FF14 Director Yoshi-P discusses the Zephyr’s bird companion, a new bait system, Island Sanctuary updates, and butt sliders at Fanfest Tokyo.
The last big FF14 Evercold showcase has now wrapped up, but there's still plenty to talk about before we get to the 8.0 expansion's newly announced February launch date. Game Director Naoki Yoshida took to the stage twice this weekend at Fanfest Tokyo to answer questions directly from the audience. These took place exclusively in Japanese, with 'Yoshi-P' joined by Community Producer Toshio Murouchi, but thanks to the hard work of the volunteer translators over at the Final Fantasy 14 Discord, we've got some juicy details to dig through regarding the future of the critically acclaimed MMORPG.
The Final Fantasy 14 boss selects questions, all of which were submitted in the wake of yesterday's Fanfest Tokyo keynote, by pulling various colored balls from a box, representing "normal, extreme, and ultimate" difficulty (much like the dice game in Anaheim). His first draw is naturally the most challenging color possible, but it's actually an easy answer: can we change the color of our bird companion as a Zephyr, the new ranged physical DPS job? "Dual dye," Yoshida responds, "When you give dyes to a certain NPC you can dye it." I can't wait for the fashion.
He's prodded to tease some details about Black Mage's Evolved Mode, and this time actually relents. "I am about to say something shocking… Triplecast is going to disappear. It will become something else, not three insta-casts. And Leylines will also not require you to be on them for 30 seconds, but you can use X abilities on them. So you can place them, cast, move to do a mechanic, come back, and continue." He pauses. "If I say any more Mr Prime will get mad," referring to the designer responsible for crafting the new combat system.
A post-Evercold housing update is set to allow us to float items without the need for awkward glitches and workarounds, and Yoshida confirms it should apply to "almost everything," noting, "If we're doing this we're doing everything. Every housing item can be floated; maybe not all lighting, there may be a few exceptions." He also touches on Island Sanctuary, acknowledging that "We've gotten requests globally for updates, and we do want to have some updates in the future after work on 8.0 has calmed down."
Yoshida says that character customization is still "getting some tweaks," but reminds us that the Evercold benchmark is scheduled for "early December," and that he and Murouchi will hold a livestream beforehand to show off all the new features. Another user asks whether there will be options to change your AFK poses when you have your weapon out, such as to use those from other races or genders, and Yoshida confirms, "It is being worked on."
On savage raiding, he states that the switch to personal loot won't stop those who have already cleared that week from helping those yet to do so. "People who have not cleared that week yet will get loot." He asks that players wait for the upcoming live letter focused on itemization and progression for full details. Touching on the recently released Dancing Mad Ultimate, Yoshida also reveals, "We had another phase, but that was too rough and difficult, and too long, so we dropped it."
One person asks about date events with story NPCs; "I understand," Yoshida responds, "but what if the scenarios we think of don't fit your imagination of what a date would look like?" Then, more ominously, he ponders, "And… what if - I am not going to say who and I am not going to say that it will happen - but what if a character leaves us? It would limit our options."
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.pcgamesn.com/final-fantasy-14/ff14-evercold-yoshida-interview-fanfest-tokyo
