Gamasutra recently sat down with Hiromichi Tanaka and Yasu Kurosawa to talk about the two Final Fantasy MMOs.

Tanaka says how surprised he is that Final Fantasy XI has lasted eight years. The original plan for the title was to support it for five years, which was the lifespan of game consoles at the time. He goes on to say that FFXI has had its time and now Final Fantasy XIV will be coming in as the next mainstream MMO for Square Enix.

As always, its mentioned that as long as FFXI has players, the developers will continue to support the game. Square Enix wants to run both MMOs at once. Here Tanaka mentions that they want to try and have some bonus for players who want to play both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV saying that it will be “probably from a monetary point of view”. Could this be the bundled subscription fee that the community has been asking for since the game was announced at last years E3? Seeing as how the game is coming out in September, chances are good that we’ll be hearing more about this in the near future.

The last bit of news to mention from the interview deals with micro-transactions. Tanaka says that games that have micro-transactions aren’t always good and that they have a short lifespan. “monthly subscription fees should be the mainstream – and this is a mainstream MMO”

I think its safe to say we won’t be seeing any micro-transactions in Final Fantasy XIV for the foreseeable future.

You can check out the full interview here.

As promised, we have done a bit of editting and posted our E3 interview with Hiromichi Tanaka and Yasu Kurosawa.  The video should give community members an idea of what it is like to be in a room with a couple of video game titans.

As always, I have a lot of appreciation for the people at 4Gamer.  Their articles feel more informative and gamer-friendly compared to the magazine powerhouses of Famitsu and Dengeki.  The interaction between their staff and FFXIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka also seems much more relaxed.  What follows is our translation of 4Gamer’s E3 interview.

I highly suggest that you also check out the original article in Japanese on their website to see all of the interesting photos and screenshots.

–Thanks for letting us interview you today.  Is the build we are seeing at E3 the same as the beta build?

Tanaka:  It is pretty close to the beta build.  We haven’t finished all of our final debugging that will take place prior to releasing the beta yet.  There are also some balance issues that need to be worked on.  However, I think it is safe to say that it is a lot different from the alpha.

–How have reactions been from the people that have played the E3 pre-beta build?

Kurosawa:  According to the staff, the reactions have been very positive.

–Can you tell us why you decided to show off this pre-beta build at E3?

Tanaka:  We knew from the beginning that we’d have to get the beta started around this time of year.  Despite that, I have to say that the alpha took up more time than I had expected.  It took awhile to deal with the server load issues.

–There have been a lot of changes made for this build like the graphics, character creation screens, the battle system, etc.  The most striking change is the adjustments made to the battle tempo.  Is this the speed you originally planned on for FFXIV?

Tanaka:  Even before alpha testing started, we already knew we would probably be changing the battle system.  However, we still went ahead with the alpha test, knowing that the system in place was poor, because we wanted to get feedback directly from the players.  A lot of testers wrote in to say that the battle tempo was slow which pretty much confirmed what we already felt.  We started to think about how to improve the battle tempo and that led to getting away from the system we had before where people would store up their power and after some point, release it into their attack.  Now, we have a system where your gauge regenerates over time and your attacks will use up a portion of that bar.

–It’s great that the battle tempo has improved but it seems to me that it is too quick for people to be able to chat during battles.  How do you plan on dealing with that?

Tanaka:  I agree that it is a bit difficult to chat with the battle tempo for the beta.  One thing we plan on adding to the beta that isn’t present in the E3 build is a macro pallet system.  You can use it to link a personalized message for your party with a particular command.  We hope people take advantage of that capability.  We are also looking at including visual cues of some sort that would allow your party members to know what enemy you are attacking.

–What about support for voice chat?

Tanaka:  People playing the PC version can use Skype or other programs like that.  However, the same can’t be said for people on the PS3 version.  It is hard to find a system that would work for people playing on both platforms.  In other words, we can’t support it.  It is also impossible to create a basic auto-translate function, like that in FFXI, for voice chat.

By the way, did you try out the regular version today?  We have a tech demo display as well using 3 monitors and 3D Vision Surround.

–We were on the regular version but we also got to spend a little bit of time checking out the 3D Vision Surround version as well.  The characters seem to naturally pop out of the screen.  You are still deciding whether or not to take advantage of this new technology for FFXIV, correct?

Tanaka:  We decided to try our hand at making the tech demo with the cooperation of Nvidia but we are still debating whether we will use the technology in the actual game.

–The graphics in the E3 build got quite an upgrade as well.  I saw for myself that the new lighting effects aren’t just for the building interiors but also affect things on the field.  Will this new system have an effect on the required specs for the PC build?

Tanaka:  The things that need a lot of processing power, like increasing the depth of field and ambient occlusion, will be optional settings.  Outside of that, it actually takes less processing power than the alpha.

–So if you keep the graphics the same, the beta will require less processing power than the alpha?

Tanaka:  That’s correct.  One of the biggest changes we made was moving from projection shadowing to depth buffer shadowing.  It really makes the shadows pop and actually requires less processing power.

–Will we be able to adjust the graphic quality settings in the beta version?

Tanaka:  Yes.  There will be a configuration menu under the main menu and there will also be a way to customize the settings before you launch the game software.  We’ve also just released the official benchmark program so people should use it to see if their own systems will be able to handle the game.

–It seems like the environment will be really stable and things will run smoothly for PC testers. What can you tell us about testing for the PS3 version?

Tanaka:  The PS3 build is still under development.  Komoto was supposed to come with me to E3, but due to the PS3 version development and last minute work on the beta version, you only get me today from the Japan side.

–Since the hardware for the PS3 is pretty much the same for everyone, I imagine you have a different set of obstacles to overcome when working on options and settings.

Tanaka:  For FFXI, we were able to provide players with a number of options and settings to choose from.  We plan on doing something like that for FFXIV as well.

–When you get right down to it, the background drawing distance and the number of characters you can have on the screen at the same time are going to be less than a high spec PC, right?

Tanaka:  Yeah.  But we are making it so that you really won’t notice a difference when you look at it.  It doesn’t affect game play in any way.

–When do you think the beta test will begin?

Tanaka:  Well, you saw the E3 build for yourself.  System wise it is almost ready to go.  We’ll do a bit of touch up work, fix some bugs, and after that, if it seems like there are no major problems, we’ll release it right away.

