New Yoshi P Interview

[CNitsah]

Square Enix chasing after players they won't have while steering further away from the player they have, episode 352...

The whole JRPG is going "you know stick to the fundamentals gameplay wise, but reinvent yourself story wise", but SE keep going the opposite way, and now they do the same with MMOs : "Actually, mmo players don't want to play to a mmo, they want a mobile game". No we don't. Coming from the people that didn't want to see how the JRPG was more than "a RPG from Japan", but something with well identified codes and methods, I'm not even surprised.

With all the respect I have for Yoshida and what he brought to XIV, I feel it's time to push him out and bring someone that actually wants to do a mmorpg, or if it's the execs that push the game in that direction, it's time for him to stand up against them to defend the game he once saved. It's time to stop being the PR guy.

We're here to play a f*cking MMO, one that repect our time but still is a mmo. Stop wanting to be everything but that. There will already be a FFXIV mobile game, no need to have a second one. The same way you don't transform non high end raiders into high end raiders because you put a haircut or don't make a normal mode to your content, you won't get the mobile game players chose a mmo (especially a subscription one) over an actual mobile game : they already have better options, actual mobile game that are not a mmo that tries to be something it's not. Stop doing the same error again and again.

[Catwho]

G'raha still has to do a proper tour of Ishgard with us at some point, so he can fanboy over Heavensward some more. And maybe we introduce him to Count Edmond so he can fanboy over him too.

Other than that, I agree that his character arc is pretty much over, and he should retire. ALL of the Scions need to retire back out to the background.

We need to miss them for them to be fun again.

- Thancred becomes the guy we go to when we need to break into something
- Estinien becomes the guy we go to when we have a dragon problem
- Urianger becomes the guy we go to whenever we have a problem with a Society
- Y'shtola becomes the gal we go to whenever we have a serious magic problem
- Tataru becomes the gal we go to whenever we have a money or math problem
- G'raha becomes the guy we go to whenever we have an Allagan problem
- Alphinaud becomes the guy we go to whenever we have a diplomatic problem
- Alisae becomes the gal we go to whenever we have someone we need punched (metaphorically) for being stubborn


Bring out the Scion B team! Lets get some more development with Arenvald, Coultenet, the Boulder brothers (Hoary and Ochre), and the Cockburne sisters (Aenor and Clemence)

[Valence]

Yoshi's personal preference has always been that this is a FF game, a DRG should use a spear and wear armor and do the Kain pose.

Surely that's why the same DRG has been able to wear short uwu skirts and bikinis since forever right?

[RedLolly]

G'raha and Krile technically have the big unresolved issue of trying to rebuild the Students of Baldesion. Both post EW and DT have had us yanking them away from the apparently massive amount of labor they have to make that happen over and over.

Back in EW, I was fully thinking the Students were being set up as our new order of friendly allies after the Scions disbanded, with the two being in the same position as Minfillia was way back. G'raha's technically a historian and was a city leader, and just as equipped to do the research and "office work" of our group as he is a fighter, probably much more so, in fact. He's been perfectly set up to take a backseat without disappearing as the leader of their rebuilding order. DT giving us Krile also felt like they were going that direction again, but nope.

I still want that, since we would have a great route to both do big world level travels, discoveries, and influence things on the same scale as we did with the Scions, but have a perfect home for new characters to join us and have old favorites return as needed.

They have gradual plans to increase the scope of character creation. The example he used was giving moles to races that do not currently allow you to put them down.

Putting Au Ra horns on a Lalafell was given as an example of what they don't want to do. Racial identity is important to them and the players both.

So they DO plan to expand the character creator?!

[Kozh]

I've been saying this all along. A very large part of DT's pacing issues (and why Wuk Lamat had to be in right up in your face every second) was because the Zero story took up all five EW patches. DT didn't get the EW .4/.5 patches to do all the initial prep. Instead, the DT leveling MSQ had to waste a HUGE amount of time doing very basic setup and characters introductions and stuff, that in any other expansion would have happened ahead of time.

I'm not so sure about "large part". I personally believe that even if 6.x do the traditional .3 - .4 split, DT would still be a very flawed expansion. If anything, I struggle to come up with what more they could introduce in 6.4 and 6.5 if they decided to start the transition to DT there. Unlike in previous expansions where things has been build up over the years (and especially by ARR laying the foundation), DT is kinda a "fresh start", which means we have nothing else except introducing characters (as they can't really show Tural at this time)
And honestly I think DT simply doesn't have enough substantial material for lengthy msq, which is why the first half of it comes off as being padded as heck, to me at least.

[Daralii]

I'm not so sure about "large part". I personally believe that even if 6.x do the traditional .3 - .4 split, DT would still be a very flawed expansion. If anything, I struggle to come up with what more they could introduce in 6.4 and 6.5 if they decided to start the transition to DT there. Unlike in previous expansions where things has been build up over the years (and especially by ARR laying the foundation), DT is kinda a "fresh start", which means we have nothing else except introducing characters (as they can't really show Tural at this time)
And honestly I think DT simply doesn't have enough substantial material for lengthy msq, which is why the first half of it comes off as being padded as heck, to me at least.

