Naoki Yoshida
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43rd FFXIV producer's letter announces A Realm Reborn's first beta phase
Final Fantasy XIV fans who have been eagerly awaiting beta for A Realm Reborn only have a little longer to wait. In the 43rd producer's letter Naoki Yoshida announced that phase one of the beta will begin on February 25th -- barring any cataclysmic bugs, of course! Yoshida admitted that the testing is actually one week later than the roadmap originally indicated. He informed fans that the extra time allows for more system features and character options to be included in this test, such as the random public quest-type Full Active Time Events (FATE). He also noted that while phase one focuses on the areas around Gridania, a level 30 dungeon will be ready for testing. Players can also look forward to the new guildhest (previously behest) system. Beta invitations for this phase are already on their way, but folks can still apply on the official site. [Thanks to everyone who tipped us!]
Fifth live FFXIV producer letter to air next week
If you are fluent in Japanese and happen to be awake early on February 22nd, you can watch Naoki Yoshida answer fans' questions about Final Fantasy XIV in the the fifth live letter from the producer. The broadcast begins at 6:00 a.m. EST. For those who can't tune in (or who don't know the language), all questions and answers will be posted as they are addressed on the official Twitter account, and a full summary will also be posted on the forums afterward. Folks who want to ask Yoshida questions about the game's beta and official release can submit them either ahead of time on the official thread or during the livestream via Twitter using #XIVLive.
Naoki Yoshida discusses the upcoming beta for Final Fantasy XIV
It won't be long now until long-time Final Fantasy XIV players and eager test applicants can experience the beta of the game's new version. Producer Naoki Yoshida has understandably been busy with the ramp-up, but he's taken the time to pen a new letter for the game's players that starts off by displaying all of the racial creation screens for the revamped creator. That includes showing off genders that had previously been unavailable, including female Highlanders and Roegadyns. Beyond that, the letter talks about some of the restrictions in place from the beta that are still being developed, acknowledging that some character creation options will be held back until later in testing (the team is working to vastly improve hair color and style selections, for example). Yoshida goes on to talk about the production staff's New Year festivities and a visit from some of the Mythic staff members involved with Ultima Online. There are only a few more weeks until the beta stats, but Yoshida and the rest of the staff seems to believe that it's the first step to a better new year.
Yoshi-P says something's happening with FFXIV on January 7
With the exception of some lucky alpha testers, Final Fantasy XIV players didn't have a game to play over the holidays. The title shut down a couple of months ago in preparation for its rebirth as A Realm Reborn. Now, however, it looks like FFXIV fans have something to look forward to come next week. In a New Year's greeting that talks about the release of FFXIV's next incarnation in 2013, producer Naoki Yoshida tells players to mark January 7th on their calendars. Unfortunately, he gives no other information beyond this teaser, so the significance of the date is up in the air. Will it be a beta test, a launch, or something else completely? We just can't say, but we will keep you updated when we find out!
The Mog Log: Ideas worth taking for A Realm Reborn
So what does the completely redone Final Fantasy XIV engine look like? I have no idea. I'm not in the alpha test. Considering I got into the beta last time only at the absolute tail end of everything, I am not really surprised. That isn't the point; the point that I'm meandering toward is that the game could play like the previous version with quests and a lick of paint or it could play like a completely different animal altogether. I have to wait and see, as most of you do. I will say this, though: I'm hoping Yoshida's awareness of the larger world of MMOs is coming through strongly. Unlike his predecessor, Yoshi-P seems very aware of the fact that there are games out there aside from Final Fantasy XI, and that's not even counting the existing love letters to longtime series fans. That having been said, there are at least a few things I hope he's swiping from the industry for the relaunched version when it finally comes out. As I've said before, it's not enough for the game to just be capable; it has to really stand out, and I think there are a few ideas to draw on in that regard.
Yoshida: Another 'mistake like FFXIV' could destroy Square
Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida says Square can ill afford another disaster like the game's late 2010 launch. Speaking with Kotaku in a wide-ranging recent interview, Yoshida says that his misgivings started as early as FFXIV's beta. "When I heard that it was going to go on sale as planned, I thought, that will probably be a big mistake," he explains. He also points out how Square's pre-cursor Final Fantasy XI MMO was influenced by EverQuest and posits that a mish-mash of FFXIV and World of Warcraft would have worked out better. Regardless of all the hindsight, though, Yoshida concludes that A Realm Reborn is on the right track. "We won't make a mistake like FFXIV again," he says. "If we did, it would be like at the level of destroying the company."