–So at the earliest, it could be within a month?

Tanaka:  I think so.  The alpha test will come to an end this week and once I return to Japan, we’ll start working on preparation for the beta test right away.  Once we have a better idea of the timing, we’ll let people know.

–More testers will be added once the beta starts right?

Tanaka:  Yes.  Right now for the alpha we have 10 worlds and the number of testers is in the tens of thousands.  That will go up even more.

–I heard that you received a lot of feedback on the alpha from players outside of Japan.

Kurosawa:  Every so often the feedback is summarized and sent to the development team.  The testers have sent in their opinions on all sorts of things and tell us frankly how they feel.  They are really spirited about their feedback and I mean that in a good way.

Tanaka:  Every week we get a report about the feedback sent in from each region.  The developers can use that to find out what issues are important to the community and what they are talking about the most.  The adjustments we make are affected by that feedback.

–I would imagine that players from outside of Japan are more proactive in giving feedback.

Kurosawa:  It’s true.  They don’t hold back which actually helps us quite a bit.

Tanaka:  I’d say they send in about 10 times the comments that we get from Japanese players.

–What kind of things are you planning on including that will allow players from all regions to build a community together?

Kurosawa:  FFXI also has cross-regional servers so we’ll be building on what we did for that game and keep adding different things to make it possible for players from all regions to enjoy the game.

Tanaka:  I’m not sure about the timing yet but at some point we’ll be adding different community tools.  One of the things we have planned is something we are calling “player sites” that have a bulletin board function.  Every player will be able to create one.

–What about an auto-translate function?

Tanaka:  We plan on including something similar to what is in FFXI.  Back to talking about community tools, we plan on adding something like the linkshells from FFXI as well.  However, there will be a way to create even larger groups by using “Companies”.  We’ll release more details about that system later.

–For the meantime, would it be ok to think of companies in the same way guilds are used in other games?

Tanaka:  Well, yes, they are close to guilds but at the same time, they are also much broader in scope.  For example… oh wait, I can’t tell you yet! (laughs)

–Is it fair to say that development is coming along smoothly?  After all, you still plan on releasing the game this year, beta testing will start in the near future, and even PS3 testing won’t be too far behind that.

Tanaka:  We don’t really know how things will go until after we start beta testing and read the feedback sent in from the testers.  However, the general game play mechanics are pretty well set so we hope people look forward to the game.  We want to put as many things as possible into the beta build.  Once things are more stable, we can transition into the official release.

–We’ve already talked about the battle system, the change in tempo, the lighting, etc as being some of the biggest changes in the beta build.  Is there anything else you’d like players to know about?

Tanaka: Game play has changed quite a bit but basically, it’s the same game.  We have the armoury system, a game that has more action than an auto-battle system would, the guildleve system, etc.  The game has also become a lot more stable and as we add more players, it will become a much more richer experience.

Kurosawa:  The character creation screens have been updated and it will be possible choose from all of the races when creating a character.  I hope people find they can make something they like.

Tanaka:  There are a few options that haven’t been included yet, like the ability to change the color of a Miqo’te’s tail.  However, all of the playable races will be in the beta.  The other small details and options will get added in time for final release.

–Still no male Miqo’te though, huh?

Tanaka:  Not at the moment.  They will probably appear in the game as NPCs.  We actually had plans to include even more clans but as development progressed we had to trim things back.  So what you see now is what we will have for the meantime.

There have been changes made to the physical bonus system as well.  HP and MP will now level up on their own and the elemental bonus will be easier to understand.  There were a lot of players in the alpha that said they didn’t know how they should build up their character’s stats so I think the new system will be easier for them.

–Can we get some parting comments for our readers?

Tanaka:  The beta will be starting soon so please look forward to it!  I’ve got the developers and Komoto hard at work back in Japan.

Kurosawa:  We plan on making a game where people from all over the world can enjoy themselves so I hope you enjoy it as well.

–Thanks for taking time to talk with us today.

Every so often Japanese gaming news website GAME Watch carries articles about Final Fantasy XIV.  Representatives from the site were present at E3 and had a chance to sit down with Producer Hiromichi Tanaka and US Producer Kurosawa Yasu.

This interview is very similar to the one from Dengeki, enough to make me think they were actually done at the same time, but it is also just a little bit different.  Once we get past the mandatory male Miqo’te question, they discuss the new battle system, the beta, retainers, and other familiar topics.

You can find the original interview (in Japanese) here.

–Is the demo version at E3 the beta version?

Tanaka: I think it is more accurate to call it a build close to the beta.  It has the same content as the beta version will, but there are bugs that we still need to work on.  Once those bugs are fixed, we will release it as the beta version.

–Will this be Beta 1?

Tanaka:  We won’t be calling it 1 or 2 or anything, just releasing it as the beta.

–How is it different from the alpha build?

Tanaka: The battle system has completely changed so that’s the biggest difference.  We also played with how graphics are displayed quite a bit.  The alpha build uses an older method called projection shadowing.  For the beta, we’ve changed to a method called depth buffer shadowing that is actually makes the graphics process and display quicker than the old method.  It seems to be a lot better.  We also did a lot of work on the character creation process.  The way it works now is very close to how it will be in the final release.

–I agree that the character creation screens have really changed quite a bit.

Tanaka:  We had planned to make something like it from the start but it wasn’t finished in time for the alpha, leaving us with no choice but to use that makeshift system.

–Will most of the races and clans that players can become be available in the beta?

Tanaka:  The beta will include all of the races we plan on including in the final release.

–Is there a storyline or setting reason behind leaving out female Highlanders and male Miqo’te?

Tanaka:  We had originally planned on having playable female Highlanders as well but for various reasons, they got left out.  I think we’ll see male Miqo’te in the form of NPCs.  They sadly have been left out of the list of playable races because we couldn’t prepare for them in time.  (Translation note:  It isn’t clear if this means that storywise they couldn’t fit them in or that model-wise as playable characters they couldn’t include them.)

–So maybe we could see them added in the future?

Tanaka:  Well (laughs)  I can’t make any promises but it would be nice if we could.

–What parts of the game have been affected based on feedback from the alpha testers?

Tanaka:  You could probably say the whole thing has.  Changes have been made in every part of the game.

–Was there any there feedback that you really felt was critical?

