Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXII (08/22/2022)

[Voltenyne]

We are pleased to present the full digest of the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXII!
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 Preview Part 2
In this broadcast, we went over what’s coming in Patch 6.2, along with gameplay footage.

Buried Memory Trailer



(00:00:10)

We began the broadcast by revealing the trailer for Patch 6.2 – Buried Memory, which is scheduled to release on Tuesday, August 23.

What’s to Come in Patch 6.2




(00:11:01)

Our favorite inspector returns with more humorous cutscenes in “Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures.”

The latest installment of “Tataru’s Grand Endeavor” will require you to have completed the Shadow of Mhach sidequest series. The story will be something like an epilogue to Shadow of Mhach, so we encourage you to go through the series if you haven’t already.



(00:14:28)

The latest dungeon area will be used in a slightly unusual manner after completing the duty, which you may want to keep an eye out for.

The new trial will be accessible when Patch 6.2 is released, but we’d like to keep the encounter a secret until then. We hope you’ll check it out and see what you’re up against! Trials and the main scenario have unfolded in separate storylines for some time now, but this time it’ll branch off directly from the main scenario. As such, we hope you’ll take your time as you go through the main scenario first.



(00:16:10)

The Savage raids of Patch 6.2 will be released one week after the patch. Pushing back the release date for Savage is something we’ve done for expansion launches, in consideration of players who would be busy leveling up and obtaining equipment through various new means. With other major patches, Normal and Savage were released at the same time as we felt those timings weren’t as busy, but this has always been a subject of debate.

On one hand, those aiming for an early clear felt pressured to skip the cutscenes instead of thoroughly enjoying the story, while others were overwhelmed by trying to prepare the latest gear right after the patch. On the other hand, some were concerned that delaying Savage would allow players to research the Normal raids and figure out some mechanics beforehand.

The development team carefully considered the possible effects of delaying Savage, as well as countermeasures. Once the countermeasures are implemented, however, should there be any issues, reversing them would be extremely expensive in terms of developmental cost.

Therefore, in Patch 6.2, we will only be pushing back the release timing by one week; the token exchange rate for weapons and equipment will not be adjusted. We’d like to hear from you regarding whether we should continue to delay Savage in future patches, and if so, any adjustments that should be made to accommodate the release timing. This feedback would then be referenced to determine the overall flow of patches moving forward.

This means that players will be able to challenge Savage after two weeks’ worth of tokens, but we believe it’ll still be slightly more difficult than usual. As to why we believe so, we believe it’ll be clear once you experience the raids for yourselves.
We’ve also implemented new mechanics, so please look forward to it.

As for Containment Bay S1T7 (Unreal), certain mechanics in the encounter against Sephirot will be adjusted according to our modern specifications for battle content.



(00:23:10)

We went over the improvements that will be made to main scenario quests.

The story of Heavensward featured your journeys with the group of key NPCs, and we believe the changes we’ve made will fulfill some of the kinds of scenes that were requested. Certain bosses’ mechanics and cutscenes have also been adjusted.

The Steps of Faith has been overhauled quite drastically, including NPC behaviors, so we hope you’ll take a look in New Game+ when you have the chance.





(00:29:35)

Patch 6.2 will be considered the official release of adventurer plates and portraits.

In the previous Letter LIVE, we had mentioned that portrait data prior to Patch 6.2 would be lost; this has been changed so that portraits applied to adventurer plates or linked to gear sets will be preserved in Patch 6.2 onward. If you have any portraits you would like to keep, we ask that you either apply them to your adventurer plate or link them to gear sets.



(00:34:11)

During the Patch 6.x series, we will gradually be implementing optimized graphics processing and other preparations for the graphics update planned for Patch 7.0. Although the new Dynamic Resolution function has been fully debugged, there’s an overwhelming range of different play environments for Windows and Mac version users, so we’d like to consider this the beta version for now.

Job Adjustments




(00:38:48)

When the full version of the 6.2 patch notes are released, we will also be explaining our intentions behind job adjustments on the Job Guide. Verbal explanations during live broadcasts can be insufficient or skewed in terms of information, so this will be a supplement to them. Of course, we aren’t expecting all of our players to agree with our reasoning, but we do believe that being open with the development team’s intentions may help some to understand our reasons.

We also went over the adjustments that will made related to critical and direct hits. Actions that guarantee direct hits will now inflict more damage based on your character’s direct hit attribute, among other changes, so we encourage you to experiment and come up with new equipment sets and materia configurations.