FFXIV interview info

Just for people who can't find it

Interview info so far:

What is Guildleave?

In the land of Eorzea’s adventurous visitors can get jobs known as Guildleave. Finishing Guildleaves grants rewards for the adventurers. This is often called “questing” in other MMORPG games, and typically works the same. The major difference is that you can cooperate and help other players or get other players to help you with your mission. Whether it be solo or with a group, this MMORPG is sure to be enjoyable.

Tanaka: In the Leave’s title, you only need to take down the pu~ku. But there is a trick to take down both the dodo and the puku.

- The field is so large, though! How are you supposed to find the monster?

Tanaka: The Guildleave will show you the position of the enemy on the map. You can use it to locate the mob with ease.

- This is pretty over talked about now, but FFXIV has great graphics.

Tanaka: It’s still undergoing development. This is only a rough version of it so far. Right now in game things are quite simplified in the distance, but in reality even the farthest trees would be completely visible and detailed, unlike how they are right now.

(He starts to kill a dodo here)

Tanaka: The auto attack system was adapted from FFXI to FFXIV, but also now you need to select each skill that you want to attack with. This will give way for a more customized selection of techniques and attacks for a more personalized combination of attacks for players.

- What are the command icons in the bottom bar here?

Tanaka: They are called “Action Commands”. This interface is still temporary though and will likely change. In FFXIV you can take out your sword anywhere you would like just like in In FFXI; you could take out your sword even if there were no monsters and run around like that.

(He kills more dodo one by one)

- Please tell us a bit more about the Action Commands.

Tanaka: You see below that slide(?) abilities are set by default. You can set up abilities for commands and they will be registered on the gauge at the bottom. There are two gauges; one for the left hand and one for the right hand. For example, there is a shield in his left hand, so the left-handed gauge has shield commands registered to it.

- Is the command quickly carried out?

Tanaka: The commands registered on the "Action Gauge”, or gauge, are simple to engage and work at the tap of a button. In addition, the “Power Gauge” will affect the power and accuracy of the attack you choose. On the right of the screen is the “TP”. The TP gauge’s level will also affect the skill's. That’s why you have to make sure that your TP is full before battle.

- So the TP accumulates based on the attacks of the character and the attacks the character receives?

Tanaka: Exactly, just like FFXI.

(Tanaka uses a special sword skill called “Red Lotus”)

- That attack looks familiar! *laughs*

Tanaka: Lettuce *laughs*

The Red Lotus is a FFXI special skill. Players call it “lettuce” in Japan.


- Is magic also going to be down in the command bar?

Tanaka: Whatever weapon you equip will change the commands you have. For example, I have a sword equipped now, once I equip a staff the commands automatically changes to magic ones.

- How about acquired skills? Are they also going to be with the action commands?

Tanaka: No, you can’t learn techniques and skills without a weapon.

- Can this action command contain large numbers of commands?

Tanaka: Only 10 ability action commands can be set up right now. The abilities on the action command are fully customizable, however.

- So this is what you meant by a different kind of play style?

Tanaka: Yes!

- What is the reason behind this kind of battle system?

Tanaka: Firstly, compared to auto battle, this battle system has more room for customization and strategy. Commands are personally chosen by the player. In FFXI, because of the jobs, partying was a necessity. Depending on the circumstance in FFXIV, I can either go solo or join a small party.

- How about action commands like emotes?

Tanaka: Emotes (emotional command), right? The emotes on FFXI were brought about by text commands. In FFXIV, it’s also available in the graphical user interface. Beside the item bag there’s a mark for them.

- I saw in that presentation how awesome the emotes are. Can I also use them in battle?

Tanaka: No. *laughs*

- Going back to the interface topic, the resolution will be raised in the next release obviously, and would it be easier to see the information on the screen like status and chat? For example, the status of party members will be shown?

Tanaka: It will be displayed in the center right part of the screen. As a matter of fact, the layout is also freely customizable by the user using the mouse. You can also specify the size and number of lines in the chat window. You can play with your favorite layout.

- Player perspective?

Tanaka: It’s not really new, it will be based on the third person perspective, shoulder to shoulder camera. It is also changeable.

- At present how much of the game is complete?

Tanaka: The game is only around 40-50% complete at this stage, and the alpha here pretty much has everything removed that isnt essential to displaying the Guildleave system. The focus here at GamesCom was to show the Gildleave and how it works as well as delivers quests. The initial quests shown here are faily easy taking only around 15 minutes but this isn't how it will always be. There will be quests with different levels of difficulty and time requirements. On top of this, there will also be monster all over trying to get in the way of your missions!

- Was the main focus so far in development on combat then?

