Archive | Final Fantasy XIV RSS feed for this section

Important Notice to FFXIV Fans

13 Dec
Thank you for your continued interest in and support of FINAL FANTASY XIV.

While more than two months have passed since the official launch of FINAL FANTASY XIV service, we deeply regret that the game has yet to achieve the level of enjoyability that FINAL FANTASY fans have come to expect from the franchise, and for this we offer our sincerest of apologies.

After thorough deliberation on how to meet those expectations, it was decided that the most viable step was to approach improvements under new leadership and with a restructured team.

To realize this vision, and in doing so, provide our customers with a better game experience, we have assembled our company’s top talent and resources. Taking over the role of producer and director is Naoki Yoshida, a passionate individual for whom customer satisfaction has always taken top priority. Not only is he one of our Group’s most accomplished and experienced members, Naoki Yoshida is also a charismatic leader possessing the skill to bring together and effectively helm a team which encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. We also welcome several new leaders handpicked from other projects to work with the existing talent on FINAL FANTASY XIV.

We realize time is of the essence and are fully determined to provide our customers with quality service. It is because of this that we ask our customers to be patient until we are able to confidently present them with a concrete plan outlining FINAL FANTASY XIV’s new direction. The free trial period will be extended until that time.

Regarding the PlayStation 3, it is not our wish to release a simple conversion of the Windows version in its current state, but rather an update that includes all the improvements we have planned. For that reason, we have made the difficult decision to delay the release of the PlayStation 3 version beyond the originally announced date of March 2011.

The FINAL FANTASY XIV team is working hard to bring our customers an unparalleled adventure, and we ask for your continued understanding and support as we march ever diligently towards that goal.
President and CEO, Yoichi Wada
 
The development and management teams would like to make an announcement regarding personnel changes.

[Organizational Changes to the Development Team]
To improve the service of FINAL FANTASY XIV, Square Enix has made the following changes to the development team:

Managerial Changes

Producer/Director
Naoki Yoshida

Section Leader Changes

Assistant Director
Shintaro Tamai (FINAL FANTASY X, Front Mission 5: Scars of the War)

Lead Game Designer
Nobuaki Komoto (FINAL FANTASY IX, FINAL FANTASY XI)

Lead Combat System Designer
Akihiko Matsui (FINAL FANTASY XI)

Technical Advisor
Yoshihisa Hashimoto (Next Generation Game Engine Development)

Lead Programmer
Hideyuki Kasuga (FINAL FANTASY XI, DIRGE OF CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII-)

Senior Concept Artist
Akihiko Yoshida (FINAL FANTASY XII, Vagrant Story)

Lead Artist
Hiroshi Takai (FINAL FANTASY XI, THE LAST REMNANT)

Lead UI Designer/Lead Web Designer
Hiroshi Minagawa (FINAL FANTASY XII, Vagrant Story)

These members will make up the development team’s new core—a core dedicated to ensuring we achieve a level of enjoyability that will more than satisfy our customers. Under a schedule of more frequent version updates, the new leaders and their respective sections will strive for continued improvements to FINAL FANTASY XIV service operation and development.

[Extension of the Free Trial Period]
As stated above, the newly restructured team’s top priority is to bring about improvements to the game’s enjoyability, and therefore we have decided to extend the free trial period until we can provide a plan that outlines a level of enjoyment that will satisfy both us and our customers. When we are confident that we have reached that goal, we will notify our customers immediately.

[Future Version Updates]
At present, the development team is putting the finishing touches on the previously announced version update, which is still slated for release in mid-December. In addition, there is one more version update scheduled for release before year’s end. Details on the content and dates of these updates will be released in the near future.

[Delay of the PlayStation 3 Version Release]
Although the release date for the PlayStation 3 version of the game was previously announced as late March of 2011, we regret to inform that this date has been changed.

The PlayStation 3 release will be delayed until we are confident that the game has reached the level of enjoyability and service befitting the FINAL FANTASY name for users on all supported platforms. We offer our sincerest apologies to any fans anticipating the PlayStation 3 release, and humbly ask for your continued patience and understanding as both the development team and Square Enix as a whole strive towards making FINAL FANTASY XIV a truly enjoyable and unforgettable adventure.

[New Development Team Policy]
I would like to take this opportunity to greet all of you—those currently playing FINAL FANTASY XIV, those who have taken a respite from playing, and those awaiting the PlayStation 3 release—and offer a brief word by way of an introduction.

