Questions and Feedback on the Future of FINAL FANTASY XIV

[Phenidate]

Lots of hot topics in here... but one thing I would like to see addressed properly is targeting.

Targeting has been and continues to be inconsistent. The few fixes we've seen for hit HAVE made it better, but it's still way under par.

Some suggestions:

Dedicated target keys (Nearest NPC/PC/ENEMY etc.) should NOT target self. The we already have a dedicated target self key, F1. Trying to target something specific and getting yourself is annoying at best, or deadly if that cure for a friend went off on you instead by mistake.

With how many enemies we're taking on now, and in groups, tab targeting is utterly insufficient as is. For some odd reason tab targeting will decide to target unrelated monsters, or every monster BUT the one trying to kill me or a friend.

If a party member is taking enmity from a drake, it would be great if tab targeting focused those first before jumping to the random sheeps and marmots in the background.

Also, an option to have switch between the current targeting noise, a less harsh one, and muting it would be nice. Not necessary but I wanted to bring it up while on the subject. I'd also love to see this done with the sound effect played when activating abilities from the bar (which goes off whether the ability triggers or not)

[Fensfield]

Q ) What if, by the time ffxiv 2.0 is launched on ps3 late 2012, Sony announce the Ps4 for release early 2013?

Very little. First of all, Sony are insisting they won't do that. Second, even if they did (which is entirely possible), MMORPG's on consoles do not need to be on the most advanced machine, they need to be on one with a large install base. The Playstation 3's install base is, by my understanding, growing faster than ever, so it ought be very healthy come the release of the PS3 version, PS4 or no.

Even if the PS4 has come out by then, it will probably be very expensive, will likely take a significant while after to match the install base of the PS3, and you might even see a little benefit to FF XIV's PS3 version from the large number of people who will still have PS3's snapping up a decent game for their system with longterm playability in the face of focus beginning to move away from the console they presently have.

Either way, if the theoretical Playstation 4 is backwards compatible, that ought allay a lot of our concerns.


That being said, one other thing MMORPG's need is future-proofing, so I'd like to ask a question in a similar vein:
What will Square-Enix do to prevent the technical limitations of the PS3 holding back the PC version of Final Fantasy XIV as PC technology continues to improve and the PS3, of course, remains static? Final Fantasy XI suffers in this fashion from the limitations of the Playstation 2.

Also, is the possibility of an eventual Playstation 4 (should it ever happen) version or switch-over, or even implementation on other platforms such as the Playstation Vita, something that might be considered at some point? There has recently been suggestion from S-E of a Playstation Portable Final Fantasy XI client after all.

[Reika]

Will there every be a time where we no longer stop when using abilities or starting to cast spells? Or will the animations for these actions ever be sped up?

[mhaid2000]

I have a couple of questions for the development team and for Mr. Yoshida. You mentioned that you want to give the game that dynamic adventurous feel that final fantasy games are known for. If i might make a suggestion, i think it would be neat to have special quests or leves where you go up against some villains or bosses from past final fantasy titles. I know alot of the folks on the forums will probably disagree with this idea but i think it would give the game a little more FF flavor lol. On to my questions: How will the gamepad UI for 2.0 be different from the one we use today and are the jobs going to level like the other classes on the game. In closing i just want to say that you guys are doing a fantastic job on this game. Dont listen to all the negativity in these forums. This game is going to succeed and i can see that there is already a bright future for Final Fantasy XIV. You guys have won me over with these new changes and ill gladly pay you the monthly fee to continue enjoying my time in eorzea. Thank you and have a great day.

[Delmontyb]

What are the plans for Linkshells and companies? Will we blend them together, or are they two separate systems?

Will linkshell/companies have their own levels?
Will they have their own perks when you level?
Like Banks? Taxes? special linkshell company quests?
Support of a log in message when members equip the pearl, is that planed?

What are your plans for the UI for linkshell/companies?

Several other MMO's out there have very nice guild systems, are you looking at those systems to see what you want to add to ours?

What can you tell us are your goals for the community features of this game for 1.20 and beyond?

What is the most exciting thing about the 2.0 UI that you can share with us today?

[Zenaku]

Is FFXIV headed to more of a western game or are you still trying to be unique?

[Riv]

Will the New FFXIV support alt-tabbing out of full screen mode without crashing the game? lol

And what about Direct X 11 support?

[Preypacer]

2. I'm disappointed that the game will include a way to have UI Addons. I remember seeing my step brothers play WoW and it was always, "You need this addon and you need that addon." I don't want to have to need anything.

Same. That annoyed the hell out of me in WoW.

Add-ons should never be deemed "mandatory' in a game. Not everyone "requires" nor even desires the "added features" that some of those that were deemed "mandatory" by the "elite" brought about. It's amazing how much BS I saw in that game around guild leaders demanding their players use add-ons or they were kicked from the guild. I was in one that was like that, and my sister was in another. Both of us ended up quitting our respective guilds, 'cause it was ridiculous to have another player dictating to us how we would be playing on our own account, paying with our own money.

Given that I don't think they're going to allow add-ons on PS3 (as I recall reading I believe?), I don't see how people will be able to "require" you to use them.

Further, hopefully SE will prohibit and restrict the type of things add-ons can be used to create. It would be unfair to the PS3 players for PC players to have the advantage of using add-ons that provide information that PS3 players don't have... especially in the PvP settings.

4. I understand why you wouldn't have, but I was really hoping for a look at the new city maps. I'm honestly worried because I've loved Limsa right from the start. I know Gridania is being changed, but what of the other two cities?

If you look at the map for Central Thanalan (the third map in the PDF), there's a thumbnail image on the left side of what looks like Ul'dah. From the looks of it, it's rather destroyed-looking and there are a couple Garlean vehicles hovering above it. That could be a clue for what will become of Ul'dah anyway.

[Riv]

As far as the addons go, just think of it like the windower plugins from FFXI. If they are little things like that and don't allow people to take it to the extreme i will be good with it.

[Preypacer]

Agreed. Luminous quality is above Crystal Tools. Looking forward to future info of it myself as well.

FFXIV has an amazing future ahead.

lol yeah I saw that quick demo vid and thought "What is this a prank? It's someone walking down a ramp with a hand cam..."

Then I realized it was real time 3D and my impression completely changed.

I think a lot of the issues with Crystal Tools is that it was designed around Consoles first and, apparently, is not at all well optimized for PCs. I mean, let's face it, SE's forte is console games, not PC. That's not a statement against them or their capabilities. PC just isn't where their expertise has been for a couple decades now.

I think they were still stuck in that rut, so to speak, with Crystal Tools.

If the new Luminous engine is designed to run well on PCs *and* on consoles, and takes advantage of newer tech, like DX11 and the like that other PC engines utilize.. Then that in itself would be a huge improvement to its performance on a PC.

The screenshot to me in their mock-up, while a "mock-up", looks better overall than even XIV does right now. Things look more "vivid" to me.

I've seen/heard a few remarks about it looking more wow-like... I do not see that at all and am not sure where people are even getting that from.