E3 Interview for Wings of the Goddess

Source: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3161097

 

For those of you who are too lazy to click the link.

 

E3 2007: Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess Interview

We sit down with the FF XI: Wings of the Goddess masterminds.

By James Mielke, 07/11/2007

As always, whenever the tight-knit creative nucleus of the Final Fantasy XI team is in town, we're there to grill them on the latest workings of their long-running massively-multiplayer online role-playing game, which is now entering its fifth chapter (the original FFXI, Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, and Treasures of Aht Urhgan precede it) with the latest expansion pack, Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess. The persons we spoke with were Koichi Ogawa, TOAU and now-WOTG director, as well as Hiromichi Tanaka, long-time Square veteran and FFXI producer, Sage Sundi (global online producer), and Yasu Kurosawa (North American online producer), with Koji Fox handling translation duties as usual. Here now is the result of our brief conversation with the team during the hustle and bustle of E3 in sunny Santa Monica, along with a quick recap of currently known factoids about Wings of the Goddess.

 

CRUNCHY FACTOIDS:

Wings of the Goddess will ship simultaneously for Japan, North America (that means you too, Canada), and Europe on PC, PS2 (as well as being compatible with PS3), and Xbox 360 in Winter 2007 (meaning before the end of 2007).

All three versions will be identical, despite the different names for each territory's version.

A new standalone version of FFXI will be available at select outlets soon for the low cost of $3.99. The entire data of FFXI and each expansion pack will be included, but gamers--whose trial period only lasts for 30 days--will only be able to access the expansion areas by purchasing additional serial codes to register the expansion packs.

WINGS OF THE GODDESS INTERVIEW:

1UP: OK, let's hit the ground running. What can you tell us about Wings of the Goddess?

Koichi Ogawa: What you can probably see from the screenshots is that the setting is in Vana'diel's past, around the time of the Crystal War.

1UP: So, to clarify, Wings of the Goddess will take place in a previous time, and not, say, a parallel or alternate universe, right?

KO: It's like the first thing you said. You're going back and forth; it's not a parallel world.

 

1UP: So if you're going back and forth, it seems like this could open up certain gameplay elements by affecting events of the past and influencing the future as we know it.

KO: [Knowingly] Um, probably. [Laughs]

1UP: Does this mean you'll spend a meaningful amount of time in this world, as opposed to making quick visits to the past?

Koji Fox: You mean kind of like how people go to Aht Urhgan and spend most of their time there?

KO: We're planning on having at least one area that functions as a base type of area in the past where players can stay if they want to. But it's up to the players--depending on their play style, they can stay in the present and go to the past, or go to the past and make it their point of origin.

1UP: Since you'll be messing with the past in Wings of the Goddess, do you plan to introduce any type of lineage--not the game--but family-tree type of functionality to the game? It seems like you could introduce some ancestral elements.

KO: [Laughs] Probably not.

1UP: Since the game will take place in the past, how will the economy work? Will there be a separate economy, or will you just use the money you make in the future (aka now) in the past?

KO: It'll probably be the same system--there won't be a different money system. It'll be more like going to a different area like the Aht Urhgan area and getting items and taking them back to the new areas. It's that type of system.

1UP: So it'll be pretty cut-and-dried; it won't be this complex new system.

KF: Yep, that's right.

 

1UP: Since every other expansion has introduced new jobs to FFXI, and since TOAU added three new jobs, does this mean Wings won't add new jobs, and you'll spend your time fine-tuning the jobs you introduced in TOAU? Or will you add new jobs to Wings?

KO: Pretty much both. There will be new jobs, and we'll be doing what we did with Promathia. Then we'll take the jobs we introduced in Aht Urhgan and expand on those as well.

1UP: Really? That's nice. In a past interview I did with you guys, you mentioned how you were slowly adding to the number of armor types because you weren't sure how much the [lowest common denominator] PS2 system memory could manage, in terms of displaying so much different armor. But with COP and especially now with TOAU's Assault and Salvage gear, you've got a lot of new looks. Have you ever thought of adding new hairstyles, character models, or races, and if not, why not?

