Questions

[Eldaena]

Even though the theme song of this game is called "Answers" I still feel so many things are left open-ended even with interviews with Yoshida and the dev team with patch 1.18 just around the corner. There are many unanswered questions that are so numerous that I feel people tend to forget what they wanted to know.

Here I am making a collection of questions that I want to know, as well as other players, among several subjects. I'll start off with all my numerous questions, and if someone has one I didn't put on here, please feel free to ask me to add it.

Please like this thread or individual posts if you want the answers to the questions asked.

(I'd also like to apologize for the insane length of this post and to anyone that tries to read every question. If some of these question you feel have already been answered, please notify me in a post as well and I'll promptly remove them if you have the appropriate answer. =p)


<Ready to add any of your Questions>


Question Contributors:

Eldaena
Azurymber
Keftenk
Darkshade
AceofRains
Nixius

[Eldaena]

Jobs:

"In regards to jobs..."

• Will using jobs have a different feel to playing the class you are on, or will it feel practically the same with minor alterations?
  
  
• Does it make sense to have only one job, even at the time of implementation of the job system, per class, when those classes are very condensed versions of several different roles known throughout final fantasy lineage? (Prime example: How Conjurer feels like black mage and white mage mixed together.)
  
  
• Will jobs have their own guilds or will they be considered part of the guild of the class they are learned from?
  
  
• Will Jobs be a solely combat related feature, or will there be advanced jobs for crafting and gathering in the future?
  
  
• Will sentinel be recognized as a class and receive a job as well?
  
  
  
• Will jobs every be able to be cross-class?
  

Classes:

"In regards to classes..."

• Since it appears with the addition of jobs; a streamlining of the roles for classes is in progress, will the lore behind these classes change as well as the feel of the classes themselves during combat?
  
  
• With the additon of abilities starting out on your combat bars, will those abilites be moveable or permenant?
  
  1. Will you be able to set their locations at all?
     
     
  2. Will all abilities of each class automatically be placed on your combat bars?
     
     
  3. Will there be a lot less of an ability to mix and match with the armoury system if you choose to use cross-class abilities?
     
     
  4. Will the number of cross-class abilities be significantly reduced?
     
     
  5. Will DoW classes be able to equip any DoM abilities and vise versa?
     
     
  6. Will you be able to leave abilities on your combat bars that are not necessarily useable on that class? (If you are changing classes on the fly and don't want to reset things or their position, etc.)
     
     
  7. Will it be necessary to make macros for skills/abilities still?

Leves:

"In regards to leves for combat..."

• Now that leves are being moved away as the main focus of experience gain, will there be adequate replacements put in place to compensate that loss?
  
  
• Would leves still be worth completing in parties if players choose do so?
  
  
• Is the reset timer for leves going to be extended or reduced?
  
  
• Why do players have to choose between gathering and combat leves when choosing the 8 leves they may take per reset?
  
  

Movement:

"In regards to combat related movement..."

• It appears that work on the 'going into active mode' and 'going out of active mode' actions have started to be addressed. However, are there currently any plans on a visual effect that is not simply your character sliding while removing their weapon? Also, are players stuck moving in the same direction they were moving once they began to unsheathe or sheathe a weapon, or can you alter their path of movement?
  
  
• Will moving your character physically during combat ever make more of a difference while fighting? (As a mage, I feel we basically just plant ourselves down and cast with very few instances that we need to actually move. And usually we simply move a bit closer in order to reach something, for example.)
  

Miscellaneous:

• AoE Toggle Removal: In regards to aoe toggle removal, will it be that there is only aoe and non aoe spells and none that are possibly both? What about using magicks cross-class? What about defensive magic? (protect, shell, stoneskin, etc.)
  
  
• Stamina Removal: In regards to stamina removal, will that mean that if the players have several cool down skills or magicks that players will only be limited by timers and mana?
  
  1. Will players be rapid-firing skills and magicks with auto attacking going off in-between?
  
  
• Auto-attack: In regards to the addition of auto-attack, are there any concerns that with the addition; that although players will be able to communicate better with text, will it overall possibly make the combat more bland and less entertaining? Or will the better communication help to stifle repetitive combat?
  
  
  
• Claiming: In regards to the claiming system, with the introduction of dungeons being instanced events, will we be able to claim several monsters, not all necessarily of the
  same mob group, and be able to get the entire experience and not a reduced amount?
  
  1. Will we be able to use our AoE abilities freely and not constantly punished for them like we have been in the past?
     
     
  2. Will such things iextend to other instanced events, such as leves?
  
  
  
• Battle Regimens: In regards to battle regimens, are ideas for improvements of this system being worked on now?
  1. Can we have any information on this feature? (I feel it's a very big deal
     when talking about combat to speak of battle regimens because they have amazing potential to make combat more exciting, entertaining, and make a party's abilities more
     effective as a whole.)
     
