Interesting Beta Forum Thread ResponsesFollow

Thank you for all the feedback!
Based on everything we've received, we will be addressing this in phase 4 as outlined below.

First, as a refresher, here's how it worked in phase 3.
The icon's shape/size indicates the monster's rank. (*I will explain this later)
The icon's color indicates whether it is non-aggressive (yellow) or aggressive (red).
In phase 2, the red icon indicated a monster was aggressive; however, in phase 3 we changed this so that the icon itself displayed the monster's passive/aggressive stance, as well as rank, and the icon's color would indicate whether a monster was active or inactive.

*The phase 3 manual still has the explanation of this from phase 2, so we've corrected the mistake.

Aspects to be fixed in the upcoming phase 4.

Issues have arisen where it is difficult to discern icons due to the fact we incorporated the active/inactive icon into the colored icon displaying monster rank in order to reduce display lag, and we will be making two adjustments to this.

Adjustments to the color display for inactive/active on rank icons:

• Non-aggressive: bluish green
• Aggressive: yellowish orange

Additionally, we will have marks that indicate aggressive/non-aggressive on rank icons.

• Rank icon (for non-aggressive)
• Rank icon (for aggressive: displays the aggressive icon)

We will be placing two images into one icon, so there is still only one icon displayed and there will be no draw lag.
*There needs to be two types for with or without the icon image, but we will be making adjustments to go along with the other aspects of the UI that are constantly displayed.

The reason for having an aggressive icon was posted on the forums in the past, so I will omit this explanation.
In phase 4, it will be possible to hide the UI and still do battle.
For those of you who want to focus more on the environment around you, I'm sure it will be fun to try and play the game in first-person only without any UI.

Monster ranks (*)

It's quite common that a monster's strength is defined by level.
It's pretty much the same in ARR; however, to go into a bit more detail about the meaning of "level," the enemy levels in XIV that are displayed show what level enemy a player should be fighting. In other words, if an enemy is shown to be level 10, this would be a perfect opponent for a level 10 player. Based on this definition, amongst the enemies that should be fought at level 10, we've defined extremely strong enemies that cannot be defeated one-on-one by rank. Regular enemies, enemy leaders, notorious monsters, bosses, and such are displayed through rank.

* Since the implementation and reasoning behind levels is not related to UI, I will refrain from going into any more details on levels and ranks.

Greetings everyone,

Thanks for all the feedback on the topic of Egi sizes!
We've shared your feedback (and images and art!) with the graphics team so we could get an update for you all.

The team explained to us that originally the size of the Egi were a bit larger than they are now, but after discussing and checking various aspects of this larger size, they decided to use the size that they are now.
We're anxious for you to try out summoner once it's available, and look forward to gathering more feedback then.

This is Yoshida, Producer/Director for FFXIV: A Realm Reborn.

Thank you for the feedback and concerns for the recently implemented Duty Finder.
Sorry that it took so long for me to respond, in part because of Japan Expo and the time it took to read over the comments on the forums. My post will be focusing on different things, including responses to the feedback we've seen so far.

First off, the duty finder is a feature that many Japanese players are trying for the first time, and I'd like to report that thanks to everyone's help, it has been going very well so far. There seems to be a few things that people are worried about, so I will be posting the answers for each feedback along with explaining the concept of the duty finder.

As usual, my post is going to be quite long, so please read it over whenever you have time.
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â–  The Idea of Duty Finder â– 

MMORPGs are in a genre that has the stigma that "it’s difficult to form parties, and you can only really play it by forming parties."
As a result, MMORPGs are often forced into a very niche genre.
Even when looking at the global market (excluding China and Korea), this belief is very rampant. Especially because Japan has a very few locally created MMO games.

While it's impossible to do everything while solo in an MMORPG, I really wanted the average gamer to experience the fun a player can experience in an MMORPG. With the FINAL FANTASY and DRAGON QUEST series, many users think "Well, I guess I'll try it at least" feeling because of their strong connection to the brand. What better way for us to spread the fun of the MMORPG experience than with FFXIV: ARR?

The first thing that popped in my head was the necessity of a party matching system. To be honest, when I first took over FFXIV version 1.0, the first thing I did was check to see if it’s possible to implement a cross-world matching system with our server team. What I found out was very disappointing. Not only were we not able to implement a cross-world matching system, we could not even implement a matching system within the same world. I felt that this feature was so important that I was willing to toss all of the server source code for FFXIV version 1.0 and completely rebuild the server structure for FFXIV: ARR.

