Letter from the Producer LIVE Part XVIII Q&A Updates

[Bayohne]

Q9: Waiting for FATEs to spawn for Zodiac weapon quests and beast tribe quest takes a very long time. Do you have plans to adjust this?

A9: As we’ve already made adjustments to the spawn times for FATEs for beast tribe quests, we do not have any plans to make further adjustments to the overall wait time. If there are any in particular you feel that the wait time is too long compared to others, please let us know.

On the other hand, there are cases where it often takes time for Zodiac Brave FATEs to spawn since they are related to other FATEs in the area, so we are looking into having these occur separately.

[Bayohne]

Q10: In a previous interview, you mentioned that we will able to tackle instanced dungeons by ourselves. Are there still plans to implement this feature?

A10: Yes, there are still plans to implement this feature. While there isn’t too much we can reveal at this time, just to give you a preview, we are currently discussing a new type of content where you will control your own unit for your grand company, add NPCs in your unit, and take them to dungeons to level them up.

[Bayohne]

Q11: Do you have plans to add new rules to Frontline?

A11: We are planning to add new rules in Patch 2.5. The map will be the same, but the rules will be different. Additionally, in Patch 2.5 we will be adding Frontline to the Duty Roulette. We’re currently in the midst of planning new maps for the expansion, and afterwards we are also planning to expand the Wolves’ Den.

We are also in the process of looking into making it so matching takes place for 8v8v8.

[Bayohne]

Q12: Currently, all of the high-level crafting recipes require materials obtained via desynthesis and items obtained by trading tomestones, and the gatherer classes do not have much involvement. Are there any plans to adddress the balance so that the gatherers can be involved more?

A12: With the Armoury system, every player has the capability to gather the same items as everyone else (even though there are some time restrictions involved with some of the items) in FINAL FANTASY XIV. While the Armoury system is one of the main features of FINAL FANTASY XIV, this system makes it difficult for certain classes to take an active role in the development of the economy.

We intentionally included a lot of the desynthesis materials in the new recipes because we wanted everyone to check out the desynthesis system. However, we understand that we went a little too overboard with the recipes. We are currently discussing the addition of recipes for the mid-tier users instead of just adding new recipes for the hardcore users.

[Bayohne]

Q13: Obtaining the higher-tier equipment for Disciples of the Hand is extremely difficult. Will the difficulty be adjustment in the future? I’d like recipes and elements that are a bit easier to get into.

A13: While I believe it’s a good thing that you can’t produce high-quality items through crafting with a macro alone, I would like to make adjustments to the difficulty of obtaining higher-tier Disciples of the Hand equipment.

Addressing this right away would take away the hard work put in by all the Disciple of the Hand players that have obtained this gear already, so while in the Patch 2.x series, the current recipes will be the upper limit and we will be trying to add recipes below this.

[Bayohne]

Q14: There are a lot of recipes in Patch 2.4 that require Mastercraft Demimateria. Will you be adding more avenues for obtaining this item in the future?

A14: We’d like to make adjustments starting with the recipes we add from here on out.

[Bayohne]

Q15: As a fresh level 50 player, it’s difficult to obtain the previous Allagan tomestone of mythology gear (item level 90 gear) because they can only be obtained through the new dungeons. Are there any easier ways to obtain these pieces of gear?

A15: We are currently discussing ways to address this matter. We moved the item level 90 gear to the newer dungeons with item desynthesis and grand company turn-ins in mind, but we realized this made it harder for the newer players to obtain the item level 90 gear.

[Bayohne]

Q16: A lot of the new boss battles introduced in Patch 2.4 were very interesting. Could you talk about how a boss battle is designed?

A16: First off, Maehiro, Gondai, and I (Yoshida) decide on the bosses that will be introduced in the patch.

Once the bosses have been decided, we finalize the story and background for that boss. Once that is complete, the battle team designs the mechanics based on those settings.

Finally, the mechanics are shared and checked by the scenario team and I, and if need be, make any last minute changes to the mechanics.

[Bayohne]

Q17: Can you tell us the status on add-ons and DirectX 11?

A17: We’ve finished implementing the basic add-on system and we’re currently preparing the API. Internally the test code is running. However, there may be bugs with the add-ons we distribute when they are modified and due to this we are proceeding carefully with legal checks and such. At the the moment we do not have an official release date that we can mention.

In regards to DirectX 11, we will be addressing this along with the release of the expansion. We’d like to show off a side-by-side comparison video of DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 at the Fan Festival in Tokyo. Additionally, we’re also preparing a benchmark before launch.

On the Mac front, progress is continuing and we are planning for a late-March/April release.

[Bayohne]

Q18: Currently, all of our daily beastmen quests are used by the Ixali beastmen quests because the items obtained with the oaknots can be sold for a lot of money. Are there any plans to alleviate the amount of oaknots required for these items or have a separate number of daily quests just for the Ixali tribe (so that we can do other tribes)?

A18: We are currently looking into the prices of these items daily on each World and we are at a stage where we can say that we will be making adjustments.However, as for “Xelphatol spring water,” we do believe the current cost is too high, so we will be making it easier to obtain. On the other hand, we will be monitoring the cost of “Ehcatl sealant” a little bit more before we decide on making adjustments.