A Very Welcome Improvement To Game's Launcher

[TheVigilant]

Hi everyone! Has it been announced if the dev team are working on implementing social features to the game's launcher? As I come from playing a similar game for over a decade which has social features within its launcher which do not just feel like a luxury but a necessity. It's things such as the ability to add players as friends, see the status of friends (online, busy, away and offline) and open a chat with them through it. Such an improvement to the game's launcher would not just be welcome, it would deserve a massage and a cup of tea and I insist. During my search for info regarding the matter, I stumbled upon this video of a concept by someone which scarred my heart, I swear on this by the life of my chocobo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FrnebaD5dM
The moment the video was played and the breeze of the future filled my surroundings and all of my hair stood firm like the mountains. If it has been announced please let us know. If not, our hearts yearn to know.

[Rufalus]

At least for now the plan is for social features to be part of a new mobile app releasing within the next few months. Will include chat, organising FC events on a calendar, item management and more. Don't know about remaking the launcher, nothing announced on that yet.

[TheVigilant]

Thanks for the swift reply, Rufalus. I hope to see the chat part at least on the launcher as well.

[Callinon]

Aside from not knowing what a "manlual" is, that's gorgeous and I want it.

[TheVigilant]

Yet almost a year later and...

[Shurrikhan]

Yet almost a year later and...

/pat

It's a pretty great mock-up, seriously. And I'd love to see handy social features like that, even if Discord has largely eclipsed the need... Maybe if/when considerations for megaservers comes under way they might give social features, the disgustingly long amount of time it takes even to sort online players to the tops of their respective lists, and the launcher UI their due reconsideration.

Edit: Ideally, this persistent and responsive social menu / friends list would have to be available on more than just launcher, of course, for the development to be worthwhile, though.

[Raldo]

Given the few seconds I spend on the launcher, this seems like a giant waste of resources.

[Niwashi]

It's not going to have social features available before knowing who you are, and once you log in, you're done with the launcher and will be entering the game anyway, where those social features already exist. What would be the point in having them on the launcher screen that you're done with by the time you could access them there?

[TheVigilant]

Given the few seconds I spend on the launcher, this seems like a giant waste of resources.

To each their own.

It's not going to have social features available before knowing who you are, and once you log in, you're done with the launcher and will be entering the game anyway, where those social features already exist. What would be the point in having them on the launcher screen that you're done with by the time you could access them there?

I don't want to be forced to keep the game open on my laptop when I'm not charging it and busy with other things to suck the battery life out in a matter of a couple of hours just so I can chat with my FFXIV friends while I'm doing other stuff, this is the benefit I had in Blizzard's game launcher, and don't tell me Discord, even though I use it I also understand not every FFXIV player uses Discord and they're free not to. Please try to be considerate towards other people, thanks.

[DrWho2010]

eh if you're gonna talk with ffxiv friends and not use discord then your options are kinda limited. how is the launcher supposed to know it's you? you may have multiple characters on a service account. there's being considerate and then there's being ignorant and oblivious to game limitations.