Hi All,

Our next patch, 1.19, looks to be EPIC!

Good job Yoshida-san! My favorites include:

  • Giving New Players better guidance with simplified opening tutorials.
  • Low Rank Dungeons for new players to adventure in. (Note while these 2 items may no longer be valid for high level players, it's still a great thing they're doing to ensure New Players / PS3 Launch is as welcoming / helpful as possible.

  • IFRIT Battle / Storyline!
  • Beastman Strongholds! Joy! (^_^) - I can't wait to see if these surpass places like Castle Oztroja or Castle Zvahl, etc.
  • Chocobos & Airships! Finally, some more Final Fantasy flavor to the game.
  • New Grand Company Quests & Items. Hopefully some cool storylines involving the 3 Leaders of the 3 Nations.
  • "Adjustments to ranged attack algorithms of enemies" - I wonder if this means we can kite enemies now?
  • XP Chain Bonuses! Finally, some fun back in Grind Parties.
  • Redistribution of Actions / WS / Abilities for All Classes (List) - This will be exciting and I think very necessary. To get our classes to be more in line with future Jobs that they turn into, and to make them more viable / better defined, I can't wait to see what they're planning.
  • The End of Physical Level - Joy! I hope that 1.19 at least lifts the restriction on the ~3 hour wait per "Reassign" until we get the automated Stat Switching in 1.20. It's ridiculous to properly play more than 1 class at once right now without waiting ~a full day to reassign all stats you want.
  • Simplified Recipes! Hopefully no more recipes that require 7 Final Parts (and each Part requiring ~5 - 8 Sub Parts, etc.).
  • Materia System! It looks so innocuous on paper, but thinking about it, this alone can change / really revitalize all of our Equipment / Weapons we have in the game!

    I hope we can get into stuff like Aeolian Scimitar with Double Attack Materia or an Aeolian Scimitar with Counterattack Materia, etc.

and Yoshida-san saying 1.19's notes alone are 3 to 5 TIMES as large as 1.18. 1.18 delivered in spades, so I can't wait to see 1.19 now.

It's a bit of bummer it's 1.5 months away, but it looks like it'll be worth the wait.