Tanaka: Currently the most advanced part of the game is certainly the graphics and there are many changes that will happen before the release date. I know that showing off an incomplete game can draw criticism from disappointed players, but I how that it can also get praise for how far along FFXIV has come. We plan to show off portions of the game as we continue to develop it.

- Will Japan have its chance to play a demo as well?

Tanaka: There may be a playable version that users sign up to try out in Japan sort of like a giant focus group. Players will be added gradually, and once the game is more polished and we have a solid base for the users then we will initiate the open Beta.

Tanaka: The fruits of our labor are finally coming to bear, and the development team is working hard to get the game ready. We're planning to let everyone get a try at a playable version like we have done here in Germany, so please look forward to it in the not so far future.

In the alpha I wasn't able to jump, will there be jumping in FFXIV? And swimming? Maybe even climbing?

Its going to be the same as in FFXI. So currently there will be no jumping. If its necessary we might add swimming and climbing in the future.


What measures will be taken to combat RMT and botting?

We're going work hard on it, same as in FFXI with the task force. Also for example, at the moment we're trying to add a filter in FFXI to combat it on the spot, instead of waiting for a patch in order to combat the issues. It will be more flexible.


How will the story be told? Powerful story is an essential part of the FF-series, and as far as the producers have said it will be important in XIV as well.

Yes the story is defiantly very important for FF14. We will have high quality cutscenes with voiceovers and fx, please look forward to it.

There will also be voiceovers on mostly every character/npc in the game.

What will endgame be like? Special areas, NMs, etc.

Maybe not from the beginning, but when it comes to a good time we will be implementing some very challenging encounters, among other things. We will have a level cap at the beginning, when it will be unlocked in due time we will release great raid content. We've learned a lot from FFXI and realized what is too easy and too hard.


Exactly how much more casual will FF XIV be than FF XI? Is FF XIV designed to try to appeal to a new casual crowd and leave the hardcore group players in FF XI? Is FF XIV trying to attract both at the same time and try to become the first historical game that successfully combines hardcore and casual aspects?

The first question about the casual aspect. We will have a casual aspect, but we're not going to only target the casual players. Its really a users choice. We will be able to provide a variety of aspects to the game that casual players will enjoy but the hardcore players will enjoy it as well. And also for FFXI and FFXIV we aim to support both players, although FFXIV is using a new graphics engine, so we're providing current FFXI players with an option if they want to play FFXI of course that is fine, but they're also very welcome to play FFXIV.

Hiromichi Tanaka also says that it would be very nice if the players of other Final Fantasy games who never played FFXI would play FFXIV. So that is one of the goals.

So basically they're aiming at the Final Fantasy fans who haven't played MMO's due to having a casual aspect of FFXIV, but also at the same time giving the hardcore MMO players something to enjoy as well.


What about PVP?

We have the same stance on PVP as we had in FFXI, we're having a focus on PVE, but we may introduce some sort of sports-type that might be tied to PVP in the future. What we're worrying about is that we dont want to have any PK'ing or harassment types of activities in the game. So in order to provide a safe environment to everyone and a game to enjoy. So we're not focusing on PVP.


Pay to play or free to play?

The game will cost to play. There's a fee for 30 days each. Currently there are no other plans to offer other options.


No PlayOnline, can you elaborate on the new account features?

We will be using the SquareEnix ID, and also have a system that will be linked to that system.


Is there going to be instanced content?

Guild leaves itself is like instances. Other people will not be able to interfer with you. There will also be instanced raid content, its a type of guild leaves as well. But we cannot tell you how many players it will be yet however. There's also going to be many different types of guild leaves, if you want to play as a casual player it will be fine for instance.


Can you give more specific details about what things can we customize in character creation? I mean things like body size, how many faces will there be available?

Unfortunately we cannot show you the character creation screen yet, but you will be able to change things such as your ears, eyes, hair color, shape of your face. There will be lots of variety.


I'm curious about how advancing in your jobs works. Like will it be a FF Tactics style? Once you've mastered certain skills in a certain job, you unlock another?

It will be slightly different from Final Fantasy Tactics system. You will be gaining abilities by leveling up your skills, but, its not the same as Final Fantasy Tactics. So if you're having a high skill in something it doesnt mean the other one is going to be lower. if you grow in one skill and it gets high, you can still level up your other skills high.


And how will the 'levels' of the mobs work? Does the game have some kinda system in place to adjust mob difficulty based on character stats and current status of party?

Its not going to be changing depending on the players skills. Its fixed. So you get to chose yourself who or what you want to fight.


Auto-run/Auto-follow and Macros saved A LOT of time in FFXI. Could we expect these things (or improved/altered versions) in FFXIV?

Yes it will be in the game.


In FFXI, if you weren't fighting or crafting, there was definitely a lack of things to do. Could we expect more types of things to do in FFXIV? More mini-games, casino, card games like in FFVIII or FFIX, more in-depth gardening/fishing/etc. ?