Simply put, when I first took over FFXIV version 1.0, I felt the following was necessary if I was to release a numbered FF title in the current day and age.

• A sense of being able to play the game solo.
• Have the players go through the casual party experience while progressing through the main scenario.
• Players will learn the basics of a party play by the time they complete the main scenario.

I created documents and specifications and then checked what we could and could not implement. After a thorough investigation, we decided to create "FFXIV: ARR."
While we considered the idea of being able to complete the main scenario without being in a party, we knew that players would then have trouble with end game content because they lack any prior party experience.

Therefore, I believe the duty finder is a "necessary feature for the players new to the world of MMORPGs."

I would like new players to think "Hey, that was much easier and fun that I thought it would be" after their first party experience.
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â–  Communication and the Formation of a Community â– 

As I sated before, the implementation of the duty finder is something I wanted since I took over FFXIV version 1.0. I even think I mentioned the word "Finder" during some of my early interviews. We worked hard on balancing the difficulty, information that can be obtained through the UI, the number of times you can wipe to a boss, being able to re-challenge in case you fail, for "party content that can be played using the duty finder."

Therefore, players will be able to solo their way through level 1 to 15 as a battle class. From level 15 to 35, the players will "learn the basics of party play." After level 35, we expect some players to really start talking about the mechanics and strategies for boss battles.

Even with the 2.5 second global cooldown, from a newbie standpoint, it's almost impossible to have a conversation during battle. Therefore, we intentionally left some extra room during the content (i.e. at the start, before a boss battle, when opening a treasure chest after the boss battle, etc.) to make it easier for players to say converse and to strategize (not including the battles that occur during the main scenario after defeating Ifrit). We would like new players to start using the chat after they are comfortable with the game.

Therefore, we're not expecting players to chat during battle until they reach the high-level content. Chat should mainly take place "in between battles," "in between content," "in the city/field," and "during FATE." Of course, we expect players to form a party through /shout to have a better chance of beating battle content. While shouting may take some courage, I personally love seeing the conversations that take place via say and shout. I look forward to players talking about item stats, strategies, linkshell/free company recruiting, and general Q&A. We'll do our best to support the players from the system-side and the through the Lodestone. However, please note that no matter how fulfilling the system is, it's up to the players to utilize the system to communicate with other players.

We plan on actively supporting the community by enhancing the linkshell/free company features, invite features, implementation of a mentor system, etc. What would an MMORPG be without friends?

If this is your first time playing an MMORPG or an online game, take the first step and say hello!

As for the experienced players, please spark up a conversation in between battles and quests whenever you have the opportunity. That is the key to starting conversation within the community!

Of course, for high-level content, simply relying on the Duty Finder alone could make clearing some content difficult, and there will be cases where you need to partner up with those around you. We understand the importance and necessity of communication. If you’re worried about the potential loss of communication because of the duty finder, please do not worry.

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â–  Cross-World Matching â– 

The main purpose of the duty finder is to "be able to experience party play immediately after logging into the game." In other words, the "matching speed" is a key factor of the feature.

Nowadays, people are generally very busy and don't have as much free time to play games as much as they used to. We would like our players to continue enjoying our MMORPG for a long time. In order to make that happen, we feel it’s important to provide an environment where the players always have something to do when they log into the game. It’s difficult for certain players to enjoy an MMORPG when it takes an hour to form a party (while there are some players that do have that free time).

I feel it’s important to "maximizing the demand." Therefore, instead of just matching players within one World, we have designed it so that players are able to match with players on the same data center. As an extreme example, with this system, even if there are only 500 players logged in per World (across 15 Worlds), that’s 7,500 players you can potentially be matched up with. Of course, the class ratio of the logged in players will have a huge impact on the matching system. However, we believe we will be able to avoid situations where a player is unable to enjoy the game because there are not enough players logged in when the play.

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â–  Matching Options â– 
We received an inquiry regarding the implementation of the option to only match with players within the same World, but we currently do not have any plans to implement that option.

While I understand the idea of "How about we initially get matched up with players on the same World, and if that does not work out, match up with the other Worlds," this actually leads to a huge decrease in the matching frequency.

For example, let's say there are four players on the Worlds A, B, C, D, and these four players are wanting to defeat Ifrit.

