An interesting read:
https://gamerescape.com/2019/05/23/the-future-of-ffxi-famitsu-interview-with-akihiko-matsui-and-yoji-fujito/
Interview W/ FFXI Producer Matsui And Director Fujito |
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Interview w/ FFXI Producer Matsui and Director Fujito
Reading some of this stuff is wild, honestly. So Odin's JP population mostly does Ambu with only 1-2 people and trusts? They're fully aware of Asura's PUG culture and congestion issues. They haven't yet started working on Empyrean but they are looking into doing that soon. And population is steady or slightly going up.
Also was really neat to hear about the development structure. I already knew this but hadn't seen it outright said in a XI interview before how they can take some engineers from XIV if needed. Of course, that's not going to take precedent over a major XIV thing like the expansion coming out soon, but good to see that option is entirely open to them. Matsui said don't count on it, but also didn't rule out a potential new expansion. I'm guessing if we make it to 20 and haven't had a drop off in population, they may start planning it. Thankfully, FFXI is in the numbered FF series so they kind of can't just pull the plug.
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Decent interview, but if the devs actually view the job adjustment updates as "content", why do some jobs receive so little attention to fix their most glaring issues?
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I feel conflicted from that interview. They haven't even put pen to paper on the empy updates and straight out said the content wont be as big as omen or dynamis D.
Best quote:
"Matsui: I don’t think it’s appropriate to say “if you can form parties, form them”, so it’s not a problem of solo or party-play. We are currently investigating the problem, and it would be ideal if we could decrease the wait times. Also, in Ambuscade, when you get a certain amount of points, you can say that you’re done with that month, right? We would like to tweak that aspect as well, and have people get more points so that they are finished much faster. However, if we make points to easy to get, people who do Ambuscade as main content might run out of things to do, so we need to polish other content which would come in a set alongside the Ambuscade adjustments." Increased points + "polishing" other content, sign me up I love the answer are so direct and "real"'
nothing is polished through the PR machine with vague and self glorifying nonsense. This was a good read. Thanks for sharing.
Rips said: » They haven't even put pen to paper on the empy updates and straight out said the content wont be as big as omen or dynamis D. What I'm saying is that Empy+2/3 smells like CL 130 VW. (already existing areas, just new NPC and dialogue, no new zones like Omen and Divergence has.) FaeQueenCory said: » Rips said: » They haven't even put pen to paper on the empy updates and straight out said the content wont be as big as omen or dynamis D. What I'm saying is that Empy+2/3 smells like CL 130 VW. (already existing areas, just new NPC and dialogue, no new zones like Omen and Divergence has.) Would like to see a Divergence zone for Tavnazia, a CL 130+ einherjar, nyzul isle, limbus and an infinite HP fortification/dummy somewhere for damage testing volkom said: » infinite HP fortification/dummy somewhere for damage testing volkom said: » Would like to see a Divergence zone for Tavnazia, a CL 130+ einherjar, nyzul isle, limbus Unless they're instanced using the same instances as the old zones, ala Ambuscade using Legion, I wouldn't hold my breath. volkom said: » an infinite HP fortification/dummy somewhere for damage testing Lakshmi.Buukki
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This interview was very informative. So much being said here, from player trends, to game longevity, and even towards why the motivation level to support the game is so low by the developers (due to them not seeing a long-term commitment to their careers). The 20 year anniversary was as much as a motivation for the players to as it was for the dev team, it seems. Interesting. They also talked about "servicing the game" - aspects of maintenance that are just as important as slapping in content. This was a well-rounded discussion, and I enjoyed it.
I loved this comment Quote: A job’s performance doesn’t only come from its DPS. Quote: Fujito: There is a tendency to talk about jobs from the aspect of damage such as “this weapon skill is strong” or “this job can wipe out a room the fastest”. We want to make adjustments so that jobs can complete their roles and if new job abilities or traits get introduced that they blend in with the current use of the jobs well. You can think of the changes in that way. I had no idea Matsui was also the director of Chrono Trigger until this interview.
Asura.Suteru said: » I had no idea Matsui was also the director of Chrono Trigger until this interview. Asura.Kalimairo said: » SO WE CAN AFK sparks hell ya volkom said: » FaeQueenCory said: » Rips said: » They haven't even put pen to paper on the empy updates and straight out said the content wont be as big as omen or dynamis D. What I'm saying is that Empy+2/3 smells like CL 130 VW. (already existing areas, just new NPC and dialogue, no new zones like Omen and Divergence has.) Would like to see a Divergence zone for Tavnazia, a CL 130+ einherjar, nyzul isle, limbus and an infinite HP fortification/dummy somewhere for damage testing i honestly thing dynamis divergence is kinda boring same cities, i always thought if they make an ew dyna it would be aht urghan and the adoulin's would be nice.and VW SOA/Abyssea Lakshmi.Buukki
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Quote: Also, in Ambuscade, when you get a certain amount of points, you can say that you’re done with that month, right? We would like to tweak that aspect as well, and have people get more points so that they are finished much faster. However, if we make points to easy to get, people who do Ambuscade as main content might run out of things to do, so we need to polish other content which would come in a set alongside the Ambuscade adjustments. Monthly Omens? Leviathan.Celebrindal
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Guess I'm in a rare group that reads this interview negatively. What I'm seeing is a lot of talk around the core issue: long term plans just aren't possible for FFXI any more. They can talk about expansion hopes, mini-expansion possibilities, new content, etc. but at the end of the day it seems to me that they're just admitting they're on 1 year leases and nothing more.
