NEW : Letter from the Producer, XXII (12/21/2011)

[Kiara]

Hi All,

Great letter!

I'm really excited about 1.21, and thinking back on how FF XIV was on Day 1 of Launch (last year) compared to now, there have been some pretty big changes. Good job Yoshida-san and team!

I look forward to the Final Fantasy Job System for this game, and hope the Job Quests to unlock them and Quests to unlock Weaponskills / Spells are going to be fun and interesting!

At least it sounds like the JSE (Job Specific Equipment) Quests will have some challenge to them. Joy~ (^_^)

I LOVE that screen shot of the New JSE in-game! White Mage looks nicely done. Black Mage looks menacing. The Paladin is knightly and stalwart. The Dragoon looks awesome! (^_^) I like the Qi Pao / Wushu-style outfit for the Monk, and Warrior looks like a heavy hitter. Bard looks... interesting (maybe too many colors), but otherwise, they stand out in a very "classic Final Fantasy" feel but fitting into the "Final Fantasy XIV" (Original) Art Style.

I'm glad these look Final Fantasy stylish but still a bit on the Ivalice (Final Fantasy Tactics, XII) style, as opposed to the outlandish nature of some of the Ifrit Weapons and Moogle Weapon designs.

Can't wait for 1.21! (^_^)

[Kiara]

Job armour looks amazing, as the above post said WHM would look better with the hood up.

Yah, I'm all for the Classic Final Fantasy feel, but in this case, I like being able to see my character's face and hairstyle (hood down). It's like a slight twist to the Classic FF White Mage.

Dream setting is to allow players to wear it Hood Up or Down, but Yoshida-san said that was too difficult.

Overall, I like the new JSE!

[Diyne]

Very nice. Thank you, Yoshi-P, and the rest of the team! This patch so far has been a lot of fun for me. I can't wait to see what you guys have in store. It's been a pleasure and a wonder seeing you guys keeping this going. I've never really seen anything like this, and I really hope this game succeeds in the end, with 2.0.

Keep going, happy holidays, and cheers to the start of a good new year!

[Isaaru]

1. WAR helmet better have the option of putting the mask part down.

2. What race is that WAR in the pic? It looks pretty awkward to me.

[siloeyes]

Dear Yoshi-P and Devs,

What possibly made you think that those of us playing the Archer class wanted to have our Job be a song-singing buff class with a harp attached to our bows instead of long-range, silent, death dealing archer assassins? Seriously, I don't see the point in spending any more time with my main class if that "weapon" is my future. At least restore some of the Archer's previous strength for those(all) of us that choose to stay our class rather than get the new Job.

[Starlord]

Dear Yoshi-P and Devs,

What possibly made you think that those of us playing the Archer class wanted to have our Job be a song-singing buff class with a harp attached to our bows instead of long-range, silent, death dealing archer assassins? Seriously, I don't see the point in spending any more time with my main class if that "weapon" is my future. At least restore some of the Archer's previous strength for those(all) of us that choose to stay our class rather than get the new Job.

You don't like Creativity? I really don't see nothing wrong with a Bow/harp Weapon or the job itself.. and Archer is my "least" favorite class.. and I'm somewhat Excited for it...

[Chrees]

1. WAR helmet better have the option of putting the mask part down.

2. What race is that WAR in the pic? It looks pretty awkward to me.

1. Unfortunately, it won't. See this post.

2. Most definitely a Highlander.

[Pyretta_Blaze]

That picture is yummy... White Mage needs a hood. I might need to level monk just to wear that

[Sephr]

Dear Yoshi-P and Devs,

What possibly made you think that those of us playing the Archer class wanted to have our Job be a song-singing buff class with a harp attached to our bows instead of long-range, silent, death dealing archer assassins? Seriously, I don't see the point in spending any more time with my main class if that "weapon" is my future. At least restore some of the Archer's previous strength for those(all) of us that choose to stay our class rather than get the new Job.

Calm down, it's only the first set of jobs and they needed someone to become the buffer. I think it's a pretty standard conversion amongst MMOs/RPGs for archers/rogues/etc to become bards/dancers/etc. Also, transforming bow appears to be quite epic, looking forward to seeing how it works in action.

I'm hoping we'll get ranger or sniper in the future, and aside from that Archer will still have all the ranged DPS skills it has now for things to do in between buff applications. If you want full-on ranged DPS I'd go black mage for the time being, however.

Who wouldn't want to be a BLM anyway? Look at that armour, dayum. Reminds me of http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Robel-Akbel from FFXI.

[siloeyes]

You don't like Creativity? I really don't see nothing wrong with a Bow/harp Weapon or the job itself.. and Archer is my "least" favorite class.. and I'm somewhat Excited for it...

To be fair though, if this is your least favorite class than I'm sure its just affecting you less than it is me as it was my favorite, and main, class. I'm also aware I'm completely free to choose to not get the Job and stay Archer.. I just wish they didn't modify Archer to be more Bard like as some kind of push into getting the new Job. Also, I don't feel that a bow with a harp stuck on top is very creative; now a bow with multiple strings that played different musical notes when you release an arrow that buff the shot in varying ways.. that's creative