Another Q&A Session with SquareEnix by Bercus

[Yeargdribble]

Interview Bercus – Bahamut Server – BG Community http://www.bluegartrls.com / Hokuten Linkshell – http://www.HokutenLS.de.vu and Square Enix Development Team

Thank you for uploading the pictures for me as jpg divisortheory
They are in high resolution because for the press media.

Original Links :
http://freenet-homepage.de/bercberc/...ts/battle1.psd
http://freenet-homepage.de/bercberc/...ts/battle2.psd

http://kalia.ultimals.com/battle1.jpg
http://kalia.ultimals.com/battle2.jpg

Why we see them in the I think new Salvage gear soloing Cerberus and Khimmi... I don´t know. I will ask them .

Original questions are here
http://www.bluegartrls.com/forum/vie...er=asc&start=0

PLEASE leave a Post in this Thread if you would like to ask something to their answers.

Ok so here is the Interview:

Green : Questions
Blue : Bercus comment
Black : Answers

Question A:
What information can you give us concerning progress of implementing ideas presented in the Interview on August 23, 2006 at the Games Convention 2006 in Leipzig/Germany?
To refresh, the following ideas were presented:
- server immigration(for a small fee like in other MMOs),
- mini games/bcnm/quests involving characters/settings from other games under
Square franchise(ex. Kingdom Hearts, previous Final Fantasy I-X), -
- inventory/storage increase using alternate methods of memory allocation).

We would like to answer each question one by one.

Server immigration
We are preparing for this now and will be announcing details with the topics of our official website, etc. once it’s confirmed.

Mini games/bcnm/quests involving characters/settings from other games under Square franchise
We have no plans to implement them because of FINAL FANTASY XI’s game concept and world design.

Inventory/storage increase using alternate methods of memory allocation).
We will continuously consider the possibilities. We don’t have any plans to make huge changes, but we will keep on expanding the Moogle locker.

Possibility of having Windower
Due of the technical issues we can’t make the changes straight away. Along with Windows Vista compatibility, we are eagerly looking into the possibility of it. Please look forward to further information.

Question 1:
Will there ever be new HNMs that drop equal or better gear than Fafnir, Nidhogg, King Behemoth, and Aspidochelone that do not have 21-24 hour repop timers or that can be popped rather than camped?

Question 2:
Will Fafnir, Nidhogg, King Behemoth, and Aspidochelone ever be altered to keep players from having to camp them for 3 hours every day?

Question 3:
Are there any other ideas under development for the powerful gear obtained from the "3 kings" 21-24 hour HNMs? What does the development team think of the graphic that was shown at the games convention?

A1, A2, A3:
We understand that many players want to fight against strong monsters such as Fafnir or Behemoth and wish to obtain special items. However, we don’t think that a lower difficulty will result in the reduction of game play stress.

It is not difficult to move NMs or HNMs to the battlefield, but it would destroy the uniqueness of each monster. We believe that because these powerful monsters dwell deep inside dungeons, players fear them more and the dropped items resulting from defeat of said monsters have added value because they are difficult to obtain.
(If every single player has a rare item, we can’t call really it “rare” can we? )

Considering this real pleasure in RPGs, we are not planning to make changes as you mentioned. Nevertheless, for those HNMs whose items have become “too” popular which causes unwelcome confusion, we are planning to make various changes with the next version updates. For example, the introduction of some new methods to obtain these items.

New Assault???????????

Question 4:
Are there any plans to add weapons equivilant or better than the Ridill sword dropped by the 21-24 hour NM Fafnir? Are any equivilant weapons going to be added that can be utilized by other jobs, as Ridills are primarily used only by Warriors?

A4:
It is true that the Ridill sword is a very good item since it has a high DMG rate and you have the ability to attack several times. However, it is only good for Attackers.

We believes that “What is important” or “How to take a more active part in the battle” really depends on the job. For example, Hauteclaire, which has been added with the December ’06 version update, could be a good equipment for Paladins.

Considering each job’s specificity and the general balance, we are willing to add items which might also have some unique aspects so you can enjoy FINAL FANTASY XI even more

Question 5:
Can the pop conditions of the Ullikumi NM be changed so that it is a more frequent (2-3 hour) lottery spawn or similar to other Tu'lia NMs that require pop items from normal monsters(Waters from Pots, that are used to pop the NM Olla(Grande))?

A5:
We are aware that the “Ullikummi issue” is one of the hot topics amongst our community. We are currently making adjustments so we can’t go into details just yet, but we are considering this issue in a constructive manner. Please look forward to our future version updates.