• Player A (TANK) selects the "Match with players in the same World" option.
• Player B (DPS) selects the "Match with players on all Worlds" option.
• Player C (DPS) selects the "Match with players on all Worlds" option.
• Player D (Healer) selects the "Match with players in the same World" option.

Player A will enter the queue in the state of "Waiting for a DPS/DPS/Healer in the same World."
Player D will enter the queue in the state of "Waiting for a TANK/DPS/DPS in the same World."
Player B and C will enter the queue in the state of "Waiting for a TANK/DPS/Healer in all Worlds."

The problem is apparent right away. If all players were looking for matches in all Worlds, these four would immediately be grouped together to defeat Ifrit. However, due to this option, there’s a delay in the matching process.
While player A and D can switch to all Worlds if they do not find a match in the same World, every player has their own level of patience when it comes to waiting.

Let’s say player A waits for 5 minutes and player D waits for 7 minutes. In this case, all players will have to wait for 7 minutes until they are matched. During these 7 minutes, player B and C will wait while they wonder when they are going to be matched. Everything works out as long as these players are willing to wait, but let’s say player B gets tired of waiting and decides to join another party that was looking for an additional member via /shout, changes their role to a healer, or logs out. In this case, the match becomes invalid because one of the players decided to do something else.

Therefore, if it was just one player switching from one option to another, the only impact is making the remaining players wait. However, if every player has the option, it hugely decreases the matching frequency.

On the other hand, let's say we set the waiting limit of the matches to 5 minutes (automatically cancels if no match is found for 5 minutes) and prevent players for waiting for an extended period of time. Every player registers for the duty finder at different times, so unless the players registers at around the same time, they will never be matched up.

While my example was a little extreme, if this happened with all players or if the majority of the player selected "All Worlds," it would still decrease the matching frequency by a large amount as long as there are players selecting different options.

Of course after launch, we will take a look at the overall matching speed and the split between all the roles, and it's possible that we will do things such as ease up on the role restrictions and allow for multiple role requests (tank and DPS, for example).

However, the main thing we want to guarantee is that you can play in a party when you want to and create parties comfortably, and I feel that the most important thing is to see to it that this goal is accomplished.

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â–  Matching Algorithm â– 

In regards to the algorithm used when matching take places, this is an algorithm that places priority on matching speed, and thus same-world matching priority is not a function that is performed intentionally.

If it were to do this, each person would have to go through multiple matching groups, and even if this were constrained to just a single confirmation, there would be variations between the matching search and search targets of the second round and the previous round, ultimately causing a longer wait time. (I'm simplifying the technical explanation.)

Of the roles, DPS is often the most popular in MMORPGs.
When forming a 4-person light party, there are 2 matching slots for the DPS classes (pugilist (melee), lancer (melee), archer (ranged), thaumaturge (ranged)), which is double the number of slots than that of tank and healer. Two important things the algorithm determines are to make sure that two of the same class/job are not in the DPS slots as well as that they split between melee and ranged.

Various situations can be enjoyed with parties if they are matched with 1 tank, 1 melee DPS, 1 ranged DPS, and 1 healer. The programmers have done a great job making this so the system does not need to go through multiple matching search loops. (Though, if players cannot be found, the process will be simplified.)

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â–  Additional Features for Launch â– 
Currently the Duty Finder is in the midst of stress testing in Beta phase 3, and we will be addressing feedback and adding the following features in time for launch:

• A feature to kick players who have gone offline or who have been disconnected after being matched.
• A status check when entering (entered by mistake, etc.)
• Announcement when there is a player that is challenging the content for the first time in the party, as well as a reward bonus upon clearing the content.
• Feature to retry content with the same party.

In other games there is a poll-based kick feature, but this system can be used inappropriately to kick people right before receiving loot, so we are thinking about this very carefully. We are also prioritizing discussions for how to address players that leave parties right after being matched. (This is also a countermeasure for harassment.)

We will of course continue to add features as necessary while the game is live.

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â–  In Closing â– 

Lately I have been seeing a lot of people posting that "FFXIV: ARR feels more like an instanced-based game." Everyone feels things in different ways, so I'm fine with that.

However, from Alpha all the way up to the third test of Beta phase 3 I barely saw any talk of this.
(Not to say it was non-existent, but it was much, much less.)
Dungeons are all instanced dungeons, and the arrangement of content has not really changed.
With the implementation of the stress tests for the Duty Finder in the fourth test, it's true that the number of party recruitment shouts has dropped and the amount of conversations being held within instanced dungeons has also fallen. (I too noticed this when I'm playing in the beta.)

