Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LVII Digest (02/14/2020)

[Voltenyne]

Ocean Fishing



(01:59:10)

This is the fisher-exclusive content that we first introduced during our previous Letter LIVE. You’ll be able to participate even as a level 1 fisher. There aren’t many activities like this in FFXIV, and quite frankly this content won’t make or break the game. However, we believe that as we continue to create the world, the existence of some of these types of activities provide a charm to it. We feel that our MMORPG has started to reach a point where we can make this sort of content. We hope it’s something that you can enjoy casually, like while waiting for your raid group.

We showed some gameplay footage, so you can take a look at what it’s like.



The ship sets sail every two hours in real time. There are two different routes, each with three fishing locations. Once you arrive at a fishing location, everyone on the ship will be able to begin fishing. The content is about 25 minutes long after boarding the ship.

When ocean fishing was first announced, we received requests to allow players to slowly sail around on the ship, like FFXI or FFXIV 1.0. While it was possible, this time we intentionally did not do so. Making it realistic like that would make the content take longer to complete, and thus not something you could do leisurely. On the other hand, we were meticulous when creating the cutscenes, which should be great for taking screenshots.

Each player can fish from wherever they’d like on the ship. The important part is fishing with other players in the same area, and it should be quite enjoyable to fish together even if you don’t hold any conversations.

There are NPCs onboard that sell bait and repair your equipment also. As shown in the gameplay, the fish you caught during the trip will be displayed in the Score Overview window. You’ll receive points depending on the type and quality of the fish you caught. Once you’ve returned to port, your score will be totaled and displayed as a ranking. You can also leave early if you’re not interested in scores or something comes up while you’re fishing.

We’re considering additional routes and random events in future updates. Since we are implementing the base system this time, we weren’t able to create many variations of random events.

After the ocean fishing gameplay, we also showed the Angler’s print furnishings and Eden’s Verse gear rewards, as well as the winning design of the Ranged DPS Gear Design Contest, so take a look at those as well. As a side note, the winning design will be implemented as a new set of gear, and other roles will also feature gear based on the design.

Ishgardian Restoration Update (Patch 5.21)



(02:24:55)

Patch 5.1 was just the beginning, and we’ll be diving into the key aspects of the Ishgardian Restoration. This time there will be many restoration stages and Disciples of the Land will now be able to participate as well.

With this being our first real-time content, there were some points we’d overlooked at the time of Patch 5.1.

For concerted works, we had set a long waiting period to allow as many players to participate as possible, but this turned out negatively as large groups of players from other Worlds came to participate, causing congestion which prevented players from entering.

There was also an issue where concerted works occurred late at night, which made participation difficult for those who’d worked hard to turn in collectables. These were the result of oversights by development and operations teams, and we apologize for the inconvenience caused to our players.

This time, the next step will start as soon as the Stockpile Level is filled, allowing players who are actively contributing collectables to participate immediately. Work or school schedules may make it difficult to witness all stages of the Restoration, but the increased number of stages should provide more opportunities to participate compared to Patch 5.1.

The Diadem

(02:30:13)

We showed gameplay of the Diadem, which has been reborn into an exclusive area for Disciples of the Land.

Disciples of the Land can enter starting at level 10, and you can use it to level up because you can earn experience there. The content can be played solo, and Mission Ceruleum will no longer be necessary. You’ll also be able to use flying mounts to travel within the area.

Disciples of the Land can gather required materials for Ishgardian Restoration here. The gathered materials are appraised then processed into materials that can be used in crafting. You’ll also receive Skybuilders’ Scrips upon appraisal.

You can use the aetheromatic augur duty action in the new Diadem. Using this on a monster will allow you to obtain materials corresponding to the monster. It’s not something you can just use endlessly; a gauge will gradually fill as you gather, and you’ll be able to use it once per gauge bar.

Gathering points will appear in a cycle around the Diadem. These gathering points are unique to each player, so you won’t need to fight over them. Additionally, a gathering point where you can obtain rare materials will appear when certain conditions are met.

We also showed a new mount that will be added to the Ishgardian Restoration rewards, which can be seen in the video.

Kupo of Fortune

(02:44:15)

We previously mentioned there would be scratch-off tickets in Ishgardian Restoration. These will be implemented as Kupo of Fortune.

You can scratch off one of four spaces on the ticket, and will receive an item based on the mark that appears. The items you can obtain will be different for each card. Some of the items you can obtain include new glamour items and emotes!

Ishgardian Restoration (including the Diadem and Kupo of Fortune) will begin in Patch 5.21, which we’re planning to implement about three weeks after Patch 5.2.

Skysteel Tools (Patch 5.25)



(02:50:51)

To put it simply, it’ll be an upgradeable equipment series for Disciples of the Hand and Land, similar to the Zodiac Weapons. You’ll be working with the Skysteel Manufactory in Ishgard to create the legendary tools used by famed artisans of the past.

Unlike battle jobs, you won’t be given objectives like participating in various duties or defeating a certain number of enemies using the aetheromatic augur. Instead, once you’ve prepared the various required items through crafting and gathering, they’ll build the tools for you.

This will be only the first stage, so it won’t be as powerful as melding the latest tools. However, the upgrades will continue in later patches, and it’ll become quite powerful by the final stage, so we hope you’ll give it a try!

You can see how some of the tools look in the video.

Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr (Patch 5.25)



(02:55:24)

This will be an upgradeable equipment series with plenty of story.

In the age of the Allagan Empire during the Third Astral Era, the land of Bozja was ruled by a wise queen. This queen was protected by heroes wielding the legendary weapons known as the Blades of Gunnhildr.

In the present day, the Bozja region is under the rule of the IVth Legion of Garlemald. But the Bozja Resistance, part of the Far Eastern alliance, continues to fight for liberation. It is under these circumstances that Hien requests adventurers to aid the Resistance.

The storyline is a continuation of the Return to Ivalice quests, so completing them will be a prerequisite to Save the Queen. And as with Return to Ivalice, the scenario is written by Yasumi Matsuno.

In Patch 5.25, you can obtain the base weapon if you complete a quest that can be completed solo. It also won’t be too difficult to obtain these weapons for multiple jobs.

The second part is planned for Patch 5.35, which will bring more story and a new type of field content, similar to Eureka.

In Eureka, upgrade materials could only be gathered inside Eureka itself, but for Save the Queen we’re planning to have other methods to obtain the required items outside of the specific content.

The new field will have a unique leveling system and a tense atmosphere, and we have plans for a high-difficulty challenge similar to Baldesion Arsenal. Having said that, we removed aspects like fighting over portals, and used the feedback we received from Eureka to develop something new. Please look forward to it!

Other Updates

(03:09:44)

Parasols
We showed this through gameplay. When you obtain a parasol, it’ll be registered to the Extras category of your Actions & Traits menu. Once we have several varieties, we’ll create a menu and move them there, as we did with mounts.

As you may expect, the parasol will cast a shadow, and you won’t get wet from the rain if you have it up. Furthermore, you’ll get wet if you enter a puddle, which was actually quite a troublesome process. This realistic feature required trial and error, but it’s finally being implemented!

Changes to Sale Price of Fieldcraft Demimateria
We’ll be adjusting the price of fieldcraft demimateria in order to better regulate the circulation of gil in the game economy.
* See here for more details.

Fan Festival 2020-2021



We announced the locations and dates for the next round of Fan Festivals!
They will be held in San Diego, California for North America, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture for Japan, and London, England for Europe. Further information will be released in the future.