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Matsui: "Sorry to keep you waiting!"
 Lakshmi.Tanama
Server: Lakshmi
Game: FFXI
Posts: 225
By Lakshmi.Tanama 2012-11-28 13:00:38
| 11-28-2012 11:15 AM | | Slycer | | BG Translator |  |
|
First pass translation. I'll run through it once more for clarity and meaning as it's rather long and detailed (and important).
--
Progress Report (Sorry to Keep You Waiting!)
Hello, it's Matsui.
As always, thanks for continuing to play Final Fantasy XI.
A lot of time has passed since the last time I posted here, so I'd like to first apologize for that.
*Changes to Vana'diel over the past 2 years
*How our players feel about the game
And your questions about
*What's going on with the development and management teams
*What's the status on development progress
*What's the path moving forward
We understand each of these situations, and I wanted to develop an organized response to this. There have been many challenges over the past few months and I needed more time to develop my response because of this, but at this point I can't fairly ask for any more time. So, as an interim report, I wanted to discuss what we're working on now, and what we're planning on for the future.
◆The Roadmap
We are truly sorry that there have been such significant delays from the roadmap that was previously published. There were two reasons for this.
One was because the schedule was published before the announcement of "Seekers of Adoulin." The impact of the development work on Adoulin was much greater than we initialy forecasted.
The other is that the man hours it took to review the projects and feedback from the forum was also greater than the initial forecast.
I am considering creating and publishing a modified version of the roadmap through March 2013. Beyond that, we need some time so that we can both determine the real workload and redefine our development policies. It is important that we firmly establish this development plan for the new fiscal year and keep our players from becoming disappointed.
We understand that our players have been inconvenienced by this and may have some bitter feelings over it, but please give us a little more time.
◆The Current Situation
I'm happy to read all of the player feedback that we get, not only from the forums, but also from Twitter or directly from our players.
One of the concerns raised with content, for example, is that people are not able to form up large enough groups to participate.
While there is by no means a small amount of content and a lot of content requires a party or more, I believe that there are a lot of contributing factors as to why people have found it difficult to act as a full party.
Right now, there is very little content to play at a casual difficulty level, and for some players it has already run out. We've also received many suggestions from players who focus on the content with a higher degree of difficulty that they often have no reason to log on or they have little to do when they are on. A lot of this is because of poor item performance or unnecessarily difficult item acquisition.
◆Development Policies
So it's easy to understand, the main theme behind redefining our policies will be the following items:
*Content Design
*All Jobs
*Determining Item Performance
*Reward Distribution
First off, for players below level 99, we want you to become level 99 first. We are considering adjusting the level 95 limit break so that it can be done even solo. For players who have already become level 99, I would like to provide play situations of all varieties (solo/group, casual/difficult, etc.), and this will be the basis for new and adjusted content.
Once the top groups have exhausted the difficult content, we must also go in and make adjustments so that other players can come out with some reasonable success rate.
For example, strengthening players with additional equipment or job adjustments is one of the methods that we can use to directly reduce the difficulty of all content. Of course, those in the top group might be a little disappointed by this, but there is the assumption that at that point there will already be a new challenge with better rewards in place.
Also for existing content, to redefine the difficulty of getting the rewards, we will consider adjustments to the number of people required and the content's intended level range in order to meet the needs of whatever the current status in Vana'diel would require. This is especially true for adventurers who are just coming back now after a long break.
For the performance of items, the fact that the level will not continue to raise from 99 is one important factor that we would consider. There will be a need in the future to have both items that provide minor performance upgrades, as well as ones that provide significant upgrades.
As far as how to actually distribute rewards, we got a lot of feedback about this on the forum with respect to how we use low drop rates to adjust compensation to content difficulty. I believe we would like a point-based distribution method to be the standard method added for all situations.
For other things, we got a lot of feedback that battles at level 99 are just not well-balanced in general. For example, we need to make major adjustments to the processes related to enmity generation, and I suspect that there are issues with the TP system as well.
Now that I've outlined all of these, once we have a staff discussion based on player feedback, we will decide the timing of specific content introduction for the next fiscal year. Of course, since final decisions are not yet made, we are more than ever looking for player feedback here.