Tanaka: I’d have to say the feedback on the battle tempo.  That was really prominent in the feedback from the American testers.  I think it is because they are used to the tempo in World of Warcraft.

–How exactly has the battle system changed from the system in the alpha build?

Tanaka:  The tempo has changed a lot.  In the alpha build you had to wait for your action gauge to fill up and then wait even longer for the effect gauge to fill up for more powerful attacks.  All of this “filling up” was taking time and just making the players wait so we tried to change that.  In the new system, the gauge fills up naturally over time and you use up a portion of the gauge while you attack.  If the gauge is completely full you can attack 3 or 4 times in a row.  The gauge will work on replenishing itself even while you are attacking as well so that helps to speed up the pace of battle.

–Were players not receptive to the battle tempo of the alpha build?

Tanaka:  How should I put this… You see, in FFXI, we used an auto-battle system and people are used to that.  It allowed people to chat during battle.  With the system in FFXIV, you pretty much are forced to give up that ability to chat.

–I imagine there was a lot of feedback relating to the user interface.  How has that changed?

Tanaka:  We’ve added chat filtering.  The entire log system has changed completely.  The build we have here at E3 doesn’t have chat filtering included but it will be a part of the beta.  We are also looking to make it possible for people to line up multiple chat windows on their screens.

–I’ve heard before that there are going to be additional communication methods besides regular chat.  Can you tell me anything more about that?

Tanaka:  With the battle tempo the way it is, it will be impossible to take time to chat during battle so, starting with the beta, we are including a macro pallet system.  We’d like people to use it as a communication tool.  You can create a macro to set off a particular command and attach a message with it to communicate what you are doing to your party members.

–Will the macro pallet be similar the macro system in FFXI?

Tanaka:  It’s a fair comparison.  We also plan on including other ways for players to communicate with each other but they aren’t set in stone yet.  For example, we want to make a system where members can easily tell which enemy that the party leader is engaged with.  We will continue to look into a bunch of different methods so for now, all I can say it look forward to how they are implemented.

–Is there anything special in the battle system for when you are in a party?

Tanaka:  That would be the battle regiments.  Like we just talked about, there will be times where you have to use the various communication tools at your disposal during battles.  In particular, the enemies you face while carrying out a guildleve will often be in parties which will make communication critical.

–Battle regiments didn’t work very well in the alpha.

Tanaka:  They practically didn’t work at all due to various bugs.  It turned into something completely different from what we were trying to create.

–So we’ll be able to see the real thing in the beta?

Tanaka:  I believe so.  However, even though the system is already set in stone, we will continue making balance adjustments during the beta.

–Are battle regiments meant for times where all of the party members attack the same enemy?

Tanaka:  It is a system where you chain different commands together and some of those can be area-of-effect attacks as well.  It is possible to make regiments that work against a group of enemies.

–Will there often be times where you pitted against a group of enemies?

Tanaka:  Right now most of the enemies you see roaming around are solo.  However, in the future, they will be in groups as well.  For example, maybe you will see a flock of females with one male.  I think over half of the guildleves will require that you take out a party of enemies.

–What is that white being at appears in the trailer?

Tanaka:  That is an elemental, not a summoned avatar.  In FFXIV, the elementals and elements in general will be important for a lot of reasons.

–More so than the crystals in FFXI?

Tanaka:  This time the elements will have a much larger effect on things.  You won’t see a huge effect from things like the phases of the moon or the weather.

–Will it even affect the strength of your character?

Tanaka: Yes.

–Let’s talk about the equipment screens.  Those have changed a lot too.

Tanaka:  Yeah.  The new screens are actually just temporary as well.  We are in the process of remaking them.

–Then what will the final screens look like?

Tanaka:  You’ll just have to look forward to them after the beta starts.  For the alpha, we had a layout where you would open an item menu for each equipment slot and then choose a piece from there.  However, a lot of the players with experience playing FFXI said it wasn’t very user friendly.  When they got a new item and didn’t know what it was used for, they wanted to be able to check if they could equip it or not by selecting it from the item screen.  That’s why for the beta version, we are making it possible to equip things straight from the item list.

–So it will be similar to FFXI?

Tanaka: System wise, yes.

–Will testers be able to access more areas in the beta?

Tanaka:  We’ll look into it but it will probably be difficult to do that.  We don’t know exactly how large the download would become for example.

–So Limsa Lominsa will be the location for the beta test as well?

Tanaka:  That’s the plan.  However, if it becomes necessary, we might have to test other areas as well so we’ll watch and see how things go.

–Are there any other systems or things in the beta that weren’t in the alpha?

Tanaka:  The chat system is different.  Also, linkshells will be included but it is too early to tell if they will be included by the start of the beta or not.  I think they will have a big effect on the community when they are introduced.

–Will linkshells be similar to the ones in FFXI?

Tanaka:  Yes.  There is also another system that builds on top of them called “Companies”.  We also plan on expanding and improving them even after the game is officially released.  Item degeneration will also be included in the beta.  You can think of it as your weapon being damaged by use over time.

–So it will require repair?

Tanaka:  Yes.  In order to make the classes in Disciples of the Hand and Disciples of the Land successful, you have to have an item degeneration system.

–Will they disappear if they are broken?

Tanaka:  They won’t disappear but they will get to the point where they are near useless until they are repaired.  A market will also be added to Limsa Lominsa.  Along with that we will see the addition of “retainers” who are NPCs for hire.  They can sell your items for you in the market place while you are logged out.  The retainers will also have an effect on companies and there will be a lot of different ways to use them.  I hope people look forward to them.

–The benchmark software was recently released.  Does that mean you can tell us the final required PC specs?

Tanaka:  When the beta test begins, we will release the required specs for the beta.  We will continue to work on optimizing the game even during beta testing so I think the final specs will be even lower.  Right now, the biggest issue isn’t CPU speed but the GPU so we will try to work on that.

–I was really surprised to see a 3D version in the booth at E3.

Tanaka:  Right now Nvidia is putting a lot of effort into their 3D Surround technology which allows you to use 3 monitors at the same time.  That’s why we cooperated with Nvidia to make the display.

–Will the final release of FFXIV work with 3D Surround and 3D Vision?

Tanaka:  We haven’t decided yet.  Right now it is merely for demonstration purposes.

