ZAM Interviews Hiromichi Tanaka

You've seen dozens of interviews out of GamesCom that ask questions about how Final Fantasy XIV differs from XI. Ultimately, we wanted to know, "why was the decision made to make FFXIV so similar to FFXI?".

By now you've seen dozens of interviews out of GamesCom that ask questions about how Final Fantasy XIV differs from XI. We had our fair share of those questions, but ultimately we wanted to know, "why was the decision made to make FFXIV so similar to FFXI?". During the interview we asked Hiromichi Tanaka that very question and the answer was intriguing. "FFXI has been out for about eight years now; the graphical engine we used is very old. In that sense, we wanted to have something that the FFXI players can smoothly move on to" said Tanaka.

Make sure to check out our round table style interview with Q&As from our friend Chris Morell from the PlayStation Blog.

Discuss this interview on the ZAM forums!


PlayStation Blog: You guys recently talked at E3 about how the game kind of closely relates to Final Fantasy XI. I was kind of wondering how the monsters and races have changed from XI to XIV.

Hiromichi Tanaka:
Because we're using a new graphic engine, the graphics are really different from FFXI and you can see more details on both monsters and races. Regarding the races, to encourage people to shift smoothly from FFXI, you will see very similar types of classes. But if you actually make your own character, you'll be able to select your own colour of hair, skin, eye color, shape of your face, etc. There will be a wide range of variety to customize.

ZAM: Why would you stick so rigidly to the class / race balance in FFXI, and are there more races we haven't seen in XI?

Tanaka: Regarding other races, we can't really make any comments at the moment, so please look forward to future announcements. About the balance of each race - it's different from FFXI. This time it's not going to be so much different from the beginning, as in unique racial skills per race, it really depends on which skills you select by yourself and how you're going to grow your character - then that is really going to affect your lifestyle. The abilities and stuff aren't really going to be affected by the race you select. You can just select by the appearance.

ZAM: Will the genders of the races continue to be limited like with the Galka and Mithra in FFXI?

Tanaka: Yes, at the moment, for Miqo'Te there's only a female version, and Roegadyn only has a male version - that's their current status.

PlayStation Blog: I remember reading around after E3 that you mentioned there might be a way to transfer your name over from FFXI. Is that still planned - are you still working on that? Is there a plan on how you're going to do it?

Tanaka: It hasn't been confirmed yet, but we would like to give incentives to the players. First of all, FFXI has 32 worlds, and they may have the same name across different worlds, as I'm sure you know. Each name in each world has to be a unique; there can't be conflicts with other players. However, when we have FFXIV, we still don't know how many worlds there's going to be yet, but players might have the same name if they all move to the same world, so there may be conflicts. So, to avoid that, what we're trying to do is add a surname to their name, so players can keep their main name, but they can add something else to their surname - that way players with overlapping names can keep their names from FFXI, but they can add something on to it to make it unique.

ZAM: How large will the overall world of FFXIV be in comparison to FFXI at the games launch?

Tanaka: Compared to FFXI's Vana'diel launch point, FFXIV may be slightly smaller. However, because the graphic is more detailed and there is more content, we don't think you will feel that the world is small or anything like that. Also, one thing to mention is that FFXI was zone based, but FFXIV is going to be seamless, so from the city to the battlefield, you won't notice any sort of zone change.

PlayStation Blog: You mentioned that the combat system will have less of a team play aspect. I know it's been a few months since the game was announced - can you elaborate on that, and how it's different, and how much progress you've made in the past few months since it was announced?

Tanaka:
For FFXI, the system was job based, so that's why they had a party to make the most out of each job. This time it's not going to be a job based system, it's going to be an Armoury system, so it depends on which weapon you use and you can switch your class. That allows the player to use a different ability or skills. You can also join a party, that doesn't mean you have to play solo, but it will allow you to play solo as well, because you can fight against monsters and you can change to a healer to heal yourself. So there will be more variety and it depends on what you plan on doing for that day.

ZAM: Do you feel confident that FFXIV on the PS3 won't suffer from the same limitations that FFXI eventually experienced on the PS2?