Lakshmi.Buukki
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They actually said the exact opposite: motivation for the dev team died out when they were only able to make one-year commitments on plans for the game, as that didn't specifically scream Job Security to the dev team. They wanted to shift that motivation to something longer term, which is why they went with the 20th Anniversary check point as their next big goal. If they change the current 1-year mentality with their check-ins, the dev team will feel more confident in the game's longevity. At least that's how I read this excerpt.
Quote: Famitsu: After you announced that the game will continue at least until the 20th anniversary, some players were relieved that they still have 3 years while some showed worry. When you get near the milestone that is the 20th anniversary, will you be considering new plans for the 21st year and onward depending on the situation? Matsui: After we announced the final scenario “Rhapsodies ofVana’diel” in 2015 the number of development staff was reduced and we set our goals to “let’s go for one more year”. Alongside that, if we set one more goal of having a 20th anniversary, it connects to the staff’s motivation. We talked about what to do after the 20th anniversary, too, and even though there are aspects we can’t think about until we get there, I think that as long as there are players that continue playing the game, we will be able to continue as a business. There is a necessity to think about the system of developing the game afterwards, but firstly we have to concentrate on getting to the 20th anniversary with the current staff. To tell you the truth, most of the current staff don’t want to be put into different projects, but we have to have a structure where the staff are able to talk to us if they want to change it. Fujito: Only Matsui and myself are left from the original dev team. The other members all came in part way through and most of them are 10-year veterans. Topics such as “what are we going to do with those people’s careers” or “Are we going to bury our bones along with FFXI?” are sure to arise because all of them have their lives and families. Therefore, we have to show some flexibility, the problem where people start feeling insecure because they have to renew their contracts every year will arise. One of the current goals of the dev team at the moment is to remove that unpredictably. Famitsu: It is important to take care of the developers’ careers with such a long running title. Matsui: All of the staff love FFXI and play the game to the fullest, so if we don’t say anything about the topic, I think the situation would become such that they are only sacrificing their own strength to keep the game running. If we want the game to continue running, we have to make preparations so that developers can take over, make a generation exchange, etc. If we continue thinking about the development in one-year intervals, that would be impossible to achieve. it's always *** backwards for them. If they don't give emp+3 and/or not a single damn new thing for an entire 2 years, how many people will be stupid enough to stick around for that?
You can't promise something neat 2 years from now, no one will be there to care about it if it takes 2 years to get there. There is objectively zero reason for someone to keep playing for more than a couple months at most. and the whole "more new players" thing is total ***. They're getting fake numbers from people making more and more mules for free ***ala silver vouchers. Leviathan.Celebrindal
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@Buukki I read that as well, but read it completely differently. Its a lot of talk-around but never do they say "now we're on a 3 year plan" or something like that. They may talk about plans going longer than 1 year at a time, but the funding seems to be still set that way. A lot of fancy talk might look good, but without a hard go-ahead from SE giving them the finacnes for a 3,4 or 5 year window to work with that talk doesn't amount to much.
Asura.Chaostaru
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so its the JP that are clogging up the queue...
Lakshmi.Buukki
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Leviathan.Celebrindal said: » @Buukki I read that as well, but read it completely differently. Its a lot of talk-around but never do they say "now we're on a 3 year plan" or something like that. They may talk about plans going longer than 1 year at a time, but the funding seems to be still set that way. A lot of fancy talk might look good, but without a hard go-ahead from SE giving them the finacnes for a 3,4 or 5 year window to work with that talk doesn't amount to much. Good catch, you're right they don't specifically state whether they are committing to anything beyond 1-year intervals. They did a lot of 'splaining, i fell for it. Offline
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They haven't added new content in ages...yet I see people on Asura trying to get 10 mythic weapons for their mule.
The new content argument is a joke. Leviathan.Celebrindal said: » @Buukki I read that as well, but read it completely differently. Its a lot of talk-around but never do they say "now we're on a 3 year plan" or something like that. They may talk about plans going longer than 1 year at a time, but the funding seems to be still set that way. A lot of fancy talk might look good, but without a hard go-ahead from SE giving them the finacnes for a 3,4 or 5 year window to work with that talk doesn't amount to much. They said that in the interview a couple months ago. They have been on one year leases the past few years, but now they're approved through the 20th anniversary. And then they went on to say they were still finishing up their plans during a one-year-lease-year so they haven't even been able to start the long term stuff they now have the freedom to do. |
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