I think it’s easy to run through instanced dungeons using the Duty Finder (That’s why we made it.).
However, in Beta phase 3, the main quests that have been released are only up to level 20, and there are only three instanced dungeons up to level 20: Sastasha, Tam-tara, and Copperbell. The only time you are required to go to each of these dungeons is when you are progressing through the main quest line. (there will be side quests released in the release version for level 15 to 20.)
In addition to this, the main quest line will also have instanced battle content for Ifrit, and releasing more dungeons wouldn’t really fit the flow for the official release.

In phase 3, main quests and class quests are locked, and there are really no other efficient choices besides going around to dungeons above level 20. Since testing time is also limited, leveling has a tendency to be prioritized.

Naturally, repeating dungeons over and over would get played out, and once you get used to them it just becomes work and conversations will drastically be reduced.

I understand the fearful feeling that if you are only meeting someone once it is difficult to form relationships.

However, this is just a matter of having the finder or not having the finder, and in actuality, the tests up until now and the content have not changed. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who went and tried out the dungeons for the first time because the finder was finally implemented.

I’ve played many MMORPGs and online game in my time, but I’ve had a lot of friends quit in the beginning of games because they couldn’t make parties, or it was hard to play with people they didn’t know, and felt they cause problems with party play.

"All you need to do is shout 'anyone want to go to a dungeon?'"
"You can still play without having to talk as much as you think you do!"
"Everyone is nice to new players, so don’t worry about getting in the way!"

I’d often respond to my friends in the above manner, but I was sadly told "it’s impossible."
As a result, MMORPGs up until now have become games that can only be played by people who can play them a lot and have a lot of skill.

I have a lot of friends from all the MMORPGs and online games I have played. Just like me, they all chat, form parties, and go do content. "That difficulty is the good thing about MMORPGs. You are able to overcome it with everyone." I understand this well.

However, naturally they accomplish things because it’s a gathering of people who know how. My job is to see to it so that those that cannot do this are also able to play.
I will also be preparing things for the hardcore players, as well as a community features, and areas for release, so please rest easy about this.

From a technical standpoint, there aren't many differences between MMOs and instanced-based games.
The only differences are that you have large fields, a large amount of items, large scale updates that change the world, and a world where thousands of people can run around at the same time. However, an enormous sandbox where there are small things happening in the fields, boss fights are at the end of the dungeons, you can explore uncharted lands while riding your chocobo, and you can spend time talking to your friends – that's an MMORPG.

FFXIV: ARR is about to start anew as an MMORPG.
And I’m not just talking about the release. We plan on continuing to update the game as an FF series title and as an MMORPG. This also holds true for events that take place in fields.

A wealth of players sharing the same world, a Free Company partying at Costa del Sol. A solo player fishing by the sea, a player fighting a colibri during a levequest. Two real-life friends riding side by side on chocobos and exploring the world. A player that dropped by to see a Miqo'te in their swimwear and check out the party as they sew waiting for the Duty Finder to make a match.

There are many types of players doing various things at every moment. You may just pass by them but there are times you will stop and make friends with them. That is what I think of when I hear MMORPG, and I want to create that type of Eorzea with everyone.

I'd appreciate it a lot if you think of the Duty Finder as a tool that increases the population of people playing and also as something that serves to increase the opportunities of meeting people.

FFXIV: A Realm Reborn Producer and Director Yoshida here.

Thank you for all the feedback and discussion in regards to the collaboration between LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII and FFXIV: A Realm Reborn that was announced at E3 and Japan Expo. While I was reading over all the comments and writing a post, I thought that there needs to be a clear explanation and decided to create this thread.

The Japan Expo stage is a place where people that like Japanese sub-culture gather and we focused on the below attractive aspects for our presentation:

• Lightning will be appearing in the world of FFXIV!
• Lightning and Snow costumes can be obtained in the world of FFXIV!

As a result, I believe there are some of you who are concerned with the implications for the lore of FFXIV: ARR and the world of Eorzea and thought, "Why are you shoehorning Lightning into FFXIV?" or "Is the game just going to be filled with other with FF characters?"

This is the first time we've tried having a FINAL FANTASY series character make an appearance in another world in a numbered FINAL FANTASY title. After announcing this at Japan Expo, we will be having a detailed meeting with the LIGHTNING team, but the general consensus between both teams is that "it shouldn’t just be a simple appearance."

