In what direction are armor, weapons, and other equipment heading in the future?

[Bayohne]

Greetings! This thread seems like a good place to drop another major posts from Yoshida, as it deals heavily on the armor and equipment in FFXIV.

Hello! This is Producer/Director Yoshida.

Sorry that this post is late!
Though this is mainly a thread about the recipe edits, since the discussion is largely shifting into gear limitations, I’d like to discuss about my plans for the future of equipment requirements!
This is uber-long, so please feel free to read it when you have some time.

Premise
I touched on this in yesterday’s post on the repair system, but I am planning to write about the basic direction I think about in terms of FFXIV and modern day MMORPGs. Please read that as well once the letter is released.
(Considering the current development situation, it seems like the letter will be released right before patch 1.19 goes live)

Importance of Individuality in MMORPGs
Of all online games, the MMO genre has thrived from everyone playing them for extremely long periods of time. Within MMORPGs, being able to individualize a character is a very important element that makes people continue to play for long periods of time.

Putting on rare equipment that other players don’t have, boasting your style by wearing equipment combinations others hadn’t even thought about, becoming the adventurer you dreamed of drawing a sword engulfed in flames! I am sure the wands that are shining with light that high level character equip will be a strong incentive to level up, clear content, and aim to be a great mage! (We will implement these kinds of weapons sometime soon lol.)

However, individuality is a really difficult theme for developers.
Especially with equipment, the appearance and the stats need to be inextricably linked.

Below I will discuss looking at MMORPGs from an item only standpoint.

Equipment Appearance and Stats
Since an item’s stats increase a characters abilities and make it easier to clear content, for players of course, the higher the stats the better.
Naturally, players will want these types of items and it will become a motivating factor for clearing content.
(Especially for end-game focused MMORPGs)

However, on the other hand, if everyone starts to equip these items placing emphasis on stats, the whole individuality of appearance will die.
On the developer side, they spend a lot of time and effort creating original designs that fit these items because they have such strong stats.
Due to this, the developers adjust the difficulty of obtaining these items so players can equip them.
Item wise, the content difficulty and drop rate are arranged based on this.
(For content difficulty we don’t really think of it based on reward, but it’s pretty complex so I will omit that portion)

When differences in obtainment difficult items are added, time lag will arise before everyone gets through it and it’s in this time period where we can preserve the individuality of appearance.
The development team works hard to make sure that this time lag does not fill up by preparing new content and original items, and also makes sure that the balance between appearance and stats is preserved.

On the flip side, appearance is extremely important, regardless of class, to role play as your own character. In the real world, I am pretty partial to western clothing lol.
If there is anyone who wears the same brand of clothing, I think there comes a time when you say to yourself “Hmm, maybe it’s time to try something new.”
In my case, if someone were to say “Game producers can’t wear these types of clothing!” I would think “at least let me wear what clothes I want!”

This is the same in the world of Eorzea. I believe it is a natural desire to enjoy the equipment coordinating and living life in Eorzea as you wish.

With that said, I would really like to place an importance on two kinds of desires:
I want to equip items with high stats before anyone else!
I want to have fun and look awesome by equipping a lot of things as I please!

This is a fundamental.

Balance between performance, appearance, and classes
When trying to allow freedom for both performance and appearance, it becomes very difficult, because the concept of classes must also be considered for battles.

In order to allow all gear to be equipped freely based on appearance with no worries about performance, every item must have the same stats. The following is an extreme example.

If a mage wearing full-plate armor is able to continue to cast spells with ease while being attacked by numerous monsters, I think there is something wrong. In addition, a third person watching this scene will not be able to distinguish whether the player is a mage or warrior. The individuality of the character itself will increase, but the individuality of warriors is lost. It is even safe to say that this game will not feel like an RPG. As a result it is necessary to implement restrictions such as, "mages cannot wear full-plate armor," or, "if mages wear full-plate armor, the gear will have very little effect."

In the case that we do not “allow mages to equip full-plate armor,” we will not have to consider whether to make the item weaker when mages equip it. Likewise, the problem of visualization can be averted too. The flipside of this is that the individual player’s freedom dies.

