A Quick Summary of the recent JP Articles

[Stanislaw]

For those who can't wait until a English interview or a complete translation of the new JP articles courtesy of our resident translators is released, here is a quick summary of various points I've picked out from the following interviews which I then translated. Have at what you will. Do note that they are not necessary 100% accurate as it was quick, and not all points have been picked out.

http://www.4gamer.net/games/092/G009287/20121010042/
http://www.onlinegamer.jp/news/201210110001/
http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs...11_565356.html
http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs...12_565505.html


- They (somewhat) ended up changing the map/layouts of the three cities after all.

- Amon, the re-introduced boss from FFIII, is going to be (one of?) the boss(es?) in Crystal Tower.

- Titan is confirmed to be in ARR from the start.

- Odin will 'appear differently' compared to that of other Primals.

- Depending on how one raises one's chocobo, what they can wear in equipments will also be different. (ex: If you raise it as a mage-type chocobo, then it can wear mage gear; if you raise it as a tank, it can wear tank gear, etc)

- The new dungeon in the concept art will be one of the many leveling dungeons introduced in ARR, this one being one from R40~R45. Compared to the current slew of dungeons where it's mostly 'cave' type dungeons, there will be more 'ruin/tower' type dungeons introduced in ARR.

- Hamlet will undergo a complete revamp. It will no longer be the 'closed' type content it currently is. The reason why it's the way it is the current version is due to 1.0 limitations. In ARR they can finally implement a more open-style content, which is what they originally wanted to do.

- Monster AI will operate under a FFXII-style 'gambit'-type system. Likewise, Chocobo AIs will operate under something similar.

- Depending on what class you start as, your starting city will be locked to where that class' guild is located. (ex: If you start off as a MRD, you start in Limsa)

- Raid bosses will always drop some type of reward - somewhere around 2~3 rare drops per party, random lotted. Even if one didn't get the rare drop, the players will be rewarded with tokens which you can then exchange for rare drops. In exchange, the chances to participate in the random lottery will be limited to 3 times per week. (Stanislaw's notes: The text in the interview here isn't really clear. What I'm assuming this means is that the chance to get that 2~3 rare drops is limited to 3 times per week, but one can still get tokens by trying the content over and over again. On the other hand, this can easily mean the return of horrid re-entry times.)

- All 1.0 players will get a chance to remake their character (appearance) for ARR. However, this can only be done once, and within half a year after launch.

- ARR's PS3 base resolution is 1280 x 544, which is then stretched/adjusted to 1280 x 720. Reason: PS3 memory limitations, etc. It's possible to set it higher as they're trying to fit every model into 10GB (the limit is 20GB), but with future considerations in mind, they want to set the bar relatively low for the sake of smooth performance.

- PS3 UI elements is still somewhat customizable in the sense that it can be moved around. Resizing the UI, however, is still up in the air.

- With the gamepad cross-bar system, one can register up to 128 actions (there are a total of eight 16 slots) on the bar, per class.

[DoctorMog]

Thank you for the summary.

I am surprised with the confirmation of the "lower than 720p" resolution "upscaled" to 720p.

I hope this doesn't hinder PC content in the future due to PS3 limitations. (yes, I'm freakin' serious)

[NoctisUmbra]

Thanks for the summary. Lots of good news in there, but I'm particularly curious about this new lot/token system for raids. I really hope it doesn't mean horrible re-entry times.

@Mog: I'm fairly certain they said that the PS3 version was being developed parallel to the PC version in many regards. The PC version isn't bound by the limitations that the PS3 one is.

[Zantetsuken]

- Amon, the re-introduced boss from FFIII, is going to be (one of?) the boss(es?) in Crystal Tower.

Very cool, I suspected as much.

- Monster AI will operate under a FFXII-style 'gambit'-type system. Likewise, Chocobo AIs will operate under something similar.

Awesome~

- The new dungeon in the concept art will be one of the many leveling dungeons introduced in ARR, this one being one from R40~R45. Compared to the current slew of dungeons where it's mostly 'cave' type dungeons, there will be more 'ruin/tower' type dungeons introduced in ARR.

Fantastic!

- ARR's PS3 base resolution is 1280 x 544, which is then stretched/adjusted to 1280 x 720. Reason: PS3 memory limitations, etc. It's possible to set it higher as they're trying to fit every model into 10GB (the limit is 20GB), but with future considerations in mind, they want to set the bar relatively low for the sake of smooth performance.

This was rather obvious from the screenshots. Performance must always take priority, so this sacrifice is understandable.

- Raid bosses will always drop some type of reward - somewhere around 2~3 rare drops per party, random lotted. Even if one didn't get the rare drop, the players will be rewarded with tokens which you can then exchange for rare drops. In exchange, the chances to participate in the random lottery will be limited to 3 times per week.

Much better than the current system. Longer entry wait time is almost certain with this change, but considering that we are getting a slew of new content as well as revamped old content, We will have plenty to do without wanting to spam one dungeon over and over again.

No matter how you slice it, game balance necessitates that we have either:

A) Higher drop rates with higher re-entry times

B) Lower drop rates and spammable content (what we have now).

Currently we have 3~ish endgame dungeons that are spammable (and speedrun centric), Skirmish, Castrum Novum, and 3 primals.

In ARR we will have the current 3 dungeons revamped, plus Toto-rak (and possible Shposhae) upgraded to endgame, the new Lake Dungeon, the Crystal Tower, and 4-5 Primals, as well as hamlet changes, new beastmen lairs, quests, Castrum Novum (maybe?), Skirmish, New Quests, A new main storyline, and undoubtedly more stuff they haven't even announced yet.

Longer re-entry times won't seem bad at all with more content to do (and higher drop rates, thank goodness)

[ShinigamiKayla]

Thank you for the summary.

I am surprised with the confirmation of the "lower than 720p" resolution "upscaled" to 720p.

I hope this doesn't hinder PC content in the future due to PS3 limitations. (yes, I'm freakin' serious)

likewise...

[Elexia]

PS3 won't limit XIV just like the PS2 didn't limit XI till they started expanding past it's initial design limitations (i.e zone caps.)

[Yucie]

PS3 won't limit XIV just like the PS2 didn't limit XI till they started expanding past it's initial design limitations (i.e zone caps.)

If the game lasts long enough, it will outgrow PS3 design limitations and it'll be that way until a new system is introduced.

[Estellios]

My guess as to how the loot system is going to work... at least from the way I read it...

Bosses always drop 2-3 items, you can lot on say, 3 items in a week (per boss?). If all your lotting chances are used up, you are unable to lot for items at all on that boss. You still get tokens though so you can help out others that are running it. Could also make it so that if the entire party can't receive items they are dropped to the ground.

I much prefer that than being entirely locked out of running certain content for several days at a time.

PS3 won't limit XIV just like the PS2 didn't limit XI till they started expanding past it's initial design limitations (i.e zone caps.)

That and PS3 is actually upgradeable firmware and hard drive-wise unlike the PS2 HDD

[Fated]

Wow, finally some GOOD information. Thanks a lot for your time as always Stanislaw.

[Dragonheart]

thank you very much!