Future Version Update? I hope they mean THIS Version Update>.<

Question 6:
Why are pop items for the god HNM in Tu'lia 100% drops but the pop items for jailer HNM in Al'taieu very rare?

A6:
We are planning to make adjustments in the near future.
The exact details of the drop rates is still a secret, but we believe it won’t disappoint you *g*

Question 7:
Will virtue stones (used for jailer weapons) be made quiverable like most other ammunition in the game?

A7:
This is a very good timing.
We have been thinking that perhaps we should make the change soon.

It is an important issue for those who use weapons with virtue stones, so we should be able to fulfil your request shortly. Please look forward to it.

Question 8:
Can new uncapped Beastmen Seal battlefields (BC99) be added? Can abjuration items and other "3 kings" gear be added to existing or new Kindred Seal 99 (KS99) battlefields?

A8:
Currently, we are concentrating on content which was added with the latest expansion pack ToAU, such as Besieged, Assault, Salvage and some other new battle content, so we will consider adding new battlefields by monitoring progress.
Regarding the second part of your question, as we mentioned earlier, we have no plans at the moment.

Question 9:
Can the orbs used to gain access to Beastmen Seal and Kindred Seal battlefields be made stackable to ease the amount of travel needed to use up seals?

A9:
Yes, I do understand that feeling when I’m playing the game myself...
For example when we try to challenge Under Observation to obtain Peacock Charm

However, due to the battlefield design, there is a limit to the amount of people allowed in, and if a huge number of players attend at once, it will cause a huge confusion. To avoid that situation, existing Seals are set to be Rare Ex.

Question 10:
Hydra gear is extremely difficult to acquire but many pieces are not useful, or are only used for the Fellowship NPC characters that have not been improved in many months. Why did this gear unique to Dynamis-Tavnazia turn out the way it did? How does the development team create new gear?

A10:
The main aspects we consider when we introduce a new item to the game, are both the properties of the item and the difficulty balance to obtain it. The idea is to adjust the difficulty so that you obtain a better item depending on how much effort you had to put into obtaining it.
Apart from that, there are some special cases for which the items are difficult to obtain not because of their degree of usefulness or actual strength, but because it has some kind of special property, such as WHM’s Reverend Mail or other equipment which are unique in terms of graphics.
It is the same with Dynamis-Tavnazia. We wanted to add some individuality to the item aside of its strengths. Since at that time we had just introduced the fellowship system to the game and enchant was the individuality of the items in Tavnazia, we decided to create items which highlight those features.
The situation has changed since then, so if many voices claim they are unsatisfied with them, we might make some adjustments, such as adding new items.


Question 11:
The CoP expansion brought Dynamis-Valkurm, Dynamis-Buburimu, Dynamis-Qufim, and Dynamis-Tavnazia to the game. These dynamis areas have extremely low drop rates for dynamis currency, used to upgrade relic weapons. Can the drop rate for dynamis currency ever be made higher for these difficult-to-reach areas?

A11:
With the 6th Vana’diel Census*, we disclosed the number or Relics for the very first time.
The result was almost what we expected.
In other words, from the beginning, the concept of Relics was to not be obtained by many users.

Even now, we are not planning to change the drop rates of Dynamis currency.
We understand it won’t be easy to obtain, but we wish you all the best!

* The 6th Vana’diel Census
EN)
http://www.playonline.com/ff11eu/gui...06/07item.html
DE)
http://www.playonline.com/ff11de/gui...06/07item.html
FR)
http://www.playonline.com/ff11fr/gui...06/07item.html


Question 12:
Can Limbus be made into an instanced scenario similar to Assault?

Question 13:
Why can dynamis, limbus, and some battlefields only be entered by one group at a time?

A12, A13:
Technically speaking, it is not impossible.
However, we would like to develop and introduce new systems and content for now, rather than making changes to the older system.

I think it is important to change older content, the same as adding new content

The reason we limit the amount of people that can access Dynamis or Limbus is because they are designed on the older system.
On the other hand, Assault was planned to be an instance area from the early development stages. In a way, we can say it is the result of the continuous development FINAL FANTASY XI has been going through; five years!

Question 14:
Will Beastmasters ever be able to charm any Al'Taieu monsters in order to be useful in this region?


Question 15:
Will jug pets ever have the timer for their use eliminated or increased?

A14, A15:
Monsters in Al'Taieu are designed and arranged not to be charmed, so you won’t be able to charm them even from now on. However, we are planning to allow Beastmasters to be more active even in the situation where they can’t charm any monsters, by enhancing their Call Beast ability. So please wait and see

Question 16:
Will new gear or abjurations be added to the CoP wyrms? Will the Monarch Orb used to enter "The Wyrmking Descends" BCNM be added to the treasure dropped by these HNM? Will the pop conditions for Tiamat, Jormungand, or Vrtra ever be made into BCNM like "Ouryu Cometh?"