In the case that we allow "mages to equip full-plate armor as well but not allow it to exert its maximum potential," we will design the item so that it weakens when equipped by a mage. However, if full-plate armor turns out to be weaker than a robe, not only will players be upset but this will also break the balance of the game itself. The normal thought process would be, "Then I’ll just wear a robe when fighting!” At the same time, if the dev. team decides, "Well, it is a full-plate armor after all, so we might as well make it better than the robe," then Eorzea will be filled with sorcerers fighting in full-plate armor. Robes would go the way of dinosaurs.

If I were a mage wearing a robe because that is my image of a mage and my PT members tell me, “Mages should wear full-plate armor too!” that will be a major turnoff for me.

Let me pose a few examples:
“Uniqueness of an individual character” vs. “uniqueness granted to ‘classes’ such as Disciples of War/Magic” vs “uniqueness in the form of performance”
I understand that these are extreme examples but I believe they illustrate the reason why there are restrictions on equipment because unique characteristics can cancel each other out under certain conditions. We refer to this as the “player’s motivation.” However, we apologize for not making it clear as to which “uniqueness” this motivation was aimed at.

There is no Universal Answer
We want to keep the uniqueness of each characteristic, so there will be no black or white design change such as “We are going to put restrictions on all items!” or “None of the items will have restrictions!” This is because in order to appeal to as many players as possible in today’s world of MMORPGs, we must be able to cover many characteristics. It is easy to choose one universal option, but this will not make us competitive in the long run. As greedy as we may sound we will spare no effort in achieving this goal. We believe that it is best to have both and, in the end, it will come down to the “balance” of the content for each patch.

Allow me to lay down a scenario. A small group of hardcore players will skip sleep or the need to eat and jump into a high level battle right after it is released. These players will then be the first to obtain a shining rod that has devastating powers and can only be equipped by a black mage. Other players will gaze at these hardcore players with aspiration. However, in 3 months time, a solid strategy will be formulated and the difficulty level of the battle content will be adjusted too, allowing players “who cannot put their entire life into gaming” to eventually obtain the shining rod. On the other hand, the next battle content will arrive by that time and hardcore players will be able to continue challenging themselves. This is the ideal cycle for highest level items in end-game MMORPGs. (This is Final Fantasy so we plan on putting in slightly unusual features for items like Excalibur)

We believe that by overcoming content that is extremely difficult, restricted by level and class (job), and have low drop rate, players can achieve a true sense of accomplishment and superiority. This is also a unique characteristic. Please consider high level crafter recipes to fall under this category as well. (Of course, this will not mean that all recipes are going to)

Meanwhile, “basic” items that crafters make are divided by recommended level and since restrictions on class equipment is relaxed, a large number of items can be equipped by all classes. Even if individual effects may differ, the majority of cloth and leather items can be equipped by anybody. Certain restrictions may apply but the primary limitation will only be in the form of “This is for Disciples of War,” “this is for Disciples of Magic,” “this is for Disciples of the Hand,” “this is for Disciples of the Land,” etc. The only exception will be on equipment made out of metal. (Even my favorite Monster Hunter has minimal restrictions like swordsman/gunner. Changing weapons will switch classes. I think this is also the good thing about FFXIV’s armory system)

The restriction mentioned above materializes when a particular equipment is crafted with its “performance geared towards a specific class.” The overhaul on recipes this time is meant to add variety and allow crafters to craft equipment for general purposes or with certain classes in mind. The majority of the basic equipment will now have level recommendations but no class restrictions. However, with the implementation of materia craft and the eventual expansion of its system coupled with the competition over drop items from new battle content, the chances of the ultimate equipment being created are very much real. An item that matches the greatest level of freedom with extraordinary performance just might be born.

Final Thoughts
The number of “Equipment with many restrictions” and “equipment with relaxed restrictions” will both increase with the coming of patch 1.19 and beyond. The increase in new recipes for crafters will create more equipment with relaxed restrictions and the introduction of more difficult content will result in the gradual increase in class-specific equipments with many restrictions. The numbers of each equipment type introduced may differ by patch, but we are working carefully to keep them balanced. In the meantime, keep those opinions and feedback coming!

P.S.
I plan on making a post about material craft on Friday night but please give me some sleep time until then. ^^;
Also, I believe we can update you in the near future regarding the adjustments being made to the capacity of bags and number of retainers that can be owned.

