FFXIV Dev, and Yoshida-san. Thank you :)

[Meshico]

Hello FFXIV team,

I wanted to say thank you. Please please, with sugar on-top understand that not everyone feels angry and upset with you guys. There are some of us <me, and my friends> that understand how hardware works, and how difficult it is developing certain aspects of software, after all not all software is created equal.
I work in a technical side of the house and I work closely with developers. To the developers, I feel your pain, and if you guys are anything like the people I work with, I know it is your passion that drives you forward, against the waves of negativity.

The developers I work with sometimes feel like their is just no pleasing their clients as well...and we can get a little down. But we dust ourselves off and pick ourselves up and just keep on working.

I know that having one Thank You given to you from some random person, is a small thing, but I truly believe some of the smallest things can have a huge impact.

My friends, and I are truly thankful for the days (now probably much closer to weeks) of fun that you have provided us over the past year, and prior to that as well in original release.

Thank you guys, and understand that you have a huge support from your fans out there, we (myself included) just lose sight of what is really going on, and can be a little shortsighted sometimes.

-Taritzu Vesper

p.s. Final Fantasy XIV for years to come!

p.s.s. For anyone that enjoys this read, please "Like" and show the love even if it is just a little for the people, humans, that are making this game possible for you to complain about and enjoy at the same time

Haters your welcome too

They will be in the hot seat regardless because of 1.0. It's a stark reminder to them that they will have to continually work towards making a better game and not reliving the mistakes of the previous game in any form or fashion.

As someone else has said, overreaching can also be a problem and it should be curbed as well. They shouldn't set their dreams too high at this point and I agree with it. No one is really saying that you shouldn't be upset -- it's obvious that it was a very bad move on their end. However, one must also try to take in all things that are involved when it comes to development as well. It's not easy at all, from those who handle the framework and planning, right down to everyone who does the coding.

Regardless, this is a specific and a very interesting predicament that I honestly doubt anyone will ever see again (unless they try to tackle the inventory problem). What it will boil down to is SE having to shell out more money to beef up their [physical] servers to accommodate for needing more housing plots. What they did here is tried to work within their physical limits of the system, using a software solution. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. While it did not fail, is simply not enough to cover the very obvious and huge demand. I doubt even 2.4 will cover the demand, but that's another story as well.

I wouldn't be surprised if you hear about this solution at TGS along with a very grievous apology.

white knights up in here

I take that as a compliment good sir/madam.

Having read the translation of Yoshida-san's post thanks to a pair of most excellent forumers, I can say I understand the -why- of this. I'm a little disappointed because it seems like under the current system, it's near-impossible for most players to -have- a personal house, but hopefully the infrastructure upgrades and ward doubling in 2.4 will help fix this.

My only real problem with this is how little was communicated to us, the players. I understand there are major differences in culture between us over here in the East and Yoshida-san's native Japan, I have been told by someone who actually works in this part of the field how and why it could have ended up... I just wish there had been more communication, more dialogue, with the players. What was said in the most recent Live Letter made us all think that everything was going ahead just fine; to have this dumped on us is jarring to say the least.

That said, Yoshida-san has taken a failing, crumbling game and breathed new life and energy into it. There's been hiccups along the way, of course, a moment or three that make you want to just clench your fists and scream to the heavens YOSHIDAAAAA!!!, but in the end no matter how much people whine and kvetch, Team Yoshida have taken ARR and made a vibrant, beautiful world out of it, with something to experience for players on all ends of the spectrum. And it is a truly -gorgeous- world. Last week I bumped into a fairly low-level player who'd just gotten her Cascadier vouchers. Seeing as her best class wasn't even level 25 yet, she thought she'd tag a high-level player for escort, and that's just what I did for her. And after that, I offered to show her around a little more... so to Coerthas we went, my absolute favorite zone in the game. It was (obviously) a little rough going, but we made our way through to Dragonhead (always good to tag aetherytes!) and then, before we had to split up and get back to other things, I brought her down along to Behemoth's Dominion. And about a minute after we arrived, the snowstorms in the area cleared up and the northern mountains of Coerthas spread out before us.

... That's the sort of game that they've made. And I'm more than thankful for it even if my wallet ends up $13 lighter every month.

Another good post

Although a tad abbrasive he makes, SOME, good points.

this thread makes me cringe so hard. 'thank you' for what? you pay for this game you know, you pay monthly for services that (whether you like it or not) are not being delivered. it doesn't matter if you're fine without personal housing, it doesn't matter whether or not you think it's okay - yoshida explicitly stated that the housing would be separate and the costs would be lower. i am someone who 'understands hardware' and i realise that this is a logistical nightmare.

let's talk supply and demand, since the big boy OP wants to speak like adults. how many players are there on your servers? how many houses are there available in wards? personal funds can and will scale to meet the size and scope of these houses, there are more free agents than free companies, the bulk of the wards will be bought by individual players.

is that a problem right now? no. is that a problem in 5 years when those people have left the game? yes. that's a massive problem. as you're 'someone who understands hardware' (can't get over that), you must understand that this is a disaster.

the FFXIV server structure is split, instances are reserved and generated on a need basis. i won't talk down to you, and i'll assume you know how FFXI's mog housing worked. what we needed for personal housing was small individual 'plots' that did not really exist on the server side, we didn't need wards, we don't need neighbours. personal housing should not have been equal to free company housing, it should've been instanced based and should've been invitation only. it boggles my mind that the developers thought this was an easier way to implement it.

i just don't know how anyone can find this acceptable, it speaks volumes about their ideas of longevity for the game. 5 years down the line, are we going to have 'ward 72'? surely you understand how impractical this is, to have so many servers reserving these areas, these areas actively existing within the world. yoshida says that they are working on some sort of new architecture that will allow them to endlessly create wards, but i'm not sure how much value we can place in his words.

even from a lore perspective it's very silly. personal housing would've filled a gap in the lore where our free adventurers do not have a place to sleep or relax. the free company housing initiative was clearly put in place for people to capitalise on the influx of new adventurers post-calamity, but it doesn't make a lot of sense that they would allow them to be bought by single adventurers. it also doesn't make a lot of sense that people would live in these massive buildings, designed as halls. they're not mansions, they lack features, they are blank and basic halls.

it's just impractical and unjustifiable, i would like the people who defend this idea to give me one good defense of it.

