Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida just wrapped up his 23rd Letter from the Producer Live. This is the first showing to occur after the debut of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, making it a particularly interesting live stream where common questions and concerns were addressed directly by a senior member of the development team.
A total of over 90 questions were answered during the live stream. Below you will find 10 of the most popular questions and answers given.
1. Please tell us the progress regarding the EU Data Center.
Naoki Yoshida: "We've finished purchasing all the equipment, and we're currently in the process of setting everything up. We need to perform various checks moving forward, but we're planning to open it sometime this year and hoping to do this around the timing of Patch 3.1."
My Comments: For European FFXIV players there is no bigger question. It sounds like the laggy experience of today will be history once 3.1 arrives in a couple months.
2. How is the feature to see our party members' TP coming along?
Naoki Yoshida: "We're currently working on this so that memory is not completely consumed, and we're planning to just show the bar, not a value. We're aiming to implement this in Patch 3.1.
My Comments: This is something that the game has needed for a long time. Several classes have had mechanics made more difficult by the inability to see TP bars of party members, including the Ninja's "Goad" and Bard's "Army's Paeon". 3.1 won't be released for a few months, but at least this concern will be addressed once it arrives.
3. It feels like machinist can't deal steady damage. Could you tell us how you envisioned Machinist in battle?
Naoki Yoshida: "Essentially, you will continuously use Lead Shot and Hot Shot. You’ll want to use them when you get a proc. Machinist has many actions with buffs, so by gaining these buffs and using Wild Fire, you will be able to deal a large amount of damage. Additionally, as you get used to the future content, it will be important to decide which buffs to use while fighting."
My Comments: Yoshida has made it very clear during the past week that Machinist is where the development team wants it to be. Judging by how much friends of mine dislike playing the job, and the low DPS I've seen from virtually every Machinist I've grouped with, I personally view it as the job in the worst position in the game right now.
4. It’s often difficult to find the NPCs and quest points for the quests in Churning Mists. Are there plans to adjust this?
Naoki Yoshida: "I definitely think we kind of over did it with the Moogle-related quests, so we will be careful in the future not to have these kind of quests. It seems like there is a high amount of hatred towards the Moogles who keep getting lost."
My Comments: The Churning Mists is the worst zone I've ever experienced in an MMORPG. I am glad that Yoshida is at least aware of how poor the experience has been for players. I wouldn't mind watching him level through the zone on Twitch so I can see him lose his temper.
5. Are there any plans to make any type of adjustments for Astrologians?
Naoki Yoshida: "We’re thinking of making adjustments where Astrologians will be able to use Spread while not in combat, or shortening the recast time for Shuffle. We have received feedback on how Lightspeed is hard to use, and so we’re planning to make adjustments so you can clearly feel the strength of this. As for Collective Unconscious and Celestial Opposition, instead of adjusting the stats similar to other healer actions, we’ll make Astrologian-like adjustments where they switch between stances. We’ll make these adjustments without waiting for Alexander (Savage)."
My Comments: As someone with a level 60 Astrologian, I like this response. Although I'd like to see a small buff to the potency of spells, improving the Astrologian's toolkit is probably even more important for making it a more competitive job in the group environment. After all, it has the worst solo-ability in the game, so it needs to shine somewhere.
6. With the new combos for Dragoon there are more directional-based requirements and it’s become more difficult to play. Do you have any plans to ease the directional requirements?
Naoki Yoshida: "Since 3.0 just started, we would like to keep it as it is as there is still room for players to experiment and get used to it. However, there are situations in content where it’s difficult to execute actions from the proper direction, so we would like to make adjustments for this for Patch 3.05. We will be making job adjustments in Patch 3.05. We'll continue to make adjustments as needed after this, so please send in your feedback."
My Comments: The real issue lies in the random procs of Fang and Claw and Wheeling Thrust. I hope that these two abilities are adjusted to become static finishers for Chaos Thrust and Full Thrust before Alexander Savage is released, but I'm probably stretching.
7. When using the Goring Blade combo after using the Rage of Halone combo, the additional effect of Rage of Halone wears off, and I don’t know how to effectively use Royal Authority. Could you please offer some advice on the best time to use this?
Naoki Yoshida: "The idea behind this is not to be able to use all of the combos all at one time, and instead we would like players to separate their uses based on the situation. The same is true for warrior. There will be times when damage and DoTs will take priority over decreasing an enemy’s strength, so please use each combo depending on the situation."
My Comments: This is a disappointment. The Paladin rotation is already very linear, and it appears that both new offensive finishers, Goring Blade and Royal Authority, are meant to be used when off-tanking or soloing. I won't be touching my 51 Paladin any time soon.
8. You can often see some type of airship flying around the Sea of Clouds…what is it?
Naoki Yoshida: "I think you'll find out in 3.1. For those that haven't seen this, keep an eye out!"
My Comments: These UFOs are real.
9. Can you tell us the difference between Alexander and Alexander (Savage)?
Naoki Yoshida: "Both the difficulty and the item level of the items you can obtain will be different. The design of the rewards will be the same, but you’ll be able to dye the equipment from Alexander (Savage). Additionally, there will also be special rewards that will not affect the strength of your character."
My Comments: Where in the world is the Heavensward AF armor? It's a bit of a shame that we're stuck working for the somewhat average-looking gear that comes from Alexander until 3.1 arrives in a few months. At least the Savage variant will be dye-able.
10. Can you make it so the horns and face options for Au Ra are separate?
Naoki Yoshida: "Right now it’s not possible since separating these would stress system processes. In regards to color as well, it’s currently using the maximum memory specifications, so it would require core system adjustments. We will look into it once more."
My Comments: The PS3 version is holding everything back, sadly. The sooner players migrate to PS4/PC, the better.
There were many more questions answered which you can read via this Reddit write-up.
