Gamescom 2009: Producers Hiromichi Tanaka and Sage Sundi Talk Final Fantasy XIV


By Shaun McIlroy, 8:10 am on August 25, 2009






Less than half an hour after my meeting with the Final Fantasy XIII team I was ushered into another suite, this time to wax lyrical all things Final Fantasy XIV. After being introduced to the games producer Hiromichi Tanaka and the global online producer Sage Sundi, we were informed that the appearance of Final Fantasy XIV
on the show floor was in fact the world premiere of game as a playable
t itle. And to be honest, it was visually beautiful a game said to
still only be in the alpha phase. While the world was lacking in the
energetic population of a full-on active MMO, there were plenty of
people running about from Square’s Gamescom booth, where lucky demo players struggled to understand anything they could about the game. You can check out some of FFXIV’s visuals
at in the gallery at the end of the article, but overall the visuals
stack up quite favorably compared to Final Fantasy XI.

Our first question for Tanaka was
simple; why build an MMO focused mainly on the PC, when the Japanese
gaming market has often shown a preference for offline single-player
RPGs, and even then mainly on consoles and handhelds? Tanaka told OneLastContinue
a couple of reasons why he felt the need for a PC version; first of
all, for the MMO to succeed there must be a PC format version for those
gamers who generally feel uncomfortable with console gaming, and
secondly, having a PC version as the lead platform made it easier for
them to port the game to the PlayStation 3. This helped Square get
around a problem that dates back to their original MMO; Final Fantasy XI’s
lead development platform was the PS2, and as such it was never able to
reach the graphical levels they were hoping for. The graphical
resolution on PS2 also kept the team from having an in-depth HUD on the
screen for players; in the HD era of the PlayStation 3 this will no
longer be a problem for either version. Tanaka confirmed that the game
is most certainly portable to other platforms if the need arises, but
at the moment their focus is on the PC and PS3 versions; any
announcements or releases of other platforms will come as those two are
finished. Another thing to note is that the PS3 version also supports
a keyboard and mouse, making it the second full-scale PS3 title to
support such a feature. More details will be released on this control
method before the game launches.



Regarding the game’s setting, we have now learned that the world of Final Fantasy XIV
is actually referred to as Hydaelyne, while the previously
mentioned Eorzea is a specific geographical region of a continent known
as Aldenard. We were also told that the setting of Final Fantasy XIV
will be unique in that it blends science fiction and fantasy elements
to a point at which it will be difficult to place in the past, the
future, or the present. Also, like Final Fantasy VI, there
will be ’some kind of machines as well’ our translator told us, which
could be anything really such as large mecha-type suits to merely
industrial type settings; it would not be surprising if the flying
machines in the release trailer are connected in some way.

According to the producers, Final Fantasy XIV
is not about reaching a level cap; instead, the game is more focused
around getting together with other people (or playing solo if you
prefer), and just enjoying the game by staging raids on the larger
dungeons and boss fights. Due to the slightly different way in which
the staff is going about building the quest system in this game,
players can (with your permission of course) join up with you mid-quest
and help you fight monsters, this time without having to have been
there since the beginning. Because the storyline will be vast in its
scope, there will be a more traditional Square-Enix approach to the game, now featuring fully voiced cutscenes in order to make sure the storyline is easier to follow than XI.
As we mentioned before, level grinding is not the aim in this title;
instead the focus in combat will be the newly implemented Armory
system. By equipping any of a variety of weapons or tools, players can
instantly change their active skills, thus enabling them to
dramatically alter their style of play as well as their character’s
outward appearance.

The much discussed Guildleves
are small, rectangular plates made of stained crystal set into a frame
of precious metal, each depicting a virtuous deed of one of Eorzea’s
patron saints, also known as Guardians. When issuing tasks or quests,
guilds will often provide adventurers with these plates, allowing their
bearers “leave” to take whatever steps necessary to complete the jobs;
several examples include allowing entry into normally restricted areas,
hunting or harvesting on private lands, the confiscation of goods and
even negotiations with those considered enemies of the city-states.
Guildleves also grant use of Aetheryte portals, ensuring quick travel
about the region; this means no more waiting for airships when you’re
trying to go out questing!