A16:
At the moment, we don’t have any plans to add more items.
As we mentioned above, because of the game design, moving Tiamat, Jormungand, or Vrtra to battlefields is not planned.

Question 17:
Does wearing corresponding elemental staves or synthesizing while facing certain directions have any effects on success and fail rates for synthesis? Do these actions or crafting on certain elemental days or in certain weather have ANY effect on crafting results?

A17:
We have been asked this question for the last five years *g*
However, we won’t be disclosing this information to anyone even in the future.

It makes it more exciting to have a little bit of mystery, don’t you agree?

I will talk to them again after the Version Update and call for another Q&A Interview. First we look what changed and then we can respond to what they answered and ask more. I am pretty sure they wont let us wait again over 3 months.


Edit:Also posted on http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10
and FFXI-online.com
_________________

WHM75|BLM75|NIN75|RDM61|BRD48|PLD47
www.HokutenLS.de.vu

http://www.bluegartrls.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16915

So bercus -the preeminent conduit between the English speaking playerbase and SE- has FINALLY gotten a response from SE.

I have to say that while I'm fairly pleased with some of the answers I'm also displeased with many of the non-answers.

My synopsis:

I think some of their comments are BS.

We understand that many players want to fight against strong monsters such as Fafnir or Behemoth and wish to obtain special items. However, we don’t think that a lower difficulty will result in the reduction of game play stress.

They clearly completely misunderstand what is difficult about these mobs for people. It has nothing to do with the difficulty of the mobs. They are piss easy for endgame groups these days. What's difficult is getting the claim against 80 people -many of which are probably botting- in a lagfest.

It is not difficult to move NMs or HNMs to the battlefield, but it would destroy the uniqueness of each monster. We believe that because these powerful monsters dwell deep inside dungeons

Sorry, the places the kings spawn aren't scary any more. They are just infested with hordes of endgame players for about 3 hours every day.

We are aware that the “Ullikummi issue” is one of the hot topics amongst our community. We are currently making adjustments so we can’t go into details just yet, but we are considering this issue in a constructive manner. Please look forward to our future version updates.

Considering it in a constructive manner? It's simple. Lower the spawn time. Make him spawn claimed after killing a placeholder. Either of those would work well. The last time they considered it they completely broke Ulli much to the chagrin of the entire endgame community. Ulli has been a problem for well over a year. It's a simple solution and they are aware it is a problem. Just throw it in during an update. No need to plan around it so strategically.

Question 10:
Hydra gear is extremely difficult to acquire but many pieces are not useful, or are only used for the Fellowship NPC characters that have not been improved in many months. Why did this gear unique to Dynamis-Tavnazia turn out the way it did? How does the development team create new gear?

A10:
The main aspects we consider when we introduce a new item to the game, are both the properties of the item and the difficulty balance to obtain it. The idea is to adjust the difficulty so that you obtain a better item depending on how much effort you had to put into obtaining it.
Apart from that, there are some special cases for which the items are difficult to obtain not because of their degree of usefulness or actual strength, but because it has some kind of special property, such as WHM’s Reverend Mail or other equipment which are unique in terms of graphics.
It is the same with Dynamis-Tavnazia. We wanted to add some individuality to the item aside of its strengths. Since at that time we had just introduced the fellowship system to the game and enchant was the individuality of the items in Tavnazia, we decided to create items which highlight those features.
The situation has changed since then, so if many voices claim they are unsatisfied with them, we might make some adjustments, such as adding new items.

Okay... nobody wants to spend 1M gil in today's economy to go do a Dynamis-Tavnazia run where the drop rate of any of this rare gear is .01% and it sucks anyway. We don't do incredibly difficult and costly things for novelty items. This is ridiculous.

Question 11:
The CoP expansion brought Dynamis-Valkurm, Dynamis-Buburimu, Dynamis-Qufim, and Dynamis-Tavnazia to the game. These dynamis areas have extremely low drop rates for dynamis currency, used to upgrade relic weapons. Can the drop rate for dynamis currency ever be made higher for these difficult-to-reach areas?

A11:
With the 6th Vana’diel Census*, we disclosed the number or Relics for the very first time.
The result was almost what we expected.
In other words, from the beginning, the concept of Relics was to not be obtained by many users.

