Today we have another FFXIV article from the Lodestone for you to read. We have quoted the new info below.
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Greetings everyone!
We’re proud to bring you the full Q&A digest from the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part VII!
Letter from the Producer LIVE VII Q&A
Q: What’s the start date of phase 3?
A: We’ll announce the start date at the end of the stream.
* The start date of Beta phase 3 was announced at the end of the stream and began on 6/14 (Friday).
Q: Will Phase 3 of the Beta Test only be conducted on the weekends?
A: Like the previous Beta Tests, they will only be conducted on the weekends for a while. However, during the latter half of the Beta Test, we are planning to conduct a final stress test by keeping the servers open for an extended period.
Q: If a housing area becomes full, will it automatically create a new instance? Or is that something you will have to do manually?
A: In order to use the server space efficiently, we will make sure that the housing area is completely full through by checking the server source code and then add instances through updates when necessary. Therefore, the process will not be automatic. We will carefully monitor how much space is available and plan ahead whenever additional space is required.
Q: Is it possible to have a storefront with a counter in your housing area?
A: Yes, this is possible. We will continue to add objects for the housing area. In order to set up a store within your house, you will need to place a store-like object within your house, have the house accessible to everyone, and then have the retainer act as the seller.
Q: Will the houses have balconies?
A: It will differ depending on the type of house. While some will have balconies, others will not.
Q: What happens if there is a critical bug found during Beta Test phase 3 or 4 and it cannot be fixed in time for release? What kind of countermeasures are you considering?
A: If it came to this, I believe it would be difficult to release the game in that state and we will have to push back the release date.
With ARR, I’m taking full responsibility by making sure the game will be ready by the release date. The release date was chosen based on the time it takes to reflect the feedback and the time we require to conduct our large-scale PR campaign. I was also the one who decided when to announce the release date so I’ll continue to take responsibility by doing whatever is necessary to make the game ready by the launch date.
Q: Will we be able to carry over our friend list/linkshell from 1.0?
A: As far as the linkshell goes, you will generally be able to carry it over. However, if the linkshell leader chooses to go to a different World with the World Transfer taking place to coincide with the splitting of the data centers, the linkshell will be disbanded.
On the other hand, while previous testers may already know, the friend list in ARR has changed to the approval system. Therefore, when you first start ARR, a mass friend invite will be sent to the players on your friend list and if the other player accepts the invite, they will be added to your friend list. If you have any plans of changing your character’s name, please be sure to let your friends know beforehand.
* During the live stream it was said that “a mass friend invite will be sent to the players on your friend list,” but as a result of the development team looking into this afterwards, it has been changed to where you can select to send individual friend requests.
Q: Show us the duty finder!
A: *The Duty Finder is shown off in the video.
First off, while some may believe “Duty Finder” refers to a type of content, it’s actually a user interface (UI). The UI displays your character’s current level/class/role and also provides you with an option to join a party that has already started an instance. With this option, parties that lose a member while progressing in an instance will automatically receive a new member. If you have no preference in regards to starting an instance from the very beginning or participating mid-way, please make use of this option. On the other hand, if you wish to start an instance from the very start, please make sure this option is disabled.
The Duty Finder UI will list a variety of party content and the content is separated in multiple groups via tabs (i.e. Dungeons, Guildhest, etc.). In addition, each of the content will list the minimum level your character must be in order to participate in that content (i.e. Sastasha Lv.15, The Tam-Tara Deepcroft Lv. 16, Copperbell Mines Lv.17, etc.). Once your character reaches the appropriate level, the content will be displayed within the Duty Finder. However, the content will be locked first and you’ll need to complete the quest that takes you to the actual location of the content. Once you complete the quest, the lock will be removed and you will be able to participate from any location going forward. All you need to do is send a request to join specific content and the system will automatically match you up with other players and then teleport you to the corresponding instance once the party is ready to go.
If there is a particular dungeon you would like to do, you can indicate the one you want to enter; however, if you don’t mind which dungeon you’ll challenge, there is a level sync system. For example, if you are level 35 and enter the level 16 Tam-Tara Deepcroft as is, you wouldn’t get any experience points at all, but with the level sync feature your level will be adjusted to level 16. There is no need to change your equipment; however, your actions will be restricted to those which can be used up to level 16. Say you’re level 50, and you have a friend who starts the game after and you want to accompany them in dungeons. You can use the level sync feature and participate in lower level dungeons with them and once the dungeon is complete, you will return to your original level. Also, since there are data centers in Japan and overseas it might not matter much, but you can also indicate your language preference. All of these elements make up the Duty Finder.
Q: Will we be required to use jump to complete content?
A: Generally no, but there may be some battle content where instead of having to run back after falling through a floor, jumping will get you back to where you were somewhat quicker. Also, we are currently planning to implement some seasonal events which require you to reach a certain location using the jump function.
Q: Will be able to register multiple classes/jobs on the duty finder?
A: No, you will only be able to register with a single role. If we give players the ability to register multiple classes/jobs, there’s no way the system will be able to tell which class/job to use when matching other players.
