4Gamer Interview with Yoshi-P!

[Dante_V]

"However, we often use zero in the calculation for damage required from healers."

Can we close all the healer DPS threads now?.

Mmm not really because the current savage dps checks were tuned for around 200-210 gear, so naturally even if healer dps isn't accounted for at this ilvl, it's still necessary when entering it at ilvl 180 or so if you plan to start raiding on release.

[KarstenS]

Mmm not really because the current savage dps checks were tuned for around 200-210 gear,

lol?

A1? This is pretty shure designed for i190.

A2? From the logic of older raids: i195.

A3 will be designed around i200.

A4 could be in the i205 range.

You should take a look which gear was available at the release of the raid and from where you do get it. An ancounter cannot be designed for an higher iLvl than you can get without looting this encounter.

[RiceisNice]

....

Doesn't seem like the case considering the number requirement, requirement for healer dps, and requirement for tanks to push dps to get a clear even at those ilvls.

Their testing really leaves for much to be desired; they've implied to test each phase individually (which doesn't capture the entire endurance of a fight) in a state of invulnerability with hp drops (which really doesn't help them catch things like nisi or outgoing damage, espesically if they aren't actively looking out for where the damage is coming from), and they admitted that A3s and A4s tests had to be cut short to meet release times.

[Leigaon]

From what it sounded like I can understand the reasoning for not having so many different branches of current jobs. The reasoning is sound to an extent, like they said if he had Dragoon modes A and B then they have two jobs to balance essentially instead of one.

I think though there is a middle ground where we can have something but when things are tested they can test results off of the same class\job.

A merit point system, something small or like others said a FFIX system with very small boosts would be fun without really breaking things. Increasing yalms for certain moves, duration even if it adds up to 5 or 10 seconds. From the way it was worded, is we should see our characters and the jobs it can branch off of as one giant skill tree.

Still don't get me wrong I'm very happy with the game, and after taking a break from AST, I plan to go back and start paper cutting people with cards!

The dummy fighting I see as their way of doing a parser without officially showing it and endorsing it. From the way it sounds they take in a jobs ability to do X amount of damage. So if you're placed against a striking dummy meant for a certain content they're basically telling you " Do this much DPS and you'll be okay" So someone going into AS1, have a striking dummy where you have to deal X amount of damage, if you can and pass then you should feel good being able to go into the content.

Then again I guess the argument will be "because they do it there doesn't mean they'll do it in the content" which is true, but at least these people will know they have the rotation for it, they just need to find the opportunity.

[RiceisNice]

From what it sounded like I can understand the reasoning for not having so many different branches of current jobs. The reasoning is sound to an extent, like they said if he had Dragoon modes A and B then they have two jobs to balance essentially instead of one.

I think though there is a middle ground....

It's either balancing two models of DRG, or a DRG and another melee dps. Either one is going to lead to the same issue, but in this game I think the latter would work fine considering teh armory sytem...provided they differentiate the two jobs to begin with.

A significant part (though by no means all) of the reason that people wanted dual spec in WoW was that different encounters worked better with different raid compositions. Many fights only needed a single tank, or were made easier by having a DPS switch to healer or visa versa.

It's not necessarily a different composition when it comes to raids (you'd still need 2 or 4 tanks, 2 or 5 healers, etc etc), but that each of the classes in WoW had three different specializations that came with different playstyles (think DRG/MNK/NIN), as well as talent choices in each specialization (the type of CC, type of burst damage, type of regen, etc). Dual spec essentially gave you two that you can switch between on the go, because the other way of resetting your specialization choices was going back to your class trainer, or using a storebought item to reset talent choices.

[Beskar]

Shame really but to be expected. I still do feel as though we need something else to work towards though, whether this be Alternate Advancement or something. Adding new traits should have been in the expansion as well in my opinion. They cant really keep on adding new and more skills unless they do something about the bloat. The only work around they could do is automatically put the combos onto the same button (like how Tera does it) to free up space.

[Xatsh]

I disagree greatly with Yoshida's views and such, but honestly this is what I expected. He worries way too much about balance. It is why perfect balance is as bad as no balance.

The game is shallow and it will probably remain that way, it is apparent from 2.0 to 3.1 this is not going to change at all.

