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[Naoki Yoshida]: Good evening! [Toshio “Foxclon” Murouchi]: Good evening!
[Foxclon] It’s time for the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part IV. With me, as always, is Producer Naoki Yoshida.
[Yoshida] Pleased to be here! [Foxclon] Could you please greet our players?
[Yoshida] Hello everyone. I’m Naoki Yoshida, Producer and Director of FFXIV and FFXIV: A Realm Reborn. Thank you for joining us today.
First off, we’ve just held our final event for Version 1.0, which culminates in a cinematic cutscene depicting the end of the Sixth Astral Era.
In order to have more players experience the event, the entire GM and server teams pushed our current servers to the limit.
But despite our best efforts, there were numerous login issues. I deeply apologize for this.
We’re making sure that these issues don’t occur in A Realm Reborn, so please look forward to the revamped game.
Also, as you can see here, we’ve received numerous messages from players who wanted to see the final cutscene in-game.
The problem was that the movie file would have made the patch a lot bigger, not to mention the risk of it being found before the scheduled finale.
That’s why we made it available online instead. This way, it would be accessible to everyone at the same time.
I felt we could have done better in several areas, but to be able to finally say the name Bahamut... I’m pretty happy about that. [Foxclon] Yes, finally!
We’ve introduced several primals, beginning with Ifrit, but until now we couldn’t reveal this fellow’s name.
[Yoshida] At Gamescom, the entire team froze up when an interviewer from Game Watch said, “Yoshida, you keep saying “FF this and FF that,” but I hear that...
Bahamut won’t appear as a primal you can summon in XIV.” Bahamut was something we worked on and kept under wraps for nearly two years, so I’m relieved that it’s officially out there now.
[Foxclon] I remember Bahamut was the first thing discussed when we were deciding where to take FFXIV after you joined the team.
[Yoshida] Yes, it’s been almost two years. When we examined the original game back when I first came on board, it was clear that many areas needed to be reworked.
That’s when the idea of the world’s destruction and rebirth came up, which I used to write the story. This all happened just a month after the team was restructured.
Since then, we gradually played out the story through quests and events. There’re bound to be moments in the game that players will think back to and go “Aha!”
Nael van Darnus using Megaflare, for instance. I’d be happy if you went back and analyze those hints.
[Foxclon] Also, in a previous letter, you mentioned the “Great Labyrinth of Something or Other.” [Yoshida] Ah, that’s right!
The nature of the labyrinth has been kept a secret till now, but its provisional name is the Great Labyrinth of Bahamut. Players will be able to take it on right at the start of A Realm Reborn.
[Foxclon] What will it be like?
[Yoshida] It will be an extremely difficult end-game style raid--the most difficult in A Realm Reborn, actually.
Players will find out what happens after the final cutscene early in the main scenario for A Realm Reborn. But other mysteries like what became of Louisoix, why your...
...prayers appeared not to reach the Twelve, how the world was rebuilt--these things will be revealed gradually as you progress through the labyrinth. You’ll also learn...
whether or not you’ll get to fight this guy. We’re putting everything we’ve got into creating this content, so please look forward to the final release!
[Foxclon] We’ve received a lot of questions about FFXIV: ARR from players via the forums.
I’d like you to answer them today, but you also have the Alpha Version here to show to players, right?
[Yoshida] Yes. And I forgot to mention this, but we’re wearing suits because today marks the last day of Version 1.0.
We wouldn’t have been able to make it these past two years without your unwavering support. In recognition of the gravitas of the occasion, almost everyone at the office today have put on suits.
[Foxclon] So even other staff members are suited up.
[Yoshida] Yes. Soken himself should be getting changed.
[Foxclon] Alright, shall we show off the Alpha Version?
[Yoshida] Just so you know, there’ll be times when I’m talking and playing at the same time. Please excuse me if I’m looking away from the camera.
[Foxclon] Well, there’s certainly a lot of jumping going on.
Compared to Version 1.0, how many characters can be displayed simultaneously for ARR?
[Yoshida] Over 100. We can handle three digits without issues.
[Foxclon] Alpha testers, please don’t forget the NDA.
[Yoshida] That’s why the chat window is hidden now. [Foxclon] Yes, it should be fine, but please remember the NDA.
While we’re watching the game, let’s start with the first question, something casual. Will Hildibrand be appearing in ARR?
[Yoshida] Of course! I wonder if he made a cameo appearance in the final cutscene.
Hildibrand received lots of positive feedback from players, so he will most likely be back to crack more cases. You can look forward to his return in ARR!
[Foxclon] Thank you. Moving on, a very popular question: will we be able to change character names at the start of ARR?
[Yoshida] We'll continue to look at the possibilities until the very end, but it looks like we will be able to provide this option. Wow, so many characters…
[Foxclon] What a view. So the answer is players will be able to change character names. Let’s move on to the next question. We get asked this quite often: will my character's chest be bouncy?
[Yoshida] Well, if you’re familiar with game development, you’ll know about “skeletons.”
Skeletons are used to implement motion around them. If there’s animation, then…
[Foxclon] Animations using skeletons, which means… they’ll move.
[Yoshida] Actually, if you look closely, you can see some--how shall I put it? Graceful movement there. I want to ask the alpha testers who noticed this to leave feedback.
What do you think? Do you want more bounce or is it just right? There'll be some variation depending on race, so please look forward to it.
Anyway, that’s probably enough on this subject.
[Foxclon] Good idea. So for now we want them to enjoy the subtle movement. [Yoshida] Yes.
[Foxclon] A large group has gathered around you. [Yoshida] We’ve released a lot of screenshots for this area. Many of you may find it boring by now.
[Foxclon] Let’s go on to the next question. It’s about mounts. Please tell us about the details of the FFVI-style Magitek armor. Will we be able to use it in battle?
[Yoshida] Can they be used in battle? Unfortunately, we don’t have such plans at the moment. That said, the Magitek armor is very popular among players...
...so the team is coming up with lots of ideas for it, like with chocobos. It will receive special treatment.
[Foxclon] That sounds interesting. Also, would it be possible to provide info on the other mounts being planned?
[Yoshida] Could the testers please stop for a moment? Sorry, but I need to get something real quick.
[Foxclon] Sure. [Yoshida] I want to show you something special. Morbol, could you talk about something in the meantime?
[Foxclon] Well, this is rather sudden. He wants to show something about mounts.
[Yoshida] Now our PR team is getting nervous.
[Foxclon] This is actually Yoshida’s office and his desk is right over there. We’re surrounded by lots of game-related material.
[Yoshida] Which one should I show off... This should be okay.
[Foxclon] Well then, let’s have a look.
[Yoshida] Sorry, but its on my laptop. Can you see it alright? [Foxclon] Looks fine.
[Yoshida] Let me play this again. This is hosted on an internal site for checking animation.
[Foxclon] What is this? [Yoshida] We’re in the process of testing the animation, so the model doesn’t have any textures yet.
[Foxclon] Can you tell us about this mount? [Yoshida] We’re planning to implement a coeurl mount. [Foxclon] Ah, a coeurl. It’s already moving.
[Yoshida] Yeah. We’ve also added a saddle so you can hold on when riding. [Foxclon] So you’ll be leaning forward while riding.
[Yoshida] I suggested to the motion team to make it without a saddle, but they were adamant about including it for “FF quality” and realism.
[Foxclon] That way you have a place to cling to. So we’re officially confirming the coeurl mount?
[Yoshida] Yep, that’s right. This will add more diversity to mounts.
[Foxclon] Please look forward to it.
On to the next question. In the primal battles in Version 1.0, there is a lot of pressure on tanks and healers. Will the roles be rebalanced for ARR?
[Yoshida] Hmmm… Well, this isn’t just about ARR.
In MMORPGs at large, both tanks and healers have important roles: maintaining hate and healing party members respectively. If these two roles aren’t played well, the party may collapse.
But this doesn’t mean that other classes have any less of a burden. If damage dealers don’t work quickly enough, the fight will end up dragging on, making it harder for tanks and healers to do their jobs.
So I don’t think there will be much of a change. I’d like our players to finish battles in style.
Uh oh, we have an enemy. Hang on a sec…
The players’ levels are still low, so I need to take care of it.
