Questions and Feedback on the Future of FINAL FANTASY XIV

[Alhazred]

I know that I am in the minority on this but I gladly accept the subscription fees. I normally consider myself about as jaded as they come regarding the game industry and I have strongly doubted Square Enix's direction in recent years. This game is an exception. This game and, more importantly, it's staff have made me more excited about a game than I've been in years.

Final Fantasy XIV has come a very long way since the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it's release. The new team has not only provided updates in a very timely fashion but has established a bond with the player base that has not been seen from Square Enix before. One cannot overstate what a boon to this game Mr. Yoshida's leadership has been. Then, to find out what the team has been planning long term truly rekindled my enthusiasm for Erozea's future.

Square Enix can only hemorrhage so many resources and I think it's a testament to their dedication to this title that the free period has gone on as long as it has. While I understand that it can be frustrating to be asked to pay for a game that most do not consider retail ready, I also understand that if this game is to succeed it will only be able to do so with the full support of the players. The Final Fantasy XIV team has mine.

[kensredemption]

So long as you guys implement more solo-friendly features and not make party mob-farming have such obscenely high XP profit, then I'll gladly fork up the $13 a month.

True story:

My brother decided he'd join me in XIV since his Runescape subscription ran out last week. He started his Lalafell Gladiator Thursday night (13 Oct @ 2025). I partied with him starting to level up my Conjurer, also at level 1. We got up to level 10 in about 2 1/2 hours by simply farming the constantly respawning mobs and he reached 15 by about 1125 the next morning. It was then that I decided to test exactly how much the party XP farming had been fixed after the 1.19a patch, and while it wasn't as obscene as it was with 1.19, I still managed to carry him to 23 within a matter of hours. Just an hour ago he managed to get to 27.

When I did this solo it took me nearly 2 1/2 weeks, and he's caught up with me within a matter of days. I know people are arguing for eliminating all solo aspects of the game altogether, but that's the only reason why I picked up XIV in the first place. I've argued the same thing on many other threads before: But having to grit my teeth and force myself to party up with potentially incompetent players or elitist pricks was what drove me away from other MMOs in the first place. It happened in WoW and it happened again when I picked up XI. I'd rather only party up with people when it comes to fighting NMs, and reserve partying only for practice for said fights. I don't want to have to rely on it as the sole method of progressing my character, and since the story's enticed me I find myself teetering between whether or not I should do the Grand Company quests, farm mobs, or mindlessly run around Eorzea in order to get myself there. I know there's a lot to do, but it feels like such a chore just to get the simplest of tasks done.

For example, the "Toll of the Warden" quest...I can't imagine how much of a nightmare that must have been before 1.19 with the Chocobos and Airships - going back and forth between Ul'Dah and Gridania, and on foot if one was unfortunate enough to have spent their anima...I read up on the new progression system - how jobs/classes will earn skills based on quests. I like the idea, but I want to be able to hit 50 before you guys start implementing the subscription system. Kind of a personal milestone, to be honest, so I'm hoping that 1.20 will at least incorporate SOMETHING more solo-friendly. That's all I ask.

[Korbei]

What kind of hardware are you building the game to run on? Give us specs for 2.0 now. Both high and low.

[Griphyt]

So... when the version 2.0 pop; can we make a new character with all that you got in FFXIV before?? or you will be tranfered to version 2.0 with the same race?
O ask this becouse SE anounnced that there will be new races so maybe a lot of ppl want to change race, and keep all the stuff we got...

[Bearforce]

Q: how come a multi billion $ company needs subs to fund ffxiv?

[Sephrick]

Sorry if any of these already have been asked. This thread has a lot of replies.

1) What is my motivation as a consumer to retain a subscription throughout the remainder of the 1.x phase as opposed to returning a month prior to v2.0's release and completing all the 1.x content then?

2) Could 2.0 have been launched sooner if you were not maintaining the 1.x version? If so, why not take it offline now and focus full force on 2.0?

3) It's hard to decide what to level at the moment with the state of constant and drastic change. Even though on going tweaking and balancing is to be expected, when will classes be considered finished in their transition to their intended defined roles?