Tanaka: With FFXI, there were many PS2 limitations, but this time, we can work with hi-def and the network for PS3s and PCs are almost the same, so there shouldn't be any problem. The one difference between PCs and PS3s could be around the memory management system, so that's something we're really taking care of. Even when we say PC, there are different specs, so the system itself is going to be scalable. One of the settings we have should be the "best" for PS3, so there shouldn't be as many limits as we experienced with FFXI.

PlayStation Blog: You talked about the levelling system not being experienced based, I was just wondering if you were able to tell us exactly what kind of system you're working on, and has it been completely defined?

Tanaka:
This time it really depends on the Armoury system. It's going to depend on how much you use your own equipment and weapons. The more you use it, the more the skill will go up of your class, so that's the way you will get to higher levels for the class - the skills. You'll also get abilities. It's not going to be like if you fight more monsters, you'll get more level ups, like similar to the experience system. Of course, if you fight against monsters, you will get some skill points, but it will help more if you attend to Guildleves. So that will be a more efficient way to hone your skills and 'level up' your character.

ZAM: One of the first things that we noticed about FFXIV was how similar it looked to FFXI in graphics, game play style - really in every sense of the word. Why is that, and is that a concern that you might be dragging over FFXI players by primarily targeting that already established consumer audience?

Tanaka: (Laughs) I think it's simply because the same people are making the game.

ZAM: Well, we can agree companies make games that are different from one another. I was just curious as to why FFXIV is so very, very similar. Most companies, when they make additional MMOs, they try to change their focus so that they don't take their existing consumer base away from a game that's already established. I guess the question is, aside from the obvious "the same talent behind the game," aspect, why was the decision made to make FFXIV so similar to FFXI?

Tanaka: FFXI has been out for about eight years now; the graphical engine we used is very old. In that sense, we wanted to have something that the FFXI players can smoothly move on to. So yes, in that sense, it could be very similar to Final Fantasy XI, so it's easier to switch for them. Also, for the race, that's something that we did on purpose to make it very similar to FFXI so that it's easier for people to go from FFXI to come to FFXIV, so that's why I feel it's very similar. As you mentioned earlier, maybe other companies make totally different MMOs to not get users from their original MMOs, but in this, I think we have a different policy or something in that sense. We are providing FFXIV for the FFXI community - as another game they can enjoy, so that's the primary target. Also, we want Final Fantasy players to enjoy the game who haven't played MMOs before, and we also want MMO players who haven't played the Final Fantasy series. We are trying to reach several different targets, but the first one will be FFXI players.

*The follow-up question and answer wasn't captured correctly due to a voice recorder malfunction. We're attempting to recover the audio for a future amendment.*

ZAM: [...]

Tanaka: [...]

ZAM: What were some of the biggest lessons you learned in FFXI, and how did those lessons help you make decisions when developing FFXIV?

Tanaka:
The main thing we learned from FFXI was that once we launched the game, we communicated with our players to receive feedback and improve the game and improve the game experience. So we really believe that communication with our players is the most important thing, and that is something we would like to continue for FFXIV as well. Also, we think FFXI was very different from other online games because we have a cross-platform system and a cross-region system, which is different from other MMOs. This is something we believe is a good decision and we believed it helped us create a successful game. This is something we'd really like to continue for FFXIV as well.

ZAM: The guild linkshell system in FFXIV was very unique, and some players loved it and some players didn't like it - obviously because it was so unfamiliar. What kind of plans do you have for FFXIV in terms of guilds?

Tanaka: We are currently working on it, so we can't really go into details, but what we're trying to do is, while linkshells were more like communication tools, this time we are trying to let the players aim for something by joining these kinds of organizations. In this way, players will have a purpose to achieve by working together in the same organizations, so please look forward to further announcements. Also, we will provide a website and people will be able to communicate with each other via these websites as well. We do have a linkshell community site already, but this new version is going to be totally different, and will have more interesting tools.

ZAM: Will it be more like a traditional Facebook or other social networking applications that have become popular over the years?

Tanaka: Because there's already Facebook in a lot of popular social net services already, what we're trying to provide is more like the actual information that people can use to use those social networks, because we don't want to force players to use our social network. We're sure they have their own favorite. What we're trying to do is give them the information by which they share through their social network services.

ZAM: With the two mini content updates for FFXI already out and the third one set to come out at some point in the future, are there any plans for at least one more large scale expansion for the game before FFXIV comes out?

