Square Enix/May 2008 Interview

 Development Team Q&A – May 2008  

Question 1 (Absolute Virtue)
We thank you for holding your promise to release an Absolute Virtue video. Players tested and analyzed the developers’ videos, but they couldn’t find any real weaknesses. After careful inspection and comparison of the videos in different languages, we noticed that a few people used their two-hour abilities multiple times within two hours.

Was this a circumvention of the game mechanics or is there some way to regain these abilities? We are assuming that the development team got around Manafont (meteor) and Benediction. Is this down to luck, or is there a way to "turn off" these abilities as well as the other two-hour abilities? We understand the importance of using elemental spells that match the day. Apart from this, we are in the dark.

Question 1: Can you explain the video or at least give a hint? Answer: All the answers are in the video. We cannot give you any more clues at this stage.

Optional Question 1b: Here is an open question from the Games Convention 2007: why does AV not always pop when Jailer of Love dies? (Answer this only if you want to) Answer: The point at which AV appears is supposed to be an accident, i.e. a trap. Absolute Virtue was not designed to always appear (to be honest, we want the players to try their luck).

Question 2 (Einherjar)
Einherjar is a well thought-out idea. However, players are disappointed with the fact that the spectrum of possible outcomes is not as broad as was promised. Currently, there are little or no rewards for the amount of time and effort one puts into it. When we fail to achieve a goal in a Dynamis or Limbus zone, we still get a reward in the form of currency and other useful items. Could you adjust Einherjar to work in a similar fashion, so that, for example, we could receive a small number of Ampoules of Therion Ichor for clearing all the lesser monsters, even when we fail to defeat the boss?

Question 2: Can you please make Einherjar scalable depending on the number of players that enter? After the last Games Convention, you told us that only nearby monsters are supposed to link, yet in reality this is not true. Everything in the entire zone links. What changes can we expect in Einherjar in the near future? Answer: Although the exact details are confidential, we can at least tell you that there are a few adjustments for Einherjar that have been taken into consideration. We would like to maintain the principle of obviously tough and hard battles in the content. We’re planning a number of adjustments in order for the player to get more rewards than at the present time.

Question 3 (Repop time of ??? –Questionmarks-)
Is it possible to reduce the time it takes for the forced-pop “???” NMs to respawn from fifteen minutes to something like five minutes? Spawning eight NMs results in a total of two hours being wasted. This is not only time-consuming but also causes any group after us to wait.

Question 3: What is the purpose behind the fifteen minute waiting period we currently experience? Answer: As a basic rule, should there constantly be congestion, some kind of adjustment is made (for example, this is applicable to NMs fought by the player in order to obtain the Samurai job). If there is a particular NM that this applies to, please let us know by giving us its name and what happens in detail. We can then examine the problem.

Question 4+5 (End-game)
In past interviews, you’ve often said that if there is enough demand, you will address any problem and try to act upon it. After two years of issues with users camping big NMs being continuously reported (for example with the 3 Kings, Tiamat, Cerberus etc.), is it possible for you to take action?

Most end-game Linkshells avoid camping these monsters because they do not stand a chance against people using third party software or people camping monsters like Tiamat, Cerberus, Khimaira for days (because of their long respawn times), evidently monopolising them.

With more and more End-game Linkshells being formed, this problem keeps on growing and worsening (On Bahamut we often have five to seven Linkshells competing for three hours in Dragons Aery or 3+ Linkshells at Cerberus waiting for him to spawn). We think that every player should have the opportunity to fight these monsters. Without using third party software or camping twenty-four hours a day, not everyone has that chance. Additionally, these monsters are no longer a challenge to most Linkshells as no one can fear them after fighting them for four years. Can you change the AI to make them more challenging again, especially 3 Kings?

Question 4: (Use of third party tools and the difficulty of fights) How can everyone get a chance to fight these monsters with the same loot? Does the Development Team still think that everything is fine in regards to this problem?

Question 5: (Drop rate and Spawn time) The main problem is the amount of Linkshells camping these days. Three years, ago it was two or three, now it is up to ten Linkshells at a time. Forcing more Linkshells to leave the camps by adjusting the drop rates or lowering the respawn time could help. What do you think? Answer: (combined with Question 5) We understand that there are a number of problems with the aforementioned HNMs. Although the benefits may no longer be relative to the 3-day-spawn time, the dropped items are still powerful and we think it is too early to make changes or adjustments making these are available to everyone.

As a first step, we are working on a larger choice of monsters which the player can challenge, by adding more HNMs and more powerful equipment.