• Why is Lightning in the world of Eorzea?
• Why is Lightning fighting in the world of Eorzea?
• What's the connection between adventurers and Lightning?
• And what will happen to Lightning after visiting Eorzea?

The story that answers these questions is already being created and it will also be related to the Lightning saga. This is not just a Lightning clone showing up in Eorzea; it is the one and only Lightning. We are also creating a lot of character dialogue for Lightning as well as special cut scenes. We've established a proper story, and I hope you're excited to see it.

Also, in regards to future collaborations with other FF series, we will be adhering to the below principles:

• We will never introduce characters that would destroy their meaning or story
• We will not use characters that are already dead or whose role has ended in their title

For example, "Red XIII" who appeared in FFVII.
I believe we mentioned "Red XIV" as a joke before, but Red XIII has a very rare and specific role in the world of FFVII. If he was wandering around the world of Eorzea it would destroy the image of the world of FFVII, so this can’t happen.
This is just a simple example of what we mean.

Leading up to my involvement with FFXIV, I've always been a fan of the FF series just like everyone else. Because of that, I want to keep the lore important and consider the storyline in its entirety, so please don't be worried when it comes to this.

P.S.
When it comes to Minions, however, we are going to completely run with it.

It deals with combat and damage. For instance, when you jump off a high cliff, there's a .5-1 second delay before you take damage. Things like this can also be seen with AoE's and the red circles. People are moving out of range of the red circles, but are still taking damage afterwards. Or when an Instant spell is cast, there's a delay of .5-1 second when it should be 0 seconds and etc.

I've experienced it myself, but I've just adapted my play-style to adjust. As soon as a red circle forms, GTFO, is what I say. Even the slightest hesitation of .5 seconds will net you some unwanted damage. But that's just me, and while I have adapted to it, there are others out there that are requesting SE to take a hard look at this issue and I can agree with that.

As soon as a red circle forms, GTFO, is what I say

Slighty annoyed about their response on the size of the egis. especially because they said that they were bigger to begin with. If they just stayed with the size without making them smaller, there wouldn't be such a fuzz about it on the forums.. -_-'

After looking over everyone's feedback, here are a few of the changes planned for crafting classes.
(Please keep in mind any adjustments are subject to change)

• Tricks of the Trade and Comfort Zone, which are used to recover CP, have been deemed to be too potent, and will therefore be adjusted.
• Adjustments are being made so that players will need to choose which situations are best to use CP recovery skills. This will not affect the probability of creating HQ items.
• In addition to the changes stated in 1, the use of certain actions together allowed players to craft indefinitely. To prevent this, the actions used to do so will also be adjusted.
• Actions that are difficult to use due to their cost will have their CP costs and effects adjusted.
• Actions with costs disproportionate to their effects will have their costs adjusted.
• Certain actions will have their CP costs adjusted in line with the changes outlined in 1-4.

As always, if you have any additional feedback regarding crafting actions, or recipe parameters such as quality and durability, we'd like to hear what you have to say!

Until now, we had planned for a sort/arrange process to take place on the server-side database which collects player information.

However, in phase 3 with the addition of the Armoury Chest, player inventories immediately increased to 400 slots, and we have had to revamp these processes that we had originally planned for.

While it will take a bit of work, we are now proceeding to switch the sort/arrange process to take place client-side. With this system in place, it should address the requests we have been receiving.

Below are the features that will be ready for phase 4:

• Inventory: It will be possible to use a feature that automatically separates items into categories when obtaining items.
• We will be making it easier to identify items that can be equipped and those that cannot by adding an "X" over the equipment icons.

The specs for the inventory item search feature have been completed; however, due to the fact that the person in charge of implementing this is the same for the above, it will be addressed after the sort-related features have been implemented. We appreciate your patience.

Glad to see the crafting revisions. I am a bit torn on the adjustment of HQ difficulty. I had thought HQs were surprisingly easy, and it made sense to me that eventually you should be skilled enough to make a HQ item from NQ materials, but I was surprised by how quickly that point came. On one side, it was fun to so easily make HQ items, but on the flip side, that really makes them too common. Looking at it with the fact that we are potentially playing for keeps from here forward, I am glad it is being adjusted. I will refrain from official endorsement until I see how far it is adjusted, however.