Yes, we're planning several things so you can enjoy the game, for example the fishing you mention will be a class. But outside of the class system there will be other things to do. For example during FFXI players figured out a way to invent a new game by using the existing system. So that's going to be interesting, we'd like to do that for FFXIV as well. So we're looking forward to what the players will do with our system there.


There were many Summons in FFXI, but for an online world, I never felt there were enough. What Summons can we expect to see in FFXIV and will there be more variety than in FFXI?

We can't really mention which summons will be in. But what we can say is that some is going to be really important in the storyline. It's not going to be included in the game like FFXI. At the moment we don't really have a class, a pet class / summoner. Not at the moment at least. So it will be implemented in the game in a different way. Please check back with us in the future.


Will there be Samuari's in the game, what about the free roaming? What about the freedom in the world, exploration?

We won't have the samuari as a job, because we don't have a job system. And we don't have a class like the Samuari. But it depends on how you're going to select your skills and developing your character. So when you reach a certain skill and/or gain certain skills, you will have a title for yourself. It may be Samuari or may not be - we cannot tell you that yet. So please look for an announacement in the future.


How large will the in-game world of Eorzea be in comparison to the in-game world of Vana'Diel? As in actual space the characters may move around in.

We can't really compare to the current world of Vana'Diel since it's been expanding a lot. But if we compare to the original Vana'Diel, this time it may be the same or slightly smaller, however as you can see there will be a much more detailed world, in terms of graphics and content. So it's unlikely you will notice that it might be slightly smaller than the original Vana'Diel world.

One thing to note is that FFXI used its own system, this time Final Fantasy XIV is going to be seamless. No zoning! Just like in World of Warcraft.

You'll be able to walk from the city to the battlefield without any zoning.


Is the Economic situation of FFXIV going to be mainly player based with Auction Houses or non-player based with NPC ran stores?

We can't go into details about this just yet. We're very sorry about that. This question is better suited to be asked in a couple of months time. However, it's going to be not the same as with auctionhouses, but something very interesting.

Also, this time the weapons are going to be worn out, a durability system. So you will have to repair them and it will cost money.


When is the beta? Any more info?

We dont have any specific time at the moment. But this current version here at Gamescom is an alpha version. And before we start the beta we're going to have another version, a developer version, this time we're concentrating on guild leaves, next time we're going to be concentrating on something else. When it's ready we'll start the beta version. And of course since we're going to launch the game in 2010 it should before that... so. The beta is not going to be in the far future *laughs* We want to do it as soon as possible.


In World of Warcraft, you can now pay a very small fee of in game currency at a Barber Shop and change the face, hairstyle, facial hair, and hair color. Will we see this in FFXIV?

At the moment we're not thinking about it. If we have a lot of requests from the players it might get added at a later time. Not at the launch time at least. In the future perhaps. Also we don't think changing the skin color or face shape is going to be added at all. But maybe hair color.


Can we expect exp loss?

We're still adjusting and discussing this. It may or may not be an exp-loss when you die in FFXIV. But it will be a lot less than it's in FFXI. However, as said we might not include an exp loss at all in FFXIV. In the alpha version we have exp loss currently, but this is still being adjusted, since it's an alpha version. So it's not decided on.


Is the characters we played in the alpha version yesterday buffed?

[They all start out and laugh then proceeds to say]: yes, they're very buffed.


Will the class/job system go into more depth and branch out into different combinations. Or is a wider variety of jobs not yet released and still currently in development?

It's not a job system anymore. We call it classes now. It depends on what weapon you use. And again, we're calling it a class system in FFXIV this time, so it's not a job system. This new system will allow for a lot flexibility, and also because you can switch weapons between the battles (not during battles) this is giving you much more variety. Although this is not something super new in the history of MMO's, we've seen it before in games like Ultima Online and Meridian 59 (editors note).


[We're now at the end of our 45 minutes time with Hiromichi Tanaka and we get told there's only space to ask one more question, I show them all the questions I have left and we all laugh, because there's lots left to still ask, however we're offered to ask them through email, so expect more information to go up in awhile from now]


Will the Linkshell system still be called "Linkshell"?

We can't go into details on that just yet, but it's not going to be called Linkshell anymore. However, it's going to be something very interesting. You'll be able to join a kind of organization, but we can't say more on that right now, you'll be able to have different aims and focuses. It'll be very interesting.


System Requirements?

We're not done with analyzing this just yet, but it's going to be fairly high since FFXIV is going to be on HD on Playstation 3.

Interesting stuff, really.

well the interview they gave says a lot already. I was talking to tanaka on my own aswell on saturday when we went out for dinner.