◆In Closing
We get a lot of Twitter feedback and I know a lot of you are looking for a lot of interaction there. I can tell you that I would be stuck to Twitter all day in order to do that, so I'm sorry if feedback is a little slow.
That said, with things a little calmed down, I would like to take more of a look there, as well as to take more notes based on the forum feedback and hopefully respond more here as well.
I'm still only learning as the new producer, but I can tell you that I will try my hardest so that we can together build a Final Fantasy XI that is loved by everyone. We ask for your continued cooperation and participation in the future.
Translated by: Slycer | |
Official Translation:
| 11-28-2012 05:07 PM | | Akihiko_Matsui | | Dev Team |  |
|
Hello.
Thank you all very much for your continued patronage of FINAL FANTASY XI.
Firstly, let me apologize that so much time has passed since my last post.
I have been struggling to comprehend each of the below points and organize everything to tell you all, and before I knew it, months had already passed by.
How has Vana'diel changed in the past two years?
How do all of the players feel about these changes?
What kinds of discussions are taking place within the development and operations team?
With what kind of intentions and ways of thinking is work being done?
What are the plans from here on out?
I'm at a point that I'd really like more time for all of this, but I can't just keeping saying that.
With that said, I'd like to share with you an interim report of what we are doing right now and what we would like to do moving forward.
Regarding the Roadmap
I apologize for the delays with the currently released roadmap. There are two reasons for this.
The first reason is that since the schedule was released before the announcement of Seekers of Adoulin, the effects of the development load for the expansion were much larger than anticipated.
The second reason is that the hours needed to work on and discuss all of the forum topics was much greater than we anticipated.
While we looked into a revised version of the roadmap to release, instead of redoing everything that was up until March 2013, we feel it's necessary to take time to build out a proper development plan from next year on, starting with redefining development plans and then deciding on the practical work content so that we do not disappoint all of you.
It's hard for me to ask this, as we've already caused everyone to worry and be inconvenienced, but please give us a bit more time.
Understanding the Current Situation
I have been reading over what everyone thinks, not only from all of the posts made on the forum, but from players' blogs, Twitter, and other sources.
For example, there's the concern with content and that the necessary content is not reaching the necessary people.
When thinking about the amount of content made thus far, it's not that the amount of content is skimpy by any means; however, I believe a contributing factor for this concern is that a lot of older content requires more than a party, but it has become quite difficult for a lot of players to do things with full parties these days.
Currently, due to the fact that there's a lack of low-difficulty and casual content, a majority of players are focusing on high-difficulty content, and there has been a lot of feedback that even though they log in they can't do what they want (nothing to do). Also affecting this is that things have become more complicated since adjustments have been made to drop rates and item stats.
Development Plans
With all that said, to make it easy to understand, we will be redefining and deciding on themes for the below points:
I'd personally like to see players that are below level 99 reach level 99 quickly (we will be looking into whether we can make adjustments so that the level 95 limit quest can be completed solo), and for players that have reached level 99, I’d like to create separate elements such as solo, group, casual, hardcore, and provide game play after defining themes for new elements and adjusted elements.
It's necessary to make adjustments to increase the win/success rate for content that has already been played out by the top groups so that players that come later can catch-up.
For example, strengthening players through job adjustments or the addition of gear works, but another good method is to directly lower the difficulty of content. Of course this is all on the basis that we provide another challenge and even better rewards for the top groups.
Also, in regards to existing content, we will be redefining the number of people required, the level spread, and reward difficulty, and look into making adjustments to fit the needs of the current Vana'diel.
(I feel it would be best to work on the paths to these various types of content for adventurers that are coming back after a long break.)
In regards to item stats, this is a crucial growth element as you cannot level up past level 99. It's necessary to release items with stronger and really good stats in the future. For how you receive items, as many of you have requested on the forums, I'd like to have a point system in place for when you miss out on a reward that has its drop rate set low due to difficulty adjustments.
Additionally, there are a number of things that need to be decided such as aspects of battle that are not balanced up to level 99. For example, I believe the workings of the entire enmity system needs adjustment and the problem of TP given to enemies is an important issue to look into.