KO: Yeah, the PS2 technology isn't going to get any better, so that's why we can't add any new races. The same with hairstyles, too.

1UP: Even though you've added so much new armor?

Hiromichi Tanaka: By adding a new hairstyle, we'd have to go back and remake every model for all of the armor on that new hairstyle. It's not just changing the color of the hair. If we change that, we have to change the helmet for how it looks on this type of hairstyle.

1UP: Speaking of armor, especially with TOAU you've added a lot of great new armor, which is found in Salvage and Assault. That sort of answered a question I asked you in the past, where I suggested that armor drop rates in Dynamis could be a little less frustrating. Your proposed solution was to create compelling alternatives that could be found in other activities, like Salvage, and the armor you can earn there is great. And yet people still spend hours standing around in places like Dragon's Aery trying to claim Fafnir, and so on. How do you feel about your original abjuration armor and elite armor pieces being so good that no one wants to stop camping that sort of thing? Obviously you've added possible abjuration drops to things like Einherjar, but people still stick to the classic camps.

KO: Actually, we're not really worried about that now that we have Assault and Salvage and Einherjar. People have choices now, and while it may be hard to believe, there are people out there who like to camp these things for hours on end. Before people would have to camp whether they liked it or not. But now people have a choice; people that want to camp can also camp, but they can also go to Einherjar or such. We give people the choice to let them choose, even if they like to camp for five hours. [Laughs]

1UP: Have you guys gotten any useful feedback about Einherjar? You've always been pretty good about balancing things that need balancing, and from my experience in Einherjar thus far, my alliances often get an unlucky random draw, with our last run being eight dark elementals that didn't really want to sleep whether we cast Sleepga II or Lullaby. Usually the tanks would go down first and fast, and then the sleepers would. And then it went downhill. [Laughs]

KO: Actually, we wanted to make it difficult from the beginning. [Laughs] We wanted to make it difficult for the high-level people. That doesn't mean we're not going to do anything. We just started it a month ago, and so were still trying to find out how well it's going. We are happy that it's difficult, but if any changes need to be made, they will be made. Right now it's just the luck of the draw.

1UP: Now that you guys have experience doing large-scale player-versus-environment type activities, like Besieged, are you planning to implement them in Wings, but on a more manageable scale? Also, do you plan to add them to multiple areas, to possibly help avoid the congestion we see at Besieged? Obviously Besieged has some problems--we've discussed that before--but what's your plan for these types of features in the next expansion?

KO: Yeah, we had a lot of good experience in learning about what things are good for the players and what didn't work. Of course with the next expansion we do want to have a Besieged-like system and expand it, in idea as well as physical space. I can't say much, but we have ideas.

1UP: Back to the topic of the new jobs. The Blue Mage was the one that fans were screaming for, but the Corsair and the Puppetmaster were kind of hybrid jobs that took everyone by surprise. Will the new jobs be more clear-cut job types, like a White Mage or Black Mage, or will they be more like the hybrids? Are you going to come up with something like a Green Mage or a Pink Mage?

KO: [Laughs] I can't really say anything about that now.

KF: I thought you were going to get something out of him.

1UP: Yeah, I gotta get something.

Sage Sundi: [Motioning to Tanaka] He'd like to see a Pink Mage. [Laughs]

HT: What color of mage would you like to see?

 

1UP: Haha, that's a tough one. I'll have to think about that. In regards to TOAU activities, let's talk about chocobo racing. When you first announced personal chocobos, you got a standing ovation at Fan Fest. But now that the novelty is over, the chocobo racing portals in the original nations (Windurst, Bastok, San d'Oria) are fairly vacant. Have you considered making it so people can see races happening, or possibly making it more interactive?

KO: First of all, we'll hopefully get in the next version update the ability for players to go into the racetrack and actually see the races.

1UP: How do you mean?

KO: It'll be where you go through the gates in one of the home nations, and it will warp you to where the people are watching the races. And in the update you'll be able to go in that area and talk to the other people participating, up until when the race starts.

1UP: Right now chocobo racing is fairly uninvolved on the player's part. You can give your chocobo items, but not on command, just at the beginning of the race. They use the items randomly. Will you allow players to use items at will, kind of like a "jockey" feature, so that races are more strategic and players have more control over the results beyond pure breeding?

