quality-of-life
Latest
Final Fantasy XI launches May version update
The version updates for Final Fantasy XI have always packed a great deal of content, and this month's patch is no exception. The May version update is now live, and it carries with it new battle styles, new content, and more updates for the venerable game. Centerpieces for this particular update include the new Voidwatch battles, new Grounds of Valor for players inside dungeons such as Garlaige Citadel, and new improvements to make Dynamis more relevant once again. Aside from those updates, players are seeing several new battlefields added for battles with notorious monsters. There are also new synergy recipes to add augments to existing equipment, revised experience penalties for low-level characters, and a variety of job improvements. Not to mention a significant improvement to quality of life for storage, mailing, and general transportation. Final Fantasy XI players will have to wait through the usual download time, but given the content awaiting the patient, we think it should be well worth the wait.
Final Fantasy XI launches the February update
It's a lucky day for Final Fantasy XI players all around, as the awaited February version update has gone live. While Square-Enix has been calling it a mini-update due to the lack of a major content push accompanying the patch, it's still packed with some pretty substantial improvements. Experience and skill gains have both been buffed significantly -- experience gains have been substantially improved outside of Abyssea, and skill gains will happen in larger amounts against weaker targets. Several other improvements to quality of life have also been brought live, including the option to reclaim lost items from the completion of Treasures of Aht Urhgan. Porter moogles are also expanding their lists of retained items, giving players a chance to free up more of their precious inventory spots. Final Fantasy XI might not have added a great deal of new content with this update, but the full list of changes makes it clear that a lot of older content has been vastly improved.
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.
Broadened improvements for Final Fantasy XI
The September version update marches toward Final Fantasy XI, bringing with in a variety of new shinies to keep players happy for quite a while. (Or at least until the Final Fantasy XIV launch, either one.) While we've heard about most of the big updates, Square-Enix has shared a last little batch of improvements that won't change the world, but will usher in several much-appreciated boosts to quality of life. An additional search tag will be added for players looking for Trial of the Magians parties, to make enhancing equipment that much easier. Players will also have the option of teleporting to Abyssea-linked Cavernous Maws throughout Vana'diel, assuming that the player's character has previously encountered the maw. There will also be a variety of improvements to the Walk of Echoes, and even more updates to the infamous fishing quest Inside the Belly. With the update due out in the very near future, there's plenty for players to look forward to in Final Fantasy XI, even beyond the launch of its sister game.
Rockstar speaks out regarding San Diego studio accusations
While we've heard from nearly everyone else regarding recent quality of life accusations at Rockstar San Diego (not to mention Rockstar Vancouver and New York), we are just today seeing the first direct response to the claims from Rockstar itself. In a post this afternoon on the company's blog ("Rockstar Newswire"), a representative responds to a fan question on the subject by saying, "As for the stories spreading around the internet, yes we have noticed them ... Unfortunately, this is a case of people taking the opinions of a few anonymous posters on message boards as fact." The Rockstar rep also assured readers that Red Dead Redemption -- the San Diego dev studio's latest game -- is on track for its April 27 release in the US, and Rockstar "could not be more excited with how the game is looking and playing." With regards to actually addressing the accusations leveled at the company, the rep was a bit more dismissive. "We're saddened if any former members of any studio did not find their time here enjoyable or creatively fulfilling and wish them well with finding an environment more suitable to their temperaments and needs, but the vast majority of our company are focused solely on delivering cutting edge interactive entertainment. We've always cared passionately about the people working here, and have always tried to maintain a supportive creative environment." Though the piece admits "no business is ever perfect," it pointedly notes the enormous challenge that comes with "such large scale, high quality games." Unfortunately, there is no mention of the recently released "Eye of Sauron" wallpapers.
IGDA issues statement regarding 'Rockstar spouse' accusations
While we've yet to hear anything from Rockstar Games surrounding the repeated allegations of mismanagement and overwork of employees at its San Diego, Vancouver, and New York City studios, the International Game Developers Association has issued a statement denouncing the claimed actions by Rockstar. "In any studio, the IGDA finds the practice of undisclosed and constant overtime to be deceptive, exploitative, and ultimately harmful not only to developers but to their final product and the industry as a whole," it reads. Moreover, it highlights the importance of "events like these" for raising visibility of "quality of life issues in the industry and among the public." It goes on to point out the December 2009 "IGDA Quality of Life survey" that found "over half of the developers surveyed felt that they needed more time for themselves and their families." Perhaps unsurprisingly, nearly every email we've received from Rockstar employees regarding the recent claims has mentioned this exact problem.
