New producer's letter and battle mechanic changes for Final Fantasy XIV

Naoki Yoshida has been bringing change to Final Fantasy XIV, and while the previous changes have been largely based around communication, there are more substantial alterations just around the corner. With the announcement that tomorrow will bring patch 1.15a (coinciding with the abandonment of the "version update" naming schematic), the development team has explained some of the changes coming to the battle system, including better damage and healing displays without overlap, better gains for parties, and larger gains for taking on enemies that outlevel the player. Solo players aren't left out, either, as the experience curve has been adjusted to help ease some of the more onerous level bands.

Yoshida has also penned his second producer's letter, this one clarifying the coming changes in more detail for both 1.15a and the further future. As he notes, there are many things that both he and players in general want to change, which means there's a lot to discuss in a limited amount of space. Players who were upset by the somewhat flippant tone of the last letter will hopefully be mollified by his apology for same -- as Yoshida himself puts it, sometimes his personality gets the best of him. The full list of planned changes is available within the letter, with more due in the near future, a clear sign that Final Fantasy XIV is being worked on with vigor by its new team.