Once the framework of all of this has been decided, I will talk to the staff and we’ll decide exactly what we would like to do from here on out. Once all the details have been organized I will be sure to share the future plans with you all. Of course that will not be the ultimate finalized plan, as we would like to really hear your feedback now more than ever.
In Closing
I believe there are quite a few of you who would like me to communicate swiftly and with a high frequency like when I was using Twitter. Back then I was able to focus on Twitter all day long, but unfortunately these days I'm not as free as I once was. Sorry about that.
However, once things calm down a bit I would like to show my face a bit more.
(Even though I am taking notes while I read the forum, I haven't been able to handle it all…)
I’m still in the midst of learning what it means to be producer, but I am doing the very best I can and would like to build a FINAL FANTASY XI with you all that will be loved by everyone.
Again, thank you all so much for your continued support.
| |
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 3351
By Fenrir.Terminus 2012-11-28 13:08:29
Quote: Once the top groups have exhausted the difficult content, we must also go in and make adjustments so that other players can come out with some reasonable success rate.
I usually just jump on all the angry people whenever there's a post like this one. I think they overreact, are melodramatic, and pretty much don't give SE a chance - even long before whatever it is they're talking about even exists.
I think those days are over. "If it's too hard for you, just wait, and we'll make it easier." In my mind, this is the most clear indication that Vana'diel is no longer a world, and is just a store where we go to get clothes for our virtual dolls. Fun.
Edit: I mean, it could be that way, and I might never notice and keep on doing what I do and still be happy. Idk.
Server: Phoenix
Game: FFXI
Posts: 2011
By Phoenix.Dabackpack 2012-11-28 13:13:16
I find this slightly reassuring. At least they have acknowledged most of our major problems with this game.
By theeklipse85 2012-11-28 13:16:17
Unforutnately you can't undo whats been done. You nerf'd all battle/party mechanics with abyessea/VW. You've created what is known as an extrapolation of polarity. Two forces on both sides of the spectrum driven even further apart due to their enviroment. On one end you got the "anything that is not on a silver platter its to hard (the majority)" and the "the game is not what it used to be, back in the day we actually had to form strategies (the vets)" .....you're stuck between a rock and a hard place.
[+]
 Shiva.Gib
Server: Shiva
Game: FFXI
Posts: 1264
By Shiva.Gib 2012-11-28 13:21:42
yeah, kinda sad, cause now a majority of the people cry if they can't fanatics/Perfect D and spam resolutions something to death it's too hard.
hopefully they can find a good balance
 Cerberus.Jinz
Server: Cerberus
Game: FFXI
Posts: 30
By Cerberus.Jinz 2012-11-28 13:21:43
Fix pld.
FFS - even in FFXIV it sucks.
[+]
 Carbuncle.Shokox
Server: Carbuncle
Game: FFXI
Posts: 633
By Carbuncle.Shokox 2012-11-28 13:28:33
Quote: Once the top groups have exhausted the difficult content, we must also go in and make adjustments so that other players can come out with some reasonable success rate.
I usually just jump on all the angry people whenever there's a post like this one. I think they overreact, are melodramatic, and pretty much don't give SE a chance - even long before whatever it is they're talking about even exists.
I think those days are over. "If it's too hard for you, just wait, and we'll make it easier." In my mind, this is the most clear indication that Vana'diel is no longer a world, and is just a store where we go to get clothes for our virtual dolls. Fun.
Edit: I mean, it could be that way, and I might never notice and keep on doing what I do and still be happy. Idk.
This is what goes on in MMOs regardless, at varying degrees. Also one of the reasons why I randomly complain about the current player base as well.
I mean you still have people doing the stupid "BARANSU" joke even now after Tanaka has been long gone. The game is no longer tough or difficult, everything is just handed down to everyone once you overcome the RNG of getting loot. Hopefully they seriously return to the method of having extremely difficult (but decently balanced and winnable) content. Without player augment-able temp items.
People complained like a mofo years ago about drop rates and loot distribution, but not many can deny having an overwhelming sense of satisfaction when they obtained a piece of gear that the majority of the playerbase could only hope to get (me included).