[Foxclon] I suppose you’re right. It seems that way because, when a party collapses, it’s usually the tank that falls first. [Yoshida] Yeah. That’s how it’s bound to happen.
[Foxclon] So regarding rebalancing, in particular for tanks and healers, there really won’t be any changes?
[Yoshida] Right, I don’t think there’ll be any changes. [Foxclon] So basically we’ll have another look at the balance when the beta comes around.
[Yoshida] Yeah, we'd like players to see how things are in the beta. Of course, the alpha is still ongoing.
Some people are worried that alpha tester recruitment is over, but we’re planning to bring more people on board. [Foxclon] So you can look forward to this.
[Yoshida] Alpha testers, I’m going to stop right here for a moment to show off this place.
[Foxclon] Everyone, feel free to amuse yourselves. The next question is about the duty finder. What function is the duty finder system intended to serve?
Is it meant to be a way to keep older content populated, or can it be used to form parties for new content such as the Crystal Tower?
[Yoshida] We’re planning to make it serve both purposes. As I’ve mentioned in recent interviews, ARR will boast a multitude of content and have much kinder drop rates than in the past.
Players will have the ability to “Need” items a certain number of times per week per content.
That said, you can select from the various contents and decide where you want to go, instead of having to gather at a certain time each week.
For example, if I haven’t used my “Need” for Tam-Tara Deepcroft this week, I could go there with similarly motivated players.
Since it may be difficult for newer players to find others with the same objective, who are of the same level, the system will bring people together from multiple worlds.
That way, you can play what you want, when you want.
[Foxclon] Thanks for the explanation. The next question concerns parties. Will there be any changes to 8-man parties in A Realm Reborn? Will there be content for solo players or smaller parties?
[Yoshida] Raids will be set up for 8-man parties, and there’ll be many instanced dungeons designed for groups of four. But most content at level 50 will be intended for full parties.
We’ll continue to add content like Skirmish that can be played in parties of four, and those that can be enjoyed without worrying about numbers.
[Foxclon] Are there any other variations? [Yoshida] Yes, we’ll be making more casual content that many people can play together.
[Foxclon] Can you tell more about that? [Yoshida] Hmm, well… PR, is it okay? It is? Okay then.
Can you see this? I printed it out big because it has important words on it.
This is actually a screenshot from a letter I released the other week. Someone typed in the chat log: “This is ARR’s version of Besieged!”
Well, it’s not Besieged, but “Full Active Time Event,” which will include NM battles and other content. [Foxclon] Full Active Time Event.
[Yoshida] It borrows the words “active time” from the FINAL FANTASY series. I think this will be appearing very often in our PR activities from here on out.
It will be difficult to explain the system without a video. For example, an NM pops. A notification of this is sent to all players in the zone, who then converge on the NM.
Parties are automatically formed, and a battle begins. The NM is defeated, rewards are doled out, and the players go their separate ways.
[Foxclon] I see. It starts in a flash and finishes just as quickly.
[Yoshida] Things like Hamlet Defense and Caravan Security will be considered Full Active Time Events. With this system, many different things will take place in many different places.
That’s how I’d like you to think of it for now.
[Foxclon] Can we expect more details in the future? [Yoshida] Yes.
[Foxclon] If you make an acronym out of the system name, it seems to spell a word... [Yoshida] F-A-T-E. [Foxclon] Fate.
[Yoshida] F-A-T-E. Right, you can call it what you like. [Foxclon] Will there be a lot revolving around this keyword? [Yoshida] Yes, there’ll be a lot of variety. Players will be able to experience it in the Beta Test.
[Foxclon] I hope you all look forward to that. [Yoshida] Though the system isn’t in the Alpha, we might still ask players to gather in certain places in order to do more stress tests.
[Foxclon] Got it. Thanks. To the next question: how will the materia system change in A Realm Reborn?
[Yoshida] Fundamentally, it won’t be changing all that much. We will, however, do away with fluctuations in materia parameters.
[Foxclon] So you’re getting rid of fluctuations. [Yoshida] We’ll be raising parameters to the upper end of the range for existing materia.
[Foxclon] So parameters that have variance will be raised?
[Yoshida] Yes, that’s right. The randomness will be done away with in order to make things well-defined and easier to understand.
We’ve also been discussing raising the success rate of multiple melding, but the numbers haven’t been finalized just yet.
[Foxclon] Will anything else change? [Yoshida] For materia? [Foxclon] Right. Basically, the system won’t change--only the fluctuations will be removed.
[Yoshida] Correct. We’ve been talking about simplifying the system, as some aspects of it are difficult to understand.
[Foxclon] Thanks. Next up, another question about whether something will change or not.
You mentioned in the past that the monk job will be reconceptualized. Will STR and INT continue to be the main attributes?
What kind of abilities will monks have? Please give us more details! Sounds like a question from a career monk!
[Yoshida] Basically, the main attributes for each class and job will be changed significantly.
[Foxclon] So not just monk? [Yoshida] Not just monk.
We’re completely reworking the battle system, and attributes will be changed as a result. Work is ongoing in the Alpha, and it should all be ready for the Beta. But, yes, everything will change.
There was talk on the forums about monk, debating whether stances will stay, whether forms will be introduced, etc.
The main attributes will change along with the way the job works. You’ll be able to chain together endless combos. It’ll be very different.
[Foxclon] So you can see all the changes in the Beta. [Yoshida] Yes. [Foxclon] Got it. Thanks.
[Yoshida] Right now I have the map open. As you can see, new areas will be charted automatically as you explore.
[Foxclon] So everything is blank at first, and you gradually fill the map yourself.
[Yoshida] That’s right. There’s an element of discovery, and you’ll be able to earn simple achievements by exploring. And here we are at Camp Tranquil, which is a popular topic.
[Foxclon] I don’t understand why that’s the case. [Yoshida] So here’s the much talked about Camp Tranquil, even though there’s an NDA in place.
Alpha testers, I’m going to stop here for a moment. I’d appreciate it if you could all take care of those turtles down there, though I’m worried whether you’re high enough level.
[Foxclon] Will you all be okay? This is your time to shine!
[Yoshida] Everyone should be displayed just fine, and the server should be able to handle the stress. By the way, I have the graphic settings maxed out. We’re...
... running a Core i7 right now, which is the system most Version 1.0 players have. Where’s everyone fighting? Might be best to observe from the bridge.
[Foxclon] While you’re finding a spot, let’s move on to the next question. [Yoshida] This is a good spot.
[Foxclon] Will there be any new gatherer-specific content implemented at the start of A Realm Reborn? And what kind of content are you planning?
[Yoshida] I‘ve talked about this in the past, but gatherers and crafters find and make items respectively, and battle classes use those items to fight. We consider this to...
be the core content for gatherers, and right now there aren’t plans for more activities specific to gatherers and crafters. We will, however, be updating things.
In Version 1.0, there were originally plans for collaboratively-built boats. In A Realm Reborn, they’ll be able to craft roofs for player housing, find the materials to make those roofs, and...
... also create items for their free company. So there’ll be more activities for gatherers to get involved in.
[Foxclon] So this is how the situation stands. [Yoshida] Have the turtles been taken care of? I don’t see any around.
[Foxclon] I don’t see them either. [Yoshida] Whoa, whoa. It’s scary down here. My character’s only level 20, so…oh dear.
[Foxclon] While we look for turtles, let’s jump into the next question. It’s quite broad. What will the new market system be like? Can you give us some details?
[Yoshida] The alpha testers are actually fighting down there, but I guess we’ve reached our display limits. Oh, look. Here comes someone riding a rental chocobo.
[Foxclon] Getting back to the question, what will the new market system be like?
[Yoshida] Basically we will be totally re-making retainers and the market system from scratch. We’ll be adding all the Auction House features people are asking for, and make...
it so that only your own retainer and those you want to appear are displayed in the market wards. It’s a bit difficult to explain.
It’d be better to have our players try it for themselves in the Beta, the same time we run server stress tests.
[Foxclon] There were quite a few requests to do with the auction house. Will they all be implemented?
[Yoshida] Yes, it should be fine. We will also be fixing the system so that you can search for materia-enhanced items, and tell whether or not an item is HQ.