Tanaka:
We're still working on the third of the new scenarios, so we're not sure what we have after that. We might start working on something new for FFXI; we might not, so we can't really comment on that.

Follow ZAM on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook!

Andrew "Tamat" Beegle
Editor-in-Chief
ZAM.com

Comments

Post Comment
tsss
# Sep 06 2009 at 8:39 PM Rating: Decent
*
56 posts
1st of all - Aion is crap! If you had a chance to play the beta you would know its plain boring - just graphics isnt...but thats it.
WoW is also boring because its too easy and RMT rule the World!

FFXI is complex, as some ppl already mentioned: the kids leave fast :) FFXI has actually story, feeling and some more things which other mmo's dont have.
Only thing FFXI is lacking since the beginning is support from SE ^^ In fact SE always does what SE wants to do - its a Developer game, made to make developers happy and not the player...SE showed it more than once, they are not able to deliver stuff for the players. This will never change and i guess we have to deal with that again. (Do we really want?) Tanaka telling bull*hit like communication with the comunity..lol - when? O_o

and still - most of us love FFXI - me too. But i am one of those who wont play ffxiv if its going to be the same...
Monthy charges for FFXIV
# Sep 06 2009 at 7:03 AM Rating: Decent
*
68 posts
Has anyone heard how much FFXIV will cost each month?? I heard it will be around $30 per month. That seemed a little harsh.

Whoa!
# Sep 03 2009 at 2:40 AM Rating: Good
16 posts
I'm just wondering at what point did everyone become so negative and harsh towards the people that created the games that we loved more than every other our entire child-hood...? I trust that FFIV will be a great game, just like XI and all of its predecessors.

Edited, Sep 3rd 2009 6:43am by ErodedLove
Smooth Transition My Ass!
# Aug 30 2009 at 7:50 AM Rating: Decent
***
1,563 posts
If Tanaka thinks that the hardcore ffxi players are gonna feel like they have a smooth transition from ffxi to ffiv simply due to the graphics engine and ****, then im not convinced in the least. You really want your player base to feel like they have a seemless transition and WANT to move to XIV.... transition my novio, herald's gaiters, relics and other **** that i worked my *** off for years for to throw out the window so i can see a prettier graphics engine. I'll be one of those NOT making the transition.
Patience people...
# Aug 30 2009 at 12:12 AM Rating: Good
I think everyone needs to just slow down and have some patience before they judge a game they have not played.
Learning from FFXI's mistakes
# Aug 27 2009 at 9:24 AM Rating: Default
Quote:
The main thing we learned from FFXI...


Sod the marketing spiel, I want to know that you've learnt the following from FFXI:

[ul]
  • No Genkais of any kind whatsoever This is the biggie. It doesn't matter if there are no levels anymore, any sort of cap quest (be it on skills or wieldable armory items or whatever) is right out. I still have bad memories of being up till 3am farming an ancient papyrus - 5 years later.
  • Solo play There's many reasons why WoW has 22 players for every 1 that FFXI has. One of the reasons is that waiting around in a hub city for hours doing nothing is not fun. Being able to solo and play casually so that you can fit the game around your life (and not the other way round) is important.
  • Solo play for a changing demographic Ah the good old days, when Square Enix has a limitless supply of young players who could play all day and not mind having to invest big chunks of time. But these players are married/engaged/in relationships/have children/etc. now, so it's important to move with the times.
  • No arbritrary limits of total skill level It should be possible, given enough effort, so max out everything. This may take 1 solid year of playing, but it should be possible. No 'you've got 40 points to spend above level 60' shenannigans please.
  • Instanced Consensual PvP People want to test out their skills against 'mobs' that have actual AI (or NI, in this case). But few people find it satisfying to get killed while wanting to do something else. So allow a lot of PvP activity, but only if both sides consent.
  • Instances Full Stop Cos believe it or not having 20 endgame linkshells camping one monster is going to be disappointing for the 19 linkshells (and due to latency issues, non-japanese linkshells) that don't get the claim.
  • Limits on Economy Make decent equipment available for a modest sum, to combat rampant inflation, and make drops sell for a decent amount, to combat rampant deflation. Also stymies RMT.
  • [ul]

    And SquareEnix, you might be wondering at this point (should you be reading this) whether I play WoW. I do.

