Final Fantasy XIV Interview — Stormblood’s Success, Romance, Graphics Upgrades and Mo

Thought some might enjoy reading this.

http://www.dualshockers.com/final-fa...ew-stormblood/

"For example, if it so happens that the player is male, playing a male character, it could easily give that sort of idea that perhaps there is a chance. It’s certainly not strange, and I think perhaps Ishikawa-san is perhaps deliberately writing that into the dialogue.

But at the same time, as another example, if the player is a woman, utilizing a female character, or if he is a man playing a female character, you could easily take the dialogue as strong words of admiration towards a strong woman. I think Ishikawa-san was able to write the lines so well that it can be interpreted in either way."

So, uh, Yoshi - you know that gay and lesbian people exist, right? I'm pretty sure you should, unless the gay and lesbian characters scattered occasionally in little corners of Eorzea were added in as jokes or not to your knowledge. So... why dancing around words here? Why feel the need to specify "if male, then ___" and vice versa?

This answer felt so weird to me.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

So, uh, Yoshi - you know that gay and lesbian people exist, right?

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Do you expect everyone across the world in every country to adhere to your standards just as soon as you come up with them?

The standard of acknowledging and respecting people's existence...?

Yay once again anything related to graphic options is SHUT DOWN as usual.

I want to be romantically involved with Hien damnit!

Aside from that I'm disappointed most regarding the graphics upgrade. Even just an optional texture pack would be nice!

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Originally Posted by Dualgunner

Aside from that I'm disappointed most regarding the graphics upgrade. Even just an optional texture pack would be nice!

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Yeah, I feel like Yoshi and SE in general tend to get distracted with one aspect of a question, all the while forgetting all of the other points players have brought up... or maybe they don't pay attention? I'm not sure. But when people ask for graphical improvements, I highly doubt they're asking for HZD-levels of graphical quality. The most common request has just been a high-resolution texture pack, which... shouldn't be that hard?

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Originally Posted by Naunet

Yeah, I feel like Yoshi and SE in general tend to get distracted with one aspect of a question, all the while forgetting all of the other points players have brought up... or maybe they don't pay attention? I'm not sure. But when people ask for graphical improvements, I highly doubt they're asking for HZD-levels of graphical quality. The most common request has just been a high-resolution texture pack, which... shouldn't be that hard?

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Agreed. Someone had a really good pic of Hien's cost that was very pixelated as an example of why we need an update but I can't find it.

I wonder if there is a way to ask for an hd texture pack with no telephone game in the way.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

So, uh, Yoshi - you know that gay and lesbian people exist, right?

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I'm sure he does, but everyone has a different way of thinking about and approaching the topic. The game itself is relatively inclusive and that's what matters most I think. XIV isn't really the place to bring gender politics into play anyway.

Disappointed but not surprised about the graphics. Doing overhauls like that takes a ton of work that's not easy for non-techie people to understand... I hope people give it a rest for a while. Artists don't like seeing their beautiful designs become ugly blobs of pixels or being told to tone down on the ornaments because the engine can't handle them you know? Players aren't the only ones frustrated by limitations. But for right now the costs would far exceed the benefits. Maybe if the game's still around with a substantial base in another five years...? Depends on how far XIV falls from whatever the new standard is, really.

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Originally Posted by Hestzhyen

I'm sure he does, but everyone has a different way of thinking about and approaching the topic. The game itself is relatively inclusive and that's what matters most I think.

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Exactly.

Everyone's welcome to his or her own politics, but never, ever assume that one has the right to impose one's politics on others. Live and let live. As long as the story is not outright discriminatory and exclusivist, I don't see why someone has to pick a fight over it.

I like how Yoshi needs to 100% blatantly acknowledge lesbian/bisexual etc, or it doesn't exist!

Seriously. The game had plenty of canon NPC gay couples. Stop trying to twist words around as if they game doesn't acknowledge them just because he didn't openly mention them this one time.

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Originally Posted by Exiled_Tonberry

The game had plenty of canon NPC gay couples. Stop trying to twist words around as if they game doesn't acknowledge them just because he didn't openly mention them this one time.

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I just thought it was weird that he went way out of his way to specify the only instances he could think of where a player could have "that sort of idea" as between a male player controlling a male character. I even mentioned that there are gay and lesbian characters in the game, which is what made Yoshi's response even stranger to me.

Talk about twisting words - that's exactly what y'all are doing to mine.

I mean, how hard is it to just be like, "Yeah, I can see how some people could have taken it that way." Instead he had to spent two whole paragraphs elaborating on the very specific scenario where he thought it would be possible and the other scenarios where he didn't think it would be possible. It's not like Lyse or Alisae's dialogue changes much (or at all) if your character is a guy or a girl, so there's not even this subtext that's present only if you're on a guy character.

