Game news Final Fantasy 14: A Future You Didn’t Expect! Interview with producer Naoki Yoshida
A few months following the release of Endwalker, we were able to interview Naoki Yoshida, director and producer of Final Fantasy XIV, to come back to the launch of this new expansion. We also took the opportunity to discuss the future of Square Enix’s flagship MMORPG, which is not ready to stop given its success.
I would like to start by asking you how do you feel now that the first major story arc of Final Fantasy XIV is complete? How do you feel when you look at how far you’ve come since 2010?
Naoki Yoshida:
To be honest, I was hoping to feel a little better by ending things properly. To put it into context, I felt terrible regarding the inconvenience caused by the huge levels of congestion at launch, but also regarding my decision to delay the release of Endwalker for two weeks. However, I am very happy with the completion of FFXIV’s first major saga, which has been going on for 11 years now. Thank you for continuing to play FFXIV for all these years. I hope you enjoy the new adventures that await you!
What is your assessment of the launch of Endwalker? How surprised were you by the hype around the expansion and the impact it had on the servers?
Naoki Yoshida:
We had been tracking login numbers daily and I thought we were facing a pretty critical situation. Mentally it was very hard for me because we mightn’t prevent it from happening due to the global shortage of semiconductors which impacted all areas of business which of course is the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a sense of surprise, I felt very uncomfortable with the huge levels of server congestion. Even when I think of my entire life, I would say it was an event I will never forget.
Speaking of jobs, how did players react to the introduction of Sage and Reaper, as well as the changes to Monk and Summoner?
Naoki Yoshida:
All of these new features have been challenging, but I think they’ve been well received and the feedback on how to play each job has been pretty good. That being said, this is where the real work begins! We will continue to make adjustments to balance jobs and incorporate finer-grained improvements to the gameplay experience.
In the last message posted on the Lodestone, you spoke of “the task of rebalancing the jobs”. Could you tell us a bit more regarding this? Did you get any community feedback or was this something you already wanted to do before Endwalker launched?
Naoki Yoshida:
I would say it’s both. With limited time and staff, it is difficult for even the most skilled developer to adjust all 20 jobs without error while creating new content. We will continue to make adjustments in order to get closer to the most ideal situation, making sure to complete the outstanding adjustments we originally planned and monitoring player feedback on the gameplay experience.
Now that the Hydaelyn and Zodiark saga is over, what can we expect from the future of Final Fantasy XIV in terms of story, without any spoilers of course?
Naoki Yoshida:
Our players have risen through the ranks from Adventurer to Warrior of Light to Hero. This time once more, we will resume our position as adventurers and set out to explore the mysteries that remain in the world in a new adventure story that is both ordinary and yet full of fantasy and mystery.
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By TheXsableJournalist jeuxvideo.com
