NAOKI YOSHIDA TALKS FINAL FANTASY XIV PATCH 4.0

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

Having worked on this game for a long time, what is it that still motives you to keep working and bring improvements to 'Final Fantasy XIV'?

I do not really examine my motivations all that much so I can not really answer that clearly but I guess I would have to say that what keeps me going the most is the support and expectations of all the fans out there. And maybe also that there are still lots of things that I, still, want to do with 'Final Fantasy XIV' (laughs)

The game has come a long way since it was originally released, how does it feel now when the game receive so much praise and love?

I'm honestly really happy to hear it. I am incredibly grateful to all the development staff and operating staff who have supported 'Final Fantasy XIV', as well as the fair reviewers and media who write articles about it, and of course all the people who keep playing and encouraging us. It's because of all these people that we have managed to get to where we are today.

How is it to have such a close relationship with the player community that you have?

I was originally a very heavy MMORPG player myself, so I had always hoped that all the development- and operating teams and the players could get on even better with each other in order to grow the game further. If we have managed to realise even a bit of that then I would say it is a cause for joy.

You've mentioned that you might consider support for Xbox and Nintendo platforms if there’s a good solution for cross-platform play?

Indeed we are always talking with Microsoft and Nintendo about the possibility. However, starting up an MMORPG service on a new platform gives us a great responsibility towards the players who will be playing on that platform in the future, because we cannot just end that service on a whim down the line. Because of this we need the cooperation of the platform holders themselves and a mutual understanding between them. So we are delicately but tenaciously continuing our discussions with various partners, in order to realise these various future possibilities.

With the end of support for PS3, what will this mean for the game now that it is PC and PS4 only?

Please don’t forget the Mac version! We are not considering taking the game in that direction of specialising or optimising the game for specific hardware functionality for its own sake. At present, almost all console hardware can be developed for from a PC base. In a certain sense, you could say that there is almost no difference between PCs and these consoles. What we are most concerned with though, is the memory capacity that allows us to depict large numbers of monsters and characters simultaneously and lets players play without stress. This is because as long as we take care with the memory, we will be able to bring the high quality graphics and content of 'Final Fantasy XIV' to even more platforms in the future. I feel that the biggest benefit of the recent change in platforms supported, is all about the even greater comfort, lack of stress and ease of play that it allows.

With the 'Heavensward' expansion many players wished that they could have accessed more of the content before ending the 2.0 storyline. How have you approached this with the new and upcoming expansion?

The 2.0 storyline is only just the opening chapter to the 'Final Fantasy XIV' story. I did not want to make it a barrier to implementing even more content or proceeding on to 'Heavensward' or 'Stormblood'. We're currently making adjustments to improve the pacing of 2.0 and 3.0 in order to proceed into the 'Stormblood' content.

I know that a lot of team members previously worked on 'Final Fantasy XII', with the release of 'The Zodiac Age' coming up are you planning on making any cross-over event for that in 'Final Fantasy XIV'?

We are not really able to say anything about that at present (laughs). But the next alliance raid for 'Final Fantasy XIV' has been given the title “Return to Ivalice” so hopefully you can look forward with expectation to both of those!

This is a game that often gets praise from a female audience, why do you think that is. Is that something the team consciously thinks about when making content for the game?

We do not really think about it all that consciously. However, I do make sure to instruct the team to avoid the kinds of female equipment you often see in games which are extremely revealing or sexualised. This is because I don’t think you need that kind of stuff and it is something that players should choose to express themselves if they want to. In the modern age female characters should be on an equal footing to men and not just made from a one way male viewpoint. Part of the reason we have so many female players could perhaps be said to stem from that visual design philosophy that things should not cause unease when seen through female eyes or put women off.

Have you noticed any difference in how different players around the world approaches playing the game depending on where they are from?

We have not seen any extreme differences in reactions to the overall game design. However, the way that players from Europe and America use their time in the game is different to what we see in Japan. They tend to be more evenly paced, and spread out their playing time rather than going for mammoth sessions all at once, but in Japan there is a strong trend for playing in that kind of concentrated manner. We have seen those kinds of differences depending on the content. In China and South Korea they have not yet developed a culture of console gaming, so there was originally a trend where players were not used to the idea “watching a story” or “reading things” but as we continued to operate the game service in those regions we have seen a great increase in people praising the story elements. I think that is a great example of both us on the development side and the player community at large are growing and developing together.

A challenge that many MMO games face is that it might get too difficult for friends to play together depending on what level they are at. Is this something you have thought of too?

For 'Final Fantasy XIV', to get to the cutting edge, we make detailed adjustments to partial progress in the past and have developed it to be a game where it is extremely easy to “catch up”. We have put in efforts to allow both veterans and newbies to play together, such as friend recruitment, the mentor system, beginners system, reducing the difficulty of content and making big increases in EXP gained and so on. We will continue paying close attention to this for future updates as well.

