Famitsu Gamescon Interview

New interview for you guys to read. Interesting stuff this time.

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/11248-famitsu-gamescom-interview/

Hmmm..so 1) Open beta will show the three cities instead of just the one, which'll be exciting. aand 2) MOAR CLASSES? I'm glad they announced that 'eventually' they'll add a pet class, and more mage classes. Which I'm not surprised about, other than RDM in FFXI, the only two mage type classes were WHM and BLM for a very long time, and this time it seems they're fairly mixed in a way.

Pretty interestin' stuff >:O

There's been an update to the interview:


F: Tell why you decided to implement Fatigue and Latency (note: I really don't know how to translate that, but it's something in-game to keep you from playing too long at a time on one class).

DK: We'd like you to think of it as a reward to those players who don't have much time to commit to the game. Those hardcore players out there might think it's a little unfair, but the main concept behind it is that you don't need to put in massive amounts of time to enjoy the game.


F: Still though, there are a lot of disgruntled looks coming from those hardcore gamers.

DK: For those who have more time on their hands, they'll be able to try out all the various classes. Fatigue doesn't carry over when you change weapons, so we hope that they'll try out not just battle-oriented classes but maybe some crafting or gathering ones as well. So for those who end up with many high-level classes, they'll have more choices when it comes to any situation, whether solo or party play.


That Lovely Guildleve Delay

F: Will there be a change to the two-day cooldown on guildleves?

DK: There's been a lot of debate over this even among the development staff, so it may or may not. We decided on the current set-up to allow those who only have an hour a day to play to be able to progress only via guildleves, so balance does become an issue. We want to encourage people who've completed their leves to group up and help others, but currently there isn't enough benefit to forming leve parties.


F: Creating a gap in merit between solo and party play seems difficult to manage, though.

DK: Definitely. We want solo play to still be worthwhile, but we also want to add a bonus to those who decide to group up.


F: So soloing will be the basis of the game?

DK: Yes. More than a one-man army, it's more of a slow-and-steady kind of thing. In FFXI many things weren't possible solo, so we'd like to avoid that from developing this time around.


Armor

F: Right now you can't buy armor from vendors, it looks like.

DK: Another point of contention among the staff. We do plan to add some more armor for the beginning part of the game, but we really want to encourage the crafting community to establish itself.

PT: Crafters can't really take part in battle, so we want them to enjoy their role in the game fully.


F: So at a certain point, crafters will become necessary?

DK: Indeed. The depth of play for crafters will also expand. For now, I think providing repairs will be a big source of income for them, and they can even repair their own.


F: It sounds like that will play into their game experience, as well.

DK: It would be pretty easy to design a guildleve around it. A "go to this aetheryte and look for the guy who needs repairs done" kind of thing. Probably a guard at a specific aetheryte.


Auto-translate

F: Aside from set phrases, will you be adding any other ways to communicate with players overseas?

DK: It's something we'll be watching as things progress. Regarding vocabulary not added yet, we'll be listening to the requests of the players. So it's something that can be expanded if needed.


Required Specs

F: The current specs needs to run the game are pretty high. Will they be lower for the official release?

DK: The specs had already been decided. But since then, we've seen the need to lower them a little to cater toward more casual gamers. However currently, there is no difference between the minimum specs for open beta and official release.

PT: Early on, beta wouldn't run properly on certain set-ups, but we've had a chance to smooth most of the wrinkles out.


Servers

F: Will we be able to choose our server once the game is out?

PT: Absolutely.
DK: However, if certain worlds become over-populated, we may add restrictions. As long as everything's normal, you can choose as you wish.

PS3

F: You mentioned it earlier, but can you tell us more about the status of the PS3 version?

PT: We had hoped for a simultaneous release, but there have been problems with linking to the hard disk, etc, and that has caused delays. That being said, even while we're talking here in Germany the staff is hard at work on it back home.


F: So will you be having a PS3 beta test?

PT: Of course. It'll be after the game has been released on PC, so testers will be playing the final version. Once we have a date decided, we'll let you all know.


F: With the start of the PS3 version, more players will be arriving in Eorzea. Will you be adding servers to compensate?

PT: It's a definite possibility.

*Well that about wraps it up. The game comes out soon, so stay tuned!

From Gamewatch

Here's some stuff I picked out that looked interesting:

-About 90% of non-Japanese players had requests concerning mouse control. Most Japanese players use a controller, but Americans, specifically, seem to be more mouse-oriented. They're looking into what can be done.

-There are no plans to increase the level cap in Open Beta.

-Guilds appear to be scattered among the three main cities. Though they're designing it so there won't be any gaps in leveling up to rank 20, it seems that certain cities may be more suitable for certain classes.

-It's not impossible to walk from city to city (though they are rather far apart), but geographically you'll need a boat to go to and from Limsa Lominsa. Distance between cities is similar to FFXI, and if you level up a bit it's not that difficult a journey. So if you're playing with friends, you don't necessarily have to start in the same city.