This interview will probably make a good number of people I know quit the game, they were only here holding on hopes SE would fix the issues. Now it is confirmed he has no plans on doing it anymore.

[myahele]

I can't help but feel that they're slowly becoming more and more disconnected with the player base with their line of thing now.

True, they say they look into the forums and try to implement some of what we've asked ... but is that enough? I am thankful that they do listen to the players in that way, but still, they could do more. Especially since they seem to listen and take data more from the Japanese forum than western part.

They could do things such as surveys and polls.

Take for example LoV; nobody really asked, nor wanted that. While it's true that some wanted a minigame for minions, they could have executed it better. Instead of asking us what kind of future minigame for Gold Saucer we want they just seem to add whatever. Not sure how LoV is doing gin Japanese servers, but it's a big failure in the West

[Kosmos992k]

Take for example LoV; nobody really asked, nor wanted that. While it's true that some wanted a minigame for minions, they could have executed it better. Instead of asking us what kind of future minigame for Gold Saucer we want they just seem to add whatever. Not sure how LoV is doing gin Japanese servers, but it's a big failure in the West

Actually people were pretty positive when it was announced, and I remember several topics in which people asked for a minion based battle/strategy game - which is exactly what we got. I think that the control scheme for controller users is a bit jarring at first and that turned off a lot of people. I haven't payed it enough yet, but I have at least got past that initial shock over the control scheme. It looks like a pretty good, fun, top down strategy game that blends RTS concepts with Tower defense and throws mini Morbols at it. I actually think that if people actually gave the game a little practice and time, they would come to like it.

You seem to on the one hand accept that they listen to players and fans, and yet you say they are increasingly disconnected from the fans and want even more listening to fans. OK, but think about this;

Hunts - explicitly requested by players asking for open world bosses and Notorious Monster type content - Reception by players - mass zerg hunting to farm the living shit out of it, followed by near constant whining on the forums about the zerg rush, the impact of so many players in one place on the game client, the speed with which people could gear up using Hunts, etc...
Two difficulty tiers in raids - explicitly requested by fans on this and many other forums, as well as in game I am sure. Reception of that by players - near pure hatred and negative feedback with an emphasis on Negative.
Open world content that we can farm for gear and other items - again requested by players numerous times in many different ways. Reception of Diadem by players - Exploit the living shit out of it then complain because a few non raiders suddenly had some ilvl 210 pieces (albeit with crappy stat allocation).

There are so many examples where listening to fan feedback has produced new content, but thanks to some people exploiting it, or not using it as expected, the content is received negatively, and people do *not* hold back on their negativity. It's an all or nothing thing, there's very little listing out the good bits and suggesting changes or additions to change or fix the bad bits. No, instead it's a vehement tirade of entirely negative ravings with a few more level headed people proposing changes - and even then the changes often benefit one group of players at the expense of the majority.

I'm actually of the opinion that the team should be working towards it's vision of the game and game content. Sure they can listen to feedback and change a few things based on feedback, but I don't believe that it's good for the game for them to develop new content in reaction to player complaints. There is no way for them to please everyone, if you pick one audience over another, you please one and annoy the other. So they should just build the best damn game that they can according to the vision they hold for the game.

[Kaurie]

A

Hunts - explicitly requested by players asking for open world bosses and Notorious Monster type content - Reception by players - mass zerg hunting to farm the living shit out of it, followed by near constant whining on the forums about the zerg rush, the impact of so many players in one place on the game client, the speed with which people could gear up using Hunts, etc...

Two difficulty tiers in raids - explicitly requested by fans on this and many other forums, as well as in game I am sure. Reception of that by players - near pure hatred and negative feedback with an emphasis on Negative.

Open world content that we can farm for gear and other items - again requested by players numerous times in many different ways. Reception of Diadem by players - Exploit the living shit out of it then complain because a few non raiders suddenly had some ilvl 210 pieces (albeit with crappy stat allocation).

All you are proving with this is that the dev team is horrible at interpreting consumer feedback and/or at implementing requested content.

On a totally separate note, you've been like a 53 Paladin since July or something. Is that an alt character, or what do you do in-game that doesn't help you level at all?