Q: In regards to retainer sharing, for example, if you have one account with three characters on the same world, will we be sharing 2 retainers between 3 characters or have 6 retainers?
A: It will not be possible to share retainers between characters even on the same world. Due to this, if you were to make three characters on the same world with the same account, your total number of retainers would be 6.
* During the stream it was said that retainer sharing would be possible; however it will not be possible.
Q: I would like to know about the World names that will be ready at launch and also which of those Worlds will be prepared for legacy/new players.
A: The Worlds used in version 1.0 (a.k.a Legacy Worlds) will remain as is. Also, those Worlds will have the “Legacy” tag at the end of the World name. As far as Worlds for new players, you will see a lot of new Worlds starting from Beta phase 3. More information will be announced via the Developers’ Blog so please stay tuned!
* For a list of world names, please check here.
Q: Besides regular crafting recipes, will there be special recipes that you can obtain as rewards from battle, quests, or achievements?
A: While they will not be available at launch, we plan on looking into this for the future. We would first like everyone to aim for level 50 when the game is launched.
Also, while we would like everyone to play at least one battle class, we don’t want to make the Disciples of the Hand farm specific battle content at launch.
Q: Do you plan on distributing new “heat-resistant gear”?
A: *Video introduces artwork for upcoming “heat-resistant gear.”
* Please note that the video will be released at a later time.
Q: Please show us in-game footage of either chocobo companions or magitek armor in battle.
A: Let’s take a moment to explain how the chocobo companions work. First off, you will have to use the item “Gyashl Greens” to summon your companion. The summoned companion will perform an attack on an enemy every time your character attacks an enemy.
Within the list of actions, you will see a tab called “Companions.” You can use the “Barding” action to change your companion’s barding. There are also additional icons such as “Withdraw,” which can used to return your companion, and “Follow” to have your companion follow your character. The companions also have various stances which determine how they fight. You can use the “Free Stance” to have the companion fight freely by letting them make their own decisions. The “Attacker Stance” can be used when if you want your companion to use attack using its unique actions and abilities. The “Defender Stance” can be used when you want your companion to be a tank by using defensive actions and abilities. The “Healer Stance” can be used when you want your companion to heal using its unique actions and abilities such as “Choco Cure” and “Choco Regen.”
The companion’s level will always be equal to your character’s level. While there’s no need to level your companion, you will be able to gain points by having them engage in battle. You will then be able to use those points to gain new abilities. Players will have the option to focus on one skill or distribute them evenly across multiple skills. It will also be possible to change your stance any time, so if you are in need of healing, you have the option to switch to “Healer Stance.”
Companions will be available from phase 3 of the Beta Test. However, the ability to change your companion’s barding has been disabled.
* During the stream it was mentioned that the ability to change barding would not be available in phase 3; however, partial implementation of this feature was added in phase 3.
Q: You called your companion with some Gyashl Greens; are these consumable items?
A: Yes, it’s a consumable item.
Q: Will arcanists be able to summon both the companion and carbuncle at the same time?
A: Yes, they can.
Q: So about that scholar rumor…?
A: Scholar will be implemented at the start of service as the 9th job.
* Information on scholar was released in the “Letter from the Producer Live at E3” video.
* During the stream it was said that scholar would be the 8th job; however, it is actually the 9th.
Q: Could you show us in-game footage of the Armoury Chest?
A: The Armory Chest can be accessed by clicking the chest icon on the bottom-right corner of the screen (or by pushing the corresponding shortcut key).
In ARR, you have the ability to change between different classes/jobs on a single character by using the Armoury System. Due to this, players often have to carry a large amount of equipment in their inventory. During the previous Beta Tests, we received a lot of feedback about the usability of gear sets. We discussed the matter internally and we believe this is the best way to satisfy everyone’s needs.
All equipment will be stored in your Armoury Chest and you will be able to store up to 25 items per gear slot. Whenever you obtain equipment, it will automatically be placed in your Armoury Chest. As for gear sets, you will be able to select any item within the Armoury Chest and therefore will no longer need to prepare multiple items of the same type if the item is equipped by multiple classes/jobs. There is still room to expand the space, so this is not the final number forever.
Q: Is there any new information on musketeer?
A: Nope!
Q: Do you have any plans to add another healer besides the white mage?
A: You might see a new class/job that can heal in the future.
Q: Show us monk in action!
A: We have a special surprise for you after the stream is done, so please be sure to check it out!
* Please check out the job action video here.
Q: Regarding the materia system in ARR, will it be possible to meld materia to equipment regardless of your class?
A: No. The class that can meld the materia is the class that can repair the item you would like to add materia to.
Q: In the future will you be making it so one class can equip multiple types of weapons?
A: While we don’t want to completely rule the idea out for the future, we would prefer focusing on adding new classes and jobs.
Q: Will you be implementing weapons that attack multiple times?
A: Since it will be possible to achieve this effect through the battle system by combining abilities and skills, and also through an ability that allows you to cast magic repeatedly with a recast time of zero, we are not thinking about introducing weapons like that.