A funny fact is that the guys in the interview said there will be an open beta. But SQEX told me that it will be a closed beta. They are not sure yet if the will make sign ups for beta keys because they want to give keys first to the premier community crews like wiki and my team. They may fill up other spots with press ppl or something since i dont know how they should get that lot ppl for the beta like they planned for if they dont give keys out w/o sign up.

I asked him about the payment too and the first plan was that they do the 30-days thing like they mentioned above already. But in like you pay 30 days and play 30 days... so if your counter have 30 days in played time it stops and you have to pay again. So not like ffxi.

The new "job" system is a lot different then ffxi. There are the classes "Fighter" , "Mage", "Collector" and "Crafter". You can train all 4 classes but dont be perfect in all of them. You will kinda have to decide on your own how your destiny will be. Your stats varries how you act. If you fight a lot with your weapons and dont cast that much your str , fighting skills, hp etc will raise but your mp and int etc will lower. So like on rl. If you will go train in the gym you'll gain power and strange but you are still not more intellegent. If you go study you train your mentality but not your power.
You can either be an allround char with not that high stats at all or be perfect in one thing.
I just didnt understood if the classes of the collector and the crafter are affected of the stats with the mage and fighter.
Anyway there are no exp anymore. You will train like in real life. If you go out and collect herbs you start collecting knowledge about collecting and raises your skill. If you go into your house and starts crafting items you ll get knowledge in craftings what you do. If you go out and cast a lot magic around you train your mind and trains your magic and if you pull out a weapon and fight monsters with your own hands you will train your body to fight.
Anyway there are no more real jobs like in ffxi. You train yourself more or less on your weapons you use. If you pull out a sword and a shield you train your skill in fight and defend with sword and shield and beeing a tough gladiator which is similiar to the pld in ffxi.
If you pull out your bow and train your bow and fight a lot with it you ll get knowledge in stuff like sharpshot etc.
how you learn abilities isnt clear yet but it depends on what weapon you use.
Anyway... you dont swap jobs anymore at a moogle or anything. You will swap your weapon to swap your class! So you can go out on your own as a fighter to fight monster and can swap in the battlefield to heal your own.
Anyway since you cant be perfect in both classes one if both will be weaker. And you need to go into the adventure mode to swap if i understood that right.
Since you have a small delay when you swap from fight into adventure mode it will take like 10-15 seconds i'd say to get swapped into the other class and be able to use another action so you wont be able to be the one man army who solos the ubertough endgame monster. But it will be enough to adventure on your own.
Btw you cant do any actions when you are not in fighting mode.
When you are in adventure mode you will be able to walk faster and swap jobs what i know atm and in the fighters mode you will be slower in walking and cant swap jobs but use your fighting skills.
Your fighting skills will be set in a bar which you can customize on your own. The main attack is always on the 1 button. And the other are setable with spells, skills, items etc like macros!
I saw the equip system aswell but i m not allowed to tell things about it yet! But as soon as i m allowed to i ll give a shot for here.
I m pretty sad about that there will be no pet jobs in this game but kinda happy that they dont cancel summons at all. Tanaka said you wont be able to use them as pet anymore but i guess youll might be able to summon them for powerfull magic attacks.
O and i asked how you will train stats in the game. Well its a new system but i think its a bit like final fantasy 2 so to skill defense related skills you ll have to use your blocks often. Yah in that part you can use shield blocks on your own. You dont block automaticly anymore.
If you use a sword and a shield you will have 2 ATM bars which fill up seperately. So if you use your shield button you hold your shield for a short block. If the enemy attacks in that time you have the chance to block.
But you can attack in the same time but i guess the chance of block will lower since you have to focus on attacking aswell.

Anyway the alpha version was awesome already. Since we was allowed to do a lot more then just the lolkids who are bitching around about the game and everything around it i have to say i m rly looking forward to play it. Btw i might wont come back to ffxi cause i get my key for the beta as soon as it starts but i hope i ll see you all in ffxiv ;D if we have some keys over and if we r allowed to give them out i ll give you a tell in the general topic ;o if i find some more time to play ffxi before the beta starts (haha i know when it starts and you dont!!!! ;P) i ll come a bit into ffxi to enjoy some moar dienamises with you!!!

btw what i forgot to say... dont listen to so much rumors which started in the web now. a lot of ppl are talking so much shit about the game already... i found a thread somewhere where ppl thought they talked to some of the developers who should have told them that you will be able to jump... the fun on that is that the only developer which had been there was tanaka and suki and they had been all the time in the developer area. The other japanases guys was most ppl from london lol..... oh and yay to customizable screen... you can move around every bar in the screen! If you dont want the chat in the left corner then move it to anywhere else or put your hp bar in the upper left etcetc

Holy wall of text, anyone got the tl;dr version?

i can make mine easier to read if you want :p

edit: better now???