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RPG Site's Interview with Naoki YoshidaFollow

#1 Jul 08 2013 at 7:49 PM Rating: Excellent
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Found this interview to be very nice, thought I'd share.

http://www.rpgsite.net/interviews/451-final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-interview-with-naoki-yoshida
Quote:

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Interview with Naoki Yoshida
Posted on July 8, 2013 by Alex Donaldson

The Director and Producer of the newly revamped FF14 speaks out as the game nears release.

We've interviewed Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn's producer and director Naoki Yoshida a lot. One glance at our Final Fantasy XIV page reveals numerous interviews with him, as well as a couple with Hiromichi Tanaka, his predecessor before the game's ill-fated original launch. After years of rebuilding, patching and repairing, Yoshida is finally now unleashing the public upon his changed vision for the big-budget MMO in open beta - and release is looming.

We caught up with Yoshida out at Japan Expo in Paris, and spent our time having a good old catch up about what it feels like to be in the final sprint, the ongoing possibility of an Xbox version, PVP play and those interesting Final Fantasy XIII cross-overs that were just announced. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn launches for PC and PS3 this August, and will arrive on PS4 in 2014.

RPG Site: So... we're hitting the final stretch on A Realm Reborn - how are you feeling?
Naoki Yoshida: I'm a bit concerned that I'm not with the dev team at the moment; that I'm being kept away! I'm not keeping an eye on them... especially because at the moment we're in the beta phase - today is the start of another beta weekend, and we just introduced the contents finder - the duty finder.

Even during the interviews, I'm getting updates constantly to make sure everything's going smoothly... and yes, it sounds like it's going smoothly - so that's good news!

RPG Site: Obviously here at Japan Expo you announced the cross-over with the Final Fantasy XIII universe, introducing Lightning to the world of Eorzea. The reaction I've seen online seems to be one of two extremes - either extreme excitement or extreme distaste. How do you feel about the reaction? How are you going to make sure Lightning fits into the lore of the FF14 universe?
Yoshida: To answer your first question, well, that's actually what we expected - getting two huge opposite reactions! [laughs]Final Fantasy XIV is very unique. A Realm Reborn hasn't been released yet, but the 1.0 version of the game has - so we have a lot of hardcore fans who played the 1.0 version. When we decided to make this announcement here at Japan Expo, this is a very special event where the people here love Japanese subculture, and they want to find out new information, and try out different Japanese culture things, basically.

So explaining in detail - if we start talking about all the details on stage towards that type of audience - like this is the type of detail in the design, this is how she's going to get into the world - the majority of that audience would wonder 'Well, what is he talking about?' because they haven't played FF14 yet.

We thought it would be more suitable if we focused on how we're going to make it catchy to that audience instead. We've made a straightforward announcement - Lightning is going to be in FF14 - here is the costume you can wear. That's very straightforward, and to the Japan Expo audience we felt that this was the suitable way to explain it.

...But, yes, we do understand that 1.0 hardcore players will wonder 'Well, what's going on? How is she going to fit in the world?' and so we definitely expected that reaction.

Once I'm back in Japan I will probably write a long forum post again to explain in more detail to the fans. Myself, I am one of those who really wants to make sure that the FF14 world is kept safely in a FF14 way - so I don't want to destroy the lore. There's going to be plenty of cutscenes and explanation of the reasons in the storylines of why Lightning can appear in FF14.

Please be rest assured that there is a reason, and I'm going to make sure that it's natural she's in this world. Is she going to stay here? What's going to happen to her..? All that is also going to be mentioned in the storyline - it's going to become a natural part of the history of Eorzea.

So for the 1.0 players wondering what exactly is happening - please rest assured that I'm going to make sure we answer all your concerns.