     
  2. Are some of these thoughts part of your approach as you work on this aspect of combat?
     
     
  Will casting elemental magicks in certain environments have effect on elemental damage?
  
  (Casting thunder while a mob is standing in water, increases damage dealt by lightning based magicks. Or an effect such as oil, where fire damage is increase. )

[Eldaena]

Crafting In General:

"In regards to crafting in general..."

• Is there work being done on the current repetitiveness of crafting?
  
  
• Are there any concerns that a large majority of crafters have taken to watching a movie/tv or even playing other games while crafting, simply to grind through the levels?
  
  
• With the possibilities of making crafting simpler on the horizon, are there any concerns of making it too simple and having players fall back into the same problems listed above?
  
  
• With the great potential of the current crafting system, are there truly instant crafts coming in our future? (Even if they are only bound to lower level synthesis.)
  
  
• Tentatively speaking of 1.19 and making synths require less materials, will the crafts themselves become easy to get the ingredients for?
  
  1. Will crafted items begin to saturate the market if they do become easy to obtain?
  
  
• Will crafting have any part in the upcoming dungeons content?
  
  
• Will crafting have any part in the upcoming Grand Companies content?
  

Locals:

"In regards to local leves..."

• If marks are going to be rewarded based on the location of the craft's guild, will that make guild marks more difficult to obtain as a whole due to the limited amount of leves in each area?
  
  1. With the above stated, will this have any effect on guild marks for combat and gathering classes as well?
     
     
  2. Will guild marks ever play a larger role in purchasing abilities/skills/ or items in the future?
  
  
• Are there any plans to extend the amount of locals able to be taken based off of each class rather than each player? (Such as being able to do 8 carpentry, 8 culinary, 8 alchemy, etc each reset.)
  

Abilities:

"In regards to crafting abilities..."

• Is it currently being looked into how some abilities are not working based off their descriptions or have very high failure rates?
  
  
• Will the effectiveness of abilities and stats for crafters be looked into in the tentatively speaking 1.19 patch?
  

Consumables:

"In regards to consumable items..."

• Particularly speaking: potions, ethers, and remedies, will these items also be looked into in the revamping tentatively mentioned for 1.19?
  
  1. Will these items be altered in their capabilities so that they are something players would actually consider using in combat?
     
     
  2. Will food be treated in the same manner?

Materia:

"In regards to the future Materia system..."

• When attempting to have a piece of gear give you a materia from the repeated use of the item, will the item be destroyed in the process of the creation of the materia?
  
  1. If so, would this make up for making synthesis ingredients easier to obtain, so they will fill the marketplace, be destroyed for the creation of materia, and then off the market to encourage more of a supply and demand economy?
     
     
  2. Will different pieces of gear yield different kinds of materia?
     
     
  3. Will materia be stat increases only, or possible effects? (Such as 30 second defense boost when hit with a critical hit, or something like that.)

Miscellaneous:

• Repairs: In regards to the simplified repair system, is it considered that the streamlining of repair items devalues the items and repairs as a whole? ( When you think of the specific NM gear that was introduced in one of the last patches, part of their originality was not only their stats and appearance, but also their repair materials.)
  
  1. Does it not make some sense that exceptional equipment takes exceptional repair items? (I'm not against a streamlining of the repair materials, but I don't believe Final Fantasy's equivalent to duck tape should be used before generic repair materials such as "Scrap Metal" "Scrap cloth" "Scrap Lumber" etc.)
     
     
  2. Do you feel that using the item "dark matter" is causing items to lose some of their flavor?
     
     
  3. Selling repair materials was a relatively low source of income, but income none the less. With gatherers being able to gather dark matter, players being able to purchase it from npcs, and the repair costs from the npcs being reduced, will this implementation be hurting the economy? Even slightly?
  
  
• Will group related content be considered for crafting in the future?
  
  
• Are there plans to implement a real recipe book full of all recipes you have obtained in game?

[Eldaena]

Gathering in General:

"In regards to Gathering in general..."

• Originally, it was thought that all classes (combat, crafting, or gathering) would still have options for combat situations, even possibly ideal for certain ones. Will these thoughts be reflected in future gathering/crafting content?
  
  
• Will gathering have any part in the upcoming dungeons content?
  
  
• How are percentage rates for items dropping that you are aiming for going to be changed (and their values)?
  
  
• Is anything being looked into in regards to nodes expiring while gathering?
  
  
• Will gathering have any part in the upcoming Grand Companies content?
  
  
• Will new nodes be implemented for the gathering of dark matter or materia?
  
  

Leves:

"In regards to gathering leves..."

• Is there a reason why players must choose between combat and gathering leves each reset? Why is it not allowed for players to take up 8 of each if they so choose?
  