[Lienn]

Greetings! This thread seems like a good place to drop another major posts from Yoshida, as it deals heavily on the armor and equipment in FFXIV.

Well...so long life to e-peens and bye-bye armory system? This is indeed a shame. Once again this 1.19 just looks like the end of eorzean freedom. I want to see all these e-peen being added and those who asked them so much not even being playing anymore or migrating to one of the other MMOs that are about to release... :/

It could be so simple...a win-win deal by leaving the restricted stuff on NMs and endgame and leaving craft alone...but now seems like craft will also be f'ed up...

I don't know why i still come and read these posts expecting for good news...i feel like those dumbasses that hit the face at glass door every single day and still keeps using that door.



Can i have the original FFXIV released as a spin-off game? I'd love to have a chance of going back to that Eorzea...even if it meant buying a new game.

[Dargoth_Draconia]

Well...so long life to e-peens and bye-bye armory system? This is indeed a shame. Once again this 1.19 just looks like the end of eorzean freedom. I want to see all these e-peen being added and those who asked them so much not even being playing anymore or migrating to one of the other MMOs that are about to release... :/

It could be so simple...a win-win deal by leaving the restricted stuff on NMs and endgame and leaving craft alone...but now seems like craft will also be f'ed up...

I don't know why i still come and read these posts expecting for good news...i feel like those dumbasses that hit the face at glass door every single day and still keeps using that door.



Can i have the original FFXIV released as a spin-off game? I'd love to have a chance of going back to that Eorzea...even if it meant buying a new game.

Why would they leave crafting alone? They have to balance the system to make it all work in harmony. I don't get what you are complaining over though since they said they are going with two options instead of one extreme. There will be some items with level/class restrictions and some without. Unless you read something that I missed somehow.

Personally I don't see how anyone would want to play FFXIV in its original state. It lacked any character uniqueness other than maybe equipping plate armor on a mage and look like a complete moron and that really destroyed the Final Fantasy feel. Final Fantasy XIV at launch did not deserved to be called Final Fantasy anything. You have your personal preference but if you like to play in garbage then go have fun dumpster diving.

The fact is there should only be a handful of basic styles of armors that everyone can wear and use the optimal rank system. Majority of the other armor should be only wearable by certain classes (similar to FFXI), the ability for all armor to be wearable from the start by anyone was a cool idea at first but really robbed the game of having the sense of achievement when you obtain that really special armor.

[Lienn]

Why would they leave crafting alone? They have to balance the system to make it all work in harmony. I don't get what you are complaining over though since they said they are going with two options instead of one extreme. There will be some items with level/class restrictions and some without. Unless you read something that I missed somehow.

Personally I don't see how anyone would want to play FFXIV in its original state. It lacked any character uniqueness other than maybe equipping plate armor on a mage and look like a complete moron and that really destroyed the Final Fantasy feel. Final Fantasy XIV at launch did not deserved to be called Final Fantasy anything. You have your personal preference but if you like to play in garbage then go have fun dumpster diving.

The fact is there should only be a handful of basic styles of armors that everyone can wear and use the optimal rank system. Majority of the other armor should be only wearable by certain classes (similar to FFXI), the ability for all armor to be wearable from the start by anyone was a cool idea at first but really robbed the game of having the sense of achievement when you obtain that really special armor.

Well, yes i guess i should go do some garbage diving then...because IMO that was the MMO with biggest potential i saw in years and the FFXI playerbase messed it up. While people always talk about the bad release and all that s#!t, no one actually gave time for it to develop. Yes, it was a premature and terrible release...but if wasn't the butthurt of FFXI playerbase i bet the original game would be MUCH bettter than the current one.

And now we have a copy/paste of FFXI, a halfdead MMO...and the thing is...those who maintain the MMOs are the casual players, not the HC ones and this "everything for HCs and let the leftovers to the casuals" would just speed up this game's death. Tanaka took a few years to learn this in FFXI and, when he did, FFXI finally became a pleasant game (ToAU+). He brought all the concepts regarding FFXI flaws to this game but actually had no time to pollish them...and now the dev team is putting every concept he brought down...one by one...because i believe that Yoshida might understand the meaning of being hardcore, but not the behavior of them...but he will once the next wave of MMOs pop...because HC players are like a grasshopper swarm...they come in band, ge all they can while the population is mainly "underleveled" and, when the population become developed enough for their e-peen not being valuable enough (like the silver tricorne was at start...it was WAY more valuable e-peen-wise than any of these raid gears because of the amount of LS capable to actually atempt getting it) they just migrate to another recently launched MMO and start all over there...they rush to cap and start searching the e-peens before many others can at least atempt obtaining them...just for then to stay AFK at game main cities, showing-off his gear.