RPG Site: Well, my next question is natural, then - I feel this is quite, quite different to having a weapon, or the Warrior of Light costume - having an actual character appear opens up more doors, doesn't it? How long before we see Sephiroth as a raid boss, [Yoshida laughs] or Yuna and Tidus showing up to promote FF10 HD Remaster? Does this open that door?
Yoshida: [laughs] Well... first of all, I will leave it to the players to imagine if there's going to be Sephiroth in the game, or maybe Cloud is going to appear on his motorbike... Please enjoy sort of thinking about what could be happening in the game!

The main message we wanted to tell the players is the same as the announcements we made at E3 and now again at Japan Expo, which is that previously, all these numbered titles in the FF franchise were totally different, each of them were independent of each other - totally separate.

However, between the dev teams and also within the company, we also really want to work close together and have a strong relationship with each other and sort of push FF as a whole.

It's not like that we want to just get more attention from players or get more money by using the elements from previous FF games - it's nothing like that. As a company and as a group, we wanted to make sure that the FF projects have a strong relationship between the dev teams of the numbered titles. We're not necessarily planning to bring back all the characters.

RPG Site: The PS4 version -- were you concerned at all that in announcing that you could gut sales of the PS3 version by causing people to wait?
Yoshida: Because we're going with a subscription model, what really matters to us is the number of subscribers - so if the player prefers to wait for the PlayStation 4 version to come out, that's fine; I don't really mind.

I think it was a bigger concern that someone might buy the PS3 version and then find out that the PS4 version was coming out right after they bought it; that would be more shocking as it might upset players. I thought it would be better to let players know up front that the PS4 version is coming out, but in the meantime you can start out playing the PS3 version if you want, as we have squeezed the maximum quality from that platform. Start with that platform if you wish and enjoy the game experience; all the character data you gain with the PS3 version can then be converted to the PS4 version.

I thought that message would be more straightforward and less confusing to players; that's the reason why we decided to make the announcement now. It's really up to the players - if they want to wait for the PS4 version, that's fine.

RPG Site: That announcement and other things at E3 - FF15, Kingdom Hearts - makes FF14 the odd one out, missing from Microsoft consoles. Your predecessor, Tanaka-san, said that FF14 was skipping Xbox due to Microsoft's Xbox Live policies forbidding cross-platform play and servers, and you later told me you were working to get the game on as many platforms as possible. Where does that stand now - have you signed an exclusivity deal with Sony, or is it still just down to Microsoft's non-movement on their policies?
Yoshida: To answer your question straightforward: The policy has not changed on Microsoft's side.

The main reason from our side is that I don't want the community to be divided; to be split into two or more. For example, one player might be on the PC version, another might be on the PS4 version, and I'm playing the Xbox version - but we're not able to join the same game servers. That is just... I just don't like the idea. I disagree with it.

If it was a P2P or an MO, then it would be fine - but for FF14, if that frustration happens, maybe one of those players says 'OK, I will give up my PS4 character and start out for scratch, making a new account from scratch on another machine. I don't think that's fair.

I really want the community to stick together and not be split into two or be divided because of that reason. That's one of the reasons that means that unless the policy chances, Xbox just doesn't make sense to us.

RPG Site: This sounds like a real point of frustration.
Yoshida: To be frankly honest with you, there are now so many mobile devices, smart phones, everything -- why would you ever just stick to one platform from the hardware aspect? Just -- make it open to everyone? That's my opinion.

RPG Site: So if they adjusted their position, you'd like to do FF14 for Xbox platforms?
Yoshida: I would love for as many players as possible to enjoy the game worldwide, so from a business point of view it could make sense to have it on the Xbox platforms. But as I mentioned earlier, that would bring about the tragedy that somebody might have to give up their existing character.

Then players might get frustrated, and then they ask us - 'Square Enix, can't you do something?' and then... yeah. Unless that happens, we can't really do anything.

RPG Site: We currently know so little about PVP play - can you spill some beans on how it'll be?
Yoshida: First of all, we are going to introduce one part of the PVP we're planning to make, Coliseum. This is going to be 4 vs. 4 or 8 vs. 8. With this next beta phase, 4, we're going to test that out - so you'll be able to find out what happens when different classes or jobs fight against each other within FF14.

