future-updates
Latest
Naoki Yoshida talks future plans for Final Fantasy XIV
Among the Final Fantasy XIV community, Naoki Yoshida has become quite the topic of discussion. While the first major content update produced under his tenure as director will be unveiled later today, there are still a number of questions in the minds of fans about what the future will bring and what his overall direction regarding the game will be. Popular wiki and fansite Eorzeapedia recently had the opportunity to conduct the first American interview of the director, taking the time to question several of his statements and see what's around the bend. One of the more interesting clarifications ties into Yoshida's promise to bring in the more traditional class names -- according to the interview, this may take the form of "advanced" classes for players to aspire to. There's also more details regarding the slow reduction of party sizes, a trend that Yoshida has seen in MMOs as a whole and which he wants to support in the game's development. Final Fantasy XIV players should take a look at the full interview, with some of the proof of concept coming today in the form of patch 1.16.
Naoki Yoshida releases another producer's letter for Final Fantasy XIV
Naoki Yoshida has been making big changes to the structure of Final Fantasy XIV ever since he took over as the game's producer, but the recent patch 1.15a was only the beginning. In the latest producer's letter, Yoshida not only discusses the recent changes and the reaction to same but also lays out further plans for game updates, as well as opens up the second player poll for the game. This time, the poll is focused around changes to the battle system, including the addition of an auto-attack and the future of the dual rank/level system. The letter itself contains several interesting promises, including plans to introduce a wider variety of world quests, instanced dungeons, and a reduced overall party cap of eight players instead of the current 15. While several of the changes listed are further in the future, Yoshida stresses that the team is hard at work on every aspect of the game, with the battle systems next up for the biggest review. Final Fantasy XIV players should read the full letter and take part in the poll, which closes at the end of next week.
Player poll results and future plans for Final Fantasy XIV
After a week of silence, it seems the new development team has finished putting together data from Final Fantasy XIV's start-of-year player poll. Naoki Yoshida makes as much clear in the first few lines of his incredibly dense producer's letter, which contains a broad outline of what the team is targeting first in the game's development, as well as the results of the first poll. The results alone merit a great deal of discussion, with the responses charted out for ease of viewing and Yoshida devoting much of his letter to his interpretation of the results. Among the more interesting takeaways are the plans to implement official forums starting in early March, with Yoshida stating he will be posting regular updates on the front page until the forums launch. Several items are under close examination, including jumping, increased stack sizes for several items, and the addition of an auction house -- all of which are very real possibilities for the near future. There's also plans to add in more story-based quests and mini-quests, the addition of public companies (no word on how this will interact with the previously promised company system or if it replaces it), and so many changes that it's hard to summarize. Final Fantasy XIV players should take a look at the full letter, which boasts a lot to get excited about.
The Mog Log: The directed route
First things first: I should have pimped this last week, but the Aetheryte Radio Network's community show had me as a guest for the most recent episode. If you'd like to listen to my dulcet tones alongside Steak and Fusion as we discuss the game, The Mog Log, and how much we all hate Final Fantasy VIII, you are most definitely in luck. And because we've seen the last Final Fantasy XIV update we're going to get this year, the game seems like the thing to discuss. With the most recent update, pretty much anything that players claimed was just plain broken has been trimmed up and cleaned. (Whether or not that should have been the case in September is another discussion altogether.) So we're moving into the new year with everything working and a new team primed to start taking the game forward. So what exactly will that entail? Now that the functional issues of Final Fantasy XIV are tackled, there's just the other half of the equation to deal with -- making the game more engaging for a broader playerbase. Or to be more specific: the easy part is done, and now it's time to work on the hard part.
The Mog Log: We all live in a community submarine
This week, like the week before, has seen an explosion of controversy about Final Fantasy XIV. I have not really taken part, as I have been far too busy playing Final Fantasy XIV to care one way or the other. But after a month of people's impressions, it seems like the perfect time to dive back into the meat of the community topics -- much like we did last month around the same time, as a matter of fact. Sadly, Final Fantasy XI has been fairly quiet, both due to the anger generation systems its successor features and due to a general sense of community burnout. After all, we're about two months away from another version update, and thus far we've heard nothing about what's due for December. Still, jump on past the cut for discussions about Final Fantasy XI as well as FFXIV, with the usual dosage of commentary to accompany each.