-Open Beta will have almost all the fundamental parts of the game, but it will only include a small portion of storyline quests.

-There are plans for giving monthly subscription discounts if you purchase three or six months' worth at a time, however details are not yet available.


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I didn't really like this update. While the idea of being able to solo stuff, it seems they're almost completely leaving the idea of grouping together behind. Also, they're completely favoring casual gamers more than anything. If you read at the top they mention getting penalized for spending too much time on one class? That's complete crap if you ask me. I hope they change it...that'll seriously get annoying. What if I don't want to play anything else?...jeez. Way to force to be casual there, SE.

To me the experience limit could be good or bad, depending on what its set at. If you can't play a class for more than a couple hours without hitting a cap, that's a problem. If its after 12 hours in a 24 hour period then most people would probably be unaffected during most play sessions.

My concern is that it will kill any chance of specializing in a particular class. I mean if you hit the cap often and level everything, and this happens to many players, you'll find more people with an abundance of classes leveled, and it'll take away from being known for a certain class.

For instance, to ME Omi was a BLM. Kersi was a RDM. For a long time I was a DRG. Your class in many ways can define you in the game, and if you are forced to level many things from the get go, then what are we selecting to play?

If I choose Conjurer, and I'm forced to also level Thaumaturge and w/e and w/e, then which am I?

Maybe I'm looking to far into this, but I vote no on Exp Session capping.

Seems to me like they're also trying to force people to spent alot of time sat around crafting and repairing everyones gear.

As long as I can make gil without spending an obscene amount of gil to level a craft to a point where its profitable then I'll be happy. But I HATE farming colibri and ladybugs. I HATE wasting hours camping NMs for a CHANCE to get claim and for a smaller chance that it'll drop something, just to have to it go to someone else and waste the entire time. I'm a fan of working for what you get, but I'm not a fan of wasting my time.

Agreed. I did not enjoy hitting a 100k per .3 wall in crafting

Thing was, the wasn't an under abundance of crafters in FFXI. If I don't want to be a crafter, I shouldn't be forced to be one. That's how people who DO want to become crafters make their money because of the high demand for it. I want to primarily be a tank. So let me do so.

Fatigue? Since when did the gaming world start to revolve so heavily around "casual gamers?" When I hear casual gamer I think of an old couple with a Wii and WiiFit+. Sure they never play it but just owning it makes them casual gamers. Casual gamers is just a marketing gimmic to get more people to buy consoles and such. People say, "I bought a Wii, but I don't really play it but once a month, but its ok I am a casual gamer."

"Oh really?" I say, "You must be a huge sucker because you bought a $200 piece of technology that you never use because you were told that you are a casual gamer. Have fun playing Wii Sports. I am going to go play Battlefield Bad Company 2, loser."

I know. But there's also the casual players who play MMO's but can't always log on for more than a couple hours at a time. But it seems they're completely bending over backwards for them. I think the people that cried about the partying system messed it up for us all. Sure, it'll be nice to solo, but now the same crap is gonna happen that happens in WoW - You can go to cap by yourself, and you barely meet anyone other than who you already know. Some sense of community they are setting..

The only game i know of the wii has for non casual(I like sports but i dont like sunlight) gamers is MH3 seriously that game is the devil, srsly you get on it thinking ill just spend a few mins doing something....4 weeks later "yay i killed a rathalos"

yar thats what was good about ffxi the time you needed to spend and the numbers you needed to kill somethings forced you to go into the community.

I wouldn't worry too much about it till we see what the game develops into. SE is still the same company that designed pandemonium warden and dynamis. You'll see leveling may be open to solo but I'm sure there will be plenty to do in large groups.

yeah you're right i wouldnt put it past them to lure the casual gamers and everyone else into a false sense of security and then crush their spirits with a boss or endgame thats so incredible feindishly evil that it will turn any who ventures into it into a gibbering wreck repeating the words over and over again "the bunnies... the bunnies.... they we're so big..... everyone..all...gone....twinkle...twinkle...little star...how I...wonder....what... you...ARE hihihihhahahahyaHAHAHAHAHAH"

I wouldn't mind doing big bosses like that - it's what makes things exciting and challenging. I don't want some stupidly easy boss.

Sat at work reading a magazine and came across an interview with Hiromichi Tanaka which he said "We believe it could take up to one year to see the whole story."
not sure what he was meaning in particular but im assuming he means the narrative for all the main story missions so far, which makes me kinda happy, its alot better than RotZ which we could pop our in a day-ish and CoP which took some time but could've feasably done in a month.

Haha Omi. The bunnies were never really that big in FFXI but there would be some that would send me (75PLD) running for my life lol

I like the idea of the MAIN story taking a long time, but anything that I think unlocks something like a FFXIV version of Sea or something needs to not take too long - else Endgame just won't really be worth trying to get in the end lol