This Coliseum will be introduced with patch 2.0, straight away after launch. Six months after launch, we're planning to also introduce another PVP called Frontline. This is more like a RvR - Realm versus Realm. This uses whole zones - it's a large-scale PVP.

With this PVP system, there's going to be different character systems compared to the PVE version. If you win a battle in PVP, you'll earn points, and when you collect these points you can exchange for certain abilities or skills or equipment dedicated to the PVP system. As such, you can level up your character in a sense within the PVP system.

If you want to focus on PVE, that's absolutely fine, but if you do get a chance to try out PVP, please do so - you'll get to think about what kind of skills you want to use, what kind of gear you want to use - make sure you have good enough gear to stand up in PVP.

There's lots of excitement in the PVP - it's not just about hitting each other and things like that. If you haven't done PVP before, just give it a try and I hope you enjoy it. If you don't like the idea of hitting another player, then don't worry - you can concentrate on the PVE and try to become the Warrior of Light.

That being said, if you want to meet me in game, you have to come into the Coliseum or the Frontline - that's where I'll be! [laughs] That's my thing.

RPG Site: E3 featured a particularly strong showing for the FF brand in general. Did you feel a post E3 surge in interest for FF14 as a result?
Yoshida: I think the biggest thing we're feeling is that the players that are playing the beta are spreading the word that you should definitely try this out via twitter and facebook. Not only the presence at the shows, but I think the players are actually playing a large part in that.

One thing that we're having a headache with at the moment is that players are enjoying the beta so much that they're not logging out of the game! [laughs] We'd love to distribute more beta keys, but we can't - because their data can't be wiped because they're still playing! The servers are at capacity at the moment!
#2 Jul 08 2013 at 8:15 PM Rating: Decent
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I'm just more excited. I really can't wait.
#3 Jul 08 2013 at 8:28 PM Rating: Excellent
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The servers are at capacity. That's a good problem to have.
#4 Jul 08 2013 at 8:54 PM Rating: Good
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Soo are we testing the PvP phase 4 or did I read that wrong ? So the rvr type PvP will be like gw2 where its a seperate game in it self. But the arena style is just our normal characters fighting each other ? I hope they clarify that.
#5 Jul 08 2013 at 9:00 PM Rating: Decent
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silverhope wrote:
Soo are we testing the PvP phase 4 or did I read that wrong ? So the rvr type PvP will be like gw2 where its a seperate game in it self. But the arena style is just our normal characters fighting each other ? I hope they clarify that.


From my understanding, yes we'll be most likely be testing the Coliseum in Phase 4 (can been seen on the beta road map here)

And for Frontline (the RvR), from what I understand from Live Letters and such it should be a Grand Company v Grand Company type Open Map PVP. There are certain goals like capturing flags / bases (?) etc. So it can be seen as large scale Ballista type PVP ala FFXI.
#6 Jul 08 2013 at 10:37 PM Rating: Excellent
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One thing I was glad to see, was that PvP and PvE progression were going to remain separate. I hate having to nerf one aspect of gameplay, because it balances out another aspect of gameplay. It's a difficult endeavor, but one that can pay dividends in the long run.

I'm curious about Lightning's role. Initially I thought it was just her outfits, but having her entirely in-game... Not sold on that just yet. It does feel like they're advertising for upcoming games. I'm a fan of outfits and weapon models, but having the characters in the flesh... Well I guess that depends on whether you enjoyed the 13s or not.
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#7 Jul 08 2013 at 11:03 PM Rating: Good
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RPG Site: That announcement and other things at E3 - FF15, Kingdom Hearts - makes FF14 the odd one out, missing from Microsoft consoles. Your predecessor, Tanaka-san, said that FF14 was skipping Xbox due to Microsoft's Xbox Live policies forbidding cross-platform play and servers, and you later told me you were working to get the game on as many platforms as possible]. Where does that stand now - have you signed an exclusivity deal with Sony, or is it still just down to Microsoft's non-movement on their policies?
Yoshida: To answer your question straightforward: The policy has not changed on Microsoft's side.