In the Beta, we’d like to see how much stress the search feature can take, so please search away.
[Foxclon] Let’s take a break here. [Yoshida] That was quick.
[Foxclon] We’ll be back for the second half in 5 minutes. In the meantime, please enjoy a slideshow featuring various scenes from the original game, which ended just a short while ago.
[Foxclon] Welcome back from the five minute break. Heading right into the next question…
[Wada] Sorry, here I am again… I won’t ask a lot of questions. I went ahead and brought some pictures instead. [Yoshida] What is this? Ah, of course, housing once again.
[Wada] Look at this! It’s a mansion! [Foxclon] Yoshida, what is this exactly?
[Yoshida] This is the largest size house. It’s… let’s see…Yes, this is Limsa.
[Wada] It seems like there is quite a variety, too. [Foxclon] How many did you bring!? [Wada] Here we have a bunch. Are these all the large size?
[Yoshida] No, actually those are medium size. [Wada] What? These are medium?
[Yoshida] Right, this is the medium size for the Thanalan region.
[Wada] What about these? [Yoshida] I guess we’re showing them all… Those are the medium-sized houses for Gridania.
[Wada] Cool, everyone’ll look rich. [Yoshida] Those are in the modeling stage.
[Wada] This one is really great. [Yoshida] Yeah, that one has a balcony.
[Wada] Look here. This is a person. [Yoshida] Yep, that’s a person. It’s quite the mansion.
Ah, you still have more… [Wada] This is joint housing, right? Can a single person live here?
[Yoshida] First it will be joint housing. A house of this size is going to require everyone to dish out some dough. It’s pretty expensive.
[Wada] For the furniture inside, the people who bought the place can bring in whatever they like?
[Yoshida] Yes, and, for example, you can make that furniture available to people of the same free company, or, if you want, you can set permission levels...
...so all of your friends can use the furniture and what not. There are quite a few settings.
[Wada] So, it’s much like your own hideout that you can share and give different levels of access to. [Yoshida] Yes, that’s right. Did you have anything else you wanted to...?
[Wada] A few more things…What’s this?
[Yoshida] That’s the windmill from the Thanalan region that was introduced in the last letter. We’ve finalized the plans, so they started modeling it.
[Wada] Ah, you’re already making it. [Yoshida] PR is giving us a strange look. [Wada] “What are we gonna do if we end up changing that…”
[Yoshida] It’s fine. [Wada] I hope it’s okay. [Yoshida] It’s okay, this one’s worked out down to the number of polygons.
[Wada] How about this one? [Yoshida] Oh geez. This is mock-up art from Thanalan. Allow me, since you’ve already gone and showed it off. Last time we showed off Limsa.
Here you can see a bunch of dummy-model houses. This is the housing zone for Ul’dah, filled with the houses we were looking at before.
[Wada] Are any of these personal houses? There are big ones and little ones.
[Yoshida] At first we would like to have them for free company bases, and then after that open them up to individuals. The reason why we’ve decided to establish...
...them as free company bases first is because inside of the houses there is a new kind of system that involves parks and towers. To give an example, let’s imagine we create a free company called “Square Enix” and...
say Wada is the leader…this time. [Wada] What was that? [Yoshida] Ah, nothing…nothing. We're just imagining.
Let’s say I’m too busy and I’m not able to log in much, but I’ve saved up enough money to build a park. And this park would give a bonus to everyone in the free company...
...like an extra 25% to experience points earned. It could make crafting faster to level, or maybe give success bonuses for HQ crafting. It's a system that allows members...
...to add things that will give boons to the entire free company. You’ll be able to increase the size of your house, and also your company can rank-up through free company points, allowing you to place more parks and towers around.
I’d first like to create a strong community within FFXIV. When new members join, you’ll be able to get more points, and we’d like to establish a system that encourages...
...people to support new players coming into the game. Once the community has had time to come together we will then allow players to have their own private housing and branch out from there.
[Wada] When you put it like that it sounds very important. [Yoshida] Yeah, and you kind of just blew the lid on that very important thing. [Wada] Well, I am sitting right over there now.
[Yoshida] That’s right; you’re much closer to us here in the new building.
[Foxclon] So with all that said, and in answer to a question we just received on the subject, players can look forward to enjoying individual content for this as well, right?
[Yoshida] That’s right. We’ll keep an eye on the server load, but it’s set up so we can unlock it at any time we like. Once the community is healthy and stable, we can do it...
...right away. It’ll be possible to have individual instanced rooms within houses, as well as have your own individual house.
[Wada] Sounds like the “anywhere door.” [Yoshida] Well, even for an MMO, I believe it’s nice to have a place to call home.
[Foxclon] We’ve already received quite a few responses about the images that were just shown off. Seems like there are a lot of people saying that the largest size house is almost TOO big.
[Yoshida] Really? But, with it being so big, you have so much room to put lots of neat stuff. For example, if you defeat Ifrit, you can use his skull to make a decoration for the fireplace.
[Wada] Is that planned? [Yoshida] Yep. Well, whether it will be a skull or something else is a separate matter, but you'll be able to spruce up the place with trophies...
...collected from defeated enemies. Another point I want to make is that housing won’t focus on agricultural activities alone.
It will serve as a showcase for the titles and trophies you've won through battle. So a bigger house means more room for decorations!
[Wada] So, that’s why it’s such a big house. [Yoshida] Yes. [Wada] This is going to be a lot fun.
[Yoshida] Making it, though… [Foxclon] Shall we move on?
[Yoshida] Making this is a real challenge.
[Foxclon] So seeing as Wada, who is a big fan of housing, is here let’s continue with another housing-related question.
Roughly how much will housing cost including the furnishings and interior designs?
[Yoshida] Well… [Wada] Is this going to be ridiculously expensive? [Foxclon] It looks like it will cost a lot.
[Yoshida] Yeah. It’s hard to say. We’ll be lowering the value of gil in ARR, or rather we will increase the prices in some areas to help average things out among the content, and also to make up for arrows.
[Foxclon] So there will be changes right? [Yoshida] Yes, gil will be lowered by a tenth, so it’s hard to say roughly how much it will be.
However, I think that maybe 4-5 players, each with one level 50 class could probably buy a house if they put all of their earnings together.
[Foxclon] I see. [Yoshida] So this will be like a medium-sized house. Ah wait, maybe a small size.
[Wada] So it will be small? [Yoshida] It will be the small one.
[Wada] & [Foxclon] I see. [Wada] That really puts things in perspective. [Yoshida] Yeah it will be something like that. [Wada] That is quite a bit.
[Foxclon] Yeah it is. [Yoshida] I want players to think of this as one of the big goals in the game. [Wada] I really want one.
[Yoshida] I’m hoping to see people get fired up about working together to amass a huge pile of gil.
[Foxclon] So it is kind of like players start from there, then work their way up to living in a big house.
[Yoshida] Yes. Buying more land and rebuilding, things like that. If you remember the houses I showed a second ago, it won’t be that each house will be torn down...
...and changed ? more like only changing the roof or just changing the material of the columns. There will be lots of things you can do like have the roof changed to a different style, and then paint it whatever color you want.
[Foxclon] So as you said not too long ago, if there are gatherers there will be more things available.
[Yoshida] Yes, exactly. Things like dyeing the roof with a rare color will need a specific dye.
[Wada] In this bit here… it looks like the terrace has been separated. [Yoshida] Ah…
[Foxclon] You really do look into the fine details don’t you? [Wada] This really is a fine detail.
[Yoshida] The art team drew this to make things easier for the modelers. If they just drew the terrace attached to the house, the modelers would have no idea what the underside...
...of the terrace should be like. So our art team is showing how things look without the terrace to let the modelers know they need to have that level of detail.
[Foxclon] Oh, I see. [Yoshida] These are the kind of things that FF quality was born from.
[Foxclon] There are some people already asking if you can take out a loan. [Yoshida] Ah… there were even a few devs asking...
...the same thing. It would be difficult to make some kind of assurance to say that you can pay back the loan. I think it would be nice if players could take their time with playing the game.
I, too, am always rushing to get to the top, but we're designing things with long-term goals in mind, so we hope players can enjoy the journey.