–Can you tell us how the PS3 build is coming along?  I saw that the new trailer was shown off during Sony’s press conference.

Tanaka:  We’re still hard at work.  Right now we are in a critical stage of development for both the beta and the PS3 version.  That’s why director Komoto wasn’t able to make it to E3.  The staff back in Japan are putting all their effort into development.

–Will the quality be the same for PS3 as the PC version?

Tanaka:  It won’t look very different.  Of course, 3D Surround won’t be an option.  (laughs)  The textures are about ¼ of the size and the resolution is about half.  However, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell much of a difference by just looking at them.

–The PS3 is capable of producing 3D images.  Any chances of a 3D PS3 version?

Tanaka:  That would be very difficult so we aren’t considering that right now.

–When will the beta test start?

Tanaka:  This will be the last week of the alpha test and then we will get straight to work on preparing for beta testing.  It will all depend on how debugging goes but at the earliest, 1 to 2 weeks.  At the latest, we might start in 3 to 4 weeks.  We want to start by the end of July at the latest.

–Will the beta test have continual service?

Tanaka:  Eventually, yes.

–What can you tell us about the number of testers?

Tanaka:  We will start with the same testers from the alpha.  Right now we have 10 servers and the number of testers is in the tens of thousands.  They’ll all be a part of the beta and if things go well, we will continue to add more testers over time.

–At what point in the beta will we see cross-regional service?

Tanaka:  The servers are already cross-regional.  It is just that testers could only login during set periods of time depending on their account region.  Provided that things are stable, we’d like to start near 24/7 service soon after the start of beta testing.

–What will become of beta testing on the PS3?

Tanaka:  We are currently having a bit of trouble with the PS3 build so we will let people know more about PS3 beta testing at a later time.

–Do you still plan on having an official release in 2010?

Tanaka:  Yes.

–Finally, can we get a comment for all of the players out there?

Tanaka:  We have made adjustments after listening to all of the feedback from the alpha testers.  Please check out the beta test and then we will make even more adjustments.  Of course we will continue to do this even after the official release so I hope people enjoy the game.

Kurosawa Yasu:  We received a lot of comments from people about the alpha test.  The team here in North America gathers up the feedback and it is making a difference in development.  The comments made by Japanese testers will also have an effect on the game so please, send in your opinions.

E3 is now behind us.  FFXIV Producer Tanaka Hiromichi is back in Japan, working on the latest version update for FFXI and the FFXIV beta.  However, that doesn’t mean we are through looking at all the exciting information to come out of the event!

Expect a number of articles to pop up on Eorzeapedia this week and next as we go through the Japanese media interviews and some of the interesting reporting they’ve been doing after the event.

For starters, we have a very lengthy interview from Dengeki.  I have to wonder how many times Tanaka answered variants of the “where are the male Miqo’tes?” question.  Who knows.  Maybe it’s not too late for them to go back and add them for us?  We can hope right?  Most of the interview covers things we’ve already seen in other interviews so it makes a nice review for people who haven’t been following every little piece of news to hit the site.  However, there are a couple things that might be interesting for even the most up-to-date fans out there.

As always, you can read our translated version below or check out the original interview with pictures on Dengeki’s website.

At E3 2010, Square Enix showed the world for the first time a new build of their highly anticipated MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV.  The build is almost identical to the beta build that will be released later to testers.  We were able to play the game for ourselves and follow it up with an interview with FFXIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka.  We asked for more details regarding the beta and also future development.

–First, would it be alright to consider the demonstration build at this year’s E3 as the beta version?

Tanaka: I think it would be more accurate to call it a build that is very close to the beta.

–Please tell us what the biggest changes are between the alpha and beta builds.

Tanaka: The biggest changes are in the way graphics are displayed and the battle system, which was completely changed.  For the graphics, the biggest difference is in the shadows.  We’ve also changed the character creation system to something that is very close to how it will be in the final release.

–Do you plan on having the available races and clans nearly identical to what we are seeing now?

Tanaka: What will be in the beta is what we expect to include for the starting races when the game is released.

–Is there a particular reason for having only male Highlanders within the game setting?

Tanaka: In the beginning planning stages, female Highlanders were also on the table to be included but for a number of various reasons, we ended up not including them as a possible choice for character creation.  Male Miqo’tes will probably make an appearance as NPCs but sadly, they have also been excluded from the choices people will have at character creation.

–Is there any chance of additional races being added to the game in the future?

Tanaka: I can’t make any promises but it’d be nice if we could.

–Let’s talk about the new trailer.  There are a lot of NPCs that appear in the trailer.  What kind of creature is the white avatar-esque being?

Tanaka: That’s not an avatar.  It’s an elemental.  This time elements are a factor in a lot of things and are very important to the game.  Those elements are related to the elementals.  Unlike FFXI, the cycles of the moon and weather won’t have an effect on things.  Instead, the 6 elements will affect a number of things.

–Next, can you tell us more about the brand new battle system?

Tanaka: The tempo has changed the most.  With the prior system, your action gauge would fill up, and then after that, you would wait for your effect gauge to fill up in order to increase the strength or accuracy of your attack.  However, that time spent filling up would translate into just empty waiting time for the players.  So the first thing we decided to do was get rid of the effect gauge.  Then we made the action gauge longer and made it fill naturally over time.  Players could carry out any of the various actions available to them by using up a portion of that gauge.  If you fill the gauge completely before attacking, you can pull off around 3 or 4 actions in a row.  Even as you carry out those actions, your gauge will start filling again.  In the end, we have a battle system that makes for a much quicker battle tempo.

–So the 2 gauges that accumulate are the TP bar and the new action gauge?

Tanaka: In total you have 3 things that you use to carry out commands: the action gauge, the TP bar, and for some moves, MP.

–So we can expect that the reuse/recast time for a command will be different depending on the action you used?

Tanaka: Yes.  That is particularly true of moves that use up TP.  The recast timer on them is long enough that even if your bar has completely filled again, you still might not be able to use it.

–I imagine you had a lot of requests made regarding the user interface.  Have there been any major changes there?

Tanaka: The main menu has changed quite a bit.  We’ve also added in chat filters and made changes to the log.  We are also looking into making it possible for players to create multiple windows.  (Translation note: This is probably referring to multiple log windows so that you could separate your battle log and your general chat logs.)