    This is something to think about. FFXIV interests me. But so does playing a MMORPG that doesn't make the Marquis De Sade goes 'ooh, that's a bit much'.

    If you can make a Final Fantasy MMORPG that is skill-based and not sadistic, I may well play that and not WoW (or at least, as well as WoW). So might all those other ex-FFXI players who now play WoW.

    Something to think about.
    Learning from FFXI's mistakes
    # Aug 29 2009 at 1:41 PM Rating: Good
    *
    62 posts
    DaveOfDiabolos wrote:
    FFXIV interests me. But so does playing a MMORPG that doesn't make the Marquis De Sade goes 'ooh, that's a bit much'.


    Hahaha! I love it. *wink*

    Learning from FFXI's mistakes
    # Aug 29 2009 at 9:18 AM Rating: Good
    i am just glad the karma system will be with us in ffxiv
    LOL
    # Aug 26 2009 at 11:43 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    202 posts
    Quote:
    Tanaka: The main thing we learned from FFXI was that once we launched the game, we communicated with our players to receive feedback and improve the game and improve the game experience.
      So we really believe that communication with our players is the most important thing
    , and that is something we would like to continue for FFXIV as well.


    Awesome!
    FFXI ---> FFXIV
    # Aug 25 2009 at 9:35 AM Rating: Good
    ***
    1,273 posts
    Is there Fishing Skill in FFXIV?
    Can I bring Chieftobique to FFXIV without penalty?
    That is all.
    ____________________________
    Chieftobique: Windy, Elvaan
    99BLM.RDM.WHM.BRD.SMN.BLU.PLD.DRK.
    99WAR.THF.MNK.NIN.RNG.DRG.SAM.BST.DNC
    13PUP.COR.SCH
    Zenith: 5/5(14/02/10)
    Fish:100{Fishing Items: ALL(09/18/10)}
    CoP:FIN,ZM:FIN,ToAU:FIN,WoTG:8,InTheNameofTheFather,ACP:0,MCD:FIN,ASA:0
    R.I.P. BP Thread 58 Pages
    R.I.P. Garuda 03/23/2010
    Banned:07/04/09;;, Unbanned:07/09/09^^
    Hacked:09/05/09;;, Unhacked:09/19/09^^

    "The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering"
    -Master Bruce Lee Jun Fan
    FFXI -> FFXIV
    # Aug 25 2009 at 9:33 AM Rating: Good
    ***
    1,273 posts
    Will there be a Fishing Skill?
    Can I bring Chieftobique to FFXIV without penalty?
    That is all.
    ____________________________
    Chieftobique: Windy, Elvaan
    99BLM.RDM.WHM.BRD.SMN.BLU.PLD.DRK.
    99WAR.THF.MNK.NIN.RNG.DRG.SAM.BST.DNC
    13PUP.COR.SCH
    Zenith: 5/5(14/02/10)
    Fish:100{Fishing Items: ALL(09/18/10)}
    CoP:FIN,ZM:FIN,ToAU:FIN,WoTG:8,InTheNameofTheFather,ACP:0,MCD:FIN,ASA:0
    R.I.P. BP Thread 58 Pages
    R.I.P. Garuda 03/23/2010
    Banned:07/04/09;;, Unbanned:07/09/09^^
    Hacked:09/05/09;;, Unhacked:09/19/09^^

    "The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering"
    -Master Bruce Lee Jun Fan
    During batte or what??
    # Aug 25 2009 at 1:51 AM Rating: Decent
    *
    61 posts
    Tanaka= "This time it's not going to be a job based system, it's going to be an Armoury system, so it depends on which weapon you use and you can switch your class. That allows the player to use a different ability or skills. You can also join a party, that doesn't mean you have to play solo, but it will allow you to play solo as well, because you can fight against monsters and you can change to a healer to heal yourself. So there will be more variety and it depends on what you plan on doing for that day."

    Until Tanaka says "Yes, you can change your job/class during battle", I will remain a bit skeptical...
    ...BUT I definately hope we can, that would be very, very awesome.

    What scares me is the glowing blue "tele-point"-like hub (in the vids) which I guess kind of acts as our home point...is that going to be our new "mog house"? Meaning we can only change classes there? I hope not...