[Foxclon] Okay, thanks. Moving on, and keeping with our topic of housing and free companies, we have a question about free companies.
Can someone who is affiliated with a different Grand Company join the same free company as you? Could you give us more details about the free companies, please?
[Yoshida] Okay, so free companies. Let’s use another example. I’m the FFXIV Producer and am affiliated with the development department and Morbol is from the Community & Services dept.
[Foxclon] These are different departments. [Yoshida] Also... Wada is with Square Enix Holdings? Is that okay? [Wada] Yes.
[Yoshida] So there are 3 Grand Companies and even if we’re each affiliated with a different one, we can still band together in the same free company.
[Foxclon] Ah, right. [Wada] Oh, really? [Yoshida] Yep. [Wada] Ahh. I see.
[Yoshida] I was wondering if players would do some role-play with this. For example, we could have Wada say “let’s make a company with just the Holdings people”, and recruit players who already have that bond in place.
For our overseas players in particular, I can see people identifying with the military structure in-game. So maybe, for example, you have a group whose members are devoted to the Maelstrom Command, and everyone has the same...
...motivation to get the Maelstrom Command to the top of the three Grand Companies - some kind of role-play like that. If this becomes the norm, however, you have to consider that casual players will have a hard time joining in, or that a...
player's friends may have joined different Grand Companies. But assuming the situation where players want to be number one on their world, you have to ask how the efforts of each free company are evaluated by the three city-states.
[Foxclon] Hm, yeah. [Yoshida] For example, if we compare this to society - this starts to break into reality a little too much, but anyway - let’s say that the parent company is the Immortal Flames...
...and we made a subsidiary company, a free company. But if we get contributions from players of three different Grand Companies, our reputation will vary depending on where we choose to focus our efforts.
It should be easier to build a reputation if we devote our energies to one company, and swear to fight for that company only. So there could be this whole "reputation" concept - I'm...
sure the naming will change though. If you rise higher within the Immortal Flames, you could get a special title, or something like that, which would allow both casual and hardcore players to participate in this kind of role-playing.
[Foxclon] Thanks for that. [Yoshida] I said quite a bit didn’t I? Is this okay?
[Foxclon] Of course, no problem. Let’s see…There have been quite a few questions rolling in on Twitter from our overseas players. We will get right back to that, but...
there have also been quite a few requests asking whether the poster behind us will be for sale in the future, since it looks really nice.
[Yoshida] Umm…yeah. This is something that was created to really promote A Realm Reborn, but we’re planning to create a poster with the similar motif of all the primals together.
[Foxclon] Oh! Well then, I hope everyone is looking forward to that. [Yoshida] Yeah. We have a lot of other things planned as well. Free company art and so on.
[Foxclon] We’ll be releasing a lot moving forward, so please be on the lookout for it.
[Yoshida] Right. I mean, we’ve purposefully included Odin, Leviathan, and everyone so that it’s immediately recognizable as a FINAL FANTASY poster.
[Wada] I’m really in the way, aren’t I? [Foxclon] No, you’re fine. [Wada] You sure? [Yoshida] You’re fine. You’re kind of like a primal, after all.
[Foxclon] You’re going to rile up the staff saying that. [Yoshida] They’ll be like, “You went too far!” Sorry!
[Foxclon] Okay, another one. This is a question in English. For account bonuses, such as the Legacy Chocobo, will they only be applied to characters that have already been created?
Or as long as you have a Legacy account, will they apply to new characters you make after the fact as well? In other words, is this just for new characters or will existing characters be able to receive everything?
[Yoshida] Well, this applies not only to Legacy Accounts, but for example in the case that we were to announce a special bonus for those players who pre-order the...
...PS3 version in the future, it will be directly tied to your account. In other words, since your account is flagged, you'll be able to receive those in-game items for all new and existing characters via the Mog Letter delivery system.
[Foxclon] Okay, so existing characters, as well as any characters you make later on will all be able to receive bonuses if your account is eligible. [Yoshida] That’s correct.
[Foxclon] Gotcha. Thanks. Next… Players are really looking forward to a benchmark for A Realm Reborn. Are there plans to release a benchmark? If so, when?
[Yoshida] Well, oh sorry, could you switch back from the Alpha? [Foxclon] Sure.
[Yoshida] Wada was telling me firmly to say it last time, but we will be releasing the first one to coincide with the Beta to start off. [Foxclon] The first one.
[Yoshida] Right. The second one…we are planning two versions, you see. The first one will be for Beta to see how well your PC can run it, and the second one...
...will be right before launch and it will include character creation with all races. So please note that there will be two.
[Foxclon] Gotcha, two of ‘em. [Yoshida] Yes.
[Foxclon] And the first one will be around the start of Beta? [Yoshida] Right. Er… [Foxclon] Umm…
[Yoshida] No, up, up, up, up, everything should be up.
[Foxclon] That’s quite unexpected. [Yoshida] This is a live broadcast. Sorry! The blinds are automatically going down. [Foxclon] It happens.
[Wada] At 8pm, I think they automatically go down. [Foxclon] Ah, that’s right. At 8pm, they automatically come down. That was the sound of the blinds.
[Wada] That’s a pretty good system. [Yoshida] Sorry about that… [Foxclon] We forgot to stop it. Sorry about that. Alright, getting back to it then, next question.
[Foxclon] Subtitles. This is about Japanese subtitles. Will it be possible to switch the audio language and subtitle languages?
Also, if this is possible, would we be able to make this change while running the game? So, a two-part question.
[Yoshida] Um…one second please. Let me reconfirm… [Foxclon] Sure.
[Yoshida] They are asking if you have the audio in English, if the subtitles will automatically display in Japanese?
[Foxclon] Let’s see…not automatically, they are asking if they can set the audio language and subtitle language separately from one another as they like.
[Yoshida] Ah, well to be honest, we are actually thinking to increase the amount of supported languages from here on out, so…
From a world-wide service perspective there would be way too many patterns. We will be supporting each voice however, and it can be changed in-game. So with that said, we're not really planning for subtitles.
[Foxclon] Got it. So there will be a variety of audio language settings, right?
[Yoshida] Yes, that’s right. [Foxclon] Gotcha. Those settings can be toggled in game? Or will it have to be done outside of the game in the config like the current version?
[Yoshida] It will be possible in-game. [Foxclon] You can do it in-game, then. [Wada] Oh, you can do it in-game?! [Yoshida] Yes.
[Yoshida] Switching it in real-time during cutscenes and such isn’t possible, but…
[Foxclon] Right. You think we can catch a quick glimpse of the config screen?
[Yoshida] Um…hold on one second… You’d be able to see it here, but your PC is in the way. [Foxclon] Oh, sorry.
[Yoshida] Now we’re in System… [Foxclon] This is the config for the Alpha version right now.
[Yoshida] There are no sound-related options just yet, but we have game settings, graphics, effects…
[Foxclon] And the settings changed here will be reflected instantly? [Yoshida] That’s right. You can even change the resolution here.
[Foxclon] Nice, so the config is in-game. Alright then, moving on to the next question.
[Yoshida] There sure are a lot of people. [Foxclon] Wow, yeah. [Wada] Seriously. Crazy.
[Foxclon] When you take a look back it’s pretty crazy. Are we ready for a question? [Yoshida] Yes, go ahead.
[Foxclon] Tell us more about the Crystal Tower and the Great Labyrinth of Bahamut. [Yoshida] Oh!
[Foxclon] Is it a bit too early for this? What do you think? [Yoshida] I’ll make it broad. [Foxclon] Everyone learned about Bahamut…so they’re already dying to know!
[Yoshida] The Crystal Tower is an alliance raid.
It’s content that is taken on by an alliance of three parties, for a total of 24 players.
The Great Labyrinth of Bahamut and the Crystal Tower are similar in that neither of these raids will be completed in one visit.
We will continue to add floors over the span of about a year and a half. [Foxclon] Ah, so it’ll expand as we go.
[Yoshida] The Crystal Tower is, as I’m sure everyone knows, the last dungeon in FFIII. So as the floors increase, you can all ultimately expect something like...