This is a big reason as to why you are revamping the battle and skill system for the new 4.0 patch I imagine?

Yes. This is because there was a very large estrangement gap emerging between players who were very skilled and those people who want to play more casually. 'Final Fantasy XIV' was developed as a part of the main 'Final Fantasy' series so we aimed to make it so that it must be able to be played by anyone to a degree, but since 'Heavensward', the structure of the action has become more complicated and the gap between players has widened, and I wanted to fix this situation and leave the top level of skilled players the room to experiment while also making it easier for more casual players to enjoy things in a more light-hearted and casual manner.

There used to be a lot of MMORPG-games made a while ago, but not as many anymore. Now it seems developers aren't as willing to take chances with new titles. Why do you think that is?

The reason that not so many MMORPGs are developed these days is because from the business side, the risks and rewards do not match up so well any more. As a genre, MMORPGs reach a very high level of polish as a final product, due to numerous updates that build upon each other. Because of that, when a new game enters the market, people require it to have a much higher level of finish when compared to other types of game. When you get started listing the features players demand it is practically endless. They want stable servers, support for a wide range of interfaces, bountiful content and graphical quality. The list goes on and on. On the other hand, the player lifecycle has changed dramatically compared to ten or so years ago, with players unable to dedicate so much time to a single piece of entertainment any more. Because MMORPGs are a type of entertainment which you sink a lot of time into, there are a lot of people who would want to play but feel they can’t and avoid them or don’t start playing because they are afraid that if they do they will become unable to do other things instead. Due to this, the biggest problem for the MMORPG market at the moment is how this balance of risks and rewards has become so unfavourable. I feel that this trend will probably continue for a while as well.

Making a game like this that constantly are getting improved on, does the team ever get to take some time away?

Unless you maintain a set pace for development it can get very tough on the team both physically and mentally. The major patch cycle for FFXIV is 3.5 months, so the period before the patch release is always very busy and people take less holidays. On the other hand, for a time after a patch is released people will leave work early and have more freedom to take their paid leave, so it all balances out well. At the moment we are working towards mastering up for the latest expansion pack, so we are very much in our busiest period!

How is to be both producer and director on the game?

I'm sometimes proud that I am continuing doing something challenging that you don’t see examples of all that often in the world. However, it is much harder than most people imagine, so if someone came up to me saying that they wanted to produce and direct a game, I would certainly tell them that they should avoid that with all my heart! (laughs) If someone was there to take over the producer role then I would happily leave that to them and concentrate on being the game's director but nobody seems to be particularly keen on volunteering.

Will you ever introduce another MMORPG in this series at some point, like we got 'Final Fantasy XI' before it?

The only people who know if the 'Final Fantasy' series will create a new MMORPG are the gods, and our CEO! Although if I am still at the company when it does happen, then I may well be involved in some capacity. At the end of the day, though, the next project that I am put in charge of will be decided by the boss and that will be influenced by what the players want to see.

Do you ever dream of what games you would like to make when your work on this is complete?

I always have around three ideas for games that I would like to make, in my head. But I am not the type to get overly fixated by them. I am paid to work by Square Enix and the money they give me comes from all the fans who buy our games or make transactions in them so I try to think what those people are wanting and expecting from the company’s games and what it is that I can do to contribute to that. I don’t think it would be very likely, but if they told me, “You can have as much money as you like and make whatever you want” then I would like to do a very hardcore online game with a survival element to it (laughs).

What's next for 'Final Fantasy XIV'. Are there perhaps already some plans on where you want to go next after 4.0?

There are still loads of ideas left in my head. However, it is not the time to talk about those yet. And my thoughts are currently fully occupied with developing 'Stormblood' (laughs). If you want to interview me again, after 'Stormblood' has been released, then you may well get a different answer to this question!

You recently got to celebrate the game together with fans at FFXIV Fan Festival in Hamburg?

What we get from doing fan-festivals across the world, is the opportunity to feel the passion and excitement that all the fans have for the game that they enjoy. It is an ability to talk and take pictures together and become friends. That is my greatest source of motivation. What left the biggest impression on me at the European Fan Festival was probably appearing in that full on samurai outfit. Having to sheath my sword in the scabbard properly was a much greater pressure than making the game (laughs).

Do you plan on bringing this event back more in the future?

As long as there's lots of fans out there in the world, I'm sure we will be doing more of them. I continue to look forward to these events while developing the game.

How are you and your team planning to celebrate once you're all done with the 'Stormblood' expansion?

I'm going to be overseeing the early access from Los Angeles on the final night of E3, so the celebrations will have to be a few weeks after the actual launch itself. (Laughs) I think that the team staff will get some time off and do what everyone else is doing, play 'Stormblood'! Of course, they will be nervously hoping the phone does not ring with an urgent summons while they are playing! Being called urgently like that is the biggest fear for the people who work on online games!