–Will there be other communication systems put in place besides just chat?

Tanaka: We are planning on including a macro pallet system.  It could be used to trigger a command and a message at the same time to make it easier to communicate what you are doing to your party members.  Also, we are working on a system where when you are in a party, it is easy to tell which enemy your party leader is attacking.

–Will that be a visual cue?  For example, maybe the monster’s name would blink or there would be a number above the head of the monster.

Tanaka: You’ll have to look forward to how it works. (smiles)  Right now we are trying a number of different things.  The goal is for players to have some kind of communication tool so people don’t go off attacking different enemies.

–Let’s get back to the battle system.  Is there anything you plan on adding to it even after the beta version is released?

Tanaka: A basic version of it is included in the alpha version already but there is a system we are working on called “Battle Regiments”.  We are planning on making various situations in the game where you’ll have to use battle regiments when in a party along with the communication tools we already talked about.

–Will there often be “many versus many” battles in FFXIV?

Tanaka: Right now most of the monsters that are roaming around are just solo mobs.  However, we also plan on including monster groups, like maybe where there is one male and his harem of females.  In particular, the majority of the monsters you’ll fight while doing a guildleve will be in parties.

–Are there any systems that will be new to the beta version?

Tanaka: We’ve said before that items, weapons, etc, would degenerate.  That system will go live in the beta.  It doesn’t mean that your weapons will disappear.   However, they will get worn down to the point of being useless and require repair.  That should lead to an increase in the number of people who choose a class from Disciples of the Land or Disciples of the Hand.

We also plan on adding “Retainers” which are NPCs for hire.  In FFXI, you couldn’t run a bazaar if you were logged out.  However, for FFXIV, it will be possible to leave your items with a retainer and have them stay in the marketplace and sell your stuff for you.

I’m not sure what the timing will be but at some point linkshells will also be introduced to the game.  I think it will have a big effect on the community.

–Are the linkshells going to work the same as FFXI’s linkshells?

Tanaka: Yes.  However, there is going to be a broader level of community building as well and a lot of different things will be built into that system.

–Do you mean something like a power struggle between city-states? (Translation note: He is getting at the Conquest system in FFXI.)

Tanaka: Rather than having to do with the city-states, it’s like a company and the linkshells would fit in below it.

–So it’s more of a group that the players put together themselves versus something set  system-side.

Tanaka: Yes.  It is going to be reminiscent of guilds or clans.

–Will more areas be added to the game when the beta test starts?

Tanaka: We don’t know exactly how big the download will be for the beta version yet.  When you think about adding new areas… well, we’ll be looking into it but it might not be possible.

–So players can expect to be in the same areas around Limsa Lominsa that the alpha testers have been playing in?

Tanaka: It will probably be necessary to test other areas as well.  However, for the time being, we plan on limiting the beta to the area around Limsa Lominsa.

–How big will the final release be?

Tanaka: We are still making a lot of adjustments so it’s not set yet.

–Can you give us an idea of what kind of specs will be required for the PC version?

Tanaka: Once the beta test begins, we will release the required specs for the beta version.  Right now, graphic cards are probably a bigger bottleneck than CPUs so we want to work on optimizing that.

–Speaking of the Windows version, I was really surprised to see a 3D version on display here at E3.

Tanaka: Right now Nvidia is putting a lot of energy into their 3D Surround Technology that allows you to use 3 monitors so we agreed to cooperate with them to make the display.

–Any plans to include this technology in the final release?

Tanaka: We haven’t made any decisions about that yet.  Right now it’s just a demo of the technology.

–What can you tell us about the beta version for PS3?

Tanaka: We are still hard at work on it.  Director Komoto couldn’t come to E3 actually because this is crunch time for development on the beta and PS3 versions.  Right now back in Japan the entire staff is working hard.

–The PS3 can handle 3D images.  Any chance FFXIV might support 3D?

Tanaka: That is another thing we are considering, however, I think it would be very difficult to implement.

–Can you tell us when the beta test will start?

Tanaka: We want to start in July at the latest.  We’ll also announce the PS3 beta at some point in the future as well.

–We’ve also heard before that you are planning on moving to cross-regional service at some point during the beta.  Do you have any idea as to when that will take place?

Tanaka: Right now everyone is actually on the same servers.  They are just divided up into different login windows.  Once things are stable enough, we’d like to switch to something close to 24/7 testing so it might even be soon after beta testing begins.

–Do you plan on adding more testers?

Tanaka: Currently there are 10 servers for the alpha test and the number of testers is already in the 10s of thousands.  First, we’ll start with those testers for the beta.  After watching how things go and making sure everything is running smoothly, we plan on adding more testers.  I’d like to let the alpha testers know that we’ve listened to their feedback and made improvements for the beta version.  So please check out the beta and we’ll work on making it even better.  Of course we’ll continue to make adjustments even after the game is officially released.  Please keep sending in feedback!

On Wednesday at E3, we were able to sit down with Hiromichi Tanaka and Yasu Kurosawa and ask them a few questions about FINAL FANTASY XIV.  Things were crazy, and you could see the Square Enix PR people scrambling to try and keep interview appointments.  It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of Tanaka, from Fox Business News, to the New York Times, to Eorzeapedia.  Video camera crews were coming and going.  We waited patiently in the Square Enix VIP area outside of the interview room for our chance to see what we could learn.  Saori Hill did the translation work while sporting an Eorzeapedia tee shirt.  A reporter from the New York Times joined us at the last minute as well.

Eorzeapedia: Will you be optimizing the FINAL FANTASY XIV client to take advantage of 4 or more cores for next generation processors with 64 bit architectures?

Tanaka: We will guarantee that it will work (in terms of the 64 bit technology). We don’t think it will have much benefit for the users, so we would like to stick to the 32 bit. It is compatible, but we will be using 32 bit. We are working very close with Intel for optimization.

New York Times: I have a broader question. In terms of your general approach to the project, how do you want this game to fit into the overall MMO landscape, what advances you are trying to bring with this game over FINAL FANTASY XI, and in general how you see this game fitting into the MMO market and how do you want this project to be special?

Square Enix: FINAL FANTASY XIV is going to support cross region and cross platform. We will have the translation functions in the game so people will be able to communicate with people in other regions.

New York Times: What weaknesses do you see in other MMOs that you want to solve in FINAL FANTASY XIV?