[+]
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 11681
By Fenrir.Nightfyre 2012-11-28 13:32:42
People complained like a mofo years ago about drop rates and loot distribution, but not many can deny having an overwhelming sense of satisfaction when they obtained a piece of gear that the majority of the playerbase could only hope to get (me included). Hi.
Well-intentioned as it is, his words come far too late and the content drought has already gone on for months. I can't bring myself to care at this point.
[+]
 Phoenix.Sehachan
Server: Phoenix
Game: FFXI
Posts: 13352
By Phoenix.Sehachan 2012-11-28 13:34:36
The thing that worries me is that he talks about a roadmap coming out in march...does that mean Adoulin will be even further than that? Cause that's seriously going to suck. A lot of people are just waiting on that before reactivating, and while play-as-mob sounds fun I doubt it will bring everyone who is on hiatus back into the game. Now, I understand that if the expansion isn't ready there isn't much to do about it, but it's a bit depressing to imagine still that many months before something valuable actually happens.
I don't even know how I feel about Salvage.
Server: Bahamut
Game: FFXI
Posts: 1008
By Bahamut.Cantontai 2012-11-28 13:35:07
When I read posts like this, it sometimes seems like people get more enjoyment out of feeling superior to other people than they do playing the game with friends and enjoying the social interaction. Which is pretty, well, I was going to say sad, but pathetic is a better word.
Anyway, I found the OP encouraging, this producer seems a lot more interested in addressing concerns than the, ahem, previous team. Not going to hold my breath for changes that keep people from bitching, though.
Fenrir.Sylow
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 6862
By Fenrir.Sylow 2012-11-28 13:36:21
Did you honestly expect Adoulin to come out sometime soon?
Phoenix.Sehachan
Server: Phoenix
Game: FFXI
Posts: 13352
By Phoenix.Sehachan 2012-11-28 13:37:46
Did you honestly expect Adoulin to come out sometime soon? I expected march. Now I expect next september.
Fenrir.Sylow
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 6862
By Fenrir.Sylow 2012-11-28 13:39:00
Did you honestly expect Adoulin to come out sometime soon? I expected march. Now I expect next september.
Why on earth would you expect march, lol.
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 11681
By Fenrir.Nightfyre 2012-11-28 13:40:05
The thing that worries me is that he talks about a roadmap coming out in march...does that mean Adoulin will be even further than that? Cause that's seriously going to suck. A lot of people are just waiting on that before reactivating, and while play-as-mob sounds fun I doubt it will bring everyone who is on hiatus back into the game. Now, I understand that if the expansion isn't ready there isn't much to do about it, but it's a bit depressing to imagine still that many months before something valuable actually happens.
I don't even know how I feel about Salvage. The roadmap would be through March '13, not released in March '13. If anything, that arguably supports an April-ish release window for Adoulin.
Fenrir.Jinjo
VIP
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 2269
By Fenrir.Jinjo 2012-11-28 13:40:05
It actually said a roadmap through March. Not in March.
Phoenix.Sehachan
Server: Phoenix
Game: FFXI
Posts: 13352
By Phoenix.Sehachan 2012-11-28 13:40:45
Why not. Was 1 year after the announcement.
Phoenix.Sehachan
Server: Phoenix
Game: FFXI
Posts: 13352
By Phoenix.Sehachan 2012-11-28 13:42:09
I don't think I know what through means in this case, sorry if I misunderstood.
By Zackan 2012-11-28 13:42:28
I said it once I said 1 million times the problem with the grouping Not difficulty or anything like that It is the lack of a true looking for group system. The lfg flag is mainly for experience grouping or findin a group in the same zone/region for trials. Comment tags work great... If everyone knew they exist or bothered with them at all. The game needs a global tool for forming groups. Friends and linkshell only help if people can be bothered to help
Fenrir.Sylow
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 6862
By Fenrir.Sylow 2012-11-28 13:45:03
Why not. Was 1 year after the announcement.
1.) It was announced in (late) June.
2.) I'm sure they'll announce a release date several months before the release date.
