We are pleased to present the full digest of the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXIII!
If you missed the live stream, or if you just want to watch it again (and again), check it out below!
* Don't forget to select the 1080p option to watch the video in HD!
Patch 6.2 Review & Patch 6.25 Overview
In the first half of the broadcast, we discussed some of the content implemented in Patch 6.2 based on the feedback we received from our players.
Storm's Crown
(00:02:43)
While the patch trailer had players speculating that Scarmiglione would appear as a trial in Patch 6.2, many also mentioned their surprise at Barbariccia's debut.
Simultaneously revealing two of the Archfiends before the patch may have given the impression that we were introducing them too quickly, which is why Barbariccia was left as a surprise until release. Another reason was that we wanted to present the trailer in a way that would have players guessing that the next Archfiend after Scarmiglione wouldn't appear until Patch 6.3.
From a producer's point of view, it's always hard to decide if we should leave certain aspects as a surprise or include them in promotional materials. But one of our goals with the main scenario is to have players enjoy it and be surprised even as they predict what'll happen next, so diminishing that sensation by revealing everything beforehand is something we'd like to avoid, even if it makes sense to share it from a promotional perspective.
Since two of the Archfiends were revealed in Patch 6.2, future patches will need to go above and beyond to surpass players' expectations. That's something we've been considering since the plot was originally proposed, so we hope you'll look forward to what's coming next. Although Patch 6.2 was dripping with plenty of references to FFIV, we'd like to remind you that our story takes place in the world of FFXIV, and also hope that you’ll enjoy our take on these story elements in future updates.
We're glad to hear that players enjoy the quick tempo of attacks in Storm's Crown and feel that the encounter doesn't get stale.
Generally speaking, when our team is brainstorming ideas for battle content, they consider how they might distinguish them from previous encounters and emphasize the unique flavor of the game designer in charge. In the case of Storm's Crown, a lot of recent encounters featured so-called "puzzle mechanics," so the proposal began with including reaction-based mechanics that would have players scrambling to keep up. The fast pace of mechanics was already tuned exceptionally well when Yoshida had his first look, so adjustments were made while carefully preserving that aspect of the encounter, and the result appears to have been well-received by our players as well.
This was another encounter where the harder version (Extreme) was designed first, from which certain mechanics and other elements were removed to create the normal version. However, many of the mechanics proved difficult to omit, and so we predicted that the normal encounter may have ended up a tad more difficult than usual.
Something we struggled with designing was the circular boundaries during the mechanic where Barbariccia hinders players with her hair. The area inside the circle was originally colored in, but Yoshida instinctively felt that he had to exit the circle during his first attempt, despite the mechanic requiring him to stay inside. This led to a lengthy discussion about how to better clarify the circle's purpose, as well as whether players should be allowed to move around as they pleased.
Pandæmonium: Abyssos
(00:10:16)
We imagine many of you were surprised to hear Lahabrea's voice when he made his reappearance in the trailer and battle content.
Although the main scenario revealed myriad details regarding the Ascians during the events leading up to 6.0, Lahabrea didn't have a lot of time in the spotlight due to his early withdrawal from the story. Therefore, we had already decided he would be the central figure for Pandæmonium's story by the time the raid series was announced during Fan Festival 2021.
Yoshida was also unaware that Lahabrea had voice lines, and it was only during his initial review that he was told, "Oh, by the way, we added voices for him." That said, the budget is always managed very strictly, so it appears this unexpected addition was the result of the team doing their best to make ends meet.
A notable characteristic of the raids in Patch 6.2 were the numerous boss mechanics that utilized a large portion of the battle area, such as the Devour mechanic in the Fifth Circle and the floor-destroying slams in the Seventh Circle.
In Eden's Promise: Umbra, there was a mechanic where sections of the floor could vanish; it was around then that our newer battle designers were growing adept enough to design raid content. Mechanics that transform the battle area are a culmination of the programmers' and designers' technical skills, and since our recent success with systematizing the process of creating those mechanics, they've become somewhat of a trend within the development team.
To some extent, mechanics are also conceptualized based on a monster's physical appearance. In the case of Proto-Carbuncle, its methods of attack were rather limited to simple actions like biting, which is why the walls and other elements were mixed into its mechanics. Devour was an attention-grabber with its eye-catching presentation, but perhaps the reflective walls were the most ground-breaking mechanic of the encounter. As for the Seventh Circle, Yoshida guesses that the drastic floor transformations were designed based on the visual cohesion of all four Abyssos encounters.
Pandæmonium: Abyssos was our test run for releasing Savage raids a week after their normal counterparts. First of all, we'd like to thank everyone who shared their feedback with us.
After going through feedback on the official forums, social media, and news websites, Yoshida's impression was that the majority are in favor of continuing to release Savage a week later. Many players mentioned they were able to enjoy the story and other new content at their own pace, so then any player requests will likely be regarding what adjustments should be made to accommodate the release timing.
There were predictions that prices would drop for crafted equipment, which probably deterred a fair number of players from crafting their own this time around. This led to varied results across each World; some Worlds experienced a higher demand for crafted equipment than usual, while others saw price drops as predicted. As such, we're currently in the process of graphing the quantities and prices of crafted equipment sold on all Worlds in order to determine our course of action moving forward. We had a general framework in mind for what we'd do if we were to fully embrace the new release pattern for Savage, so now it's a matter of deciding which sections of our plan would be put into motion.
The development team still has internal factors to consider; for example, releasing Savage a week after a patch makes it difficult for us to determine a timing for hotfixes. Although we can't guarantee we'll continue with this pattern just yet, we do acknowledge there are many players who prefer Savage to be released later and will be using that as a premise for further adjustments. However, we'd like to note that there are currently no plans to adjust the timing at which new Allagan tomestones are released.