...the Cloud of Darkness to make an appearance. [Foxclon] I see.
[Yoshida] Yeah and so on… [Foxclon] And so on? [Yoshida] And so on, and so on … [Foxclon] And so on, and so on.
[Yoshida] Well, that’s out of the bag now. Pretty much if you think about FFIII, we will have bits of this and bits of that, etc. [Foxclon] Gotcha.
So, I suppose The Great Labyrinth of Bahamut will expand outward as opposed to adding new floors? [Yoshida] That would be a major spoiler, so I can’t say!
Hmm, how can I explain it… Well, just as everyone saw at the beginning of the stream in the video, Dalamud actually contained Bahamut.
So you might ask, “Why was Bahamut inside?”
And I believe you all saw that a key-like object fall out of Dalamud and that’s a large part of Bahamut’s containment.
It scattered all over Eorzea and is an important clue for the dungeon. [Foxclon] I see. So it’s very much related to the story.
[Yoshida] Right. You can take on the Great Labyrinth from various locations…
Well, if I say anymore it would weaken the impact for when everyone first enters the dungeon. [Foxclon] Understood. You can’t say any more on the subject, then.
[Yoshida] No, but for those of you who have been playing the current version for quite a long time, you progressed through scenarios every time there was a patch for grand company quests, right?
Think of this in a similar fashion, but with raids attached. Events will develop on a grand scale, and there will be a huge number of bosses for each “episode” of the raid. So, it’s going to be hard if you don’t dish out enough damage.
[Foxclon] Gotcha. [Yoshida] It’ll probably take more than 10 or 20 wipes to really figure out. [Foxclon] You’ll definitely need to get the strategy down, then?
[Yoshida] Yeah, it’s the hardest raid, after all. [Foxclon] Well, please look forward to that.
Moving on to the next question. This is a complete change of topic, but what kind of recognition will our characters receive to show that we played through the current version of the game? Can you tell us?
[Yoshida] Um, that’s a bit… Yeah, I think it’s a bit too early for that. I’m going to keep quiet a bit longer.
[Foxclon] Going to keep quiet? Alright then. Please hang in there until the time comes to let everyone know.
Next question. How many new hairstyles will there be? Will we be able to change to new hairstyles when A Realm Reborn begins?
[Yoshida] Hairstyles, huh? I’ll leave the game like this for now. [Foxclon] Will more be added?
Let’s swap the screen.
Since the servers weren’t all that great for the finale, I went ahead and brought a lot of stuff to show.
Is it okay? PR is nodding.
First off… Here is a male Miqo’te. We haven’t showed this before. [Foxclon] Nope.
[Yoshida] We jokingly call them “Manqo’te”.
[Foxclon] Oh the “Manqo’te,” right? [Yoshida] Right. Also…
A female Roegadyn. The model has been finalized.
This okay? Am I showing it long enough? [Foxclon] I think it should be fine.
[Yoshida] Here is a Roegadyn male. Manly! [Foxclon] He sure is.
Wow, you have a lot. [Yoshida] Yeah. I printed out a lot of them as a form of apology.
Here’s a new one. Of course there’s not just this one type, there are other kinds.
I personally really like this one. An Elezen. [Foxclon] Ah, yes, an Elezen.
[Yoshida] Kind of gives you the feeling of an exotic artist-type.
And here’s a Hyur.
I’ve been saying this, but male and female Hyurs are not in the Alpha yet; however, there will be new hairstyles for them and such.
I told them to hurry and make up some samples, but for some reason only the female Highlander has this sexy equipment.
[Foxclon] She’s super exposed! [Yoshida] Here’s some quick fan service. [Foxclon] We’ll be releasing the recording of this in the next few days, and there’re some good reasons to take another look.
[Yoshida] Here is a male Elezen. His hair is tied back. It’s braided. Probably a bit hard to see from the video.
That’s about all I have. [Foxclon] Not bad. [Yoshida] Let’s line up what we showed off so far
I shouldn’t be pressing Wada into service here… [Wada] Okay, I’ll take this one then.
[Yoshida] Line ‘em up! If you could just think of this as a taste of what’s in store.
You’ll all be able to try them all out in Beta. [Foxclon] I see. That question actually just came up.
[Foxclon] So, Beta is when everyone can use the “Manqo’te.”
[Yoshida] We caused a lot of trouble with the current FFXIV, but everyone has been supporting us for the past two years.
Two years is actually huge. In two years, there is a crazy amount of animations and weapons and armor. So we actually have to make all of them for the new races.
We’ve been saying that basically everything will be in at Beta, but there is a possibility that we can’t finalize some parts of animations and have to include some placeholder equipment.
We’re converting a ton of things right now, so it’s pretty close as to whether or not we’ll make it in time.
[Foxclon] Gotcha. Thanks. Um, let’s see… Since the races came up, here’s the next question.
In the 3rd Players’ Poll, there was a question about new races and clans. What kind of race will be implemented and when?
Also, will we see Viera or beastmen/lizardmen?
[Yoshida] The Viera are extremely popular amongst our overseas players, so we’re really thinking hard about this one.
We’d also been considering a dragon-blood tribe - something more beastman or reptilian, a direction that we haven’t really tried in a FINAL FANTASY before.
I guess I was leaning towards what in Japan would be considered a Western design, but our North American players have also been pretty vocal in their requests for the Viera race.
It’s not like I’m saying we have decided on Viera just yet. We would like to look into it. We have Akihiko Yoshida and Hiroshi Minagawa on the team.
FFXII’s quality is really solid. [Foxclon] Gotcha.
With that said though, this is something that is going to be off in the future, right? [Yoshida] That’s right. You can assume it would be for an expansion pack.
[Foxclon] I see. I’m sure there will be new stories coming, so that’s another thing to look forward to. [Yoshida] Yes.
The monsters start to get pretty strong around here.
[Foxclon] Ah, in the Alpha. [Yoshida] Uh oh… [Foxclon] Here they come… [Yoshida] Pretty crazy.
[Foxclon] It’s like a gigantic wave. [Wada] They’re here! [Foxclon] They just keep falling off the edge.
[Yoshida] Everyone, please don't spam me with trade requests! [Foxclon] Right.
[Foxclon] Okay, next question. [Yoshida] Cool. [Foxclon] When PVP is implemented, will it be possible to face off against Yoshi-P and everyone?
[Yoshida] We’ve actually expanded the battle team just recently. And there are quite a lot of them that have played PVP games with me.
We’ve put a lot of work into the system, including the core design, so, yeah, we’d love to take part.
[Yoshida] We haven’t decided if we’ll call our free company the “Dev Team” or use the Japanese just yet, but… [Foxclon] I see.
[Wada] You’re serious? [Yoshida] We’d like to try and fight with you all.
However, isn’t it kind of trolling? I mean, if we win, players are just going to say “Oh, c’mon you cheated!” or “The class balance is off!” Yeah, I don’t know.
Maybe I’ll participate incognito. Or maybe the development team will try copying their characters over to characters with different names during events.
Regardless, I’m really motivated to play FFXIV: ARR myself, and I’m really, really looking forward to it.
I’m logging in for the Alpha Tests as often as possible so I can talk with everyone. Even for the full release, I would like to do this.
By playing the game ourselves it really helps us see where the balance is off, and gives us a more direct understanding of player feedback.
I’m serious when I say we will do this as much as the dev schedule allows. [Foxclon] Thanks.
[Wada] That last part is an important point! [Yoshida] Yeah, I know. [Wada] He loves the game so much, I don’t know how far he will go.
[Foxclon] I’d really like to plan events for the future where players can battle the development team. [Yoshida] Yeah, I really want to hear some trash-talk. “Is that all you got?”
[Foxclon] I just happened to talk to the dev. members you’ve been playing with. It’s…I don’t really know how to put it…there are a lot of really hardcore PVPers. [Yoshida] Yeah, there are.
[Foxclon] I kind of want to see them obliterated by the players. [Yoshida] Yeah, that'd be fun. [Foxclon] Ah, someone on Twitter is asking to fight Wada.
[Yoshida] Oh, we should have an event! [Wada] Oh yeah! Let’s do it! Maybe we should have a contest with other companies. [Yoshida] Oh!
