New interview from JP 4gamer site

[Rydin]

5% that would quit when they don't add enough stuff in a small amount of time which then they quit also and go back to wow at some point. WoW players quit wow then play something else and return when wow does a patch then they play other game that came out and wait for other wow patch.

True... SE needs that 6 million people who bought XIII on console

[Zenaku]

True... SE needs that 6 million people who bought XIII on console

That would work remember SE want Final fantasy fan that never play a Online FF before that what they looking at not wow players. SE know wow players would just quit and return back to wow when a new patch come out or there new mmo so what even try.

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

EDIT -- Also to add this kind of post from you is the reason why the devs have to put their information through official translators first pushing the release of info back. I say have the fans who wants to translate it translate it first since most of the time they do it faster than official ones who get paid to do the job. Let the players who wants to read those fan translated comments read and decide for themselves if the translations are accurate, and not to speculate too much on it, just think of it as general idea of whats going on, then once the proper official translations gets announced to go by that. --

I'm glad you and Renta are around to give us fast and thorough translations, Reinheart, but I understand why the devs prefer to go through official translators first. Namely because if you're asleep we get:

they think the NA forum needs to chill out.

And it's not like people always react in a reasonable, rational manner to things.

But anyway...

For all the people chiming in on "it'll be Cid" "it'll be Bahamut," haven't you ever noticed that when Bahamut shows up, Cid is nowhere to be found? You never see Cid and Bahamut at the same time... you don't have to be Lois Lane to put two and two together here.

[RAXX]

They didn't really talk about what is or isnt going to be in 1.18 or 1.19. They just spoke mainly about where the game came from since release.

[Physic]

That would work remember SE want Final fantasy fan that never play a Online FF before that what they looking at not wow players. SE know wow players would just quit and return back to wow when a new patch come out or there new mmo so what even try.

Its a good idea to try to appeal to a new market, but i think if they want to hit an offline rpg market, they need to lower the grind, and increase the content/story. This game as it is, is basically just a leveling game. Most people buy offlinerpgs for the story adventure, and progression, which the game is currently lacking. And honestly they talk of WoW and EQ and other styles of current MMOs as their blueprint, those games would not appeal to the main final fantasy market.

If thats thier market they should have spent all this time creating a gripping story, interesting charachters and stories weaved into the adventure and exploration of the world. Leveling is low on the list of priorities of an offline rpg player, It happens naturally over the course of exploration/adventuring.

While it seems they want to go the direction of standardized MMOs i think to hit that market they need to go even further away from that.

[Reinheart]

But anyway...

For all the people chiming in on "it'll be Cid" "it'll be Bahamut," haven't you ever noticed that when Bahamut shows up, Cid is nowhere to be found? You never see Cid and Bahamut at the same time... you don't have to be Lois Lane to put two and two together here.

It's Biggs or Wedge or Gilgamesh or but more famous/well known are Cid + Most of the main summons like Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Leviathan, Bahamut... just hope they don't do what they did in FF13 or was it 12... I forget already >< wanted summons to be summons not air ship names.

Aside from all this stuff... wish they make a playground for FF fans in the game like the Triple Triads and other stuff people been posting something like Gold Saucer in FF7 with mini games and winning prize like old FF series character statues to decorate your mog house lol... might not relate to FF14 but it sure will attract lots of FF fans lol

[Reinheart]

They didn't really talk about what is or isnt going to be in 1.18 or 1.19. They just spoke mainly about where the game came from since release.

1.18 and 1.19 looks like it's going to be major changes to the battle system, along with few other patches most likely to keep on updating/modifying what will be added in these two. Was interesting to see YoshiP talking about jobs and bringing up Full Party for Raids... maybe hint saying jobs will be in 1.18 along with raids? so we can try it out?? we'll see soon

[Rydin]

Its a good idea to try to appeal to a new market, but i think if they want to hit an offline rpg market, they need to lower the grind, and increase the content/story. This game as it is, is basically just a leveling game. Most people buy offlinerpgs for the story adventure, and progression, which the game is currently lacking. And honestly they talk of WoW and EQ and other styles of current MMOs as their blueprint, those games would not appeal to the main final fantasy market.