So yes, i still have hopes up that someday (maybe now...maybe in 1 year...maybe in 3 years) they will relaunch the original FFXIV as a spin-off FF game...or maybe not even as a FF game...and you know what? I would certainly buy it once again...because that game was worth having...a game balanced in every aspect of it that was just unfortunate regarding its playerbase.

[Dargoth_Draconia]

Well, yes i guess i should go do some garbage diving then...because IMO that was the MMO with biggest potential i saw in years and the FFXI playerbase messed it up. While people always talk about the bad release and all that s#!t, no one actually gave time for it to develop. Yes, it was a premature and terrible release...but if wasn't the butthurt of FFXI playerbase i bet the original game would be MUCH bettter than the current one.

And now we have a copy/paste of FFXI, a halfdead MMO...and the thing is...those who maintain the MMOs are the casual players, not the HC ones and this "everything for HCs and let the leftovers to the casuals" would just speed up this game's death. Tanaka took a few years to learn this in FFXI and, when he did, FFXI finally became a pleasant game (ToAU+). He brought all the concepts regarding FFXI flaws to this game but actually had no time to pollish them...and now the dev team is putting every concept he brought down...one by one...because i believe that Yoshida might understand the meaning of being hardcore, but not the behavior of them...but he will once the next wave of MMOs pop...because HC players are like a grasshopper swarm...they come in band, ge all they can while the population is mainly "underleveled" and, when the population become developed enough for their e-peen not being valuable enough (like the silver tricorne was at start...it was WAY more valuable e-peen-wise than any of these raid gears because of the amount of LS capable to actually atempt getting it) they just migrate to another recently launched MMO and start all over there...they rush to cap and start searching the e-peens before many others can at least atempt obtaining them...just for then to stay AFK at game main cities, showing-off his gear.

So yes, i still have hopes up that someday (maybe now...maybe in 1 year...maybe in 3 years) they will relaunch the original FFXIV as a spin-off FF game...or maybe not even as a FF game...and you know what? I would certainly buy it once again...because that game was worth having...a game balanced in every aspect of it that was just unfortunate regarding its playerbase.

You know FFXIV has been in the works for a couple years right? Tanaka had all his experience in MMOs with FFXI and messed it up badly. You liked it somehow majority did not. The game now is in a 150% better state than when it started and I had so much hope for this game with the team we had on it originally. He just failed on the delivery with too many "What Ifs" and "We will do that in the future", SE had to cut their loses and bring in a new team, Tanaka and Sage Sundi both admitted to failing because of what I previously said. The game did have great potential at first but lacked any content and everything that it needed to be successful. Now we got a developer who also has a massive vision even though some may not see it, and plans to make this game the success we all wanted originally. After all is said and done now at the very least FFXIV will reach the level of FFXI did and maybe if we are lucky it will surpass it.

Also I think you what you said from FFXI being good at ToAU+ is funny because that is when the game started going downhill for me. Also you call this game a copy/paste FFXI? I don't see that, it was by design from Tanaka more similar to FFXI than it is in its current condition. The FFXI playerbase didn't effect this game in the negative in the least, because they are the ones who actually are still playing this game and if it wasn't for those dedicated FF fans, many of which played FFXI, this game would truly be dead. You say it is the casual players that support this game but that ain't true, all the people I seen from day one the hardcore players are the ones I see majority of the time on whenever I log on. I consider myself a hardcore player but I have become more casual because of no content. I want this game to succeed and it is going down the right path but has not enough content to keep me wanting to play everyday. I know a lot of HC players that have drifted to casual play til content rolls out.

[Corrderio]

Greetings! This thread seems like a good place to drop another major posts from Yoshida, as it deals heavily on the armor and equipment in FFXIV.

Wow, I really do not like the sound of this.