I just found it a really weird (and unnecessarily excluding) thing to get so specific about.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

I just thought it was weird that he went way out of his way to specify the only instances he could think of where a player could have "that sort of idea" as between a male player controlling a male character. I even mentioned that there are gay and lesbian characters in the game, which is what made Yoshi's response evenstranger to me.

Talk about twisting words - that's exactly what y'all are doing to mine.

I mean, how hard is it to just be like, "Yeah, I can see how some people could have taken it that way." Instead he had to spent two whole paragraphs elaborating on the very specific scenario where he thought it would be possible and the other scenarios where he didn't think it would be possible. It's not like Lyse or Alisae's dialogue changes much (or at all) if your character is a guy or a girl, so there's not even this subtext that's present only if you're on a guy character.

I just found it a really weird (and unnecessarily excluding) thing to get so specific about.

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I agree, it is very awkward word twisting to me. Do not get down because the first reply does not get it, you now have 2 other posters that do.

The reason Yoshi stated it like that was to make it simple and clear.

He was just trying to convey the idea that some people would take Lyse's interaction with the Warrior of Light differently.

Just because he didn't mention people of other sexual orientations doesn't mean he's trying to exclude them. It was just an example.

And it has nothing to do with politics. Yoshi not mentioning LGBT people in the interview doesn't reflect on his political stances whatsoever.

As a gay guy, it didn't bother me at all and I understood his intention. And I definitely don't think he dislikes gay people simply because he didn't mention them.

Anyway, shame about the graphics. Can't wait to see job changes for 4.1.

It's the 4.1 changes I'm interested in. Although he stated 4.06 as more or less sorting balance out, I'd say it's not quite there yet.

Smn did get two adjustments, but generally disappointing that more wasn't done at the time. So hopefully a target for any 4.1 changes.

It's opposite number Scholar currently suffers from one of the same issues as Summoner - Clunky.
I'm steering clear of performance output here - and focusing on the actual enjoyment of playing the respective classes.

The 4.0 revisions to both pet classes resulted in a disjointed play style which wasn't there before. The determination to follow the 'gauge for every class' mantra did not carry over well to Smn & Sch.

(Not the only ones as Whm's lily system is over fussy, and could be replaced with just straightforward timers on the skills).

Back to Smn/Sch - they do need to recognize that the quote "I think things have settled down at this point" isn't entirely accurate. Both pet classes gameplay needs to be looked at in 4.1, and with more than just minor tweaking to a system which doesn't really work that well for a smooth, flowing experience.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

I mean, how hard is it to just be like, "Yeah, I can see how some people could have taken it that way."

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Personally this is exactly what I got out of his statements. His elaboration of male vs. female wasn't him denying or blockading the idea of an LGBT-tilt to it, but simply his view point as a guy who plays both a male and female character going through the game. But the point of the question and the answers given was "It's up to player interpretation", and Yoshi-P's elaborations were his personal player interpretations. Nothin' wrong with that.

That's what I got out of what he said anyway.

Anywho, going on to the rest of the interview... interesting discussion regarding optimization and graphics. Glad that they haven't totally nixed the idea, even if it is low-priority, and that character optimization is first on that low-down list. Would really like to see improved graphics textures.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

So, uh, Yoshi - you know that gay and lesbian people exist, right? I'm pretty sure you should, unless the gay and lesbian characters scattered occasionally in little corners of Eorzea were added in as jokes or not to your knowledge. So... why dancing around words here? Why feel the need to specify "if male, then ___" and vice versa?

This answer felt so weird to me.

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Yoshida's "dancing around with words" is a rather neutral way of putting it. The wording need not be exclusive to same gender romances. Saying a male player playing a male character does not mean the player (or even the character) needs be attracted to other men, but it does imply that the NPC may still have an attraction to them.

Also, the sentence is slightly taken out of context here;

Even I, when I was looking at some of the dialogue involving Lyse and even Alisae, thought “oh, this can be taken a certain way.” I think that comes from a strong admiration these characters feel towards the Warrior of Light. For example, if it so happens that the player is male, playing a male character, it could easily give that sort of idea that perhaps there is a chance. It’s certainly not strange, and I think perhaps Ishikawa-san is perhaps deliberately writing that into the dialogue.

But at the same time, as another example, if the player is a woman, utilizing a female character, or if he is a man playing a female character, you could easily take the dialogue as strong words of admiration towards a strong woman. I think Ishikawa-san was able to write the lines so well that it can be interpreted in either way.