Phoenix.Sehachan
Server: Phoenix
Game: FFXI
Posts: 13352
By Phoenix.Sehachan 2012-11-28 13:46:55
*shrugs* spring 2013 sounded like a reasonable date to me.
Server: Shiva
Game: FFXI
Posts: 107
By Shiva.Kolossuss 2012-11-28 13:47:36
Did you honestly expect Adoulin to come out sometime soon? I expected march. Now I expect next september.
Why on earth would you expect march, lol.
I believe that was when it was forecast for release, because I had that time frame in my head, as well. I'd have to dig back to find out where I personally saw it.
Edit: Also, this.
The roadmap would be through March '13, not released in March '13. If anything, that arguably supports an April-ish release window for Adoulin.
Quetzalcoatl.Nycon
Server: Quetzalcoatl
Game: FFXI
Posts: 101
By Quetzalcoatl.Nycon 2012-11-28 13:49:58
Did you honestly expect Adoulin to come out sometime soon? I expected march. Now I expect next september. Why on earth would you expect march, lol. I believe that was when it was forecast for release, because I had that time frame in my head, as well. I'd have to dig back to find out where I personally saw it.
Same. I was under the impression it was coming out in March as well. Not sure where I seen or heard it though.
Server: Shiva
Game: FFXI
Posts: 8022
By Shiva.Viciousss 2012-11-28 13:51:52
Did you honestly expect Adoulin to come out sometime soon? I expected march. Now I expect next september.
Why on earth would you expect march, lol.
well the reveal trailer said spring '13..So i figured April or May. But yeah its not looking good.
Phoenix.Sehachan
Server: Phoenix
Game: FFXI
Posts: 13352
By Phoenix.Sehachan 2012-11-28 13:52:00
I didn't read it anywhere, I only fantasized about it.
 Cerberus.Kvazz
Server: Cerberus
Game: FFXI
Posts: 5345
By Cerberus.Kvazz 2012-11-28 13:52:15
I'd like it if they shared some new info with us though. >_>
Screenshots?
A little more job info?
Fenrir.Sylow
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 6862
By Fenrir.Sylow 2012-11-28 14:04:16
Did you honestly expect Adoulin to come out sometime soon? I expected march. Now I expect next september.
Why on earth would you expect march, lol.
well the reveal trailer said spring '13..So i figured April or May. But yeah its not looking good.
I think the reveal trailer just said 2013.
Lakshmi.Tanama
Server: Lakshmi
Game: FFXI
Posts: 225
By Lakshmi.Tanama 2012-11-28 14:08:20
It did.
Fenrir.Sylow
Server: Fenrir
Game: FFXI
Posts: 6862
By Fenrir.Sylow 2012-11-28 14:09:56
People made up spring. If it were slated for spring then they would have probably announced a release date sometime in the past 3 months.
They'll announce a concrete release date as soon as they possibly can (read: several (2-3 at least) months before it's slated for release) because as soon as they do, they'll start adding monthly subscriptions from people who want to get back up to speed before the new expansion.
[+]
By Lye 2012-11-28 14:13:07
SE 1 Week Ago: Suck less
SE This week: I sympathize but keep paying your monthly subscription fees until we can change something.
Bismarck.Kelhor
Administrator
Server: Bismarck
Game: FFXI
Posts: 509
By Bismarck.Kelhor 2012-11-28 14:15:18
They'll announce a concrete release date as soon as they possibly can
Square has put on its contrition hat lately; with everything going on with XIV, they're likely not in a position where they feel they can afford another real mistake.
SoA will be announced when they feel it's ready, and that's best for everyone involved.
[+]
| 11-28-2012 11:15 AM | | Slycer | | BG Translator | |
|
First pass translation. I'll run through it once more for clarity and meaning as it's rather long and detailed (and important).
--
Progress Report (Sorry to Keep You Waiting!)
Hello, it's Matsui.
As always, thanks for continuing to play Final Fantasy XI.
A lot of time has passed since the last time I posted here, so I'd like to first apologize for that.
*Changes to Vana'diel over the past 2 years
*How our players feel about the game
And your questions about
*What's going on with the development and management teams
*What's the status on development progress
*What's the path moving forward
We understand each of these situations, and I wanted to develop an organized response to this. There have been many challenges over the past few months and I needed more time to develop my response because of this, but at this point I can't fairly ask for any more time. So, as an interim report, I wanted to discuss what we're working on now, and what we're planning on for the future.