    While the focus will mainly be on soloing, there's no doubt going to be certain activities/battles/missions that you can only do in a party setup, which will be very interesting to see how they develop those scenarios.
    FFXI days are numbered
    # Aug 24 2009 at 8:42 PM Rating: Good
    Thief's Knife
    *****
    15,054 posts
    If you read between the lines it become apparent they want everyone to switch from XI to XIV.
    ____________________________
    Final Fantasy XI 12-14-11 Update wrote:
    Adjust the resolution of menus.
    The main screen resolution for "FINAL FANTASY XI" is dependent on the "Overlay Graphics Resolution" setting.
    If the Overlay Graphics Resolution is set higher than the Menu Resolution, menus will be automatically resized.


    I thought of it first:

    http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10&mid=130073657654872218#20
    FFXI days are numbered
    # Aug 27 2009 at 7:35 AM Rating: Decent
    yeah they do want ppl to switch over. like ppl said they want ppl to play both but with all the **** SE has been doing to the players lately is making it hard to even trust SE with making a new mmo. ff14 is gonna be alot easier obviously! they wouldnt try to beat WoW with a game that little kids wont have a chance to have fun as seen in ff11 when you try to join an end game ls but you dont have any experience so they dont want you in it. 14 is gonna start off really slow then grow abit then ppl will get pissed off about something SE always does then ppl will go find an actual good mmo. well you guys have less than a year to play ************* for ppl on their way to get relics lmao!
    #REDACTED, Posted: Aug 24 2009 at 5:05 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) But there is a lot of unanswered questions i would have liked to have seen.
    all well and good
    # Aug 25 2009 at 6:26 PM Rating: Excellent
    *
    224 posts
    I'm ummm, going to guess this was your first MMO?
    all well and good
    # Aug 27 2009 at 7:58 AM Rating: Good
    *
    154 posts
    I think it's their first attempt at using punctuation too, man that's hard to read.
    Combat system
    # Aug 24 2009 at 2:33 PM Rating: Excellent
    I don't know how I feel about the similar battle system. I thought they were mainly trying to pull in new players. If their main target is FF XI players why don't they just keep releasing expansions for them. Why release a whole new game, dedicate 4 years to it only to attract a fan base you already have?
    Combat system
    # Aug 24 2009 at 7:11 PM Rating: Excellent
    ***
    1,145 posts
    jakarai wrote:
    I don't know how I feel about the similar battle system. I thought they were mainly trying to pull in new players. If their main target is FF XI players why don't they just keep releasing expansions for them. Why release a whole new game, dedicate 4 years to it only to attract a fan base you already have?
    It's the road you take when you're trying to ensure success and or to out the old so you don't have to fool with it anymore. I'm sure they mean it when they say they hope FFXI players will play both games. After all it's double the pay day. But I doubt they will cry over FFXI going the way of the dinosaur in favor of FFXIV if it came to that.
    Gil
    # Aug 24 2009 at 2:28 PM Rating: Good
    ***
    1,566 posts
    Someone needs to ask them in one of these interviews what they intend to do about a money system in the new game. If the RMT are able to ruin the game experience in XIV like they are in XI then I'm not even going to buy it.
    Gil
    # Aug 24 2009 at 3:06 PM Rating: Decent
    **
    633 posts
    I agree with this.

    You can still allow players to stimulate an open ended economy while just eliminated the ability to TRADE currency to other players.

    I think they will revamp the Bazaar system with something more unique, such as player shops. However, if the strategy is just to reinstate the same failed mechanisms that allowed RMT to completely dominate not only the market but also even game =play, updates, account security, payment options and a slew of other things then I am looking elsewhere.

