Letter from the Producer, II (2/1/2011)




Hello again, everyone, and welcome to the second official Letter from the Producer. As always, thank you for taking the time to read.

I’ve been worrying that I may have set the
bar a little high for myself with my first letter. There was so much I
wanted to cover that it didn’t take long before it expanded to its
final, significant length. Afterwards, I noticed a number of posts
criticizing me for my light-hearted tone. I apologize. Sometimes my
personality gets the better of me. I hope you’ll be kind enough to allow
me a certain amount of tomfoolery in the future.

I’ve made a few additions to the list I
posted previously—this time regarding forthcoming changes to the
Lodestone and other community-based features. (I originally intended for
them to be released along with the rest of last week’s post, but I
wrote them in right before the post went live and experienced a bit of
an...editing fail. Sorry!)

So without further ado, here is the updated and amended list of changes.

Category	Planned	Current Tasks	Future Tasks
Quests	Tutorials for new players	Planning and implementation of tutorial quests	Introduction of additional quests
	Quests revolving around the danger facing Eorzea	Planning and implementation of quests	Introduction of additional quests
	Public company quests	Planning of public companies and related quests in Limsa Lominsa, Ul'dah, and Gridania	Introduction of additional quests
User Interface (UI)	Improvements to the log	Changes to behavior of windows when moused over  Removal of auto-log activation, addition of ablitity to target behind log	—
		Automated show/hide feature  Log hidden after certain period of inactivity	—
		Revision of text colors by message type  Brighter system messages for easier reading	Increased log tabs Increased color customization by type
	Improvement of dialog windows (ex. market area selection)	Changes to increase the amount of on-screen data to reduce the need for multiple pages	Revisions to page advancing Conversion to specialized windows
	Improvements to journal usability	Changes to consolidate all current quests and levequests on one screen	Ongoing changes Additional list entries
		Changes to speed up text scrolling, increased further for prolonged scrolling	Addition of a feature to change pages using a gamepad
		Adjustments to window size and scrolling position  Consolidation of levequest details on one screen	—
	Character jump feature	Examination of the implementation of jumping	Implementation following completion of a favorable examination
	Increased visibility of combat damage display	Use of distinct colors for player and enemy damage	—
		Adjustments to prevent overlapping of combat text  FINAL FANTASY-esque changes to number pop-up animations	—
	Increased usability of maps	Examination of increased refresh rates for more responsive maps	Implementation of chages Subsequent increase in the number of points and icons pictured on maps
	Improved minimap usability	Addition of PC field-of-view display on the minimap	Quest NPC directional indicator
	Improvements to camera usability	Changes to prevent random reset of camera distance settings	Changes to allow camera distance settings via gamepad
	Changes to notification windows	Changes to window placement Reduced intrusion of windows when engaged in combat	Changes to increase the specialization of windows
	Improvements to targeting mechanics	Changes to allow targeting by type (PC or NPC) when targeting with a gamepad	Examination of target indicator customization
Guildleves	Improvements to guildleve-related information	Command-based display of time remaining until guildleve renewals	—
		Additional information when exchanging guildleves	—
		Revision and balancing of local leve issuing conditions	Ongoing revision and balacing
	Balancing of guildleve rewards	Changes to less popular guildleves in line with reward balances	Further release of new guildleves following balancing
Items, Synthesis, and Gathering	Adjustments to item condition values	Adjustments to lower the rate at which item condition deteriorates	Ongoing balances in line with player feedback
	Higher visibility of the optimal rank of items	Changes to the color of item names to convey the disparity between optimal rank and a player's current rank  Currently assessing costs of implementation	Color categorization of item names
	Reassessment of the gear affinities	Introduction of gear with rank requirements to create player-oriented goals	Further changes to gear affinities
	Revision of battle loot and quest rewards	Ability to obtain weapons and armor via battle loot and quest rewards	Implementation in line with quests
	Changes to item stack sizes	Examination of increased stack sizes from 12 to 99	Implementation of increased item sizes after finalization
	Increased pace of gathering actions	Changes to the frame rates of action animations to speed up gathering	—
Market Areas	Improvement of market area connectivity and stability	Reduction in the frequency of market area crashes	Ongoing improvements to market area stability
	Improved usability of the item search feature	Addition of prices displayed together with search results	Examination of ability to search by specific item names
	Examination of an auction house system	Final examination of retainer and auction house systems	Initial planning following final decision
Battle System	Ability to toggle display of head gear	Ability to toggle head gear to allow display of character faces	-
	Revisions to party-based skill point acquisition in parties	Improvements to skill point acquisition for parties	—
	Changes to enmity calculations	Revisions to enmity algorithms	Ongoing revisions to enmity algorithms
	Revision of crowd control actions	Revision of crowd control actions for each class to improve party-based play	Implementation of changes after finalization
	Changes to enemy group dynamics	Introduction of enemy group variability, as well as enemy group highlighting to enhance combat visibility	—
	Changes to claiming/engaging enemies	Examination and implementation of changes to claiming and engaging enemies	Ongoing balancing of skill point acquisition following initial changes
	Balancing of enemy attributes	Changes to enemy attributes and drops	Ongoing balancing as necessary
	Addition of beast tribes	Release of beast tribe monsters as both roaming and quest-related enemies	Further implementation in line with new quests
	Revision of enemy sizes	Optimization of enemy size for ease of play	—
	Design and release of notorious monsters	Release of notorious monsters	Further implementation in line with new quests
		Conversion of roaming monsters to notorious monsters	Implementation after finalization
Armoury System	Changes to actions for Disciplines of War & Magic classes	Further changes to enhance class uniqueness	Initial implementation of partial changes
	Changes to class names	Possible introduction of traditional names such as paladin, monk, white mage, etc.	Announcement of further changes as they arise
Company System	Introduction of public companies	Introduction of public company leaders in each city-state	Announcement of further changes as they arise
		Introduction of public companies in Limsa Lominsa, Ul'dah, and Gridania to combat the threat to Eorzea	Announcement of further changes as they arise
-NEW-The Lodestone	Official forums	Test launch of official forums in JP, EN, FR, and DE beginning in early March	Improvements to forums based on test period results Determination of final launch date
	Additional blog features	Addition of a "Like!" button to mark preferred posts	—
		Ability to add decorative text, HTML links to blog entries	—
	My Site automated notifications	Notifications of new blog entries, new followers, etc., posted at the top of My Site pages	—

As you can see, there are a number of changes
planned for patch 1.15a. Once the patch goes live, the list will be
updated, and we will continue to add even more changes. Many players
have voiced their desire for a complete list of all planned changes,
rather than a partial 30% list. I can only say I will personally be
adding items to the list as soon as adequate testing and examination
have been carried out. So continue to keep an eye on the Lodestone for
all the latest news!

My next post will be dealing specifically
with the battle system, and I am planning to conduct another players’
poll on the subject. I would very like much to hear all of your opinions
again.

Until next time! ☺FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer & Director, Naoki Yoshida