Final Fantasy XIV shuns F2P to 'regain the trust of our players'
So Final Fantasy XIV has temporarily gone dark while Square works its revamp magic. What will it look like when the servers come back? That's hard to say right now, but one thing we can tell you is that the company won't be jumping on the free-to-play bandwagon right away. Producer Naoki Yoshida recently told VG247 that sticking with a subscription model is all about honoring past commitments. "One of the promises we originally stated was that we would release the game with a subscription model," Yoshida explained. "Players will be able to play it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days in the year if they paid a subscription fee. So to regain the trust of our players we must of course fulfill this promise. Right now we believe that to be more important than any kind of business decision." He went on to say F2P isn't necessarily the way forward for every game. "Depending on what kind of game you have -- it's hard to say which model is better. Is free-to-play better? Are subscriptions better? It just really depends, and it's hard to say which one is better."
The Mog Log: When the lights go off in Eorzea
The current version of Final Fantasy XIV is redefining the term "lame duck." This is a duck that is so lame it can no longer move under its own power, relying instead on a specially trained squad of ducklings to occasionally move its head toward food. How it trained the ducklings, I don't know; that's not really the point. It's not a perfect analogy. We're very close to a final character copy and a server shutdown, at which point... the servers get turned back on again, I guess. Naoki Yoshida quite openly stated that if there is a large enough chunk of players who wanted the servers back on, he will make that happen, even though nothing more would get saved. This raises a variety of questions -- chiefly, why anyone would want to keep playing the game with the explicit understanding that the whole game is getting rolled back before too much longer, but I'm not one of the ones who voted for the reactivation. But as we enter the final phase -- which is basically just through early next week, if you're not keeping track -- it seems as if it's worth discussing the servers going down and then coming back on. Really, what else do we have to occupy our minds regarding Final Fantasy XIV right now?
Yoshida: FFXIV Realm Reborn alpha test coming in October
How soon can you start playing the reboot that is Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn? Probably by the end of the month if you're in the game's alpha test. "There will not only be stress tests for the new servers' coding and hardware configurations, but also tests for what will be the backbone of the game's new system, which is why we're being very cautious with development. Bear with us for just a while longer," says Naoki Yoshida in the latest producer's letter. Yoshida also says that the dev team will likely keep the current version of FFXIV available for a time, even though no character data accumulated after November 11th will be ported to A Realm Reborn. The decision is based partly on player poll voting. Yoshida says he was "planning to keep the servers open so long as 30% of the players voted for it."
The Mog Log: Two years of spinning wheels in Final Fantasy XIV
Has it really been two years since Final Fantasy XIV launched? My collector's edition box was purchase two years ago, and I wrote my last anniversary column a year ago, so I guess it must have been. And yet I still don't feel as if it's actually happened yet. You'll note that last year's column was mostly about what happened as a result of the game's launch. That wasn't by accident. Launch led to a massive restructuring of the game's design team, and not too long after the one-year mark, the team announced that it was basically remaking the game from the ground up. That fact has dominated the past year, and it's impossible to overstate the importance that announcement has had for the Final Fantasy XIV community. Everything circles around the promise of 2.0 these days. What has that meant for the actual years of the game's operation? Sadly, nothing good. The game has made huge strides, but we as players have been stuck in a nasty little loop.
The Mog Log: Lessons from Guild Wars 2 for Final Fantasy XIV
If you read all of the columns I write in a given week, then I believe that you're a wholly fictional creature. But beyond that, you'll remember that my Wednesday column was all about the systems that City of Heroes could comfortably borrow from Guild Wars 2. You may also be expecting the same sort of column here. That is definitely not the case. For starters, neither Final Fantasy XI nor Final Fantasy XIV is in a state where it can borrow anything. The former is set in its ways, and the latter has a major update around the corner that makes suggestions about mechanics pretty suspect. Furthermore, neither game is really into the whole "borrowing" routine, preferring instead to reverse-engineer a concept into some bizarre reinvention of the wheel that makes both games at once wonderful and incomprehensible. No, today I'm looking not at mechanics but at lessons for Final Fantasy XIV. The game is going to be relaunching soon, and that's when Naoki Yoshida's core principles will really be put to the test. And as the development team puts the final touches on the game, I think there are a few things to be garnered from the design of Guild Wars 2 that might nudge development around a touch.
Final Fantasy XIV producer letter discusses the game's end and new beginning
In the 35th installment of Final Fantasy XIV's producer letter series, Producer Naoki Yoshida delves into details about both the grand finale for the game in its current version and the impending alpha testing for A Realm Reborn. The grand finale includes a final save maintenance for characters on November 1st, 2012. World servers will then be shut down on November 11th at 3:00 a.m. EST. At this point, the plan is to keep the game off-line until launch of the alpha. However, Square Enix is offering the chance for players to vote on whether or not to bring the servers back up in order to play together during the wait. The caveat is that all progress and changes will not be saved and carried over to the new version. The letter also discloses information about the upcoming alpha test. The test will be in four phases; the first will be restricted to Japanese residents only. Beta will not follow until the producer is personally 100% happy things are ready for that stage. For further details, check out the full producer's letter.