The way the whole paragraph is worded, it's meant to demonstrate strong feelings of kinship with the player-character, despite their genders. Or romance, since the dialogue was written to allow the imagination to grab ahold and run with it.

It's about as neutral as possible. So naturally, people will take issue.

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Originally Posted by Teraluna

It's the 4.1 changes I'm interested in. Although he stated 4.06 as more or less sorting balance out, I'd say it's not quite there yet.

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I think he meant output-wise the jobs are more or less balanced when played well, or at least that's how I understood it. How the jobs play is another matter and they're hoping to fix the worst offenders come 4.1.

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Originally Posted by Waliel

I think he meant output-wise the jobs are more or less balanced when played well, or at least that's how I understood it. How the jobs play is another matter and they're hoping to fix the worst offenders come 4.1.

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Read as: they're reworking Summoner in 4.1

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Originally Posted by Waliel

I think he meant output-wise the jobs are more or less balanced when played well, or at least that's how I understood it. How the jobs play is another matter and they're hoping to fix the worst offenders come 4.1.

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Yes, I go along with this. Balance and play style can be regarded as two different things.
So hopefully 4.1 can improve the smoothness (for want of a better word), and overall enjoyment of playing the pet classes (but not to the exclusion of others of course).

I think the graphic question got a good answer. As I though, updating the graphic engine may cause longer developer times, at the same time increase the Hardware requirement very fast. I rather prefer a good pace for content updates than get better looking.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

So, uh, Yoshi - you know that gay and lesbian people exist, right? I'm pretty sure you should, unless the gay and lesbian characters scattered occasionally in little corners of Eorzea were added in as jokes or not to your knowledge. So... why dancing around words here? Why feel the need to specify "if male, then ___" and vice versa?

This answer felt so weird to me.

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Regardless of what your interpetation is, it doesn't really change their (The developers) image of a NPC's personality. Lyse, among others would have great respect and admiration to the player character regardless of their gender and that the player themselves to interpret it. Then you have those like Haucherfaunt who throw away all subtlety, or Mangai who's specifically looking for a female that meets his standards (to which has a special reply from female characters to my knowledge).

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Originally Posted by Xlantaa

I think the graphic question got a good answer. As I though, updating the graphic engine may cause longer developer times, at the same time increase the Hardware requirement very fast. I rather prefer a good pace for content updates than get better looking.

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Most people aren't asking for a graphic overhaul of the whole game. The game looks great but its the textures that are the issue. Usually a thread that pops up on the forums is about them and wanting to have an option (almost every game out right now allows options for this but xiv(?)). Its as if he's withholding them because of the 1.0 issue with its high end graphics that at that time was hard to run on a normal pc. And after his comment that FF relied to heavily on graphics is another jab at the people who like nice visuals in there games. But enough is enough now, not allowing at least a textures upgrade is a little ridiculous at this point.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

Talk about twisting words - that's exactly what y'all are doing to mine.

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No one has twisted anything. Your initial response strongly implied some sort of bias because Yoshida did not specifically mention gay or lesbian relationships. You're basically complaining about micro-aggressions, and those are not popular for a reason.

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Originally Posted by Bourne_Endeavor

No one has twisted anything. Your initial response strongly implied some sort of bias because Yoshida did not specifically mention gay or lesbian relationships. You're basically complaining about micro-aggressions, and those are not popular for a reason.

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You have no idea what you are implying do you? It is quite offensive.

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Originally Posted by Exiled_Tonberry

I like how Yoshi needs to 100% blatantly acknowledge lesbian/bisexual etc, or it doesn't exist!

Seriously. The game had plenty of canon NPC gay couples. Stop trying to twist words around as if they game doesn't acknowledge them just because he didn't openly mention them this one time.

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Perfectly put!

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Originally Posted by Naunet

So, uh, Yoshi - you know that gay and lesbian people exist, right?

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Maybe it's just that Lyse and Alisae are not lesbian. Just because lesbian people exist, doesn't mean every single fictional character has to be bi.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

So, uh, Yoshi - you know that gay and lesbian people exist, right? I'm pretty sure you should, unless the gay and lesbian characters scattered occasionally in little corners of Eorzea were added in as jokes or not to your knowledge. So... why dancing around words here? Why feel the need to specify "if male, then ___" and vice versa?

This answer felt so weird to me.

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Honestly, I think you are looking for, and finding something to be critical of, not because it's there, but because you want it to be there. Everything said, and unsaid is not a criticism or slight against one group or another.

For context, Yoshida preceded that answer saying; "In Final Fantasy XIV the writers cannot determine the character’s age or sex, so I do want there to be room for imagination. Perhaps Lyse does feel something that’s more than friendship? It’s good to leave it to the imagination."