I'm all for challenges but I really have a problem with how he wants to divide people into hardcores and casuals. And catering to hardcores then dumbing down their content for casuals once they get new stuff seems like a pretty ass backwards concept. Seriously WTF @ the admire statement.

And more crap drop rates? What is with SE and souless grinding? I'd rather be rewarded for my effort, not a random number generator having a 5-10% chance of landing in my favor. Doing an event months after you have it down to a science just for a rare item isn't fun, it's boring as hell.

[Betelgeuzah]

And more crap drop rates? What is with SE and souless grinding? I'd rather be rewarded for my effort, not a random number generator having a 5-10% chance of landing in my favor. Doing an event months after you have it down to a science just for a rare item isn't fun, it's boring as hell.

This is rather dumb and ignorant comment any way you look at it. I'm very disappointed.

[AurelienRainier]

One of the best parts of this whole "growing alongside FFXIV's development" is getting a second-hand look into the thoughts developers have behind their game. Aspiring game developers, take note!

Anyway, I am very satisfied with the reasoning presented here. One of my most major gripes in MMOs is when a "costume" system is implemented. The first MMO I played that implemented this was Lord of the Rings: Online. The game would let you equip items that were specific to your class, but then let you equip practically ANY item in a "costume" slot. What it would appear you are wearing is the Costume item (so, like in Yoshi-P's example, a Black Mage could look as if he is in Full Plate armor), but the stats are from the item that is actually equipped.

I do not like this idea, and I am glad that (at this point) it seems the FFXIV development team is not going in this direction.

I have often argued with my friends that one of the best parts of FFXI in its early days was the concept of AF armor. Each class got a set of armor before end-game that not only differentiated their class from others (such as what earlier Tier armor did in Vanilla/TBC World of Warcraft), but had the iconic look of the classic Final Fantasy class. This aspect is what the armor in FFXIV is missing, imo, but I trust that it will be added once the classic Classes are implemented (and if Yoshi-P's concept art is any indication, this is being designed right under our noses!).

That is not to say that the current Jobs shouldn't get their own unique armor sets just because they aren't of Final Fantasy fame. All I am saying is that a costume system is a bad idea, and that I agree with Yoshi-P that we can't have everyone equip everything or all equipment be too restrictive to what class can use it (especially since this latter point will lead to the promulgation of a need for the armor/weapons of more common classes, making it harder to get armor/weapons for lesser-played classes since there just won't be the economy for it).

[Corrderio]

This is rather dumb and ignorant comment any way you look at it. I'm very disappointed.

What? It is boring doing the same thing over and over again until a mob decides to put out. It wasn't fun farming Dio/Water for hours in Sky, it wasn't fun killing a mob for months for a piece of L35 armor from salvage, and it wasn't fun camping (read: botting) HNMs for years.

I'm not saying everything should be 100%, but god awful drop rates for a false sense of accomoplishment isn't fun either. I quit XI because of that crap, it started to feel like a full time job with little to no pay. One of the main reasons I picked XIV up despite it's horrible ratings was because Tanaka was going to base the game around casual gameplay this time.

[Kraggy]

Greetings! This thread seems like a good place to drop another major posts from Yoshida, as it deals heavily on the armor and equipment in FFXIV.

Of all online games, the MMO genre has thrived from everyone playing them for extremely long periods of time. Within MMORPGs, being able to individualize a character is a very important element that makes people continue to play for long periods of time.

Putting on rare equipment that other players don’t have, boasting your style by wearing equipment combinations others hadn’t even thought about, becoming the adventurer you dreamed of drawing a sword engulfed in flames! I am sure the wands that are shining with light that high level character equip will be a strong incentive to level up, clear content, and aim to be a great mage! (We will implement these kinds of weapons sometime soon lol.)

I know you won't read this Yoshi but not everyone is a phat lewt whore who feels the need to pose in Jeuno, Whitegate, Ul'dah, wherever thinking we look impressive.

For some of us gear is a MEANS TO AN END not the END itself, looks barely matter at all.

In any case, several MMOs have worked round the conundrum you seem to be having by the simple expedient of having a 'cosmetic' gear set that those vain enough to want to try [and fail] to look like that special snowflake can do so without the designers having to worry about the much more important aspect of the only thing that matters about gear: its stats.