The Alpha Test has begun and things are running... well, they're
running. Information continues to pour out through Japanese
publications, and this week we have an exclusive interview between
Famitsu and Final Fantasy XIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka and his faithful
director, Nobuaki Komoto.
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The alpha test has begun and would it be accurate to say that the whole
world is watching? At this stage of testing there is only a limited
amount of players, but the development team has taken their first big
step. I'd like to talk about how you feel the test is progressing, and
what you hope to accomplish as you go forward.Tanaka: The current situation for the alpha test is
that we have testing time split up into 4 hour blocks for each region --
Japan, North America and Europe. Admittedly, we have not stabilized
the server, and the game is not fully playable yet. We've been causing
some headaches for our test players who were lucky enough to get chosen
for the alpha, but with each update we are improving the game.
- What is causing the server instability?Tanaka: We have the same amount of testers in each
region, but from our experience beta-testing FFXI, we figured only 50%
of players would be logging in at the same time. Additionally, the
testers in Japan were all selected as passionate FFXI fans, so they are
eager to play, and the percentage of them logging in is extremely high.
The servers don't crash as often during North American and European
tests.
For the April 15th update, we extended the amount of time between
logins required to remain in queue to 10 minutes and introduced a system
to display your place in that queue. It allowed people who were
waiting to get in to have some visual indication of their progress, and
it let us organize the traffic better.
Komoto: As for the test itself, we sincerely
apologize that everyone has not been able to enjoy the game to their
satisfaction. We are also extremely grateful for all the feedback and
opinions we have received so far.
- What are your impressions of the feedback you have
received?Komoto: They are certainly much different then what
we hear from the development side. They notice a lot of little things
that we don't. In addition, there are some interesting differences
between the opinions of the different regions. Personally, it's been a
big change for me, as I had been away from the action for so long
working on FFXIV. Now that people are logging in and the alpha test is
in motion, I'm finding myself back interacting with the developers and
with management -- it feels like I'm home again.
- Have the developers been logging into the game?Komoto: We want too, but we still haven't increased
the amount of people who can access the game, so we're trying to
restrain ourselves. (laughs) We want as many players as possible to get a
chance to play.
Tanaka: During that first test, I was the only one
at my PC trying to fight through the crowds to login my character.
(laughs)
- Really! (laughs) Would we know it was your character if we
saw it?Tanaka: I was logging in as "Azagba Tanaka," so you
would probably have a clue. (laughs) We can see chat logs and such from
the developer side, but it's difficult to get a full picture of what
players are doing from that alone. Therefore, I want to login as a
representative and get an unfiltered look at exactly what the situation
is like in-game.
- The Producer has to do it himself, right? (laughs) Have
there been any particular opinions from the players that have left an
impression?Komoto: The alpha version is still focusing on basic
controls and movement, so there have been comments that the response
time is slow, or such and such command needs fixing. We expected some
control issues and let people know on the tester site to tell us, for
example, if they were difficult to understand without a tutorial. As we
expected, many people confirmed that they are tough to grasp. This is
something we feel needs to be addressed before release.
Tanaka: We are diligently investigating any issues
that get a lot of feedback. One interesting thing to note is the
difference in the amount of feedback posted to the Japan, North America
and Europe tester forums. Japan has about 5000 posts. Europe and North
America have a whole digit more with 19,000 and 25,000, respectively.
The amount of testers in each region is the same, but we are seeing 5 NA
posts for every single JP post, which really highlights the cultural
differences of the regions. Also, North American posters tend to write
many more suggestions. It's like, "Listen to my ideas!" (laughs)
- Meaning, Japanese players are a little more "graceful"
would you say?Komoto: More like they take their time and try to
get a full understanding of the current situation. We thought they
would have more scathing feedback for us, but it hasn't turned out that
way. It feels more like they are looking out for us than trying to
criticize.
- So, what you're saying is, you don't exactly have the time
to be all warm and fuzzy with the players?Komoto: It's nice, but it doesn't feel like we have
really accomplished anything yet. (laughs) Though I do enjoy being back
on the management-side of things.
Tanaka: We still have mountains of work to do.
(laughs) We're still putting out pieces of the alpha version and need to
examine what needs changing. Even when the official release comes out,
we have to start preparing for the next project, so I'm not sure we'll
even feel that sense of accomplishment and closure then.