Rockstar quietly settled class-action lawsuit with 'over 100' ex-Rockstar San Diego employees
In April of 2009, Rockstar Games settled out of court with with "over 100" Rockstar San Diego employees to the tune of $2.75 million (approximately $27,500 per person). The case, "Garrett Flynn, et al. v. Angel Studios, Inc./Rockstar Games et al.," was filed on August 21, 2006, by ex-Rockstar San Diego 3D artists Terri-Kim Chuckry and Garrett Flynn on behalf of themselves and fellow 3D artists, alleging that Angel Studios/Rockstar San Diego had "failed to pay overtime compensation ... to certain Angel employees whose primary duties are or were to create, produce, copy and/or install images into video games, using commercial or in-house software computer programs." Sound familiar? That's likely due to the past week's barrage of Rockstar Games employees speaking out against alleged quality of life issues at the developer's various studios, including claims of "numerous non-exempt designers and artists have had their overtime pay cut as a result for being 'too senior.'" In a press release issued after the settlement, Rockstar Games refuted the lawsuit's claims. "Angel denies the allegations in the lawsuit and admits no liability or wrongdoing in settlement." The settlement document (obtained earlier today by Joystiq) also spells out Rockstar's reasons for settling the suit, saying "further litigation would be protracted and expensive for all parties." Unsurprisingly, the company also contested in the settlement that a ruling against it was "relatively unlikely" for a number of reasons. That said, when a multi-billion dollar corporation settles a suit with its employees out of court and awards them nearly $3 million in compensation, that's quite a statement unto itself -- regardless of the great lengths at which the final court settlement goes to deny that claim. We've contacted Rockstar Games for comment and haven't heard back as of publishing.
Rumor: Wives of Rockstar San Diego rally for better work conditions
According a Gamasutra user blog penned by "Rockstar spouse," working conditions at Rockstar San Diego -- the studio responsible for not just the Red Dead franchise, but also Rockstar's proprietary "RAGE" game engine -- have been deteriorating for quite some time due to "mismanagement." Claims ranging from a neverending "crunch" cycle to lack of appreciation to straight up "dishonesty" are leveled in the post, with a handful of comments (some anonymous, some from verified ex-Rockstar San Diego employees) corroborating, and often adding to, the complaints. "This is EXACTLY the reason I left Rockstar San Diego in February 2009," commented one ex-Rockstar employee. An alleged employee speaking anonymously said, "There were extended core hours, frustrations rising, and then a false promise of the dropping of mandatory Saturdays, which seemed to last for about three such Saturdays." The "Quality of Life" issue discussed in the piece isn't a new one for the games industry. It was first brought up in late 2004 with the "EA Spouse" letter (also anonymous), and again mid last year with Epic Games exec Mike Capps. We've contacted Rockstar and followed up with Rockstar San Diego employees for more information.
Shadow Priest questions answered
Shadow Priests have been up in arms all over the official forums recently, and it seems to have reached a bit of a breaking point. Rather than waiting for the official Priest Q&A in the developers' Q&A series, Ghostcrawler chimed into an unofficial Q&A thread to give some insight. Since it's unofficial, the questions asked are very direct and specific, aimed at the posters in that thread rather than the playerbase as a whole. Still, the tone is mostly the same: Don't expect major announcements while reading the thread, it's more a discussion on class direction and philosophy rather than patch news. That being said, there is some good news in the whole thing. Some bad news, too.I strongly recommend reading the whole thing on the official forums, but I'm going to pull out some bits and pieces here.The first big thing that jumped out to me was in response to a question regarding Haste and DoTs. Have they considered DoTs scaling with Haste? Ghostcrawler says... yes! It's something they're apparently actively discussing. That doesn't guarantee we'll see it, but the fact that they're talking about it is promising.