The entire thing is padded. "Lets spend a full zone familiarizing ourselves with the culture of these interdimensional soul vampires before we pass any kind of judgment" shouldn't have fucking happened. If the characters were actually being written as themselves, they should all have started formulating a plan and putting it into motion, because they should know that preventing souls from reaching the Aetherial Sea or dredging them up from it endangers the Source and all remaining shards even ignoring the morality of it.

[Selsix]

The entire thing is padded. "Lets spend a full zone familiarizing ourselves with the culture of these interdimensional soul vampires before we pass any kind of judgment" shouldn't have fucking happened. If the characters were actually being written as themselves, they should all have started formulating a plan and putting it into motion, because they should know that preventing souls from reaching the Aetherial Sea or dredging them up from it endangers the Source and all remaining shards even ignoring the morality of it.

Hard agree, honestly. My biggest issue with DT was the first half due to being a boring meaningless slog, but the second half was also absolutely horrid because of this. I couldn't even believe we were CONSIDERING humoring these people abusing souls like they were given everything the previous story had established about the cycle of souls and the Aetherial Sea. We aren't talking about "culture" here, we are talking about gluttony so extreme you are perverting the very cycle of reincarnation to keep yourself breathing or gain power. I was flabbergasted, the first thing we should have done was recoil in disgust and the second thing should have been to set all their trapped souls free and destroy the means of harvesting, not go comfort the populace and try to make them feel better about potentially dying eventually. That could all come later.

[Veritas-Ancora]

Hard agree, honestly. My biggest issue with DT was the first half due to being a boring meaningless slog, but the second half was also absolutely horrid because of this. I couldn't even believe we were CONSIDERING humoring these people abusing souls like they were given everything the previous story had established about the cycle of souls and the Aetherial Sea. We aren't talking about "culture" here, we are talking about gluttony so extreme you are perverting the very cycle of reincarnation to keep yourself breathing or gain power. I was flabbergasted, the first thing we should have done was recoil in disgust and the second thing should have been to set all their trapped souls free and destroy the means of harvesting, not go comfort the populace and try to make them feel better about potentially dying eventually. That could all come later.

That's how I feel about The Arcadion.

The whole thing is annoying that we're a fighter. We can't just meet these people outside of the arena and tell them their lives are at stake?

What is even the point of us participating?

If they don't listen to our heeds, go ahead and kill yourselves. Knock yourselves out. Doesn't affect us one bit.

[Selsix]

That's how I feel about The Arcadion.

The whole thing is annoying that we're a fighter. We can't just meet these people outside of the arena and tell them their lives are at stake?

What is even the point of us participating?

If they don't listen to our heeds, go ahead and kill yourselves. Knock yourselves out. Doesn't affect us one bit.

It's just bad writing all around, really. The entire expansion from start to finish is boring, nonsensical, poorly paced, and directly spits in the face of the previous story and the source material. Even the side content like the Arcadion, as you pointed out is pure drivel. I will honestly be very surprised if the guys who wrote it still have jobs come 8.0. I don't even know how they messed up this colossally considering this expansion was supposed to be FF9 themed and FF9 is my favorite entry in the series. They had a WEALTH of ideas to draw from with it and instead we got this slop, I have to wonder if the writers even played FF9 or just read a synopsis ChatGPT spat out at them. FF9 tackles subjects like thanatophobia and nihilism beautifully while DT just kinda says "People are afraid to die but if you're nice to them they get over it eventually, also yum yum tacos!". Like, are you kidding me? What?

Plus DT didn't even introduce the thanatophobia theme until halfway through which gave me EXTREME whiplash. Contrast this to previous expansions where the message they try to get across is introduced VERY early, sometimes even pre-expansion. Take for example how Endwalker was HEAVILY dealing with nihilism and the meaning of life, we got hints of that message in the Shadowbringers patches when Fandaniel declared he wanted everyone to die in an orgy of pain and suffering.

Honestly it felt odd to try and use 9 in general as nihilism is, as I pointed out, one of its central themes. We just dealt with this as a theme in EW, and they clearly didn't want to double dip there so they just half-assed it and went for the thanatophobia side of 9 alone which without the other piece for context really just falls flat as they chose to avoid nihilism at all costs here when it truly goes hand-in-hand with thanatophobia in the source material. They shouldn't have used 9 here at all and instead saved it for way down the road imo and should have picked another entry for DT, they shot themselves in the leg from the very beginning.

[MicahZerrshia]

Looking at mobile games to judge where FFXIV goes in the future? Auto pathing? lol whoever came up with these ideas needs to go. They are essentially alienating their western market this way and just putting more nails into their coffin.

Time to WoW it full time I guess, esp with this amazing Midnight housing update that makes XIV housing look like....well like something I cannot say on the forums.