[Wada] I’m joking. I will look into it! [Foxclon] Sounds good. [Yoshida] A Wada tournament. Let’s make it happen. [Wada] Yeah maybe we should.
[Yoshida] Alright then. [Foxclon] Let’s plan it out. [Yoshida] For example, and this is seriously just an example, if there's a team that wins against dev + Wada team...
Again, just an example, if they are students, maybe they could participate on the battle team for some kind of development. [Foxclon] I see.
[Yoshida] Or perhaps give some feedback, etc.
Since everyone’s feedback on battle balance is extremely important, especially the perspectives of the top tier players, I’m wondering if we could have a feedback exchange meeting.
I honestly would like to proactively have real live communication between the development team and the community.
[Wada] Yeah, let’s do that. [Yoshida] Indeed. [Wada] Consider the matter decided. [Yoshida] That’s our CEO.
[Foxclon] That was fast. [Yoshida] Hold on... Sorry, some of these little exchanges were planned, but that one wasn’t planned at all.
[Wada] But, it’s such an interesting idea. [Yoshida] Yes. [Foxclon] Well then, everyone can look forward to this chance in the future. Okay, next question.
Changing pace again, will there be map variations that follow seasonal trends like flowers blossoming on trees, leaves changing color, and leaves falling from trees depending on the area?
[Yoshida] Each area has its own geographical characteristics, so… It’s rather difficult since Eorzean time and Earth time are a bit different, right? [Foxclon] Right.
[Yoshida] The time of a single day is quick. Also if we are to match the seasons, do we match it to Japan? Do we match it to the northern hemisphere? [Foxclon] Right.
[Yoshida] So, by having as many seasonal events as possible and decorating a variety of places, we would like to match the mood of the seasons in Japan, since it is a Japanese made game after all.
Real-time…well, honestly, you’ve all seen various graphics so far and we built those in just a year and a half from scratch.
Adding seasons for every variation would be a bit much. We do have a lot of weather types though.
However, it depends on the region. There was something that was never seen before in the trailer with Behemoth… [Foxclon] Ah, the snowy mountains.
[Yoshida] Yes, snowy mountains. We’ve been preparing stuff like this from the start, so we hope you can experience the special touches in each of the regions. [Foxclon] Thanks.
[Foxclon] Next question. Are there are plans to expand inventory size? For example, furniture for our houses, locker expansion quests and so on. And will we be able to send items to our mules easily? It’s a two part question.
[Yoshida] Two, okay. Well first, we don’t have plans to expand the player’s inventory.
But we do have plans for other storage. For example, storage boxes that you can put in your house. There will be joint safes for free companies.
And also quite a bit of space on retainers, so you can summon them to pick up/drop off items. Having players carrying around lots of items eats into real time memory.
To make up for this, we’ll create places for you to store your belongings, kind of like your collective assets.
[Foxclon] Gotcha. [Yoshida] There’ll be more gear sets in the future, so naturally, we mean to introduce ways for players to expand their storage, through quests and such.
[Foxclon] Umm… [Yoshida] Oh, the other question. [Foxclon] Yeah, the other one. [Yoshida] What was it again?
[Foxclon] Mules--or secondary characters. Will players be able to send and receive items between characters on the same account? [Yoshida] Umm… Yeah, this will be possible.
I believe our alpha testers will understand this feature a bit. Right now we’ve made it so that you can only send things to friends. For example, if all three of us are friends, we can send letters and items to each other.
This is done via character IDs, which means that if you know the IDs for the characters on your account, this is already possible.
The thing is, this would introduce elements that make it easy for gil-farmers to do what they do.
However, we have certain specs in place that should prevent this from becoming a major issue. First, there will be more rewards for everyone.
Second, certain items will be untradable, like gear with spiritbond.
Anyway, I got the okay from the lead programmer, who says we can do it right away if we wanted. [Foxclon] Got it.
[Yoshida] If the demand is high, I believe we can do it.
[Foxclon] Thanks. Next question. This one’s quite popular. When will NA and EU players be able to participate in the alpha test?
[Yoshida] Umm…we’ve just conclude phase one of testing. [Foxclon] Right.
[Yoshida] First off, we’ve managed to eliminate all the critical issues that surfaced due to heavy server stress, which is caused by an increase in players.
So, right now, we’re safely running the game with around 800 people in a single zone. We’re not only talking about the number of characters on-screen, but a whole zone.
[Foxclon] One zone? [Yoshida] Right, one zone. Not world, a single zone. There are about 40 zones in ARR, and right now we’re able to fit 800 people in each.
This number applies not only to players, but enemies too. Here we have around 700, with 400 battles taking place simultaneously.
That’s what we’re having our testers do right now. It’s come to light that the server becomes laggy when we go past the 800-player mark.
We’ve managed to identify the top 20 causes for this, and will be working to address the issues next week, along with all the bugs our alpha testers have submitted.
We’ll temporarily stop alpha testing next week. The test has been taking place on two worlds already, and we’ll pick things up the week after for around five days.
If everything looks okay, we’ll move to the global phase the week after that. [Foxclon] Gotcha.
So at the earliest… [Yoshida] Umm…what day would that be… [Foxclon] The end of this month. So Monday 26th. [Yoshida] Yes, around then.
[Foxclon] Oh. [Yoshida] We’ll probably be keeping the servers open 24 hours for our overseas players. [Wada] Oh, really?
[Yoshida] Yeah, we have an aging test as well. [Wada] Oh, I see. So this needs to be done regardless.
[Yoshida] That’s right. We’ll keep it up for a week to see if memory crashes occur, and if unnecessary memory is being stored.
For this, we’re planning to give out a lot of accounts. [Wada] Are you going to bump the numbers up that much? [Yoshida] Yep. [Wada] I see.
[Foxclon] Not only NA and EU. Japan’s numbers will also be going up too, right? [Yoshida] Yes, of course.
[Foxclon] More accounts for Japan as well as NA and EU. [Yoshida] I’ve been giving out more and more accounts, but people are still missing out. We’ve been getting comments like: “An announcement was tweeted, but I didn’t get an email!”
[Foxclon] Right, we’ve received quite a few heartbreaking comments. [Yoshida] Yes, I’ve seen them, and I don’t want anyone to miss out. In the end I want everyone to have the chance to play.
[Foxclon] Right. Even though we’re only in alpha still, in certain areas it feels like it’s already beta.
[Yoshida] Yeah, I’m thrilled that we’ve been receiving positive feedback on the alpha, with people saying that it’s ready to be a beta.
But personally, I don’t think it’s there yet. It’s still alpha.
[Foxclon] Thanks. NA and EU players, please look forward to November 26th! [Yoshida] That’s the date if everything goes smoothly. Naturally, we’ll be sending out accounts beforehand.
[Foxclon] We’ll make sure it’s in good shape. Please look forward to it. Okay then, next question. Changing the topic once again, will it be possible to get married?
Also, will same-sex marriages be possible? A pretty standard question for MMOs.
[Yoshida] Okay, marriage. [Foxclon] Right. [Yoshida] Crap, I shouldn’t have moved. It’s far from here. Yeah, too far to go back there right now.
[Yoshida] How much time do we have left? [Foxclon] Maybe 10 or 20 minutes? [Yoshida] Ah well, in that case let’s not do it. We previously released a screenshot of a sanctum in the woods.
[Foxclon] Right. [Yoshida] So when the era came to an end, something happened that led to the sanctum being rediscovered.
So what is this place for? Well, in creating a world, we wanted put anything in it that is close to reality. Marriage is one of those things. That’s why we built the sanctum-- so that characters and players can get married.
The system for weddings--proper services and such--might not be available right from the beginning. It’ll most likely be added in a patch. However, we’ve already prepared a place for it.
As for same-sex marriage, this is an extremely controversial topic that has been under discussion in the MMO world for the past few years.
As you know, each country has a different way of thinking. So first we would like to start out with opposite-sex marriage, and then consider the feedback from our players in order to make a careful decision.
I can’t say whether or not it will be possible at this point in time. I’d like to keep dialog open with our players as we deliberate the matter. [Foxclon] Thanks.
