Can you run us through the typical creation of a new piece of armor/weapon, etc.? Where does it start, then who does it go to, and where does it end up. Basically from start to finish.
Yoshida: The process of commissioning new equipment/weapons is largely split in two. The first is 'what's required from a game design point of view', e.g. it goes without saying an ultimate weapon players can only get when reaching the maximum level for a certain job should look unique. The other side entails 'equipment in the form of a reward' for 'content' that players must aim to clear. For both cases, a full time Item Team was established and they are accepting offers from the whole project. As there are so many unique designs that are essential to game planning, the production costs really add up. We then proceed with commissioning reward-based equipment after we decide whether it should be made with existing adjustments + parameters built-in or by redesigning the look. The character design team are the ones who get the actual request. Akihiko Yoshida's team creates the artwork used for character modelling and then modelling work starts based on this. Work proceeds to sculpting and when it's ready, it takes about 6 months to create one full set of equipment that maintains FFXIV's high standards of graphics. We can't get a good supply of these items ready if we don't establish a long-term plan for creating them. This is the most important part. Finally, the staff responsible for each content adds the items to the in-game item database and we're done!
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...l=1#post225712