They did an interview with Famitsu a couple of days ago. Key messages below. Translations for meaning and not for precise nerd-rage dissection of the linguistic properties of every. single. word the devs write.
https://www.famitsu.com/news/202105/14220565.html
How have Operations/Dev work changed since a year ago given COVID-19 etc?
Matsui: Dev work is done work-from-home, but implementation and final balance checks need to be done at the office. For example, for Ambuscade V2 this month (new content), the work was done at home but people came to the office to implement it and do some balance checks. So, people come into office about 2-3 days per-month. [small talk about how they want to see teammates at the office, but it's nice to use their own monitor at home, but some people prefer the office chair at work, blah blah]
Fujito: Most of my work is done with Excel so haven't had many problems. Most challenging was the Voracious Resurgence custscene creation and battle adjustments. We've connected with some others that have helped us stabilize the environment finally now though so we are in a better condition now. [Talk about challenges posed by no organic office conversations happening. Instead, there's scheduled meetings only. May have impact on coming up with unique solutions, etc. THen again, the FFXI team is filled with veterans, so it's easier to make things happen.
Three nations paths for the Voravious Resurgence are at and. Any hints for what is next?
Fujito: there are lots of stories in Vana'diel that have not been touched upon much yet. So, while exploring those other stories, we will go deeper with the three characters (what exactly are they?!) eventually coming to a climax. We will be updating the Voracious Resurgence website to reveal some details along the way that will make you say "they're including that too?!", so please check the site out as we progress!
http://www.playonline.com/ff11/resurgence/
Fujito: we want to touch upon more moments that tie up loose threads or give conclusion to certain stories.
Matsui: Story is about revealing the various backstories in Vanadiel.
Fujito: Battles have been included so far to drive players to feel connected to the story.
There's nothing specific we can talk about now, but other large-scale content is being planned.
Main content right now is ODyssey, including the new Geol with all of its wonderful limitations. Can you talk more about your implementation plans?
Matsui: Odyssey is end-game. In our first discussions we thought we were going a bit too far... in terms of player limitations. But, players can still use the same set-ups if they only do one fight. If the environment is not changed, then players will simply find the most efficient set-up and stick with that. Knowing that, we wanted to bring the players a 'one rank up' experience in terms of difficulty and application of your knowledge and techniques.
Fujito: we really wanted to find a way to split up the "iron plate" (very inflexible, set composition) party structures the players are using.
I don't think there are many, if any, parties that complete multiple fights in a row. What do you think about that?
Currently it's not necessary to complete multiple fights in a row. However, we are planning to introduce content that makes it mandatory to complete multiple fights in a row in the future.
Current stage is meant to be accepting to as many as possible in whatever way they wish to participate. End contents will be more focused on careful strategizing.
The content has forced us to reevaluate the abilities and characteristics of each job.
Yes, we try and design to allow multiple different strategies to work. There are some jobs that became stronger unexpectedly in certain situations. It's up to the players to discover and find them out.
even so, this called for a lot of trial and error, especially on the part of the front-liners for dmg types etc.
Matsui: We don't try and think of enemies that require certain jobs or abilities. Instead, we think of situations. Like, 'how would you avoid tonnes of damage?'. If the situation proves too difficult, we will adjust it after we see the players try different things.
Like Timberrrrrrrr from Mboze? Was the idea there to have a PLD use rampart and then a COR 2hr to reset it?
Matsui: we didn't think of the boss requiring both of those abilities. I won't give particulars, but we thought the players would have used a different strategy. Again, we don't design it so you need certain abilities to be able to clear it.
Fujito: to avoid any misunderstanding, 'clearing' content in a stable manner is different than struggling through and barely 'defeating' content.
Matsui: In the end, we're making the content while talking about where and which job to use in the three consecutive battles, while hoping that the combination will differ depending on the party.
Fujito: To go back to timber, the players probably found that using rampart consecutively was a way of doing the content in a 'stable manner'. Even if we told you how we intended it to becleared now, you might just say, 'that's too hard!'.
You already announced you're doing all job adjustments. Give us some deets about the RNG adjustment yo.
Matsui: We planned adjustments for all jobs, but for ranged dd, we felt RNG needed more adjustment to not be left behind after adjusting the others.
We added 'hover shot' [basic explanation of ability here]. our goal was to make RNG top ranged dps and have people say, 'RNG is strong!'. This is less an 'individual adjustment' and more of a preparation for future job adjustments and empy equip.
About Nomad Bonanza?
Fujito: gave back some inventory by making it a 1 marble contest. Rank 1 prizes were 20% higher than before this round.
The new unique rank 1 prizes are attractive.
Matsui: This cost us dev resources, so hopefully they are attractive. We think it's more likely to get rank 1 this time around too.
Fujito: We thought they can't be made too good as they're only receivable via 'chance'. But, still, we also introduced other content in the past that gives comparable items (Estuceon for Kupo Shield).
Matsui: We made equipment that doesn't make it so the job cannot be played without it, just gives a boost.
Questions about selling FFXI music on iTunes. If you want the deets, Google Translate.
How is storage adjustments/expansion progressing?
Matsui: We are making progress, of course! Currently it takes a long time for inventory and items to appear so we can't simply add more bags/storage. We are working with our engineers to address this.
Fujito: when we consider expanding storage, we also have to think about other factors like, expanding usable macros/equip sets, transmission times, or transferring items to and from diff. areas without having to go through your main inventory first, item recovery rule policies if you mistakenly toss something. Lots to think about.
Fujito: We're discussing with the engineers but we have to first decide how far we'll adjust things. Once we do, there' a danger things cost more ongoing maintenance. Also, as we stated again, we have already stated publically that we CANNOT expand storage further. However, people still insist on requesting and spreading the request further and further. We ask for your understanding on this point.
Changing tracks a bit here. Assist Channel. Ain't nobody using it! What do?
Fujito: I don't think you can say it's not being used, but it certainly isn't the helpful tool we envisioned. However, the tool's power is really in the hands of the community, not on our side. We can do things like expand the areas it can be used in, but we're not sure it will be used even if we do. We want to limit our participation in the channel as that would change the role of the channel. The assist channel can be a place to ask for help or ask simple questions. We received feedback that it's hard to hold a conversation with the limits on the channel, but remember you can always use /tell or join a party.
Ahead of the 20th Anni. What do you want the focus of FFXI to be?
Matsui: The Voracious Resurgence is our main focus but we also want to release job adjustments within the year [my assumption is this means FFXI years, as in 19th year vs. 20th Anni year].
Fujito: Voracious Resurgence, Job adjustments, a concrete plan for storage, putting out any fires that come up along the way (As they inevtibly do). All leading up to the big fireworks show that the 20th Anni will be!
Matsui: now is a good time to come back. Enjoy the new missions. Help out each other on the assist channel you scrubs!