◆The Roadmap
We are truly sorry that there have been such significant delays from the roadmap that was previously published. There were two reasons for this.
One was because the schedule was published before the announcement of "Seekers of Adoulin." The impact of the development work on Adoulin was much greater than we initialy forecasted.
The other is that the man hours it took to review the projects and feedback from the forum was also greater than the initial forecast.
I am considering creating and publishing a modified version of the roadmap through March 2013. Beyond that, we need some time so that we can both determine the real workload and redefine our development policies. It is important that we firmly establish this development plan for the new fiscal year and keep our players from becoming disappointed.
We understand that our players have been inconvenienced by this and may have some bitter feelings over it, but please give us a little more time.
◆The Current Situation
I'm happy to read all of the player feedback that we get, not only from the forums, but also from Twitter or directly from our players.
One of the concerns raised with content, for example, is that people are not able to form up large enough groups to participate.
While there is by no means a small amount of content and a lot of content requires a party or more, I believe that there are a lot of contributing factors as to why people have found it difficult to act as a full party.
Right now, there is very little content to play at a casual difficulty level, and for some players it has already run out. We've also received many suggestions from players who focus on the content with a higher degree of difficulty that they often have no reason to log on or they have little to do when they are on. A lot of this is because of poor item performance or unnecessarily difficult item acquisition.
◆Development Policies
So it's easy to understand, the main theme behind redefining our policies will be the following items:
*Content Design
*All Jobs
*Determining Item Performance
*Reward Distribution
First off, for players below level 99, we want you to become level 99 first. We are considering adjusting the level 95 limit break so that it can be done even solo. For players who have already become level 99, I would like to provide play situations of all varieties (solo/group, casual/difficult, etc.), and this will be the basis for new and adjusted content.
Once the top groups have exhausted the difficult content, we must also go in and make adjustments so that other players can come out with some reasonable success rate.
For example, strengthening players with additional equipment or job adjustments is one of the methods that we can use to directly reduce the difficulty of all content. Of course, those in the top group might be a little disappointed by this, but there is the assumption that at that point there will already be a new challenge with better rewards in place.
Also for existing content, to redefine the difficulty of getting the rewards, we will consider adjustments to the number of people required and the content's intended level range in order to meet the needs of whatever the current status in Vana'diel would require. This is especially true for adventurers who are just coming back now after a long break.
For the performance of items, the fact that the level will not continue to raise from 99 is one important factor that we would consider. There will be a need in the future to have both items that provide minor performance upgrades, as well as ones that provide significant upgrades.
As far as how to actually distribute rewards, we got a lot of feedback about this on the forum with respect to how we use low drop rates to adjust compensation to content difficulty. I believe we would like a point-based distribution method to be the standard method added for all situations.
For other things, we got a lot of feedback that battles at level 99 are just not well-balanced in general. For example, we need to make major adjustments to the processes related to enmity generation, and I suspect that there are issues with the TP system as well.
Now that I've outlined all of these, once we have a staff discussion based on player feedback, we will decide the timing of specific content introduction for the next fiscal year. Of course, since final decisions are not yet made, we are more than ever looking for player feedback here.
◆In Closing
We get a lot of Twitter feedback and I know a lot of you are looking for a lot of interaction there. I can tell you that I would be stuck to Twitter all day in order to do that, so I'm sorry if feedback is a little slow.
That said, with things a little calmed down, I would like to take more of a look there, as well as to take more notes based on the forum feedback and hopefully respond more here as well.
I'm still only learning as the new producer, but I can tell you that I will try my hardest so that we can together build a Final Fantasy XI that is loved by everyone. We ask for your continued cooperation and participation in the future.
Translated by: Slycer | |
Official Translation:
| 11-28-2012 05:07 PM | | Akihiko_Matsui | | Dev Team | |
|
Hello.
Thank you all very much for your continued patronage of FINAL FANTASY XI.
Firstly, let me apologize that so much time has passed since my last post.