Good post, and feedback received and taken. thank you

I am glad there is a post which appreciates their work. Should they read it, I am sure it will put a smile on their faces.

I might have interpreted it wrongly, but with actually as a keyword, you make it sound like you and your buddies are a special breed. I know a little something about developing too and as a developer I know the people, humans, who use my product will judge the result. Of course, lots of emotional judgements going on. I don't excpect otherwise because it has always been like this. I am sure SE knows this.

What I would do differently is give people a heads up in time. People, rightly so, expect great vision when it comes to this. Why else would they pay if the future is uncertain? These heated threads weren't born today. They added up because of the numerous "due to console/server limitation/memory....... we will look into it" dev responses.

I am glad we had some great QoL changes again. These aren't even noted on this forums because people are too busy with what is going on. The thing I am worried about now is 2.4. People will expect them to deliver twice as good. Let's hope SE knows how to hype (not over-hype) a patch so people can calm down and actually notice this game is so awesome you want all your friends to try it out too.

I may be reading too much into this one, but I really like it, and I'll take it as I read it, an emotional thank you, and let us help you

Brilliant Rubieus

Thank you SE, for trying. That really sums this whole experience, ever since 1.0 Alpha. Thank you Tanaka for trying, Thank you Yoshida for trying. Thank you SE for trying. You will not please everyone. But thank you, for trying.

I am not a developer. I am not in charge of hundreds of highly trained people who are skilled at various jobs required to make a game as complex as this. I am definitely sure that in time, this will blow over just like FC housing did. I know when you release Golden Saucer, that it will cause riots and people will complain. So in advance, thank you for trying.

I do have a suggestion though, if you will hear me out. A small one really. That is this. "Why not have a survey?" For things such as pricing? Ask us how much we are willing to pay for such things like a large house, a middle house. a small house. Ask us, if we want personal housing at all? or a zone like the personal rooms in the FC, but bigger, much much bigger. Have a survey about all sorts of things, not just housing, but about future classes, races, even content.. Then go from there.. Sure you can definately stick to your "story line" and "lore" but none of it matters if the content is not up to par. ASk us if we reaally want to grind fates for the next Relic or if we would rather grind dungeons or spiritbind(soulbind?).. take a good long look at how we feel about your game design.

I for one, love this game. It is full of love, I know. Because I poured my heart into it. I know I am not alone in this. So please, listen to us.. Listen to us when we cry, when we scream.. "Let us help you!" Let us.. be part of your team. We don't need monetary payment.. We just want our home.. Our digital Haven.. To be the best it can be.. So thank you for trying.. but you can't do this alone. So let us take some of the burden.

[Adler]

Thank you for ARR - I really enjoy it. And kids cry in forums everywhere - it can't be fixed.

[Ultimatecalibur]

Same for me. I understand how databases work and I also understand that all most every "easy" task the player base comes up with is far more difficult than most players imagine.

[Jaykos]

white knights up in here

[ZReport]

white knights up in here

Idiot up in here.

Anyways, I'm also a developer as well so I can understand their plight when it comes to development tasks. It can be very difficult to press on and implement and/or upgrade items on a specific piece of hardware. Even worse when you consider your are working against a schedule and aren't afforded the luxury of time to get things right.

I will say that they should have pushed back on development time if at all possible, instead of trying to go far in pleasing fans. Players would rather wait a bit more for a good product then get something half-assed sooner.

[Yoohre_WildRiver]

thank you SE, for promising a cookie, and then giving us a backhanded slap. or how the patch notes calls it a /slap

[KrenianKandos]

I also work in the Infrastructure section.

You know what I have to say?

Don't promise something that you can't deliver on when your Infrastructure isn't able to handle it. Put the money in the Infrastructure to upgrade or don't bother doing it the way you want to do it, and rather, do it so that you can do it with what you have.

Overreaching has repercussions. This is exactly what is happening.

[KamikazeMan]

I also work in the Infrastructure section.

You know what I have to say?

Don't promise something that you can't deliver on when your Infrastructure isn't able to handle it. Put the money in the Infrastructure to upgrade or don't bother doing it the way you want to do it, and rather, do it so that you can do it with what you have.

Overreaching has repercussions. This is exactly what is happening.

I couldn't agree more. I think it would have been a better idea to just hold off on personal housing til they could deliver something that doesn't feel like some cheap half-assed attempt and upset a lot of players. At the very least they could have given us the heads up in some sort of personal housing preview and let us know it would be limited till 2.4, just to lower the expectations.

[Orbiaus]

Was wondering when one of these would show. Funny how they always do no matter the MMO.

[Casper]

Wow the whole 10 of you that liked OP are satisfied with XIV direction ? Well that's going to be a resounding success !