Q: Regarding the vanity slot, when will it be implemented and how much freedom will we have?
A: We are currently planning to implement this in patch 2.2 (the second major patch). While the feature is ready to go, we’re still discussing how we can establish the feature as content. As far as the freedom goes, as we stated during the previous live letter, black mages will not be able to equip heavy armor, etc.
Q: Will equipment dyeing only be possible for the main color? Or will it be possible to dye the accent colors as well?
A: The portions that can be dyed are pre-set, but depending on the item it will be different.
Q: Please tell us about each job’s unique features, such as dragoon’s specialties for physical attack and the difference between the two tanks, paladin and warrior.
A: Dragoon is your standard damage dealer. However, by attacking from behind or from the side of your enemy you will get bonuses and buffs. These bonuses can stack and enhance your damage. Also, when you talk about dragoon, of course you can’t forget their jumps, and in ARR we will have a variety of different types of jumps. You can use jump to get close, leg sweep to stun, and then run behind them and attack with a multitude of abilities.
In regards to monk, which is a close range damage dealer like dragoon, using your first ability or weapon skill will determine a “form” which will then determine the next weapon skill you can use. Additionally, you will want to use the featherfoot/haymaker actions while continuing to link the forms together. You will also have to worry about your positioning, so all in all, it’s a very busy role! Depending on the form you can receive a haste effect which will reduce your global cooldown, so by linking a bunch of forms it will really open up possibilities. On the other hand, if you miss-link a form, you will have to start all over from scratch. It’s a class/job that takes a lot of skills to master!
With that said, each class/job has their unique differences.
Q: Will the “haste” spell be implemented? If not, are there effects similar to haste?
A: As explained earlier, certain abilities/weapon skills activate a haste effect as long as you meet the conditions. Additionally, there is equipment that will decrease the global cooldown. As for Disciples of Magic, thaumaturges have “Swiftcast” which makes the next spell an insta-cast spell, etc.
Q: Do you have any plans to implement elemental weaknesses/resistances? Also, please tell us why you eliminated these.
A: To give you an example, if you are fighting Ifrit and his weakness is water, then classes and jobs that are proficient in fire would be excluded from participating. Since we want to make participating in content easy with the Duty Finder, we felt that this wasn’t a positive approach and decided to get rid of it.
In ARR, players have the option of increasing their elemental resistance, so please focus of increasing your resistances rather than focusing on elemental weaknesses. This way, none of the classes/jobs will be excluded from certain content.
Q: Will there be multiple parts to target on huge monsters?
A: We are planning to add this to Behemoth, but for FATE in general, we do not plan on having this type of system. Instead, we want to focus on implementing additional mechanics that the participants will be able to enjoy.
Q: You previously stated that there’s a limit to how many times you will be able to roll “Need” on a dropped item. Will it be counted even if you don’t win the roll?
A: While there won’t be any limit to how many times you will be able to roll Need on an item, we do have plans to implement a restriction of some kind for acquiring rewards.
Q: Do you have any countermeasure in mind for free company leaders who leave without notice?
A: We will have countermeasures, such as sending a letter to everyone in the company and also passing the authority to the sub-leader, so please don’t worry.
Q: Will there be any changes or adjustments to the fighting and running animations for each race and gender?
A: The running animations are already different. As for the fighting animations, if we think about the future classes/jobs that we will be adding, there’s a chance that we won’t have enough memory to include all the animations. Therefore, we would like to first focus on stuff like adding new classes/jobs and making preparations to increase the level cap.
Instead of fighting animations, we are thinking about showing each race’s individuality via emotes and such. Starting from Beta phase 3, facial expressions will be implemented. Unlike the standard emotes, these new emotes will only change the expression of the character’s face. Please note that these new emotes can be used in conjunction with the standard emotes.
In other words, we’re constantly thinking about ways to update the game in the most efficient manner so we want to pick the best way to show off each race’s individuality.
Q: What kind of ability will limit breaks be? Please tell us about the area of attack and requirements to use it.
A: In regards to the area of attack, you will use it by placing something known as a ground target. Using the black mage as an example, they have spells where you are asked to decide where you want to place an AoE attack. The AoE limit breaks will be something similar to that fashion. On the other hand, there are single target limit breaks that can be activated by the attackers. You will have the option to decide which type of attack you would like to use depending on the battle (i.e. AoE if you want to defeat a group of monsters, single attack if you want to use it on a single boss, etc.).
We will be introducing the different type of limit breaks in the trailer to be released at E3, so please look forward to it!
* Watch the E3 trailer “Crystal’s Call” here.
Q: When the limit break gauge is full, will we receive any recommendation on what class/job to activate with?
A: Since that will be one of the exciting parts of battle, there are no plans to add a feature of that nature. Please use the limit break when you feel the time is right!
Q: Will you continue to host Letter from the Producer LIVE after the game is launched?
A: We enjoy holding them very much and are constantly receiving feedback from the players in regards to what they want to see next, so we will at least continue to do them until Letter from the Producer Live XIV.
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