If thats thier market they should have spent all this time creating a gripping story, interesting charachters and stories weaved into the adventure and exploration of the world. Leveling is low on the list of priorities of an offline rpg player, It happens naturally over the course of exploration/adventuring.

While it seems they want to go the direction of standardized MMOs i think to hit that market they need to go even further away from that.

SO true... but there is a difference between having a good story and telling a good story
Kind of like how journalist go where the story is, and even if there is an interesting story to tell.. It would be boringly dull if told by Ben Stein

Case and point... FFXII in my opinion had a great story. Dalmasca caught in turmoil... Basch, Ashe, Balthier... All really likeable characters...
But being told from the viewpoint of Vaan (Who had no real business being there in the first place) and narrated by the Marquis Ondore (Who is the video game mix of Ben Steins voice with Charles Dickens overly wordy writing style), the beautiful story that existed was never told in a way befitting it's splendor

Similarly, Eorzea has rich history and lore, but the lack of later story telling content, Coupled with the poor NPC dialogue (I am only commenting on the English, I can not comment on the entertainment value of the Japanese dialogue) lead to a very poor grasp of the story

Most of the side quests that tie into the story repeat the same semi-foreboding mild warning so much that they lose impact.

tl;dr The story is there, it's just being told very slowly...

[Physic]

SO true... but there is a difference between having a good story and telling a good story
Kind of like how journalist go where the story is, and even if there is an interesting story to tell.. It would be boringly dull if told by Ben Stein

Case and point... FFXII in my opinion had a great story. Dalmasca caught in turmoil... Basch, Ashe, Balthier... All really likeable characters...
But being told from the viewpoint of Vaan (Who had no real business being there in the first place) and narrated by the Marquis Ondore (Who is the video game mix of Ben Steins voice with Charles Dickens overly wordy writing style), the beautiful story that existed was never told in a way befitting it's splendor

Similarly, Eorzea has rich history and lore, but the lack of later story telling content, Coupled with the poor NPC dialogue (I am only commenting on the English, I can not comment on the entertainment value of the Japanese dialogue) lead to a very poor grasp of the story

Most of the side quests that tie into the story repeat the same semi-foreboding mild warning so much that they lose impact.

tl;dr The story is there, it's just being told very slowly...

i agree it has a story, but its too far between. They need to come up with a new storytelling concept that meshes better with an open world, but still delivers an interesting story. Also the story isnt very well tied to any progression. In an offline game you go from place to place, exploring different areas, dungeons, fighting bosses, etc, each part revealing a bit more of the story. In ffxiv, the story seems to just occur in a box, when you reach some landmark based on your level.

They should weave story into level progression, as well as dungeons/adventures. A big problem with the side quests they added is most of them dont tell much of a story (related to the overall world and plotline), and dont give you a better understanding of the world. In offline rpgs, a lot of side stories either have to do with your own progression or finding out more about special events or charachters, this is a more useful side story to the game.

Regardless they need to innovate here, IF their goal is a new market, because ffxi already failed for offline rpg fans by and large. most dont consider it a real FF title, and i doubt they were looking at any MMO really as greatness.

however if they want to hit the standard mmo market, then this strategy could theoretically work

[Seif]

This is bound to rise some crack-pot-theories for sure but I'd really like to know what they mean by saying they'll revamp the MAP?!

The eternal optimist in me says that yes they'll FINALLY put some FANTASY in this game filled with boring realistic plains that don't look like a FF game at all.

BUT and this is a big but; maybe it's just A) tweaks to the actual map-screen and it's UI OR collision tweaks to environments.

I'm trying hard not to assume anything until they state this in some clear way and show pictures of what they're doing.
Until them I'm thinking this might mean that they're probably saving memory by using the same assets but scaling the copy pasted elements by code so that they'd look less alike.

I didn't see the Kanji for (paper) map in that answer anywhere so at least that gives me hope =)