Warhammer Online details plans for buffing turrets and daemons
Pets of any kind can pose some issues in games. On the one hand, you want both temporary and permanent pets to provide a utility; on the other hand, you don't want someone crippled without the pet. Warhammer Online has a number of classes that use both permanent and temporary companions, and as part of the next update for the game, the team is working on making the engineer's turrets and the magus's daemons more useful for players in combat. Both daemons and turrets will now scale with the owner's stats, allowing their growth to keep better pace with more powerful characters. Equally important, however, is the new stacking buff that both types will receive when the engineer or magus remains near their pet. The buff will increase damage gradually while the player remains nearby, up to a 20% buff to damage output. Take a look at the full details from the development team in this small preview, a welcome promised bone for Warhammer Online players.
Champions Online looks to its one-year anniversary and beyond
It might be hard to believe at times, but it's true: on September 1st, Champions Online will hit the one-year mark. The development team has been fairly quiet of late, but judging by the latest State of the Game address, it's just been focusing on several updates and improvements. The Summer Update, with several new costume pieces, bug fixes, and visual treats, is scheduled to go live on Monday, but there are even better things coming around the bend, including the game's second adventure pack. Dubbed the Demonflame and aimed at a late September release, the newest adventure is meant to incorporate several pieces of feedback from the Serpent Lantern adventure. The goal is to make the adventure less repetitive and easier to follow from point to point for all players. Beyond that, the team has a long list of issues they're looking into and planning to work on, starting with pet improvements and stretching to scaling instances and better difficulty slider integration. Champions Online fans should take a look at the full update, and while the first year has had ups and downs, the future seems to be on the upswing. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for our one one-year retrospective of the game around the anniversary, which should be coming right around the first of the month. [Thanks Clinton and Faryon for the tip!]
Star Wars Galaxies puts up producer's notes from Fan Faire
The big showstoppers at Sony Online Entertainment's Fan Faire this year were the presentations on the EverQuest franchise and DC Universe Online, without a doubt. But to neglect Star Wars Galaxies is unfair to the game's long history, as well as to the fact that the game had quite a presentation at the celebrated event. In a recent producer's note, Teesquared shared several photos from the event as well as the notes from the Galactic Gathering panel, outlining everything planned for the game in the not-too-distant future. While the photos are nice for fans who missed it, the notes are the meaty part of the announcement, discussing everything from the next major content update to future event plans. The Witches of Dathomir is the next planned major content push, with repeatable content and a number of new clothing options for players. Big plans are also on the horizon for the Galactic Civil War, including invasions in space with capital ships and integration for player-created cities. It looks to be an interesting ride for the future of Star Wars Galaxies, so players are advised to take a look at the full notes for a hint of what's coming.
Cosmetic armor and more promised in Warhammer Online's May producer letter
The recent release of patch 1.3.5 has brought with it the complete death of Warhammer Online, if you equate a more active city siege environment with "complete death." Even though it came late in the month, it's certainly a major point of discussion for executive producer Carrie Gouskos, and it's addressed in the most recent producer letter for May. But that's the least of what needs to be discussed, and the talk starts with a reversal of the prior announcement that 1.3.6 would allow players to create characters of both realms on the same server. Fan reaction was negative enough to change the decision. Moving along, the producer letter promises the introduction of armor appearance separate from armor stats, similar to how Lord of the Rings Online allows players to wear a purely cosmetic set. There's also the promise of major updates to the Runepriest and Zealot careers, to make both of them more active and engaging to play in either healing or damage. Fans of Warhammer Online should take a look at the full producer's letter to see more discussion about what's coming around the bend for the game.
AoC's Morrison drops hints about the future
Funcom's Craig Morrison, Silirrion on the official Age of Conan forums, has returned with another Letter from the Game Director. Morrison, who also serves as executive producer on the Robert E. Howard-themed MMORPG, looks into his crystal ball to give fans a bit of a teaser in terms of future updates. "So overall, the answer to the 'what next?' question is more of 'a little bit of everything' rather than one specific theme for the time being. We want to continue to improve the game and build upon the progress we have seen so far. That means now that the expansion is out, we will take the opportunity to address a wider selection of smaller and back-end or performance updates," he writes. What's involved in the "little bit of everything?" We're glad you asked. According to Morrison, everything entails new Khitai quests, performance tweaks for all of the recently released expansion content, and significant revisions to the Dreamworld game engine as well as various DirectX10 functionality. Oh yeah, tweaks to PvP gameplay (specifically Shrines of Bori issues), possible vanity options, GUI enhancements, and cross-server minigame options are also on the table. "We are also though looking at a few things that offer longer term benefits. Included there are things like changing the way the mini-games queues work at a fundamental level to ensure fairer fights, and also starting to investigate further the possibility of offering cross-server PVP games," Morrison says. Check out the full letter for all of the details.