Square Enix: One thing we are making sure FINAL FANTASY XIV has is time efficiency so people will be able to play the game even if they only have a short play time. To allow them to do that, we are introducing the guildleve system, which players can play even if they are solo players or even if they only have a small group. It will be more flexible for the players. And also with have the armoury system, which will allow people to change classes anytime they like. And they will be able to combine abilities to customize their characters. This is going to be very unique for FINAL FANTASY XIV.

Yasu: More unique, more flexible. It’s not so much as what we saw as a weakness of other MMOs, we want to make sure we do the right thing instead of learning from negative feedback.

New York Times: Each class levels separately, is that right?

Yasu: We have the weapon skill, and also we have the physical level. It’s not like experience point levelling, but you will be growing. As you switch classes, you are not a totally new class. Even if you change your weapon or change your class to a totally different one, the abilities that you earned with your other classes can be utilized as well. You will be a unique character which can be different from everyone else.

Eorzeapedia: Will there be any kind of new tools available for linkshells such as a common storage area, ability to select a linkshell emblem/logo, member ranks or banks?

Tanaka: This time we have the company system which is like an advanced system of linkshell which you will be able to level up as a group. We will let you know more information shortly. We can’t disclose too much information at the moment. Also, as a community tool, we will have this community website, which you can check out company status and your own character status. You will be able to enjoy the game even if you are offline.

Eorzeapedia: Will surnames be optional? If not, how will you make it easier to send /tells to other players?

Tanaka: It’s going to be mandatory. You have to have a surname. The surname and the name will be unique. There will only be one person on the server who has that name. However, you will have a sort of short version – a nickname of the full name. So for example, Saori Hill will be my full name, but if you make it remember “Saori”, then you only have to use “Saori” to /tell someone.

Eorzeapedia: Is that nickname chosen by the player during the character creation?

Tanaka: When you make a /tell for the first time, if you type in “Saori”, you will have every Saori in every world appearing in the results. So you select which one is going to be Saori for yourself. The user will decide what the nickname is going to be for the other person.

Eorzeapedia: There is a growing group in the community who would like to see the implementation of Male Miqo’te and Female Roegadyn in FINAL FANTASY XIV. Are there plans to make these yet to be seen gender and race combination playable? If not, what made you decide not to work them into FINAL FANTASY XIV.

Tanaka: Actually all of the design is ready, so we were planning to implement them into the game, however during the development process we had to put priority with what to put into the game, and due to the man power issue we had to give up implementing them into the beginning of the game. You will see them as an NPC, but it is not a race that you can choose at the beginning. We’ll see how it goes in the future, it might be a possiblity. We are still looking into it.

Eorzeapedia: How many classes will be available at launch, and do you plan to add more post-launch?

Tanaka: We haven’t confirmed how many will be available at launch, but in the beta version you will see many of the classes which you can find in the launch version. Also, even after we release the game we will add more classes as version updates, so there will be tens-of classes which you can enjoy in the game.

New York Times: Do you have to do anything special in terms of game balance in order to make it inter-operable between PC and console users? There is often a presumption that PC users will have an advantage over console users. What did you have to do in terms of design of the game to make it equally enjoyable for PC and console users?

Tanaka: It’s fair for both sides regardless of the platform because everything is based on the server side and has nothing to do with the platform side. So what the player is experiencing on the platform has nothing to do with the platform, you are just seeing what is based on the server.

Eorzeapedia: Will there be a way to group up certain pieces of gear so that when you change disciplines you don’t have to re-equip all your gear?

Tanaka: That was the initial plan actually, but after trying it out we found there were quite a few demerits by doing so, so at the moment we decided not to implement that into the game, but if that’s what the players want then definitely there is something we can do.

Eorzeapedia: TP seems to be abundant while fighting monsters in FINAL FANTASY XIV, however MP seems to be lacking. Will there be alternative methods of MP regeneration to assist casting classes without having to rely on an Aetheryte or a 30 minute abilities to replenish it?

Yasu: Very specific questions!

Tanaka: That is the game design at the moment, so on purpose MP does not recover automatically so you have to do some sort of action to make it recover.

Eorzeapedia: And real quick, is that character designed after Yasu? (see below)

Yasu: I kind of made the same hair style (laughing)

Given that the interview lasted only about 20 minutes, you have the back-and-forth translation time, and the NYT took time asking questions, the answers to which were known 9 months ago, a few nice tidbits were learned.  Tanaka and Yasu each got their own Eorzeapedia t-shirts, and if history is any indication, they’ll be donning them in style.  Hope you all enjoyed our E3 coverage.  We’ll work on posting the video of the demo and interview soon, as well as a broader E3 FFXIV interview round-up, over the coming days.

Like many media outlets, Famitsu had their interview with Final Fantasy XIV Producer Tanaka Hiromichi (left) and North American Producer/Senior Manager of NA Operations Kurosawa Yasu (right) today.  Topics included the upcoming start of beta testing, possible 3D effects, and community reactions about the ongoing alpha build testing.

You can find a copy of the original interview in Japanese on Famitsu’s website or our translated version below the break.

–Is the version people are trying out at E3 this week the actual beta build?

Tanaka: It’s very close to it.  You could say it’s one step prior to the beta build.  We are still working on balance issues and haven’t finished our final round of debugging.

–Why put out the beta now?

Tanaka: Awhile back we knew we had to start beta testing around this time of year.  However, I do have to say that alpha build testing has taken more time than we originally thought it would.

–Has the character creation process changed a lot with this new version?

Tanaka: It’s close to how it will be in the final release.  There are a few things planned that aren’t included though, like the ability to change the color of a Miqo’te’s tail or change the shape of an Elezen’s ears.  Those things will be added in by the final release.

–There were also changes made to the battle system like how you got rid of “effect” gauges.
(Translation note:  The interviewer referred to them as effect gauges.)

Tanaka: Even before alpha testing began, the developers already felt that the battle tempo was poor and had decided to start working on something new.  However, just to make sure, we decided to ask players for their opinions on the system which is why we started alpha testing with that particular system in place.  As expected, there were a lot of complaints from the alpha testers as well that the battle tempo should be quicker so we continued development on the new system with a faster battle pace.