No doubt there are very few, if any, among you who have ever heard the name Naoki Yoshida. To be sure, I have never been in the fore on any of the titles I have worked on in the past. I am, however, honored and privileged to work alongside many talented and inspiring colleagues, and with their support have enjoyed making games for a number of years. I am aware that a great many people will think the responsibility of leading FINAL FANTASY XIV is far too large a task for someone so unknown. After all, even my very best may seem no more than a drop in the bucket when considering the sheer scope of FINAL FANTASY XIV. But working together with me are the very talented and very capable development and management teams, whose dedication and motivation are unwavering. I would like to ask you to please put to rest uncertainties that you may have.

Now, more than ever, myself, the development team, and Square Enix as a whole, are committed to furthering our efforts to provide a quality service.

Everything we do will be for our players and customers.
FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer/Director, Naoki Yoshida
 
First of all, I would like to apologize for our inability to fully satisfy our users with the initial release of FINAL FANTASY XIV. I take full responsibility for the game’s current situation, and have therefore made the decision to step down from my role as producer. A number of concerns that have been voiced by users, such as the design of the user interface, availability of tutorials and game content, and battle system functionality, represent key issues that must be addressed. While improvements are already well underway in many areas, we were unfortunately not able to incorporate player feedback as quickly as we would have liked. We are aware, however, that in many cases, addressing these issues will call for a reworking of game elements. As these changes are our first priority, they will be commanding our full attention and efforts. It is to that end that we have put a new organizational structure into place for the development team. Under this new system, FINAL FANTASY XIV will see changes and additions in line with the desires and expectations of players. Though no longer producer, I will be continuing to support the development team in other capacities, and personally hope that you will continue your adventures in the realm of Eorzea.
Hiromichi Tanaka

A Few Impressions

5 Sep

Stargrace Reveur

After much refreshing, I finally managed to get a key for the open beta of FFXIV. It took about an hour, and then a good deal of issues were wrought over the download client which is garbage. Once I managed to bypass THAT it was time to log in.

The game is beautiful. I set my computer to 1 setting lower then what it was set to by default (which was the highest settings on everything). I’m running an i7 quad core with 8gigs of ram, and 2 crossfired ATI 4870 HD video cards. I also have two monitors, though I am playing the game windowed on one (mostly so I can take screen shots as don’t think there is a way to do this in game, at least not that I have found).

Others have already posted that the game is not going to be for everyone, and some particulars that I’ll go over again here. If you are used to mouse clicking everything on your screen, you may not like this game. Me, I’ve always been a keyboard player. I avoid the mouse as often as possible (due to being left handed? Not sure). The movement and camera in this game pose no issues for me, I move the camera with my right hand while I navigate with my left (wasd keys).

It ran flawlessly. There were a LOT of people around and even in the populated areas I had no issues. I did see a very small stutter during some video scenes, but it was barely noticeable. I never crashed, though I did only play for about two hours.

I was very happy to see that you have four different paths to choose in character selection, and one is harvesting, another is crafting. Those choices alone indicate that this may be a game I want to purchase once it goes live. I created a carpenter, pictured above. I’m equipped with a saw, and my only ‘skill’ so far is to throw a rock. Combat is a little slow, but there’s an incredible story unfolding with a lot of exploration and npc interaction, both things I enjoy.

I managed to find my way to a camp I needed to reach, after much (much) wandering around. The maps are difficult for me to read, but honestly I have issues finding my way anywhere, in any game, even if I’ve been there a billion times before. This may create some frustration for me if I’m on a timed mission (if they even exist) but for now I was content to wander. I picked up a quest to create some wooden planks – and failed utterly at the crafting system. I’m sure there’s some generic icon I’m missing (the “tutorial” told me to look out for some signs of which buttons to press during the creation process) but whatever those were I just couldn’t pick up on.

I haven’t read any guides, walk throughs, or anything else about this game. I’ve read a few blog posts from friends but aside from that my knowledge of the game is incredibly limited – and I like it that way. It feels like a real adventure.

I still haven’t decided if I’m going to purchase the game when it goes live, but so far my experiences have been mostly positive (as soon as I got into the game, at least).

My one “issue” stems from the fact that selecting a face type dictates the size of a woman’s chest. Er, since when are the two related?

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 730 other followers