[Wada] Yes, this is a decision that needs to be made with player input.[Yoshida] That’s right. That‘s 100% the case. [Foxclon] Thanks for the answer.
Moving on, there is a question about the countdown that’s happening on the right side of the screen.
Right around there. What is that? [Yoshida] This? This is telling me that I have been invited to a party. [Foxclon] Right.
[Yoshida] It’s a notification for things like friend requests.
So, right now I have 35 friend requests and 133 party invites. Yep, a lot of people screaming “Stop ignoring me!” [Foxclon] I see, I see!
[Wada] Huh? Did it decrease? [Yoshida] Yeah, some timed out. [Wada] Oh, I see. [Foxclon] When it times out, it automatically declines, right?
[Yoshida] That’s right. Like when a phone line is busy. [Foxclon] So that’s what notifications are being displayed. Whoa, it’s getting dangerous.
[Yoshida] This is quite a lot to deal with. Here the testers are thinking: “Hey, don’t leave us with this mess!” [Foxclon] I’m sure they will help you out.
Let’s move on to the next question as we let this battle play out. Now, about gear dyeing…
[Yoshida] Oh! Thanks for the Cure! [Foxclon] Will we be able to dye artifact and sentinel armor or gear with yellow or green item names?
[Yoshida] That’s a lot of questions. [Foxclon] Then let’s field these one at a time.
[Yoshida] I’m getting a bit too serious here. Let me put down the controls for a moment. There’ll be dyes that you can readily buy from NPCs, and then those that can only be made through the combined effort of gatherers and crafters.
Dyes won’t be permanent--you’ll be able to dye your equipment over and over again. So let’s say you’ve been wearing red all week and feel like a change. It’d be a simple matter to recolor it yellow.
[Foxclon] So if you want to dye your gear, you just need to get the dye. [Yoshida] Yes, we’ve made it very simple. There’ll be 24 colors at the start, I believe.
In addition, there will be rare shades. In order to make these, you’ll need the expertise of gatherers and crafters. If someone happens to be selling the color you want at the market wards, you can also get a hold of it there.
Players will have a lot of freedom. [Wada] That’s a lot of colors. [Yoshida] Indeed. Also, I’m aware of the community discussion on using sliders to choose colors during character creation.
The problem with this is that the tip of the polygon, called vertex color, which functions as the visual representation of the color selected is easily distorted by lighting. Therefore, we’re limiting the color selection to...
...bring out the best of each color. Technically, we can implement all 65,535 colors, but realistically speaking, it’s impossible to tell the difference between similar colors.
Also, you won’t be able to color every single area on your armor. For example, if there’s a bit of chainmail showing around the arms, that bit of chainmail won’t be dyeable. This is because--let's be honest here--if I...
... colored myself entirely in yellow, I won’t look that cool. Our character modelers decide what parts can or can’t be dyed, and this is a very involved task.
[Foxclon] So each piece of gear will have specific parts that you can color? [Yoshida] Yes, though we’re also discussing how we can improve color quality on larger surfaces.
Actually, some of the items equipped by our testers use this coloring system. [Foxclon] I see. Could our testers stop jumping for a moment?
[Yoshida] Excellent! Ah! Hmmm… [Wada] I can see what you mean though.
[Yoshida] This is actually the starting gear for Version 1.0. [Foxclon] Everyone stopped! [Yoshida] Terrific! Thank you everyone.
These items here all use this new system. [Foxclon] I see. I get the sense that this will be a good way for gatherers and crafters to get rich. [Yoshida] It sure is.
[Foxclon] Thank you for that. [Yoshida] Oh, to answer the part on dyeing artifacts, we plan on keeping their colors as they are for a while. This is because we want to preserve their image, especially early on.
Eventually, when people get used to the design or new sets of artifacts are introduced, the option to change colors will become available. That’s our current plan.
We can see something over there. [Wada] You’re right. [Foxclon] What could it be? It looks dangerous.
[Yoshida] According to the minimap, it’s called "Castrum Oriens." It smells like another one of the Empire’s schemes.
[Foxclon] So in regards to dyeing artifacts, the plan is to preserve the image of jobs in the beginning, but eventually you’ll be able to change their color. Understood. Thanks.
Let’s continue on with the questions. Characters created from scratch in A Realm Reborn will start out with the new starting gear. Will existing characters brought in from Version 1.0 be able to obtain the same gear?
[Yoshida] Yes they will! [Foxclon] They will? [Yoshida] Just to clarify, the question is whether...
Version 1.0 characters will be able to get the same starting gear as new characters? [Foxclon] Correct. [Yoshida] We’ll make sure they are able to.
[Foxclon] Thanks. In a related question, will higher level race-specific gear be implemented? [Yoshida] Sorry, could you repeat the question?
[Foxclon] So, the new starting gear are race-specific. Will there be higher level versions of such race-specific gear?
[Yoshida] We don’t have any plans for the start of A Realm Reborn, but we’ll definitely look into adding such gear later on if there’s enough demand.
Also, this may be a bit early to share, but there are plans for a vanity system that allows you to adjust your appearance. Say your role is a tank, and you like wearing your artifact armor, but prefer the stats on your Darklight gear.
In this case, you can change the appearance of the latter to be like the former. I’m not sure yet when this feature will be ready. It’ll depend on our progress.
[Foxclon] I see. Thanks. The team is groaning over your answer just now.
[Yoshida] Uh oh! I suppose this feature is kind of new. [Foxclon] That explains the restlessness in the air.
[Yoshida] Now, this here--no, I’m not talking about the Miqo’te’s ***. We’ve received comments that the lighting in A Realm Reborn is too strong or the game is too bright in general.
But I think that isn’t the case, as you can see here in the Silent Arbor in the Black Shroud. [Wada] Is this some kind of field trip?
[Yoshida] It’s quite a sight! [Foxclon] Like a big marathon.
[Yoshida] On the other side there’s actually a fortress occupied by a band of thieves. It’s one of the areas where a Full Active Time Event takes place like I described earlier. The thieves will also attack this settlement and so on.
[Foxclon] Thanks. The next question is totally different. If you want to play the PC version on a PS3, will you still have to purchase the registration code for the PS3 version?
[Yoshida] So, you already have the PC version and want to play on your PS3 using the same account? In that case, I’m very sorry but you will have to purchase a registration code for the PS3 version.
However, you will be able to play on the PS3 with the same character you created on the PC.
[Yoshida] So yes, you’ll need to purchase separate copies. [Foxclon] And with a single account, I could play on the PC today, and then on the PS3 tomorrow.
[Yoshida] Yes, so long as you link the two copies. [Foxclon] You mean link the registration codes to the same account?
[Yoshida] Yes. [Foxclon] Okay, thanks. Next question… [Yoshida] Yes.
[Foxclon] Hang on a second… Which one should I pick?
[Yoshida] What’s next? Can I run around again? [Foxclon] Yeah, go for it.
[Yoshida] Where should I go… [Wada] It’s become so colorful and verdant.
[Yoshida] Yes, the modeling team and I made some pretty unreasonable demands. But this area is really…
Ah, I’m getting attacked! [Foxclon] Alright, I’m ready. [Yoshida] This is bad. I’m dead.
[Wada] It’s pretty strong. [Yoshida] I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die! [Foxclon] What now? Maybe someone will heal you? [Yoshida] Cure! Ah, I was saved.
Wow, that was great! Thanks, everyone. [Foxclon] Close call, right? Thank you.
So, here’s the question. We got this question in English, and it’s about the current version. A lot of people are saying that they tried to clear “The Raven, Nevermore” but couldn’t manage to do so before the end.
[Yoshida] Right. [Foxclon] So, will we be able to challenge “The Raven, Nevermore” in ARR? [Yoshida] Um, unfortunately…
That was planned to only be playable as part of the Seventh Umbral Era storyline, so… [Foxclon] Right.
[Yoshida] This content was made for our current players and was only intended for 1.0. It would also clash with the main story if it were still playable. [Foxclon] I see.
There’s another similar type of question. This time they are asking whether there will be a way to obtain primal weapons in ARR.
[Yoshida] Yes, there will be a way to do so. [Foxclon] So you are saying that they will be available?
[Yoshida] They will be available. [Foxclon] Okay, thanks. Right, next question. [Yoshida] Okay.