The action gauge was also part of the problem.  If you have to wait for the gauge to fill before you can attack, that ruins the tempo, so we switched to a system where you have an action gauge that is completely full when you start and it depletes while you attack.  The developers really worked to the last minute to get us this in time to show off at E3 and they are still working on further debugging and balance issues back in Japan.

–Are there any other big changes?

Tanaka: We’ve increased the number of abilities you can set on your action bar to 30 from 20.  We’ve made it so that players will have an even easier time placing their actions on the bar in the way they want.  There are other changes as well.  HP and MP will now grow as part of the system itself, elemental bonuses will be put into play, and the physical bonuses will be separate from that.  I think it will be a much simpler system than what players saw in the alpha build.

–You have a 3D version on display at E3 as well.

Tanaka: We are still looking into using 3D.  For E3, we cooperated with nVidia to make the demo display using their 3D Vision Surround Technology.

–The graphics have also greatly improved with the beta build.  Will this have an effect on the required specs for the PC version?

Tanaka: You do need a bit more processing power to use ambient occlusion or see the shadings on the backgrounds, so we’ve made them optional.  However, a lot of things now require less processing power than they did in the alpha version.  We also used projection shadowing for the alpha build but have now switched to something called depth buffer shadows which creates a much more distinct shadowing effect.

–So is it safe to say that players will be able to start customizing the graphic settings to some extent when the beta is released?

Tanaka: That’s correct.  There are settings you will be able to access and adjust from the main menu.  For people on the PC version, there will also be a way to adjust your settings before you load the game.  Players will be able to judge how their computer will be able to handle FFXIV by using the benchmark software that we recently released.

–At E3, you’ve been showing off the PC version.  Any comments on the PlayStation 3 version?

Tanaka: We are still hard at work on it, continuing development in cooperation with Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE).  Also, while it’s true that individual users can’t make adjustments to their PS3s, we do plan on adding a lot of setting options within the game for players to adjust to their liking.  As an example, you can see what we did with the PlayStation 2 version of FFXI.  Players can expect something similar for the PlayStation 3 version of FFXIV.

–When will beta testing actually begin?

Tanaka: We’ve finished putting in almost all the necessary systems into the version here at E3 so it will probably take place soon.  Right now we are still working on debugging and things.  We’re going to stop the alpha test after this week.  Once we return to Japan, we’ll immediately get to work on preparing for the start of beta testing.  There will probably be a bit of a break before we start up testing again but I don’t think people will be waiting a whole month before beta testing will start.

–Mr. Kurosawa, you’re the North American Operations Manager and Producer.  What have North American player reactions been like?

Kurosawa: We received quite a lot of feedback from players and we’ve been gathering up all the comments to send back to the Japanese developers on a regular basis.  After they get it, they give us additional feedback to pass on to the players.  Then we get more feedback from players and it just continues in a big circle.  That has allowed us to improve game play.

Tanaka: Every week a report is made based on feedback from the three regions: Japan, North America, and Europe.  We continue development while watching what kind of feedback is coming in.

–Do North American players give a lot more feedback than the Japanese ones?

Kurosawa: Well, the feedback just keeps rolling in and that really helps us out.

Tanaka: I’d say that the number of comments from North America and Europe is about 10 times that of Japan.

– What kind of community features are you planning for Japan, North America, and Europe?

Kurosawa: Following in the footsteps of FFXI, we will be using global servers so we’ll be building community tools that can be used by players all over the world.

Tanaka: At some point during beta testing we will start introducing some community tools that players can take advantage of.  One of these is something you could call player sites.  Each player will be able to have their own website.  We also plan on adding a bulletin board function and other tools that any player can use.

–What other communication tools do you plan on adding?

Tanaka: We want to add a simple translate function like we have in FFXI.  We will also have something like the linkshells in FFXI, but on an even larger scale, we are introducing an organizational concept called “Companies”.  That system is currently still in development so we’ll give out more details at a later date.

–Do you plan on adding voice chat?

Tanaka: That’s not something we are looking at right now.  It is difficult to create something that works for both PC and PlayStation 3 players.  It would also be incredibly difficult to add in something that would interpret for players in real time when playing with people from other countries.  When you consider that, it is much easier to work with a text based system.

–Finally, can we get any parting comments for the players?

Tanaka: We’ll be starting the beta test soon so please look forward to it.  I’d like to pass those sentiments on on behalf of the Development Team and director Komoto who wasn’t able to make it to E3 since he’s hard at work.

Kurosawa: We are passing all kinds of opinions on to the developers to make this game a fun one for players all over the world.  Please look forward to it!

I’m back!  I’ve moved into a brand new apartment that is much nicer than my old place.  It’s also not flooded out and molding which is a plus.  Sadly, moving meant no Internet access for awhile.  I’ve been wondering about what’s been happening in the world of FFXIV and it seems like a ton of alpha news has been released through the Japanese media this week!

We’ll start with Weekly Famitsu who had a chance to sit down with Final Fantasy XIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka and Director Nobuaki Komoto.  There is a lot of interesting information inside along with a startling picture!

What’s so startling about this picture?  I’ll leave that up to you to figure out. But before you run off to do your detective work, let’s take a look at what they had to say.

Beyond Expectations

A common complaint we’ve been hearing in reports from the Japanese media (like Famitsu or 4Gamer) is that it is difficult to log into the game and actually play enough to really test things out.  That’s the first topic they deal with in the interview.  Tanaka begins by explaining how the alpha test is currently being held.  Testers in Japan, North America, and Europe have scheduled separate login windows in which they can test the game.  Each group has an equal number of testers.  Based on the experience they had with testing FFXI, they figured about 50% of each group would be logged in at one time.  However, the number of people actually trying to log in is much higher.  This is especially true for the Japanese test times.  After April 15th, they adjusted it to where testers’ virtual place in line for logging in would be held for up to 10 minutes.  Testers are asked to try to log in once every 10 minutes.  Thanks to a version update, you can also see how many people are in line waiting in front of you.  Server stability issues might continue to plague testers for awhile but the staff at Square Enix is working to make things better.  They want to apologize to all the testers and thank them for all they have done so far to make FFXIV a better game.

Culture and Comments

Next, they get into the comments players have made about the alpha build so far.  The comments really help them make the game better from a player’s point of view.  As the developers, they already know what buttons to press, where to go, what to do, etc.  However, this information isn’t always relayed to the players in a way that is easy to understand.