Thats lame i hope they change one day.

Edited, Jul 9th 2013 1:04am by IMFW

Edited, Jul 9th 2013 1:04am by IMFW

Edited, Jul 9th 2013 1:05am by IMFW
#8 Jul 09 2013 at 6:35 AM Rating: Good
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Quote:
With this PVP system, there's going to be different character systems compared to the PVE version. If you win a battle in PVP, you'll earn points, and when you collect these points you can exchange for certain abilities or skills or equipment dedicated to the PVP system. As such, you can level up your character in a sense within the PVP system.


Good. I'm weary of how this will play out, but a lot of WoW's balance problems were wielded in place by how much the developers wanted to keep all of the same (PvE and PvP) systems and skills identical as possible. I'm excited to see what they have in store.
#9 Jul 09 2013 at 6:42 AM Rating: Good
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Suijin wrote:

And for Frontline (the RvR), from what I understand from Live Letters and such it should be a Grand Company v Grand Company type Open Map PVP. There are certain goals like capturing flags / bases (?) etc. So it can be seen as large scale Ballista type PVP ala FFXI.


I can see this being an issue if they dont clarify this. what if we wanna pvp with our firends and there in a different GC. It should just be RvR as in server vs server. Would give a sense of community rather than splitting us up and having us fight eachother.
#10 Jul 09 2013 at 6:54 AM Rating: Good
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silverhope wrote:
Suijin wrote:

And for Frontline (the RvR), from what I understand from Live Letters and such it should be a Grand Company v Grand Company type Open Map PVP. There are certain goals like capturing flags / bases (?) etc. So it can be seen as large scale Ballista type PVP ala FFXI.


I can see this being an issue if they dont clarify this. what if we wanna pvp with our firends and there in a different GC. It should just be RvR as in server vs server. Would give a sense of community rather than splitting us up and having us fight eachother.


I'm guessing there's going to be story reason behind the fighting behind the city-states. They wanted the cities to resemble Greek city-states before the Persian invasions for a reason, right?

Sooooo pick your city carefully! (Which leads me to wonder how switching GCs will work out . . . )
#11 Jul 09 2013 at 9:50 AM Rating: Excellent
Yotis wrote:
Quote:
With this PVP system, there's going to be different character systems compared to the PVE version. If you win a battle in PVP, you'll earn points, and when you collect these points you can exchange for certain abilities or skills or equipment dedicated to the PVP system. As such, you can level up your character in a sense within the PVP system.


Good. I'm weary of how this will play out, but a lot of WoW's balance problems were wielded in place by how much the developers wanted to keep all of the same (PvE and PvP) systems and skills identical as possible. I'm excited to see what they have in store.


Exactly. Abilities should be balanced separately for PvP and PvE.

They have already mentioned that PvE is currently unbalanced for some classes. I really, really hope they finalize the PvE balance as a priority, and then tweak the power of abilities for PvP while in PvP only.
#12 Jul 09 2013 at 10:37 AM Rating: Default
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meh frontline doesnt sound as good as when it was just stated "aside from the colliseum, there will be some areas where you can pvp in.. and if players doint wanna pvp they ca n just avoid those areas" which to me sounded like yay an open pvp area... maybe some quest or misprision will require going to that area to get something which means wed have to watch out for other players while trying to complete our quest/mission.. that sounds fun.. but now i find out those "open pvp areas" are really just event based PVP which now sounds more like besieged or Conquest version of PVP... that sucks
#13 Jul 09 2013 at 11:03 AM Rating: Good
Gnu wrote:
Yotis wrote:
Quote:
With this PVP system, there's going to be different character systems compared to the PVE version. If you win a battle in PVP, you'll earn points, and when you collect these points you can exchange for certain abilities or skills or equipment dedicated to the PVP system. As such, you can level up your character in a sense within the PVP system.


