Square-Enix announced at E3 that they were working on Final Fantasy XIV and that it was to be an MMO, currently planned to run on the PS3 and PC. (Obligatory gorgeous cinematic which may or may not have much to do with the eventual game.)
Player vs Developer commented (wisely) that even though the trailer was very shiny, we didn’t know a lot about what they intended for the game. Sure, they have produced one MMO (FFXI) but does that mean that this new game is set in the same universe, uses the same basic ideas?
Now, a few of those questions have been answered. rerollz.com has the details of the Q&A session and it sounds like a very ambitious project indeed.
Q: What influence have games like World of WarCraft have on the development of FFXIV?
A: As with WoW, we want to aim a bit for the casual user. However, we don’t want to make a copy of WoW. We believe we will have things that are unique and will stand out from that game.
Q: FFXI has evolved a lot over the years, especially in the areas of player accessibility and the ability to solo. Will you carry over features like level sync and other features to FFXIV?
A: Yes. All of the knowledge and experience we gained from FFXI will be used in the development of FFXIV. At the launch, we intend to have content for solo players as well as large-scale battles. We want a wide-variety from the start.
Q: What would you like to emphasize with this game? What is different from FFXI?
A: For FFXIV, the keyword that we’ve been using is “The Growth and Development of the Character.” We will have the same type of storytelling and high-quality graphics. We also want to expand and create new in-game systems. The player can grow & develop in a more natural way without putting too much weight on the player. We will expand the job system to make it fairly different from the one in FFXI.
A: Another very important concept that takes a different direction from FFXI, for FFXIV we want to make it so the player can choose to play solo, in a party, 40 minutes, all-day… there will be content for ALL of those play styles and systems for all of those play styles.
Check out the full Q&A at rerollz.com. I love the Final Fantasy games, although sometimes they drive me nuts. I suppose that’s a pretty good definition of an MMO right there 😉 Quite how they plan to be all things to all people I don’t know but I’ll be curious to find out.
Welcome to Spinksville! 