4) If we're not satisfied with what a class becomes, will there be a one-time opportunity to reallocate it's experience points to a class or classes that now fill or desired roll? For example: I leveled Marauder because it was an AoE tanking class, but no it seems it'll be just another DD and a weaker on top of it.

5) Which Mage class gets which job and how will that affect CNJ who natively has the iconic spells of both Black Mage and White Mage?

[Xmbei]

Q: how come a multi billion $ company needs subs to fund ffxiv?

Dumbest question ever.... 1. If you have followed SE at all the past year they have lost a lot of money from having to make this managable. Also the fact that it's business practice and businesses need money. Why does blizzard need to charge 15$ a month when they have made more than enough money off the many sub's they have to last them a decade to support them... It's because they need money to still function as a business, SE nor Blizzard are a Non-profit Organization, they need the money to further develop future projects.

[vageta666]

dude in order to make 2.0 happen and all these friggin awsome things to come, we gotta start paying. SE has been grinding on a budget for this last year. we need to pay so they can afford to make all this happen so quit bitching. the game is up to par for most people. its playable/enjoyable now so quit bitching. yall dont like it? then quit now cuz no1 wants to play with a buncha babies. get over it. its alot better than what it was.

[Onizuka]

A bit late for my questions, hopefully still in time:

If there happens to be questions and/or feedback, they will be answered during the second broadcast of the Letter from the Producer LIVE so please post them on this thread.

1. If the billing starts next month, many old characters will get deleted and so will their linkshell if they're Masters. So, in patch 1.20, can you introduce a temporary measure to have linkshell Masters be able to transfer their Master role to other Members, so that the guild will keep on living in Eorzea even if their former Master is gone? [Reference thread]

2. After patch 1.19, the “Miss” text is displayed when you evade an attack, but also the nice Evade Animation, that made the battle look more real, is gone. Can you bring back this animation when an enemy's attack misses you? [Reference thread]

3. Can you consider implementing an “auto-cap” feature for level 25 contents like Toto-Rak or the first Ifrit battle? Before entering you're prompted to decide if either go in with your real class level or with the cap, so adventurers who want a challenging fight will choose the latter and be temporarily “capped” to a lower level. [Reference thread]

4. Can you introduce a way to reach the Great Library or at least create a big library in Eorzea with an outdoors balcony, maybe in Ishgard, with a relaxing music, where you can read and know more of Eorzea? [Reference thread]

5. Will you ever explain more on mysterious places like: purple Aetherial Gates, the stone circle in Gwyr-Aen, the giant golden-bat idol in a cave near Humblehearth, the Gelmorra Ruins in Lasthold, just to name a few? Will quests or more informations/lore ever be made revolving around these places? [Reference thread]

6. For very future content, can you consider “ultimate dungeons” such as the seven hells and the void? Particularly, in this last one might you include a secret room (like the “dev team room” of old RPGs) with NPC monsters of the English Localization Team, renowned voidsents? [Reference thread]

7. For patch 1.20 is it still confirmed the feature to have guarantee of getting a HQ result if you use all HQ materials? [Reference post]

EXTRA questions (less important than the ones above):

8. Can you give more authorized powers to Game Masters, and made them able to ban evident bots or RMTs, without having to rely on the Special Task Force (time-consuming) all the time?

9. In version 2.0 (that is, when the PlayStation 3 edition will go on sale), among the tons of new contents and places to visit and re-visit, will the Fury finally allow us to pass through Ishgard's gates and enter the towering city-state?

10. In Maidenmere lake, on the topmost corner, there's a lonely little pine I spent much time with and feel very close to: Can you officially name it “Pine Cloudio” or “Great Pine Onizuka” (targetable), having a quest on it (optional)? *cough cough* [Reference post]

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Except for the last not-so-serious question (actually, I mean it! ), these are the ones I'd like to have an answer for, particularly the lore-related ones and overall the first 7.

Thanks for this opportunity! And now fingers crossed...!

Cloudio Onizuka, True Adventurer and Explorer of Eorzea

[Reliquia]

When the game first came out all classes seemed equal, but now it seems that the combat classes are getting job specialization and job specific gear. My question then is:

Will there be any similar obtainable/awarded gear for crafting and gathering classes which benefit just one of the classes and giving them a specific look rather than cross class gear?