    Edited, Aug 24th 2009 6:09pm by patient
    Gil
    # Aug 24 2009 at 4:01 PM Rating: Excellent
    Mistress of Gardening
    Avatar
    *****
    14,661 posts
    Oh man, I'd love player shops!
    ____________________________
    Yum-Yum Bento Box | Pikko Pots | Adventures in Bentomaking

    Twitter


    [ffxivsig]277809[/ffxivsig]
    wow
    # Aug 24 2009 at 1:28 PM Rating: Good
    So now you can melee and then turn your self into a mage to heal your self by switching weapons freaking awwwwwesome.
    wow
    # Aug 24 2009 at 1:51 PM Rating: Good
    It does.... however the scenario will be:

    Player 1: I want to use Samurai sword, because I need skills, I is leet
    Player 2: I want to use Samurai sword, because I need skills, I is awesome
    Player 3: I want to use Samurai sword, because I need skills, Im 13 today
    Player 4: I want to use Samurai sword, because I need skills, I need endgame
    Player 5: I want to use Samurai sword, because I need skills, I need farming
    Player 6: IM NOT BEING FOOKIN HEALER....bai!

    5 minutes later...

    Leader (In hub city for 6 hours): Looking for healer and tank for levelling -.-

    Many Weapons
    # Aug 28 2009 at 6:31 AM Rating: Decent
    I'm sure there will be so many weapons to choice from now everyone will want to play with a Sam Katana.
    I'm sure there will there will be plenty of main healer\support players because I think they will be treated like royalty.
    Seeing all melee Zerg crazy FFXI turned into I think S/E noticed this.
    Support and tank jobs recent got up additions in the last couple of updates to show that.
    wow
    # Aug 24 2009 at 2:36 PM Rating: Good
    I don't think that will be an issue abbotone if everyone can heal themselves. If you come to party without that ability many people may just kick you. I am not being anyones B**** given how easy it is for everyone to heal themselves.
    wow
    # Aug 25 2009 at 1:40 AM Rating: Decent
    Despite what he is saying expect is where "you can not change weapons during battle", and/or mobs will be so hard that there will need to be a designated healer...thats my 2 cents.

    But I dont work for SE - so I must be wrong....

    Lets wait and see....(I know them well enough - they will ***** this up)

    Hmm...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 10:21 AM Rating: Excellent
    They did mention a long while back that they were planning on adding other areas such as the Mithran homelands and the far North. Somehow it doesn't seem like those ideas will come to fruition. I just hope they can tie up some of Vana'diel's loose ends with the culmination of the Wings of the Goddess storyline.
    /coughbs/cough
    # Aug 24 2009 at 10:57 AM Rating: Excellent
    [quote=Tanaka: The main thing we learned from FFXI was that once we launched the game, we communicated with our players to receive feedback and improve the game and improve the game experience. So we really believe that communication with our players is the most important thing, and that is something we would like to continue for FFXIV as well.
    [/quote]

    /cough ********* /cough.

    Excuse me, I think I'm coming down with a cold.
    like
    # Aug 24 2009 at 10:15 AM Rating: Excellent
    ***
    1,083 posts
    So far so good! I'm liking what I'm reading. I fall into the growing class of FFXI players that did the hardcore endgame crap and now years later I have a family and need something a little more time-sensitive. Something that's not WoW. FFXIV seems like it will fit perfectly into my lifestyle and offer exactly the type of engaging play that FFXI did. I would even guess that there will plenty of hair-pulling difficulty hidden in there, it just won't be so up front about it like FFXI was.
    like
    # Aug 25 2009 at 7:38 AM Rating: Decent
    **
    339 posts
    rikkuotaku wrote:
    So far so good! I'm liking what I'm reading. I fall into the growing class of FFXI players that did the hardcore endgame crap and now years later I have a family and need something a little more time-sensitive.


    Every gamer is young and hardcore once. Then these gamers grew up, graduated from college, found a job, got married and started a family. Then they found that they do not have as much time to spend on gaming and their favorite game passes them by. We are no exceptions.

    Think about it. This may also be one of the reasons why WoW is so successful. It caters to both the hard-core and casual crowd (that may not have as much time to spend in-game than they wish they could). If SE implements easy and hassle free soloing (much like the way it is in WoW), it would have won itself lots of new fans as well as retained the loyalty of its aging subscribers (i.e. us).

    rikkuotaku wrote:
    Something that's not WoW.


