For MogTalk 100, I wanted to provided something special for the viewers. A couple of weeks before the show, I sent to and received answers to questions from Yoshida! Now that MogTalk 100 is over, it’s definitely time to post the questions and answers

RAID

Q: Achievements have been a pretty big part of the game for rewards. Is the possibility of introducing “hardcore raid” achievements for doing fights in different manners something raiders can look forward to? For example, completing a fight by doing a mechanic in a very punishing manner and still clearing it. Giving them a cool glamour if they complete all achievements for a raid tier? This seems like a cost efficient way to keep hardcore raiders interested in the game.

Yoshida: This is a great idea! We would need to create a system that could monitor things like “whether or not the player cleared the content using an atypical method.” For example, if the theme was “defeat Titan (Extreme) at the minimum item level,” we will have to monitor if all party members are indeed “at minimum item level and defeat Titan (Extreme)” during the battle. That kind of system currently does not exist in FFXIV, so we would have to develop it from scratch. That being said, I do think it is a very good idea, so I’ll try to consider something after we’ve finished developing 4.0!

Q: Most players rule buffs and debuffs as the biggest contributor to imbalance between jobs currently. For example, bringing Paladin to The Soul of the Creator results in higher damage to the raid team, unless you bring a Monk, which results in lower raid buffs, causing a reduction in damage output from the raid team. In Stormblood, should we expect major changes to the way job buffs and debuffs work?

Yoshida: Of course, the development team is very aware of this situation. As an MMORPG, we’d traditionally want to keep these “unique job traits,” but on the flip side, players strongly desire fairness and equality. The development team has already reached our verdict, and are working towards that for 4.0 and I intend on providing an update to all players via the Letter from the Producer LIVE or the like. That said, I’m afraid I can’t go into details here, but I did want to relay to you that the development team is having deep discussions and developing on the same points everyone is talking about.

Q: Most players agree that the difficulty of the three different raid tiers of Alexander started with Gordias as the hardest and ending with Creator being the easiest. When discussing the matter, it seems players also agree it should have been reversed and the hardest raid should be the ending raid of the expansion. Was it intended to have the difficulty play out the way it did in Alexander and should we expect it to play out the same for the raid tiers in Stormblood?

Yoshida: No, as you’ve pointed out, the difficulty level of raids should start with the beginning being the most casual, and become more difficult as the series progresses. The reason why it was not that case for Alexander is clear- after finishing development on the Bahamut series, there was feedback from all around the world saying “we want you to create a more difficult raid” which led to the creation of Alexander Gordias: Savage at an extremely high difficulty level. However, as you are no doubt aware, there was feedback from all over the world saying “it’s too hard,” which led us to lower the difficulty from there. It was truly a learning experience for us, so for the next raid content, Omega, we would like to make is so that you will gradually feel the challenge building as the patches progress and the raid content is implemented.

PVP

Q: At the moment, every PvPer I have spoken to has claimed the disable of chat in the feast as the major factor to why they don’t want to participate in it anymore. While it’s understood that this is meant to reduce toxicity, but harms the competitive strategies players may develop, as well as means to teach other players. Are there any plans to revert this change?

Yoshida: I’m planning to make a forum post addressing this by the release of Stormblood, so if you could kindly stand by for more information!

Q: The matches at the various Fan Fests were definitely a highlight for any player who enjoys competitive PvP in FFXIV. What can the avid PvP players look forward to in regards to competitions such as the ones held at the events this year?

Yoshida: We are currently discussing with different partners in order to consider various initiatives such as events and online matches. It may be a while until we can divulge any information, but hone your skills as you stand by for more news to come!

MISC

Q: One of the biggest concerns with introducing both Red Mage and Samurai as DPS jobs is the imbalance of tanks and healers it will result in. It’s understood that some people will eventually go back to the roles they started with, but undoubtedly it will be somewhat of an issue, especially at the beginning of the expansion. Is anything being done to combat this for at least the first month or so of Stormblood?

Yoshida: Based on the data from Heavensward’s release, we found that many players who play as a tank typically prioritize levelling their current main job. This is due to the fact that two weeks after release we normally introduce new Allagan tomestones and raids such as Omega, and they will want to beef up their main job in order to clear that content. In fact, it seems in many cases, these players will play the new jobs after their main job has reached the cap and they have some free time on their hands. People who will play the new DPS jobs from the get-go tend to be people who already play a DPS as their main job. Also, there are many ways to level up your character, such as the Deep Dungeon, and FATEs, in addition to match-making content like dungeons, so by utilizing those I don’t think there will be much of an issue. Currently, the most effective leveling content is the Palace of the Dead.

Q: A lot of players log in every day do dailies for beast tribes. Most quests though, lack a lot of interaction outside of picking up items and killing 1 or two monsters. Although, riding around a mount and casting it’s abilities always seems refreshing. It gives players something different to do. Has there been any consideration to make daily quests more “non-battle” related, something quick and enjoyable outside of the daily normal combat?

Yoshida: To match the Stormblood timing, we are currently improving on the tools to broaden the range of play so that people can have a different quest experience. Also, your aforementioned “something different to do” in a quest is a big theme/issue, so we will be bolstering this even beyond the release of Stormblood.

Q: Throughout Heavensward, there have been lots of really great additions to the game. What was the biggest success in your mind with the Heavensward expansion that you hope to expand on with Stormblood?

Yoshida: Content which you could play at a more casual level, such as the Aquapolis and Deep Dungeon, are game experiences that were never seen in FFXIV before, and there are always many players playing these, so I believe they were great updates. In the future, I would love to make content like these show up again in a new way in Stormblood!

Thank you so much to the NA Community Team for translating and the FFXIV Development Team for answering!