It sounds like hearing the comments from the players has been refreshing for Director Komoto.  He says he’s been away from FFXI to work on FFXIV for a long time and it made him feel so far from the players.  Now he’s taking in the comments and checking in with staff on the floor for developers and the operations floor.  It makes him feel like saying “I’m back!”

As for the comments themselves, as they are still really just testing the controls and response times, they’ve asked for feedback and a lot of it is about the same sorts of things.  There is also no tutorial as of yet so many players say the controls are hard to understand.  For example, they published a manual on the tester’s site and immediately received feedback on it.  That forces the developers to look at things from a different angle, look at things from a player’s voice of view.  It makes them feel like they still have a lot of work ahead of them before they release the final product.

There are also cultural differences that have appeared in the comments so far.  As mentioned before, the number of testers is the same per group but the number of comments is completely different!  The Japan group has submitted around 5000 comments so far.  However, the European group is around 19000 and the North American group is around 25000 comments.  Komoto also remarks that a lot of the NA comments are more about ideas for things they want to see included versus feedback on what is already in the game.  In comparison, the Japan group gives off a more gentle feeling, as if they are warmly looking over the staff.  He was expecting harsher feedback but so far just getting in the game has been a huge problem for the Japan group especially so that may be part of it.

They really want the testers to send in their comments though.  Tanaka and Komoto both say that they are working hard to incorporate the ideas from the players and will continue to do so up until the official release and beyond.

Inside the Game

Have any of you seen Azagba Tanaka yet?  That’s the character Tanaka is using to log in during the test windows and experience the game with the players.  Komoto remarked that the staff is generally staying out of things because it is hard enough for the testers to get on the server.  Tanaka laughed and said he waits in front of his computer and keeps trying his luck in the “login battle”.

When asked about the alpha schedule, Komoto said their current goal is to have three stable testing runs per group per week.  They have to get things stable enough so that the testers can really play for a decent amount of time.  Also, they are thinking about changing how they currently run the tests.  The login windows are set for each group but there are people who can’t play during those times.  The alpha testing period is also likely to run longer than they had originally scheduled due to continuing server stability issues.

One interesting bit of information to come out of this interview was about how they plan on wiping character data many times during the test cycle.  Right now, there is a certain character growth pattern being tested.  However, there is another pattern they are considering as well.  At some point, they will wipe everyone’s character data and begin testing the second pattern as well.  Komoto says they will probably wipe character data during the beta and even right before the official release as well.

Once things are stable, they will move into the next stage of testing where testers are spread out across multiple servers.  They haven’t decided if they will call that stage Alpha 2 or Beta 1 yet though.  They also don’t know when they will introduce other parts of the game, bringing it closer to the final release version and making it what most companies would refer to as a “Beta build”.

Some people might also be curious to know when we’ll see the global servers FFXI has become known for.  Right now players in different regions are limited to separated play windows and can’t interact with each other.  Tanaka says that when the test servers are open for testing 24 hours a day, people will probably start playing together.

65%

The final batch of questions were about the overall progress of the game’s development.  The graphics are almost complete but they will still do touch ups here and there.  The planners and programmers are also working on their last batch of adjustments.  However, Tanaka says its hard to say how far along the game is.  He says a low-ball estimate might be 65%.  Also, what testers can currently access is less than 10% of what they plan for the final product.

PS3 users will have to continue to wait for their turn at testing.  While it is being developed at the same time as the PC version, all Tanaka will say is that they are continuing to work towards releasing both official versions as the same time.

That’s all for this time but be sure to check back later in the week for more information about the alpha test straight from Japan!

Information and the image for this article are adapted from the interview that ran in Weekly Famitsu No. 1118, published April 28th, 2010.

Two articles have recently surfaced in the Japanese Press over the last few days. Unfortunately our trusty translator Corinth is in the process of moving into a new apartment due to some unexpected issues regarding water. I worked a bit with Elmer from ZAM to clean up the images from the Famitsu article and as such he has given me permission to use them here. However, since we can’t get the entire thing translated and posted at this time I’ll just summarize the articles and throw some links over to the terrific write-ups that Elmer has done. Hopefully Corinth will get things settled down soon and be back to bring us the latest info the Japanese media has to offer.

Famitsu:

The Famitsu interview gives us a look at some of the user interface from the alpha build of Final Fantasy XIV as well as experiences of the Famitsu staff of their play through of the alpha.

We can see from the image on the right (click to view a larger version) that there are areas to equip an undershirt and undergarment which is quite a step in a different direction from the equipment options in Final Fantasy XI. We can also see that Square Enix has heard the plea of its FFXI players and have made the “hidden stats” visible such as accuracy and evasion! The Famitsu article also mentions some more details about the battle system involving the action gauge and the effect gauge.

Check out all the details over at ZAM!

Dengeki:

This week’s Dengeki magazine features an interview with Producer Hiromichi Tanaka and Director Nobuaki Komoto! The questions range from why begin with alpha testing to the amount of guildleves that will be available in the alpha version of FFXIV. It’s also revealed that the maximum number of people that can be in a party is fifteen! Lots of interesting bits of info are contained in this interview so make sure to read it!

Check out the full interview over at ZAM!

Perhaps not surprisingly, the release of information at VanaFest 2010 about the upcoming FFXIV beta testing has caused quite a stir in the community.  But many (including us) may have jumped the gun in proclaiming beta to be starting on March 11.  Well in a Q&A session after the event, Famitsu attempted to clarify the global confusion caused by Square Enix’s less than precise language – and here is what they were able to come up with (as translated and reported by Andriasang):

As reported at Famitsu.com, Tanaka was asked when the game’s alpha test and beta test would take place. This information, he said, will be announced on March 11, when the beta tester site goes live. They’re currently making adjustments which could change the date around.

Tanaka was asked about the alpha test in particular. How long will the alpha test, which of course takes place before the beta test, run? His response was that Square Enix will decide that based off user response.

So that’s where things stand at the moment.  As pointed out by Andriasang, Square’s use of the term “beta” leaves something to be desired.  But it appears that Alpha and beta timing will be announced on March 11 via a tester website.  Alpha testing will last for an unknown length of time, followed, of course, by beta testing.  We’ll confirm what we can, but for now we’ll just keep our fingers crossed with the rest of you… to be continued for sure.