They completely missed (or avoided) the point here. It's not about getting relics easier. Just like with Dyna-Tav, the drop rates of everything in CoP Dynamis areas is crap. It's not worth the crap drop rate to spend multiple hours and tons of money doing a CoP Dynamis. They need to either raise the currency drop rate (to something at least in the ballpark of non-CoP areas which have about a 2000% higher drop rate) or they need to make the gear actually drop.

It's not worth it for most shells to dish out 1M gil just to go get 30 currency, 2-3 Relic-1, 1-2 AF.

Question 12:
Can Limbus be made into an instanced scenario similar to Assault?

Question 13:
Why can dynamis, limbus, and some battlefields only be entered by one group at a time?

A12, A13:
Technically speaking, it is not impossible.
However, we would like to develop and introduce new systems and content for now, rather than making changes to the older system.

This one really bothers me. Are they saying the are giving up on refining the things that are wrong with old content? Anyone that does dynamis regularly knows that scheduling is becoming a bigger issue as more people reach endgame and fight for dynamis times. If they know it's a problem and they say it could easily be instanced... why not instance it instead of being stubborn and trying to FORCE people to do only new content.

[Mhurron]

Re: Bercus gets answers

Technically speaking, it is not impossible.
However, we would like to develop and introduce new systems and content for now, rather than making changes to the older system.

This one really bothers me. Are they saying the are giving up on refining the things that are wrong with old content?

Thats right, they've decided to never reexamine anything, they said so right there.

[Yeargdribble]

Re: Bercus gets answers

That probably the saddest thing I've heard coming from SE. In reality it both proves and explains their laziness and apathy about fixing things.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Bercus gets answers

jaded

1 : fatigued by overwork : exhausted
2 : made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience or by surfeit <jaded network viewers> (see also: Yeargibble, Order of the Blue Gartyr LS)

Jesus, stop whining, they're working on solutions to endgame. Its not the whole f'n game. There are several issues that exist, remain and have been adressed. It takes time. The world does not revolve around you.

I may have gripes about them not addressing job issues in this update, but they are addressing other long-standing issues, be happy they're making the effort, I'm sure they'll get around to your precious HNM and Ulli camps soon enough

[Drive]

Re: Bercus gets answers

But...but...Hyrda Gear lets me act out my old war fantasies. Yeah that interview was pretty bland, should have asked him about viewing cutscenes(shameless plug I know).

[Murphie]

Re: Bercus gets answers

That probably the saddest thing I've heard coming from SE. In reality it both proves and explains their laziness and apathy about fixing things.

I don't understand. Didn't you see the part Mhurron bolded?

edit> You know, BBQ seems to be lashing out a lot lately. I wonder why?

[silentsteel]

Re: Bercus gets answers

could it be possible to put all of it up here, I cant access that web site for some reason =/

[Mhurron]

Re: Bercus gets answers

I'm not even going to bother replying to this for now.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Bercus gets answers

could it be possible to put all of it up here, I cant access that web site for some reason =/

I wouldn't bother, all Berkus does is place veiled and jaded insults in the form of questions then mistranslates SE's replies to his own liking to make them look stupid.

[Drive]

Re: Bercus gets answers

RUN BBQ BLUE GARTR HAS FOUND YOU OUT. On the other hand, be my guest.

here

[silentsteel]

Re: Bercus gets answers

Thanks ^^ I like to know stuffs =p

[Murphie]

Re: Bercus gets answers

Bercus is like, one of the nicest guys I've ever seen on BG. I have no idea what BBQ is talking about.

[Legal Fish]

Re: Bercus gets answers

Bercus is like, one of the nicest guys I've ever seen on BG. I have no idea what BBQ is talking about.

You and BBQ have a lot in common in this respect.


I wish SE would realize that the monster should be "difficult", not getting a chance to fight it. If they really want monsters to be special, to be scary, and have their items matter, they need to be strong. Right now, the hardest part about Fafnir is claiming him. People can kill him with 1 party. This, along with their refusal to fix older content(may it be armor or a NM like Ulli or something like Conquest) is their biggest weakness. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

The whole commenting on Dynamis doesn't get them any points. They seem to miss the point of the question and their way of thinking in terms of Relic items is a little outdated.

Few nods to them listening is nice, so is quiver-virtue stones which really needed it. They also seem to point to the fact that the new Assault area will drop king drops, I hope its true, and we will find out tomorrow.

[raidenn]

Re: Bercus gets answers

Wow so dynamis is just one big big time sink...
I wish they just made the relic weapons a little more realistic to get.
I dont really plan on getting any after reading that stuff they said.

[Miji]

Re: Bercus gets answers

I wouldn't bother, all Berkus does is place veiled and jaded insults in the form of questions then mistranslates SE's replies to his own liking to make them look stupid.

Huh?