  
• If linking leves for gathering does increase the amount of exp gained, should it not also allow each player an objective or allow the group as a whole to gain the exp?
  
  (Example: If the goal is to log 3 oak logs, shouldn't each person in the party either a) Have to log 3 oak logs or b) Get the exp when someone else logs the oak log. Basically, how in a combat party, no matter who deals the finishing blow, everyone gains exp.)

Grades/Placement:

"In regards to the various grades and placement of gathering nodes..."

• In the future are we going to be able to mark points of interest on our maps?
  
  
• Is it being considered to give more nodes that are closer together to botanists and miners? (It just seems a little odd that fisherman basically just have to stand in one spot for eternity, lol.)
  
  

Fatigue:

"In regards to 'Gatherer's Fatigue'..."

• With the removal of fatigue coming in 1.18, and practically letting everyone loose lol, do you still think it's fair to allow gatherers to suffer from a form of fatigue?
  
  ( Whilst other classes will be able to continue on without hindrance while leveling, gathering classes will, at a point, have a reduced amount of exp as they begin to fail to gather items. This seems to break up the equality between the classes on a leveling basis.)
  
  1. Will this at all be addressed in the future?
     
     
  2. Is it possible to still have the limitation on items gathered, but allow people to gain sp at the full rate? Or if not, is there a way for them to gain exp without going out to the field or camp to gather that is a legitimate way for them to level their class?
     
     (I realize their are still some limitations on gaining exp per class: Crafters and materials, Combatants and Mobs. But in the end, it still feels as if it's not the same for gathering. A crafter can go and buy more materials or do locals. A combatant can go find mobs somewhere else or do leves [and dungeons]. If you are already in gathering fatigue there is practically no other solution for you.)
     
     
  3. Is this something currently being looked into?
  
  

Miscellaneous:

• Will group related content be considered for gathering in the future?

[Eldaena]

Marketplace:

"In regards to the marketplace..."

• Is a bidding system currently in the works?
  
  
• Is it being considered to allow players to purchase, sell, or repair items directly from the search menu?
  
  
  
  

Selling and Buying:

"In regards to buying and selling in the marketplace..."

• Is there contemplation on adding a seeking tab to retainers? (Allowing players to seek up to 10 items as well as sell 10 items.) In addition, could a third tab simply for repairs be considered as well? (Making it 10 selling, 10 seeking, and 5 repairs at the same time.)
  
  
• Is there consideration to allow players to search for what players are seeking from retainers as well as selling? Also, allowing playings to search for retainers seeking repairs?

Inventory and Retainers:

"In regards to inventory and retainers..."

• Are more tabs being a considered addition to the inventory system we have now?
  
  
• Is a better organization feature in the works?
  
  
• Are craftable inventory pieces in the works for implementation?
  
  (Examples: Jewelry boxes made by Goldsmiths, Cloth sacks made by Weavers, duffel bags made by Tanners...etc.)

Miscellaneous:

• Trading: In regards to trading, is there any chance you will expand the number of items allowed to trade per trade window?

[Eldaena]

General UI Related Questions:

"In regards to the UI..."

• Will we ever be able to open up more than one window at a time?
  
  
• Will there ever be a cleaner UI for crafting, gathering, combat, etc?
  
  
• Will there ever be extended tabs for the inventory?
  
  
• Will the marketplace search feature be made easier to read and search beyond the first page results?
  

Linkshell Management:

"In regards to Linkshell Management..."

• Will there be more management options implemented in the near future?
  
  
• Will you allow us to add or remove LS members regardless if they are online or offline or within our current location?
  
  
• Will you allow us to change the name of a LS that is already created?
  
  
• Will you allow us to customize our crests further?
  
  
• Will you allow us to have more information about our Linkshells server side?
  
  
• Will you allow us a search option for current Linkshells in game?
  
  
• Will you allow us more content in regards to linkshells in general?
  
  
• Will Linkshells have any part in the upcoming Grand Companies content?

Latency:

"In regards to game Latency..."

• Will there remain to be significant lag for players in other parts of the world as long as servers are only in Japan?
  
  
• What is being done to lessen the UI lag?
  
  

Keyboard/Gamepad Mapping:

• "In regards to keyboard and gamepad related features..."
  
  
• Will we ever be able to fully customize our keyboards or gamepads with the controls of the game?
  
  
• Will we be able to change the first person strafe/lock camera button/key?
  
  

Party Search Feature

''In regards to the party search feature..."

• What is currently being done about searching for players/party members?
  
  

Miscellaneous:

• Wiill tabs for chat windows, like in FFXI, you could chose say/tell/linkshell?
  
  ( It's very difficult and tedious to see if anyone has spoken to you in-between spam.)
  
  
  
• Will there be an earth time clock being added any time soon?
  