Stop looking for things to be offended by.

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Originally Posted by Snow_Princess

You have no idea what you are implying do you? It is quite offensive.

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Once again someone looking for offense, I see nothing in Bourne's post that implies anything offensive.

I honestly have never gotten a romatic vibe from NPCs in the game... Other then Haurachafaunts stalkerish stalking. It baffles me that people see romance toward the WoL. I can't figure out which dialogue they are reading to see romance in it.

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Originally Posted by Grayve

I honestly have never gotten a romatic vibe from NPCs in the game... Other then Haurachafaunts stalkerish stalking. It baffles me that people see romance toward the WoL. I can't figure out which dialogue they are reading to see romance in it.

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Haurchefaunt's admiration was hero worship and enthusiastic friendship, it's sad that so many see him in a creepy manner that was never intended at all.

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Originally Posted by bass9020

Yay once again anything related to graphic options is SHUT DOWN as usual.

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I thought that there was a clear implication of some form of graphics overhaul for the next expansion, perhaps you should recheck the article?

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

I thought that there was a clear implication of some form of graphics overhaul for the next expansion, perhaps you should recheck the article?

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It seemed very clear to me, not sure what you are getting at? If we do get something in the next expansion then awesome and ill admit I jumped the gun but as of now nope I don't think we will see much of a change.

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Originally Posted by bass9020

It seemed very clear to me, not sure what you are getting at? If we do get something in the next expansion then awesome and ill admit I jumped the gun but as of now nope I don't think we will see much of a change.

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There seemed to be a clear implication that something they have in mind for the next expansion requires changes to the graphics engine. I may have misread it, but it seemed to be implied fairly directly. But yes I agree that during 4.X it's unlikely.

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

There seemed to be a clear implication that something they have in mind for the next expansion requires changes to the graphics engine. I may have misread it, but it seemed to be implied fairly directly. But yes I agree that during 4.X it's unlikely.

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I could be misreading it as well so I guess only time will tell! I think most of us would be more than fine with a texture option, but anything would be a welcome addition!

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

Haurchefaunt's admiration was hero worship and enthusiastic friendship, it's sad that so many see him in a creepy manner that was never intended at all.

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I never understood this myself either.

I have played through all of Heavensward, and never did I think that any of the npcs had a romantic interest in my character, including Haurchefaunt and Aymeric.

Some fans say there were romantic vibes, but I didn't feel them at all.

And I didn't feel that way about Lyse either.

I don't think it was the intention of the writers to make it appear romantic.

But I think they're trying to be graceful and tactful about it in interviews because they know some fans would like that.

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Originally Posted by Hunky

I never understood this myself either.

I have played through all of Heavensward, and never did I think that any of the npcs had a romantic interest in my character, including Haurchefaunt and Aymeric.

Some fans say there were romantic vibes, but I didn't feel them at all.

And I didn't feel that way about Lyse either.

I don't think it was the intention of the writers to make it appear romantic.

But I think they're trying to be graceful and tactful about it in interviews because they know some fans would like that.

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People see what they want to see. Though to be fair, I think Haurchefant had some more suggestive dialogue in Japanese, and was toned down for other languages.

Good but short interview, I'm saddened by the graphics thing, but it's the direct answer, Giuseppe asked about considering a game engine upgrade, not about a texture pack or about using more capabilities of the engine to improve the current visuals, so I wouldn't dismiss the chance that improvements there might happen. And Yoshida is right, if they wanted to make a game engine overhaul he would have to start planning and working on it now for it to happen in 2 expansions time, so my wild guess is that might happen after 5.0.

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

There seemed to be a clear implication that something they have in mind for the next expansion requires changes to the graphics engine. I may have misread it, but it seemed to be implied fairly directly. But yes I agree that during 4.X it's unlikely.

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Could just be something like water reflections for this new place they're planning or new shaders they aren't using now to make a zone or a bossfight appear as they want. Now that I think about it, does this game have any fog at all? Like proper fog.

We definitely want an updated if not completely new graphics engine in order to make the most out of graphical technologies and at the same time we can get much better character customization and the 1.0 butts we've much desired!...

I don't think the game needs to display hundreds of characters on the same screen to be an MMO and I'm sure there is a way to work that out so that better graphics won't necessarily mean less FPS, like limiting the number and quality of NPCs displayed at once based on their proximity to the camera!...

The game certainly has something like that already but there's always room for improvement and it's SE's job to find the right way to make it work!...

I want my character to look the best then I want NPCs and fiends to be able to be seen from the farthest possible distance, nearby players come in last place and I'm willing to neglect them in favor of better graphics overall!...