- But that's part of working on an MMO -- it's never really
"finished."Komoto: Putting together an event where all the fans
come together really gives us that sense of accomplishment though.
It's like, "We did it!" (laughs)
Tanaka: I get that feeling everytime I log in with
the players and watch them enjoy the game. The alpha version isn't at
that stage yet, so I'm working hard to get it there.
- Ever since FFXIV was first announced, you have promoted it
as a game that will change and evolve as you take in player feedback.
Is it safe to say this plan has not changed?Komoto: No, it hasn't. It won't even change once
the game is released and official service begins. There are many things
we want to fix, and we can't just deliver a product with only what we
like. At this stage, we want to know what you want the most. Of course
we don't just want to hear about the bad points, we want to take in and
consider everyone's opinion on the future of the game.
- In other words, during the alpha and planned beta testing
phases, you want players to send you any opinions they might have, no
matter how trivial?Tanaka: Exactly.
Komoto: As we mentioned, player opinions often
contain things we simply overlook on the developer side. Even before
the alpha started, we posted the play manual and people already had
opinions on that. (laughs) Developers would take a look at what players
noticed and learn things.
Tanaka: Conversely, we are also able to get
confirmation for some of our own assumptions.
Komoto: So there's two goals: Discovering what we
overlook, and confirming our assumptions. That's why every single
comment is important to us.
- Let's move on to talk about the testing schedule. Is it
safe to assume the size and scope of the test is going to increase
gradually?Tanaka: We're still examining the situation, but at
this initial stage we want to be able to consistently conduct three
tests a week.
Komoto: We feel it's important to maintain server
stability and allow everyone to enjoy the game.
Tanaka: As for the region-based testing, we are
thinking of changing that at some point. There are always people who
just can't fit the testing times into their schedule.
- How long do you plan to run the current alpha test?Komoto: We had a general idea in the beginning, but
the server stability issues have caused more problems than we could
foresee. We still want to examine players after they have been able to
level their characters a little more.
Tanaka: Actually, we have two patterns set up for
the speed of character growth, so we plan to delete all characters at
some point during the alpha. After we collect data on the currently
implemented pattern, we will wipe everyone and start again with a the
second one in play.
- So, at some points you will have to start over from
scratch.Komoto: That's right. This isn't limited to the
alpha, but in the beta as well, once things are running smoothly, we
plan to do this multiple times up until the game's release.
- Will you move on to the beta phase once you have fully
examined the growth rate?Tanaka: Currently, the alpha test takes place on a
single World. The next step is to increase the number of Worlds, which
will multiply the number of testers. That will be the start of what we
call Beta-1, or perhaps Alpha-2.
- The plans change according to the situation.Tanaka: Depending on what feedback we collect and
how far development advances towards a final product, we can call the
current game a "beta version."
- Currently, regions are seperated during testing, but is
there a time planned when everyone will start playing together?Tanaka: That will probably happen once the Worlds
are running 24 hours a day. We're currently working towards that.
- How are things going development-wise?Tanaka: The graphics are pretty much finished.
Next, planners and programmers need to make some final adjustments, but
it's tough to say exactly what percentage is complete. (laughs) Even
with the graphics complete, there are things that need tweaking. For
example, the lighting throughout Limsa Lominsa is going to completely
change.
- Is the general framework of the world complete?Tanaka: The basics are pretty much done. Like I
mentioned, it's mostly cosmetic changes that are left. (laughs)
System-related things like the user interface, or additional quest
material are still being worked on. If we consider how FFXIV has been
in development for 5 years, we're probably in the final 10% of its
development cycle, which accounts for 50% of the game.
Komoto: With the start of the alpha test, we start
to look at character growth, expanding the world, quests and more.
Looking at the alpha as it is now, there's less than 10% of the game
available.
Tanaka: As for the progression of development, a
conservative estimate would be 65%. (laughs)
- Right now, the alpha has focused only on the PC. How is
development for the PS3 coming along?Tanaka: We're working hard on the PS3 as well. We
plan to have both versions begin service simultaneously.
- Then is it okay for those eager PS3 players to get excited?Tanaka & Komoto: Yes! We hope you look forward
to playing.