The one thing that we can do, no matter how many people decide to pay or not to pay—we have to continue showing how serious we are about keeping the promises we broke. Getting back the trust, showing them we’re serious, and that means some will come back for the PC version, and the PS3 launch. Perhaps if they see we’re working hard on it, maybe they’ll want to try it before the PS3 launch. We’re not going to change anything based on the numbers, we’re going to do what we’ve promised.
I really liked this response. He does an excellent job of being both confident in the work they're doing and humble in the face of what people will choose to do with their subscription fees. As someone who has always been worried of "what if Wada just decides it's a white elephant one day and cans the whole thing" this statement gives me more confidence in sticking with the game.

Quote Originally Posted by Alerion View Post
For some unfathomable reason people are actually against jumping. I don't get it. Do you honestly like being stuck to the ground? Maybe you enjoy getting stuck on objects or terrain that should be easily clearable? Or perhaps you just like sliding up and down the side of a hill. Well I don't, and if the world's leading MMOs are anything to go by (and they are) neither do the majority of MMO gamers.

While I understand the "but I don't want to watch everyone spam jump!" argument, it's really a silly one. So because you don't want to see people freely moving their character as they please you're on the side of the argument that uses dated concepts and limits the overall gameplay?

It's time to come out of your shells and realize these things simply make a game better. Being able to freely move is a standard, and rightly so, that shouldn't even need to be discussed.

Fact is: in today's MMO, there's a need for jumping and swimming. Jumping not only adds to a free moving fluid gameplay experience, it can also be used in in-game PvE mechanics, instantly adding a new layer to be developed upon. Swimming should also be added for the same reasons, to promote a free, open and fluid world. Jumping or swimming out of bounds? Take damage over time. Others have done it and it worked out well.

Long gone should be the days of static cling and invisible wall.
Jumping looks stupid. The only obstacle anyone would probably even think of jumping to clear would be a gap with a massive fall (or maybe a moving obstacle like a jump rope). Jumping in robes is difficult, while jumping in full plate mail is all but impossible.

As mentioned, most (practically all) MMOs that have a jump button don't even use it for anything. It basically exists entirely because players are used to pressing it and having their character not feel "stuck" against all logic. I'd much rather see a kind of contextual climbing, where our characters would take a bigger, slower step against some rocky terrain, or use their hands to climb up a small hill or cliff. You could even jump a couple feet up to reach for a ledge to pull yourself up onto. All logical actions that would at least be somewhat plausible, instead of jumping five feet in the air while wearing 150 pounds of steel to accomplish nothing.

Now, if there were some more reasons to jump, that would also be somewhat OK, making the game more action-based in some ways. If they actually did add areas with floating platforms or gaps that needed to be traversed by jumping, or bosses like some in WoW currently where jumping is one of the things you actually need to do, or perhaps if it can help shake off a status ailment like being caught on fire, then it might be worth adding. If it's just so people can "feel" like they do in other MMOs because their character model can leap their full height in place, then it should stay out of the game. It's just like Yoshida said in the same interview - it's pointless to add swimming if you can't do anything with it but cross a random pond or swim 10 yards out on the coast.