With the Live Letter set for August 12th a little under a week away, I think it is important to highlight some of the more requested topics the community seeks answers on. While many of us hope for 6.2’s success, it is also necessary to address some of the issues that arose in 6.1.

1. Hrothgar Hairstyles (and to some extent, Viera) -

Though I do not play as this race, I believe that Hrothgar players deserve to have a progress update in regards to the situation concerning their hairstyles. Hair is a key part of character customization and the controversial reception to the removal of their ears in order to accommodate the other more “human” hairs led to widespread disapproval from Hrothgar players. Restoring their confidence with an update, preferably one with images or even the restoration of the ears for these newer hairstyles would be helpful in improving the situation.

While it is likely that Viera will receive new hairstyles this patch, it is a bit concerning that neither 6.0 nor 6.1 brought any new shared hairstyles. The only one I can think of is the one that comes with the Lyse outfit, but that is Mogstation only. There is no new hairstyle accessible by players through solely in-game means. It is understandable that considerable work is being poured into updating both Viera and Hrothgar hairs, but I don’t think it is ok to halt production of new shared hairstyles for each race, including Viera and Hrothgar which should be able to be accommodated by this point. Ideally, patches should bring both updates to the hairs of those two races along with a new hairstyle for everyone, all together.


2. Island Sanctuary Quality and Details –

Moving the release of Island Sanctuary to 6.2 is good news, but when looking at photos of the island, there are some things that caught my attention. There is something about the way in which the lighting is arranged in the preview photos that make it look unusually flat when the ground is compared to the color of the leaves on the trees, though how much of that ground will still be visible after buildings are constructed on the island remain unknown to us.

Will there be different customization options in the same manner as housing exteriors for these facilities? Will players who do not own a home be able to make use of outdoor furnishings on this island? Will we be able to place buildings on the island as we wish, or are their positions pre-determined? These are some questions that I think would be important to address in that segment of the presentation.


3. “Quest-Centric” Relic Progression –

This concerns the upcoming relic questline, in which the past 2 expansions were associated with several instanced zones. However, the wording of “quest centric” has led to numerous discussions regarding whether we will see the return of such zones during the 6.X series. Further clarification on this matter would help paint a clearer picture of what to expect from the relic, so players can manage their expectations accordingly.


4. Clarity Regarding Job Adjustments -

6.1 saw several controversial changes to jobs, the most notable being the removal of Kaiten from Samurai. It is essential that future job changes and their rationale is explained in a way that shows consideration from the player’s perspective, rather than a purely developmental one. This can be applied to many cases, as well as the current situation regarding PVP job balancing where the disproportionate ability effects between the jobs has led to frustrating experiences. More open communication should be pursued, such as interacting with community members on the forums, in regard to job changes as the plan to alter both Dragoon and Astrologian may not be fully incorporating the views of players who do not feel these jobs should be altered in a major way, aside from quality of life improvements.


5. “Spoiler” Content –

Admittedly this is a personal thing of mine, but I do not like it when key battle content like the Trial or the Dungeon are hidden behind “spoilers.” It should be understood that many players who wish to avoid spoilers do not watch live letters, especially those with the trailer, and instead prefer to view summarized versions of the translated slides put together by other members of the community with spoiler content edited out. The only time where I concede this was warranted was in patch 5.3, and given the general expectation of Golbez and the 4 Fiends being this expansion’s trial series I don’t think hiding the boss of the trial is warranted in this case.

On that note, I encourage others to share any points that they hope to see addressed in the coming live letter.