Good. I'm weary of how this will play out, but a lot of WoW's balance problems were wielded in place by how much the developers wanted to keep all of the same (PvE and PvP) systems and skills identical as possible. I'm excited to see what they have in store.


Exactly. Abilities should be balanced separately for PvP and PvE.

They have already mentioned that PvE is currently unbalanced for some classes. I really, really hope they finalize the PvE balance as a priority, and then tweak the power of abilities for PvP while in PvP only.


Where's Kachi when you need him!

Edited, Jul 9th 2013 1:03pm by IKickYoDog
#14 Jul 09 2013 at 11:06 AM Rating: Excellent
Quote:
Where's Kachi when you need him!


He's been oddly silent lately. He must be having too much fun in the beta to be posting on the forums.
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#15 Jul 09 2013 at 11:08 AM Rating: Good
Why is that?

Does Kachi have some reasons for having PvE and PvP abilities be identical? I'd be interested to hear them.
#16 Jul 09 2013 at 12:46 PM Rating: Good
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I don't see why you would ever want that. The holy trinity doesn't apply in PvP. Ever.

(Don't give me that "but tanks can flag-carry!" crap.)
#17 Jul 09 2013 at 1:35 PM Rating: Excellent
Thayos wrote:
Quote:
Where's Kachi when you need him!


He's been oddly silent lately. He must be having too much fun in the beta to be posting on the forums.


My guess is he stopped posting over the karma issues others are having.
#18 Jul 09 2013 at 3:04 PM Rating: Excellent
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I would love to see ARR pay homage to the previous Final Fantasy games by having characters make a cameo appearance. It doesnt have to be much.
#19 Jul 09 2013 at 8:38 PM Rating: Good
Gnu wrote:
Why is that?

Does Kachi have some reasons for having PvE and PvP abilities be identical? I'd be interested to hear them.


Kachi is a fervent believer that a game that contains both PvE and PvP should balance character classes for PvP first. That way classes are always balanced. Then, you can create whatever computer generated enemies you wish and only have to manipulate those as needed, so as not to alter the player experience. I don't know how I feel about it either way, but he's pretty adamant about it.
#20 Jul 09 2013 at 8:47 PM Rating: Good
Wint wrote:
Thayos wrote:
Quote:
Where's Kachi when you need him!


He's been oddly silent lately. He must be having too much fun in the beta to be posting on the forums.


My guess is he stopped posting over the karma issues others are having.


That's Silly! Sure the karma thing is getting kinda lame, you cannot even say "Welcome" with out getting defaulted Smiley: lol But stop posting because of it ? LOL!
#21 Jul 09 2013 at 8:54 PM Rating: Decent
IKickYoDog wrote:
Gnu wrote:
Why is that?

Does Kachi have some reasons for having PvE and PvP abilities be identical? I'd be interested to hear them.


Kachi is a fervent believer that a game that contains both PvE and PvP should balance character classes for PvP first. That way classes are always balanced. Then, you can create whatever computer generated enemies you wish and only have to manipulate those as needed, so as not to alter the player experience. I don't know how I feel about it either way, but he's pretty adamant about it.


Well his argument is if i recall correctly, that in games where PVP and PVE are not separated as it's been stated they will be in XIV, you can balance all classes around each other, and that you can still develop content engaging content, since balancing is a numbers game etc etc, he does has some merit in his logic, but so do people who think otherwise so.... Is one of those long winded battles Smiley: lol
#22 Jul 09 2013 at 8:59 PM Rating: Decent
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Ostia wrote:
Wint wrote:
Thayos wrote:
Quote:
Where's Kachi when you need him!


He's been oddly silent lately. He must be having too much fun in the beta to be posting on the forums.


My guess is he stopped posting over the karma issues others are having.