Question 6 (Secrets/Latent effects)
Question: Could you give us more information about any latent effects which players may not have found yet? Additionally, are there any secrets we are yet to discover which you could hint at - such as those you mentioned at the Fan Festivals in 2007? Answer: Unfortunately, we cannot let you know of any undiscovered latent effects, as this would defy their purpose. On the other hand, we will let them be known at large once enough players figure out what the situation roughly may be. Items with no obvious advantages could well be worth thinking about.

Question 7 (Dynamis)
A major concern that has been brought to your attention many times has been Dynamis. We think that certain aspects of Dynamis could do with some small adjustments. Planning is quite difficult when the delay for re-entry is seventy-two hours. It would be desirable to reduce the seventy-two hour delay to seventy hours for Dynamis or any other similar content. The drop rate in the Northlands Zones causes many of the same players to farm for their relic gear after four years. We would like to move onto newer content. Players are no longer entering in the same numbers as before. Additionally, the current state of the economy makes the 1million gil entry fee unfeasible for even the largest groups. (Summary: Dynamis fee, re-entry time, drop rate)

Question 7: Are there any plans to reconsider the decision of not lowering the cost? Do you plan to readjust Dynamis at all? Answer: The entry cost is under review and we're planning to lower it. An adjustment of the drop rate in the Northland Zones is also planned, although the schedule is yet to be set.

Question 8 (Battle Music)
With the recent change in battle music, can you consider making it optional? Many players do not want to hear the repetitive battle music. Some would rather hear the area music instead. Can you please give this option to those who want it? Most of the people I have spoken to do not like this new battle music and have now turned off their in-game music altogether, myself included.

Question 8: Do you think this is possible? Answer: We have received a positive response from many players after implementing the new music. However, as a result of the long time the implementation took, some people do not like it.

The current plan is to make battle music the default option, while implementing another option to deactivate it. We will start working on it shortly!

Question 9 (Wing of the Goddess)
What happened to some of the changes mentioned in the last interview which were to be implemented in Wings of the Goddess? Can you tell us now how monsters can become extinct? What can we further expect from this expansion? Will there be additional end-game zones like in Chains of Promathia and will there be new HNMs? Answer: It would be an awkward situation if monsters in the present world were to become extinct as the result of events in the past. However, this may not necessarily be negative.

If the players do ‘something’ in the past world, there could be positive consequences in the present one. For example, if the players were to save a Pixie in the past, Pixies would exist in the present. For the time being though, there aren’t many cases of this.

In the future, more dynamic features will be added. These will lead to a string of positive changes and consequences, made in the past with effects in the present world.

Apart from the ‘Altana Missions’ and ’Campaign’ currently available, the release of new HNMs, new areas and some new contents are being planned. Keep posted for any announcements in the future!

Question 10 (Switching Nations)
I know this question has been asked several times without a definite answer, but many players would like the chance to explore the story-lines of other nations via their corresponding missions. However, the fact that outpost warp privileges are lost or reset upon changing allegiance is a huge hindrance to that.

Question 10: When players change nations, their Conquest Points are saved if and when they return to that nation. Is there any chance for an adjustment to allow players to keep their outposts when changing allegiance, maybe creating some kind of quest or mission after switching to re-obtain these more easily? Answer: Concerning outposts, these are considered a reward for a player’s conquest points. They are also set to be cleared when a player changes nationality because of a sense of belonging. However, as more players have cleared missions, we have increasingly received requests for more random missions in other countries.

In response to the request, the following adjustments will be made: When a player changes nationality, access to previous outposts will be saved. In a new nation, a player will have to start out from scratch. However, previous records are retrieved upon return to the nation of origin and the player can then re-access saved outposts.

Question 11 (Windowed Mode)
First of all, thank you for releasing this option. Do you plan any new features for the windowed mode (for example taking screenshots more easily)? Answer: There are no such plans for the moment.

Question 12 (Food)
Whereas there have been many new cooking recipes added, mages still have a limited choice of food. For example, a melee job can provide massive boosts to attack or accuracy through food, whereas mages will receive small amounts of MP or stats.

Question 12: Are there any plans to add mage food with more significant effects (for example cure potency or Magic Attack Bonus food)? Can players be allowed to see the effects of food items without having to use them?

(This would resolve the issue of half of the food items not being desired simply because many people do not know the effects of most of the food bonuses in the game.) Answer: We know all too well that the food choices for mages have been very limited. We are planning to gradually add some more variation to bring some balance.

As to the ways to check the effect of different food items, we would like to find a solution. This is not easy: there are a large number of foods, and their effects have already been implemented.