Gamescom 2012: FFXIV servers shutting down ahead of relaunch, A Realm Reborn beta planned for this fall
Final Fantasy XIV players, take note: Your days are numbered. Er, at least your days spent in the original FFXIV world. When the game's rebirth, called A Realm Reborn, occurs later this year, the game's servers will be taken offline. Rather than overlap the two versions of the game, Square-Enix director/producer Naoki Yoshida says the original servers will be taken offline "some day in the near future," precipitating an alpha and then a beta for the game's relaunch later this year. "Basically what's going to happen is that the current story is still continuing now, but some day in the near future -- and we'll make sure we tell the players what day that is -- something is going to happen in the story, and at that time, the servers are going to shut down," Yoshida told us in a group interview this morning at Gamescom. The reason for the shutdown is less thrilling than you might think. "Basically the player data will be taken over into the new game. So, to convert all this new data for the new systems, we need a certain amount of time to do this. There's so much data, so many thousands of characters that we must do this for. And so we have to shut down the servers," he said. Yoshida was quick to point out that players will have plenty of warning ahead of the shut-down (consider this your first heads-up). He also notes that the original game's userbase will be prioritized in A Realm Reborn's beta queue and that players will "be able to use their current characters in the beta test as well." Though that may not be at the kickoff of the beta, he says, "We're working in a way to try to get it as close to the beginning of the beta test as possible." A Realm Reborn is headed to both PlayStation 3 and PC later this year. Every summer, the gaming industry descends on Cologne, Germany, for Gamescom, the world's largest trade fair for interactive games and entertainment. Massively's on the scene in 2012, bringing you all the best scoops, impressions, and interviews from the MMOs at the show!
Gamescom 2012: FFXIV's A Realm Reborn will be 'scalable' for next-gen consoles
When Final Fantasy XIV's A Realm Reborn launches later this year on PC and PlayStation 3, each version will represent a scaled version of the game's highest settings. But with talk of next-gen consoles getting louder and louder, does it make sense to stick with the PlayStation 3? Square-Enix producer/director Naoki Yoshida thinks so, but that doesn't mean he isn't prepared for the looming next generation of game consoles. "The biggest thing is because we promised we'd release on PlayStation 3, and there are still a lot of players out there waiting for us to release a PS3 version. Before we talked about losing the trust of the playerbase with the original release of XIV and getting that trust back. One of the things to get that trust back is to fulfill our promises. That promise being that we'd release on the PlayStation 3," Naoki said in a group interview today at Gamescom. "That doesn't mean we're not looking to the future. We realize that things will be coming, and then making the game compatible for these systems is something we're currently thinking about," he added. Of course, "Until Sony and Microsoft actually make an announcement," he said, "we can't make an announcement." Yoshida said that his team's flexibility with FFXIV is due to the game's new engine. "With this new engine, it's very scalable. It runs on low-end PCs and high-end PCs. So when new technology comes out, we can easily scale it to that high end." Yoshida went on to show the game running on a colleague's Sony Vaio laptop sporting a Core i5 processor. While the graphics were scaled down for the lower-end specs, the game still ran smoothly and looked quite impressive. "This is at about 70 percent optimization," he added. FFXIV's A Realm Reborn will launch on both PC and PlayStation 3 "this year." Every summer, the gaming industry descends on Cologne, Germany, for Gamescom, the world's largest trade fair for interactive games and entertainment. Massively's on the scene in 2012, bringing you all the best scoops, impressions, and interviews from the MMOs at the show!
Final Fantasy XIV patch 1.23 scheduled for July 26th
Final Fantasy XIV Executive Producer Naoki Yoshida has a few words for die-hard fans of the title: "Rebirth, challenge, reform, and -- last but not least -- Final Fantasy." This is in reference to the game's upcoming version 2.0 launch, which will happen not only in existing territories but also in the brand-new region of China (brand-new to Square-Enix, that is; China's been around for a few years now). In a new producer's letter, Yoshida promises a "flood of info" from now until the relaunch. The first part of that flood is news that patch 1.23 will be going live on July 26th. The patch centers around an epic battle that will cap the current storyline, as well as a new skirmish and the summer festival. Also coming to the game are skimpy bathrobes known as yukata. As you can see above, they're not for the modest amongst us!