Whilst talking about whether or not
there would be a subscription based model for the title we discovered
some interesting facts with regards not only to FFXIV, but also Final Fantasy XI.
Originally, the team had considered using a microtransaction-based
model with no subscription fees, but they came to the conclusion that
most players would end up spending more over time in microtransactions
than they would on a subscription. Most people remember the
much-maligned PlayOnline service used during FFXI’s
heyday; this was implemented due to the PS2’s technical limitations and
lack of an inbuilt internet browser. Thanks to the current
generation’s technological advances, however, the
PlayStation 3 version will now make use of the platform’s internal
Internet browser for the services originally provided by the PlayOnline
online payment gate. When we mentioned the old FFXI issue of
the lack of payment options for players who lacked a Visa or a
Mastercard, we learned that the team is looking into a variety of
payment options across their own web-based service, and prepaid cards
are also being considered as well.

When asked about cross-platform
interactivity for players, Sage Sundi addressed the question in depth,
informing us that not only will the user-base be able to interact with
each other across the differing platforms, but also he confirmed that
they are indeed aiming for cross-region gameplay meaning truly
worldwide servers, unlike its main rival World of Warcraft,
which splits the user-base into three distinct regions across the
United States, Europe and China. Presumably due to people wanting to
keep their online identities, Sage told us that they are trying to
implement a name/surname system in the game to allow people who may use
the same singular identity, such as Sephiroth, to have a dual name in
order to keep arguments about identity theft to a minimum.

One last thing we were able to get out
of Tanaka was the possibility of having Airship battles after seeing
similar trysts in the CG trailer from E3 this past June. More specific
announcements regarding player ‘mounts’ will be coming at a later date.
And there you have it; that’s all we could discern from our sitdown
with the team taking the reins on the game, although we must say that
the two gentlemen, and their translator, may very well have been some
of the nicest we met at the Gamescom event in Cologne last week. Look
for Phil Caron to post his updated feature on Final Fantasy XIV in the
coming days but until then here are some images for you all to
assimilate.

Final Fantasy XIV will be launching
some time in 2010 for PlayStation 3 and PC, and information on beta
tests will be released at a later date; perhaps packed in with a
certain RPG that hits shelves next year?

You can check out the rest of our Square-Enix coverage at Gamescom here:

Final Fantasy XIII Development Team Interview

Regarding the game’s setting, we have now learned that the world of Final Fantasy XIV
is actually referred to as Hydaelyne, while the previously
mentioned Eorzea is a specific geographical region of a continent known
as Aldenard

like Final Fantasy VI, there will be ’some kind of machines as
well’ our translator told us, which could be anything really such as
large mecha-type suits to merely industrial type settings

Final Fantasy XIV is not about reaching a level cap; instead,
the game is more focused around getting together with other people (or
playing solo if you prefer), and just enjoying the game by staging
raids on the larger dungeons and boss fights

players can (with your permission of course) join up with you mid-quest and help you fight monsters

There will be a more traditional Square-Enix approach to the game, now featuring fully voiced cutscenes in order to make sure the storyline is easier to follow than XI

The much discussed Guildleves are small, rectangular
plates made of stained crystal set into a frame of precious metal, each
depicting a virtuous deed of one of Eorzea’s patron saints, also known
as Guardians. When issuing tasks or quests, guilds will often provide
adventurers with these plates, allowing their bearers “leave” to take
whatever steps necessary to complete the jobs; several examples include
allowing entry into normally restricted areas, hunting or harvesting on
private lands, the confiscation of goods and even negotiations with
those considered enemies of the city-states. Guildleves also grant use
of Aetheryte portals, ensuring quick travel about the region; this
means no more waiting for airships when you’re trying to go out
questing!

that not only will the user-base be able to interact with each other
across the differing platforms, but also he confirmed that they are
indeed aiming for cross-region gameplay meaning truly worldwide
servers, unlike its main rival World of Warcraft, which splits the user-base into three distinct regions across the United States, Europe and China

One last thing we were able to get out of Tanaka was the possibility of
having Airship battles after seeing similar trysts in the CG trailer
from E3 this past June. More specific announcements regarding player
‘mounts’ will be coming at a later date.

Ashura wrote:ya 2009 is really a dry season for mmo lolz