claim possession of the plot will have 50% subtracted from their refund.

Some of you may feel that we shouldn’t provide any refunds at all for such cases, but there may be cases where the winner is unable to make time to claim the plot due to various reasons. The logs for lotteries will be seen by the Operations team, so we’ll be able to address cases where players are intentionally entering lotteries and not claiming the plot, or otherwise disrupting normal gameplay.

On the topic of refunds, it’d be difficult to retain refund information on the servers indefinitely, so there will be a set period for claiming refunds.

Oceanian Data Center

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The Oceanian Data Center will be called “Materia” and is currently planned to open in February 2022. Worlds in the Materia Data Center will be treated as New Worlds, so those of you planning to move your Home World there will be able to take advantage of free Home World transfers and other bonuses.

Upcoming Schedule (through 6.05)

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Finally, we went over the upcoming patch schedule.

We understand many of you are interested in hearing more about Island Sanctuary, which is planned for implementation during the 6.x series and will be covered in more detail in future broadcasts.

Development of All Saints’ Wake has been completed and implemented into the data for Patch 6.0. It’d be hard to fully enjoy the seasonal event if it was held simultaneously with Patch 6.0, so it’ll be held after the Starlight Celebration and in the new year. We’ve prepared an activity using a dungeon for this All Saints’ Wake, so be sure to give it a try once you’ve settled down with the main scenario!