{Curiosity} Where did the original concepts end and new begin?

[Genjuro]

If I recall from one of the interviews that Yoshi gave. Tanaka had already developed the main story scenario up until when the main story finished. I don't remember if this was around level 30 or so or further. I remember Yoshi saying that there was not a good way that he could progress the story from where the main scenario was leading so he decided to make it a part of the GC storyline instead when he took over.

I know for certain that the final couple of battles in the GC series (United We Stand, and To Kill a Raven, possibly a couple of other battles maybe primals) were battles that Yoshi oversaw.

I know the armory system and job systems have always been there from the start of 1.0. The idea was that if you ran around solo, then you would be running around in your class with full support from other classes. But if you grouped up, there were more benefits to changing to specific job to fit a specific role in the group.

If I recall the original idea of 1.0 was to be FFXI-2. The idea was that you could go into your mog house and select another world and come to FFXIV; hence why the races were similar (This was from an interview with Tanaka I think). They found out that the PS2 could not handle this operation so they dropped it and made it into a separate game. The races being similar were to draw the FFXI crowd into the game to give them something familiar hold onto.

I don't believe the gold saucer was a part of the original idea when 1.0 was conceived. I think only after the failed launch of 1.0 did SE want to start trying to incorporate aspects of other Final Fantasy Series into the game.

I don't know how far Tanaka had planned out, but I know that 1.0's world could have supported a flying version being that it was an open world. The only problem with that was the memory limitations of the PS3. Hence why when Yoshi took over he split up the cities and worlds into segments. But having said that in 1.0 there was not such thing as jump and there were invisible walls and snags that your character constantly got caught on, so take that for what you will.

I remember Yoshi saying that the 1.0 developers really didn't have a direction for which they wanted to go. They just wanted to push the graphical qualities as far as they could, hence the high specifications for the game when it came out.

[MageBlack]

I don't know how far Tanaka had planned out, but I know that 1.0's world could have supported a flying version being that it was an open world. The only problem with that was the memory limitations of the PS3. Hence why when Yoshi took over he split up the cities and worlds into segments. But having said that in 1.0 there was not such thing as jump and there were invisible walls and snags that your character constantly got caught on, so take that for what you will.

I wondered if flying might have worked well in 1.0 because it was not separated by zones and loading screens. Oh the frustration of being snagged on a rock the size of your foot or needing to walk around a fence that was knee high and 20ft long. Some people complained about invisible walls in 2.0, they would have hated being rooted to the ground.

I remember Yoshi saying that the 1.0 developers really didn't have a direction for which they wanted to go. They just wanted to push the graphical qualities as far as they could, hence the high specifications for the game when it came out.

From what i recall, there was very little communication from Tanaka and his team during development. Made me wonder if it was intentional to keep things secret until they were released or if it was because they really had nothing to tell us. From the first LftP (written) I was impressed with the openness of the team and happy to see them interacting with their fanbase.

I wonder, was the Crystal Tower ever a part of early lore? Some of the developer comments suggests that at least that Dalamud and Bahamut was planned for a different context in 1.0 than how they were ultimately used.

I'm also wondering how much of the Ishgard/Dravania conflict is from original design plans and how much was created after they made A Realm Reborn. Same with Midgardsormr's role in the story.

Yes, the opening cinematic of 1.0 had left me with so many questions. I always wanted to get into that ship (havent managed to get to keeper of the lake yet, but I will!). I also wonder what was planned for Ishgard based on the Dragoon quests and how/if it differs from what we are getting. Is there any way to see lore posts and threads from 1.0?

[Renik]

snip

Just an observation, i think you got some info mixed, first, they never had the intention to implement jobs in 1.0, the idea was building one character (character level) and then mixing skills to make your own class, the main build, char level would determine if your character was more focused on a single role, or built to perform various roles but less efficiently. And last, ffxiv was never meant to be ffxi-2 or even similar to it, the project started as a graphic rebuild of ffxi for it's new client in ps3, but they decided to make a new game instead, if they used the races to save work time, or for the nostalgia factor is something we can't really know.