    But seriously, what is wrong with WoW? :o

    WoW is at least a quality time filler till Aion (or till FFXIV if Aion turns out to be a big disappointment).
    Yeah..
    # Aug 24 2009 at 9:31 AM Rating: Excellent
    Avatar
    **
    795 posts
    Quote:
    The main thing we learned from FFXI was that once we launched the game, we communicated with our players to receive feedback and improve the game and improve the game experience. So we really believe that communication with our players is the most important thing, and that is something we would like to continue for FFXIV as well


    right...
    ____________________________
    85 DNC BLU SAM
    80 DRG RDM
    75 Pld Nin Drk Thf

    RETIRED

    Be patient
    # Aug 24 2009 at 9:30 AM Rating: Good
    38 posts
    I think we really need to wait for the actual game to come out to judge what FFXIV will be. I know a lot of people want something completely different, but why? It's a Final Fantasy game. All of the Final Fantasy games have been similar in one way or another. I think you can agree that each is unique in it's own way. But it is obvious it will be different and I'm really excited to see what they do. I know it will be great!

    The new graphics, content, features, and system look great from what I've seen so far. With the focus of changing what they couldn't in FFXI to make a more enjoyable game I think we'll all be pleasantly surprised once we get into FFXIV.

    As for FFXI, I've been playing it since March of 2004. I play often and still I have plenty to do to keep busy. I don't think that SE will completely stop making content for FFXI, but I think they want to see how many will stick to FFXI after the release of FFXIV. As Tanaka said, they can't comment on what they will and won't do. Time will tell. I think what they're doing is the right thing. A little patience goes a long way.
    But you said...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 8:52 AM Rating: Excellent
    **
    628 posts
    Quote:
    Tanaka: We're still working on the third of the new scenarios, so we're not sure what we have after that. We might start working on something new for FFXI; we might not, so we can't really comment on that.


    So much for that "Years worth of content already planned out".
    But you said...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 2:39 PM Rating: Good
    Quote:
    So much for that "Years worth of content already planned out".


    Didn't that announcement say "a year worth of content" not "many years of content"?
    But you said...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 1:06 PM Rating: Decent
    Im not happy you didnt mention that critics had panned the first 2 add-ons what is his opinion on it? and because it was such a failure to the masses does he have plans to continue with this mindset?

    It is pleasing to see that acknowledgments are being made now that FFXI and FFXIV are similar in many ways. Eventually they will acknowledge that FFXIV is merely a technological upgrade to FFXI and they plan on "decreasing their focus on FFXI to maintenance only"

    You sir are a liar!




    But you said...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 12:33 PM Rating: Excellent
    *
    114 posts
    Should also probably keep in mind that having something planned out doesn't necessarily mean it's done or even being worked on.
    But you said...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 12:31 PM Rating: Excellent
    *
    114 posts
    Arg, double post. Internet's being all goofy.

    Edited, Aug 24th 2009 4:35pm by Rikugo
    But you said...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 9:30 AM Rating: Good
    **
    634 posts
    IAmAnsel of the Seven Seas wrote:
    Quote:
    Tanaka: We're still working on the third of the new scenarios, so we're not sure what we have after that. We might start working on something new for FFXI; we might not, so we can't really comment on that.


    So much for that "Years worth of content already planned out".


    Considering how much time has passed since they said that, it wasn't a lie. WotG still hasn't finished yet and there is another mini-expansion due. By the time everything is finished, that year they mentioned may be up.

    peace,
    CR
    But you said...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 3:02 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    180 posts
    Can't say I'm excited about the focus on solo play. This is going to be another game that I dink around with by myself for a few months and then quit.. just like every other MMO that has come out since WoW.
    But you said...
    # Aug 24 2009 at 6:28 PM Rating: Good
    27 posts
    Quote:
    Can't say I'm excited about the focus on solo play. This is going to be another game that I dink around with by myself for a few months and then quit.. just like every other MMO that has come out since WoW.



    Have you read all the info and interviews? Seems to me like there are advantages to solo and party play in the skilling up process, which I think is great. If gives you options, personally I love the party aspect of XI when you find a good group, on the other hand it was hellish if you found a bad one and if you didn't find one at all then well.. there lies the floor in purely party based improvement. I haven't read anything that makes me think soloing > party if anything it seems small group "Leves" Will be the best source of growth. My interpretation is that the gap between party and solo play will be closed down somewhat but not so much as to knock groups off the top spot.

    It's a shame so many people are being pessimistic really, but oh well only time will tell... Personally I'm really excited about the little info we have.
    Post Comment

    Free account required to post

    You must log in or create an account to post messages.