KO: As for the jockey feature, that's probably not anything that's going to happen soon. It's a good idea, but it probably won't happen. But there's going to be a new type of race in the next version update that will be different from the races we have now. And that system will be a little bit different.

1UP: One thing that might be holding back the popularity of chocobo racing is the lack of anything visible to show off your excellence in the event. Guild crafters get aprons and other items, but there currently isn't any armor, like a feathered coat or helmet, that shows off your prowess as either a breeder or a racer. Any chances of adding something like that in the future?

KO: As you know you can win trophies, and in the future more trophy types will be released. But also there will be some type of armor type to achieve. It's in the future, but we are thinking of it.

 

1UP: How long will you continue to update and tweak the Aht Urhgan content even after Wings of the Goddess is released?

KO: For the first few months we'll be concentrating on Wings of the Goddess, but there are still some things that we haven't finished with Aht Urhgan. But once the first batch of Wings content is finished, we'll want to go back and tie up some of those things in Aht Urhgan as well, so there will be some tweaking going on.

1UP: Who is Wings of the Goddess aimed at? Chains was originally criticized as being too difficult, and Treasures was considered fairly easy by FFXI standards. Will Wings aim at the hardcore endgame player, or is it designed for more casual play like TOAU?

KO: Actually, when we first started planning Treasures of Aht Urhgan it was supposed to be for really high-level players, and [was supposed to be] really difficult. But it ended up being a little bit easier than most people were expecting. But for the new expansion we want to make it for the high-level players, and that's what we're aiming at, but we'll see.

1UP: I want to ask about the POL community stuff for a second. It's nice to see improvements constantly being made to the Linkshell Beta, but to be honest, the user functionality is still a pain in the ass, in terms of logging in and out or searching for linkshells and players. Most linkshells that already have their own independent message boards have little reason to convert to Square Enix's offering. So are you looking to streamline the functionality so that PlayOnline becomes the place of choice for the community to gather?

SS: Yeah, we realize that the linkshell community came a little bit too late, and that it should have been integrated earlier. Because it is beta, there's still a lot of things tht we're working on and getting feedback for. But since it's being made in Japan, there are two different styles for these bulletin boards and message boards. There's the Japanese style and the American style. So maybe right now a lot of American users are having trouble because the style is the Japanese format that people are really used to. The perfect realization would be to have both styles and let the users choose, where the Japanese users could pick the Japanese style and American users could use the message-board type that they use on their own sites. We're still working on it, it's still beta, so hopefully we can fix that. Probably the best thing would be to break it up into parts and let the users choose which parts they want and use those parts to build their own original site.

1UP: Are you using the beta community to gather feedback about what people feel about the game?

SS: Yes, it's easier to get feedback this way.

1UP: Really? So if people have a gripe, they should post it on their linkshell community message board?

SS: [Laughs] It's probably difficult to see all of the feedback like that. But every month we get stuff from GMs and reports from linkshell communities. So [about] things that are hot topics that month, it's a good place to leave your feedback.

Yasu Kurosawa: We also look at bulletin boards, and on the official site there's a place where you can leave comments, so we look at all of those.

1UP: Is there any Wings of the Goddess-specific information that I haven't asked that you want to convey?

KO: As for new areas in Wings, there's about 30 areas.

1UP: How does that compare to a previously existing Vana'diel chapter?

KO: It's the same amount of areas that were in the original Final Fantasy XI without Rise of the Zilart.

1UP: I guess it's good that you're going to the past since you don't actually have to add to the map now.

KO: Yeah.

1UP: Hey! You're cheating! You guys are cheating! [Laughs]

SS: [Laughs] It's a little bit different than just going back into the past and using the exact same maps. It'll be a little bit different from that. But approximately the same amount of geography.

1UP: Lastly, when Wings ships, do you guys plan to offer a PS3 version, since the PS3 has its own built-in hard drive? I mean beyond supporting the older PS2 version.

HT: You mean like a packaged release? No, with the version update now you can play the PS2 version at PS2 resolutions, but there aren't any plans to do a PS3 version in the works.