Check out the hottest topics from the past week of the FFXIV general forum.

Although we didn't hear anything directly from Square Enix regarding the state of Final Fantasy XIV, an interview in Famitsu magazine dominated the discussion in our FFXIV General Forum. We'd waited for days (weeks, actually) for a State of Eorzea address before someone posted news of Director Naoki Yoshida's interview. His interview sheds some light on what's happening behind the scenes of the game, which obviously begs several questions about where this game is headed. There were several other discussion topics throughout the week, including a thread about a potentially entertaining in-game battle event. Not the most colorful week of forum discussions, but the information found between the lines in Yoshida's interview is worth a read.

Here are this week's links:

Title: Interview with Naoki this week.

There are so many gems to be found in Naoki's interview that I don't know where to start. My favorite line was the guarantee against any complete character wipe, along with the promise to let people reallocate stats if important game mechanics are changed. Then there was the line about implementing the auction house, and the part about further changes to the game's user interface. The most important part of the interview was when Yoshida discussed the previous development team's desire to make FFXIV as different as possible from FFXI, which ultimately harmed the game's design. While hearing from Yoshida is a great thing, receiving a direct statement to North American fan sites would be even better; but we'll take what we can get for now.

Title: Realistic timeline for significant improvements?

Now that we know Yoshida's crew is planning big changes for the game, the next question is, "Can he pull it off?" The original poster of this thread isn't so certain. Think of how long the development team of Final Fantasy XI needed between updates, and now consider how many changes have yet to be made for Final Fantasy XIV. My reaction to this thread is simple: Yes, changes may take a long time, but we have plenty of time to wait, don't we? Hey, at least we're waiting for free.

Title: Ideas on Hamlet Defense Battles

Remember campaign in Final Fantasy XI? Now think of the same thing, but in Final Fantasy XIV! Sounds like a lot of fun, and it would give us ways to interact with the small towns throughout Eorzea. Of course, installing this kind of content will take time, and you have to wonder whether this is the development team's top priority. Based on Yoshida's interview, I'd guess it's not -- and that's a shame.