I have been struggling to comprehend each of the below points and organize everything to tell you all, and before I knew it, months had already passed by.
How has Vana'diel changed in the past two years?
How do all of the players feel about these changes?
What kinds of discussions are taking place within the development and operations team?
With what kind of intentions and ways of thinking is work being done?
What are the plans from here on out?
I'm at a point that I'd really like more time for all of this, but I can't just keeping saying that.
With that said, I'd like to share with you an interim report of what we are doing right now and what we would like to do moving forward.
Regarding the Roadmap
I apologize for the delays with the currently released roadmap. There are two reasons for this.
The first reason is that since the schedule was released before the announcement of Seekers of Adoulin, the effects of the development load for the expansion were much larger than anticipated.
The second reason is that the hours needed to work on and discuss all of the forum topics was much greater than we anticipated.
While we looked into a revised version of the roadmap to release, instead of redoing everything that was up until March 2013, we feel it's necessary to take time to build out a proper development plan from next year on, starting with redefining development plans and then deciding on the practical work content so that we do not disappoint all of you.
It's hard for me to ask this, as we've already caused everyone to worry and be inconvenienced, but please give us a bit more time.
Understanding the Current Situation
I have been reading over what everyone thinks, not only from all of the posts made on the forum, but from players' blogs, Twitter, and other sources.
For example, there's the concern with content and that the necessary content is not reaching the necessary people.
When thinking about the amount of content made thus far, it's not that the amount of content is skimpy by any means; however, I believe a contributing factor for this concern is that a lot of older content requires more than a party, but it has become quite difficult for a lot of players to do things with full parties these days.
Currently, due to the fact that there's a lack of low-difficulty and casual content, a majority of players are focusing on high-difficulty content, and there has been a lot of feedback that even though they log in they can't do what they want (nothing to do). Also affecting this is that things have become more complicated since adjustments have been made to drop rates and item stats.
Development Plans
With all that said, to make it easy to understand, we will be redefining and deciding on themes for the below points:
I'd personally like to see players that are below level 99 reach level 99 quickly (we will be looking into whether we can make adjustments so that the level 95 limit quest can be completed solo), and for players that have reached level 99, I’d like to create separate elements such as solo, group, casual, hardcore, and provide game play after defining themes for new elements and adjusted elements.
It's necessary to make adjustments to increase the win/success rate for content that has already been played out by the top groups so that players that come later can catch-up.
For example, strengthening players through job adjustments or the addition of gear works, but another good method is to directly lower the difficulty of content. Of course this is all on the basis that we provide another challenge and even better rewards for the top groups.
Also, in regards to existing content, we will be redefining the number of people required, the level spread, and reward difficulty, and look into making adjustments to fit the needs of the current Vana'diel.
(I feel it would be best to work on the paths to these various types of content for adventurers that are coming back after a long break.)
In regards to item stats, this is a crucial growth element as you cannot level up past level 99. It's necessary to release items with stronger and really good stats in the future. For how you receive items, as many of you have requested on the forums, I'd like to have a point system in place for when you miss out on a reward that has its drop rate set low due to difficulty adjustments.
Additionally, there are a number of things that need to be decided such as aspects of battle that are not balanced up to level 99. For example, I believe the workings of the entire enmity system needs adjustment and the problem of TP given to enemies is an important issue to look into.
Once the framework of all of this has been decided, I will talk to the staff and we’ll decide exactly what we would like to do from here on out. Once all the details have been organized I will be sure to share the future plans with you all. Of course that will not be the ultimate finalized plan, as we would like to really hear your feedback now more than ever.
In Closing
I believe there are quite a few of you who would like me to communicate swiftly and with a high frequency like when I was using Twitter. Back then I was able to focus on Twitter all day long, but unfortunately these days I'm not as free as I once was. Sorry about that.
However, once things calm down a bit I would like to show my face a bit more.
(Even though I am taking notes while I read the forum, I haven't been able to handle it all…)
I’m still in the midst of learning what it means to be producer, but I am doing the very best I can and would like to build a FINAL FANTASY XI with you all that will be loved by everyone.
Again, thank you all so much for your continued support.
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