[Foxclon] Are you ready? You’re ready, right? Will arcanists be able to use their grimoires to summon familiars other than Carbuncle?
They’re also asking for new information on the primal and relic weapons for arcanists and summoners. How about it?
[Yoshida] We like to call him “Carby,” but anyway, arcanists can summon different types of Carbuncles.
Basically, for arcanists, play will revolve around using the different types of Carbuncles. When you unlock the summoner job, your summons will harness the power of the primals…
But as an arcanist, you’ll be focused on Carby. Now, some may assume that we won’t expand arcanist summons in the future, but that’s not my intention.
This is just something to start with. [Foxclon] I see. [Yoshida] Was there anything else?
[Foxclon] They asked whether there is any new information on primal and relic weapons for arcanists and summoners.
[Yoshida] Well, there’s quite a bit. [Foxclon] This question was really reaching for info. Do you have anything to show?
[Yoshida] We have a lot… Maybe I can show this? [Foxclon] It sounds like we have something...
[Wada] How about that one? [Yoshida] This one...eh!? [Foxclon] You don’t sound too enthusiastic.
[Yoshida] Really? [Wada] That looks alright, doesn’t it? [Foxclon] It seems we’re going with the one that “looks alright.”
[Yoshida] Is this really ok? Won’t this cause problems if we show it? [Wada] It might...
[Foxclon] The development team must be wondering just how much you’re going to reveal... [Yoshida] I can imagine them asking me “why show this one first?”
It’s a bit oddly shaped, but this is a reward for arcanists from the dungeon I mentioned earlier, the Great Labyrinth of Bahamut. [Foxclon] I see.
[Yoshida] That might’ve been too much. [Foxclon] So that’s what it’s like. [Wada] This is far too much! Sorry, sorry!
[Yoshida] This arcanist’s grimoire is a Grand Company item. It seems like there are a lot of things for the arcanist here.
[Foxclon] The development team is saying “You should’ve shown this one first!” [Yoshida] No doubt. Ah, here we go. This is the summoner relic weapon.
And this will be the last time I cause problems today... This is for the arcanist class.
We’re preparing all of these weapons. [Foxclon] Thank you very much. It looks like there’s quite a bit. [Yoshida] No problem!
[Foxclon] By the way, it looks like you were just KO’d. [Yoshida] Who, me?
[Foxclon] Well, this sort of thing... [Yoshida] …It happens. Ok everyone-and you guys in-game too-watch as I demonstrate what to do when you’re KO’d.
First, click here. [Foxclon] Oh nice, a help window.
[Yoshida] That’s right. We’re calling these active help windows. When you are KO’d...you can return to your home point...or another player nearby can revive you with the conjurer spell Raise.
[Foxclon] Raise… [Yoshida] Yeah. That’s not happening.
And so we have returned. Wow, there are a lot of people here.
[Foxclon] Time just flew by, but I think we’ve shown a good amount. [Yoshida] You think so? There’s still a lot that I haven’t shown.
[Foxclon] I’m sure there is, but I’d like to end with perhaps the most obvious question, the one that was most-asked by our fans. [Yoshida] Sounds good.
[Foxclon] Everyone would like an updated roadmap and schedule for the start of the Beta Test to the release of ARR. [Yoshida] Right.
[Foxclon] Now that 1.0 has concluded, everyone would like to know what’s next. Could you tell us more?
[Yoshida] Honestly speaking, according to the roadmap that we released December 2011, we are currently two months and two weeks behind schedule.
We’ve been working frantically to develop this game for a long time, and have just barely managed to stay on track until recently.
However, when I was finally able to test the alpha version myself two and a half months ago, I realized...
that there were a ton of aspects I wanted to change. This goes for the UI, the display around the characters, and also the graphics. Version 1.0 started out like this as well, and I felt that we couldn’t release it in that state.
I felt that if we can’t make something that I can at least enjoy as a gamer, it’s...I mean, even if it’s just alpha stress testing...
...if we don’t provide that level of quality to our customers, then it’s no good. I made that clear to the team. And so we’ve refined the alpha version to this point...
and will approach the beta with the same attitude. Of course, now that 1.0 has ended, we want to deliver ARR to the players quickly.
However, we have seen some world class MMOs released in this past year, or year and a half, such as Rift, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, etc.
The staff and I have spent sleepless nights looking into these titles, and we feel that, this time, we want to be able to compete with these world-class games--and we don’t want to lose.
For now, we ask that you give us more time to make adjustments, and we hope to release a new roadmap around the end of November or beginning of December.
As for the beta test, we’re hoping to start beta phase one at the end of January or the beginning of February. We’ve already begun work, so we ask for your patience in the meantime.
In return, to ensure that many people can take part in the alpha test, as soon as we have entered the aging test, we’ll do our best to keep the servers open 24 hours so that everyone can experience it, so please give us a little more time.
We want this to be a great game. That’s all I have to say about our progress up until now.
[Foxclon] Thank you. Is there anything you wanted to add with regards to the schedule, President Wada?
[Wada] FFXIV has come this far thanks to all of your support. I want everyone to know that it is our company’s policy that this game will only be...
...released when Yoshida and his team have, without compromising their standards, produced the best possible product. We hope you will continue...
...to support us, and we will endeavour to not keep you waiting much longer. Thank you.
[Foxclon] Thank you. It’s about time to end this Letter from the Producer LIVE, but it seems the grimoire you showed earlier sparked a lot of tweets saying how cool it is.
[Yoshida] Wow, we really did get a ton of tweets. My eyesight’s pretty bad so I can’t see it too well.
I’ll bet they’re saying things like “Don’t delay it!” and “For real?” [Foxclon] It’s like a sea of tweets. Thank you very much. Now then, it’s the time to close the show.
[Yoshida] Oh, is it already? [Foxclon] To end the show, can you offer some closing comments for everyone waiting for ARR?
[Yoshida] During the show, we’ve shown a lot of gameplay from the alpha version. Over the past 18 months, we’ve created maps from scratch, added story to link 1.0 to ARR, and even created a housing system.
We’ve put a lot of effort into determining what an FF MMO needs to provide a complete experience. And I don’t want to take all that hard work, say “this is good enough”, and release it in an incomplete state. We’re nearly there.
And because we’ve come this far (while I know you don’t want us to delay the release any longer), in order for us to live up to your level of support for FFXIV and Square Enix itself these past two years...
...we want to deliver a world-class MMO that we can be proud of. And to do that, we’ll need a little more time.
That said, after the start of the new year, probably around the end of January, we’ll begin the beta test. Before that, we’ll launch the beta recruitment site.
There’ll be more information then. While there are already advertisements, we’re also planning to start a large-scale PR campaign, including commercials.
We’ll be taking this FF PR campaign worldwide, so please look forward to it. Thank you very much.
[Foxclon] Thank you. To close with, could we get a comment from President Wada?
[Wada] First of all, I’d like to apologize to those of you who couldn’t participate in the final event. I’m terribly sorry.
Thanks to your support over the past two years, we’ve learned a great deal and, as you can see, we’ve managed to produce the alpha version in such a short period of time.
You gave us the courage to reach this point, and for that we’re grateful. As Yoshida has said countless times, now that we’ve come this far, we want to deliver the best MMO in the world.
Therefore, we’re going to polish the beta until we’re satisfied and can proudly present the best game to you all. We can’t avoid spending time doing this.
Of course, we want to deliver the game as soon as possible, but please allow us more time to produce a game that we can be proud of, for your sake and for his. Thank you for your continued support.
[Yoshida & Foxclon] Thank you!
[Foxclon] So that’s it for the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part IV. Yoshida’s passing out something for us to show, so we’ll end with that. I feel like it’s always going to be like this.
[Yoshida] There’s a tremendous amount of content in the game, and right now we’re putting a lot of energy into creating different costumes that players can wear.
We’re working to include all the elements that we should have introduced in 1.0. We hope we can count on your continued support.
[Foxclon] So will we do a Letter from the Producer LIVE Part V and VI? [Yoshida] Indeed. We’ll let you know when the details are finalized.
[Foxclon] All right, until then, see you! [All] Thank you for watching!