That's Silly! Sure the karma thing is getting kinda lame, you cannot even say "Welcome" with out getting defaulted Smiley: lol But stop posting because of it ? LOL!


Come ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon Ostia! It's not like that and you know it. Disagree like a jerk, that gets defaulted.

But I do agree, no reason to stop posting.
#23 Jul 09 2013 at 9:00 PM Rating: Good
Since they will be separate, no reason why either needs to be the priority. Sounds good to me.
#24 Jul 09 2013 at 9:08 PM Rating: Default
Hatamaz wrote:
Ostia wrote:
Wint wrote:
Thayos wrote:
Quote:
Where's Kachi when you need him!


He's been oddly silent lately. He must be having too much fun in the beta to be posting on the forums.


My guess is he stopped posting over the karma issues others are having.


That's Silly! Sure the karma thing is getting kinda lame, you cannot even say "Welcome" with out getting defaulted Smiley: lol But stop posting because of it ? LOL!


Come ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon Ostia! It's not like that and you know it. Disagree like a jerk, that gets defaulted.

But I do agree, no reason to stop posting.


Not at all, there a number of post i have made that have not been "Jerk" like that have gotten defaulted, killua has gotten a number of post that have not been "Jerk" like that have gotten defaulted, anything that is not close to "All hail XIV" get's defaulted, you can say oh the Duty finder is wow like... Defaulted...Because you just said it's like WOW... Even tho that is a fact Smiley: lol Somebody once asked "Hey did they re-used skins from XI ? Killua said "Yes they have re-used skins dats from XI" Got sub defaulted Smiley: lol Even tho that is a Fact.

And yes it is silly Smiley: lol but to each their own i guess, maybe he is busy making an MMORPG who knows.
#25 Jul 09 2013 at 9:41 PM Rating: Good
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Ostia wrote:
IKickYoDog wrote:
Gnu wrote:
Why is that?

Does Kachi have some reasons for having PvE and PvP abilities be identical? I'd be interested to hear them.


Kachi is a fervent believer that a game that contains both PvE and PvP should balance character classes for PvP first. That way classes are always balanced. Then, you can create whatever computer generated enemies you wish and only have to manipulate those as needed, so as not to alter the player experience. I don't know how I feel about it either way, but he's pretty adamant about it.


Well his argument is if i recall correctly, that in games where PVP and PVE are not separated as it's been stated they will be in XIV, you can balance all classes around each other, and that you can still develop content engaging content, since balancing is a numbers game etc etc, he does has some merit in his logic, but so do people who think otherwise so.... Is one of those long winded battles Smiley: lol


He has a point. Or rather, it's a solution to a very complicated problem that the generation of MMOs that came out with WoW have been dealing with ever since: how to balance PvP and PvE. Same abilities? Different? Different numbers? "Resilience" this or "PvP Power" that?

I'm of the mind that you ought to just separate out the two spheres. Seems like what they are aiming for with FF XIV. My worry now is that player interest in PvP will be too low to validate any extensive developer time with the separate system.
#26 Jul 09 2013 at 10:47 PM Rating: Good
Ostia wrote:


Not at all, there a number of post i have made that have not been "Jerk" like that have gotten defaulted, killua has gotten a number of post that have not been "Jerk" like that have gotten defaulted, anything that is not close to "All hail XIV" get's defaulted, you can say oh the Duty finder is wow like... Defaulted...Because you just said it's like WOW... Even tho that is a fact Smiley: lol Somebody once asked "Hey did they re-used skins from XI ? Killua said "Yes they have re-used skins dats from XI" Got sub defaulted Smiley: lol Even tho that is a Fact.

And yes it is silly Smiley: lol but to each their own i guess, maybe he is busy making an MMORPG who knows.


I'm not sure if you're trolling by saying you haven't been a jerk or if I should be concerned that you really think that's why you get rated down as much as you do.

Edited, Jul 9th 2013 9:47pm by UltKnightGrover
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