[Azurymber]

The answer to all your questions is 42

edit:
I would like to know the reason why Gridania and Ishgard fought wars in the past.
I would like to know how SE intends to drain 100mil out of the pockets of many hardcore players in order to re-balance the economy.
I would like to know why every time a same-sex or transgender topic comes up the thread gets closed for "going off topic"
I would like to know why there is a treant in the opening grid scene but not in the game

[Eldaena]

The answer to all your questions is 42

Yes! =p That makes everything so much easier.

[AceofRains]

Will casting in certain environments have effect on elemental damage? I.E. Casting thunder while a mob is standing in water, increases damage delt. Or an effect such as oil, where fire damage is increase.

[Keftenk]

I'll bite...but trolls will probably come out of the brush and start shit up.



FINAL FANTASY XIV doesn't do a lot of things that are "standard" for MMO's, I think that is very obvious. One of them is doing side-quests and not receiving EXP for the work besides for killing the monsters needed in the actual quest. Many games today reward the player with a bountiful amount of exp to progress their character for completing the task, will FINAL FANTASY XIV ever take this path? It would open a completely alternate route and path of leveling ones character other then EXP grinding and Leve grinding.



There seems to be a lot of interest (at least on the NA forums) for a TRIPLE TRIAD mini-game to be implemented in full force to FINAL FANTASY XIV. In FINAL FANTASY XI, we had TETRA MASTER, but it was a completely different service that many didn't want to pay for, not to mention that it wasn't physically attached to FINAL FANTASY XI. If there's a demand, could the players possibly see TRIPLE TRIAD integrated into the core and life of FINAL FANTASY XIV? Parley just doesn't seem to do it for anyone.



After the battle update is mostly in place (1.18), what is the next major task at completion? I know a lot of eager LS leaders are waiting for a kick feature to remove the dead weight that left the game 8 months ago, but remain in the linkshell list.



Will there ever be a reason for crafters and gatherers to use HQ gear outside of their main hand and sub-hand? Currently with the HQ system, giving crafters and gatherers additional Defense, Magic Defense, and Evasion is pretty useless and pointless. Not to mention, they have incredibly limited uses even for DoW and DoM classes.



This may be a little bit of forward thinking, but in FINAL FANTASY XI when we fought the summons, all the player did was get attuned for the fight and enter a battle ground with just the summon and nothing else. Again, I'm aware 1.19 is a ways out, but will the Primal Ifrit fight be a raid type or will it be something simple and uninteresting as the FINAL FANTASY XI summon fights? I think sometimes how cool and fun it would have been if Ifrit's Cauldron was an actual raid in FINAL FANTASY XI with Ifrit being the end boss.



All of the Goblins are the same model, how come we don't have the diverse differences in models like we did in vanilla FINAL FANTASY XI for goblins and then even Moblins in CoP?



Are there any immediate or "soon" plans on incorporating the lost monsters of FINAL FANTASY's past? Where are the Coeurls, the Tonberries, the Mandragoras (I noticed that one of the Yoshida avatars to pick for his official forum avatar was a Pumpkin Mandragora, but we don't even have normal ones!). How about the Sahagin, Demons, and even the bull/ox beastmen tribes? When will we see these monsters if at all?



I'm not sure if you're aware, but the North American English forums have notorious trolls. These trolls must not only drive the NA GM and Community Representatives insane, but they're quite intrusive and annoying to the rest of the players trying to think and talk about constructive ideas. How come there isn't a policy that allows SQUARE ENIX employees to permanently ban these individuals?

There are a lot of them....



There seems to be A LOT of backwards thinking going on with what Tanaka laid out, one of which is with the UI. We have information being shown in more then one spot through the menus, multiple windows we must navigate through to get to certain features, and a overall massive clutter of dysfunctional and unattractiveness. It was commented a long, very long time ago that two separate UI's were being made, one for controller users and one for the mouse user. Will this UI see a complete rehaul in how we view information or is it simply going to be different key bindings and navigation for the peripheral?



I think many are to believe that part of the reason that the UI is so unrespsonsive is due to the fact it's being run server side and not client side. What are your plans to rectify the excruciating lag and delay between menus and actions? Will we see the UI come to client-side or will the server hardware finally be brought up to modern day standards?



Exactly why have the servers been one of this games big downfalls? FINAL FANTASY XI had the infamous "PS2 Limitations" quote, but it seems that FINAL FANTASY XIV's technical limitations are due to the current servers and their hardware/software.



The game has been nearly out for a full 10 months now. Obviously there is a lot wrong with the game, but 10 months have gone by and players still go through the anguish of trying to update the game through the faulty patching service. I'm sure you guys are better at prioritizing the to-do list better then me, but this is a bare essential that EVERY player must go through in order to even play the game. Disregard that the game sucks at the moment, if players can't even effectively download the patch, what's the point to fixing the insides of the game?