E3 2012: A chat with Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida
Final Fantasy XIV's major upgrade had been announced well before this year's E3, but this was its first public showing. While many of the major changes were only appreciable by long-term fans of the game, what was there was massive, ranging from major changes to the interface to several dazzling new areas. It was a lot to take in, and needless to say, we had some questions. Luckily for everyone, executive producer Naoki Yoshida was on hand to answer some of those questions and discuss the game's pending update. Previous interviews with Yoshida have indicated that the version 2.0 update should begin alpha testing in late September, with a beta to follow not long after. He's also stressing the fact that version 2.0 is a major change for the game, almost an entirely new game in many respects, and while the live game has seen the fruits of a great deal of work there's still more to be done. As Yoshida put it, the game is an MMORPG, but it's an RPG before that, and a Final Fantasy game even before that.
Naoki Yoshida talks about Final Fantasy XIV with Famitsu
Final Fantasy XIV is out in force at E3 this year, showing off all of the changes coming to the game with the Version 2.0 launch. Producer Naoki Yoshida recently sat down with popular Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu to discuss some of the changes en route, and a translation of that interview is now available. Yoshida confirms that the game is on schedule, with full promotions starting in August and an alpha test beginning in late September. As Yoshida sees it, the game needs to have a stronger connection to previous titles in the franchise. Fans can expect to see familiar elements like the Crystal Tower (Final Fantasy III), Magitek Armor (Final Fantasy VI), and areas reminiscent of Ivalice (Final Fantasy XII/Tactics). The new client is also meant to be highly customizable and capable of running on low-end machine or high-end machines as needed. Take a look at the full translation for more teases on what's around the corner for Eorzea. [Thanks to Ring for the tip!]
Final Fantasy XIV producer's letter addresses player poll
Final Fantasy XIV Producer Naoki Yoshida has returned for another producer's letter, this time focusing on the recent poll sent out to players across the world. Yoshida personally addressed points regarding combat, crafting, the synthesis system, and version 2.0. Yoshida observes that two points of constructive criticism will be used as FFXIV continues to be revised: "Many of you said that combos are too restrictive... We also received many comments that character positioning is bothersome and difficult." In regards to the upcoming version 2.0, he notes that the most excitement seems to be swirling around the new classes and jobs, improved level design, additional maps, and the graphics engine update. "Interestingly," Yoshida writes, "Japanese players are the ones who're most looking forward to the new housing system -- a national trait, perhaps?" Yoshida also expressed concern that a good chunk of players do not read player blogs on the Lodestone, not to mention that a vast majority of them simply do not use the Lodestone to post their own articles. He hopes this will change with 2.0, as the Lodestone will be receiving a full renovation at that time.
FFXIV version 2.0 trailer won't be at E3 after all
Just as Square-Enix is on the verge of releasing a "flood" of new information about Final Fantasy XIV's much-anticipated version 2.0, the studio says that the players' most wanted video will be missing from next month's major convention. That's right: The FFXIV 2.0 trailer will not be shown at E3 after all. Square-Enix's Naoki Yoshida wrote of the trailer's completion in a recent producer's letter but shared that the company is withholding it from E3 in order to package it with a larger marketing campaign. "During our most recent global PR planning meeting, we came to the conclusion that the most effective way to introduce version 2.0 to the world would be with a flood of new material rather than just a trickle," Yoshida said. Final Fantasy XIV 2.0's public debut is still scheduled for E3, however. The trailer, along with the info-flood, is slated to be revealed this August. Version 2.0 will be a relaunch of the title alongside the PlayStation 3 release. It will feature overhauled graphics, server architecture, multiple in-game improvements, and additional racial/gender choices.
Final Fantasy XIV beckons former players with Legacy and Welcome Back campaigns
Square-Enix is rolling out the welcome mat for former players of its Final Fantasy XIV MMORPG. The company has announced two new promotional campaigns, the first of which is aimed at players who have paid for at least 90 days of sub time since January 6th, 2012. You should be getting an email from Square if you're eligible, and you'll receive a discount on your monthly sub ($9.99 for 30 days) as well as 40 playable character slots on your account (with a maximum of eight per world). Legacy members will also get an exclusive chocobo mount with version 2.0 as well as the option to have their names listed in the update's credits. Square's second announcement concerns the Welcome Back Campaign, which is intended to stoke the interest of former players with inactive service accounts. Eorzean ex-patriots can come back for free between May 9th and May 20th. During the 10-day trial, you can take part in the "once-in-a-lifetime" Seventh Umbral Era content and experience the new job system and inn room updates. Finally, Naoki Yoshida has published a new producer's letter that expounds on the campaigns as well as the game's future. [Thanks to William for the tip!]
