In the second half of this interview, the developers discuss some long-awaited job adjustments, Fields of Valor, Treasure Caskets, low-to-mid level content, their aspirations of increasing the 70-item limit, as well as plans for the future of Nyzul Isle and Assault.

Mitsutoshi Gondai works on Job Adjustments.

The Job Adjustments everyone is waiting for… Scholar and Dancer complete!! (for now) … What’s in store for 2009?!

Next, I would like to ask about job adjustments. First, you presented Dancer and Scholar Group II Merits, but please tell me what went in to planning them.

Gondai: Scholar was already a job with a number of useful abilities. I thought about adding some spells, but since the concept behind Scholar is a job that utilizes abilities to enhance spell effects, I added abilities. To build of the system of swapping Grimoires, I thought I would design an ability to let you cast one spell from the opposing Grimoire without having to switch.

Dancer is a job that can do many things, so I felt that should be expanded upon with new abilities to learn and add new merit to the job. “Saber Dance” already existed with the Final Fantasy series as a trademark Dancer ability, so that’s how I came up with it. It lets you specialize as an attacker, while hindering your healing abilities as a penalty.

It’s an interesting concept, being able to specialize like that in lieu of another role.

Gondai: I think it’s good to have that option of taking a penalty to enhance something else.

Dancer group 2 merits have brought more utility as an attacker to the job, but do you think this will be enough to let Dancers serve as effective attackers?

Gondai: Using the new ability, you can certainly increase your offensive power, and the other ability, “Fan Dance,” is a marked increase in defensive power. It reduces the amount of damage you take. In practice, these should be great abilities to use as you see fit.

If you use “Fan Dance,” can you tank?

Gondai: While the ability works to reduce the amount of damage you receive, you probably could not withstand a prolonged barrage of attacks, but rather stand up well to pulling hate on a monster. It’s a good option to have at your disposal until the enemy’s attention turns away from you.

With the addition of group 2 merits, what do you think a Dancer’s role in a party will be?

Gondai: After group 2 merits, a Dancer will still function on that concept of a job that heals while dishing out damage. I think it has a lot of variations it can add to that role now.

As a subjob it’s incredibly popular, but as a main job, I get the impression there aren’t so many Dancers. Maybe their numbers will grow from here on out.

Gondai: Players leveled new main jobs faster this time than back in Treasures of Aht Urghan. People can get the idea that some jobs are weak and discourage others from leveling them. I would encourage people to try a wide variety of jobs.

As far as group 2 merits go, it looks like all the jobs are finished.

Gondai: They sure are.

At VanaFest, some pretty interesting ideas were presented regarding Beastmaster, White Mage and Summoner. Please tell me why you decided to comment on those jobs specifically.

Gondai: As it happens, Summoner, Puppetmaster, White Mage and Beastmaster were jobs we received questions about. Just a coincidence. (laughs) It wasn’t that we only wanted to comment on those jobs in particular.

So, you’re thinking about stuff for all jobs then?

Gondai: That’s right. However, like I said, we’ve got something coming for White Mage in the next major update after December.

At the Developer’s Panel, you talked about White Mage and Red Mage, but what you said about Red Mage I had never heard before.

Gondai: Previously, we had said we wanted to help Red Mages have the opportunity to move up front, and it turns out we may do that for White Mages as well. We think it wouldn’t be so bad to let White Mages have a chance to mix it up in battle. White Mages and Red Mages will be adjusted together.

In essence, will you expand the front-line utility of White Mages and Red Mages?

Gondai: This isn’t something where people can expect to move up front and deal out damage. This is something that will produce some beneficial result from striking the enemy. Now, there will still be times where your party will tell you to move back, but we hope with these additions, there will be situations where your party will want to invite you up front to melee the enemy. We’re thinking of how we can produce these situations.

Like, for example, a new Weaponskill for White Mages that restores MP. Is that along the lines of what you’re thinking?

Gondai: Yes, like that. Other jobs can restore their own MP, so we are thinking of a White Mage getting the chance to melee up front while being able to keep their own MP up.

Now, how about Red Mages?

Gondai: Red Mages were built upon a concept of being flexible and good with a sword, so we’re preparing to allow them to assume a more offensive role.

Right now, they have considerable skill in both Dagger and Sword. Will they both receive enhancements?

Gondai: The type of weapon won’t be an issue, as I think that is best left free for the player to choose.

Battle Director Akihito Matsui.

At VanaFest, a new growth aspect of Beastmaster pets was announced, but could you give some more details?

Gondai: This ability to grow and develop is already a part of the Dragoon’s wyvern, so we thought we’d build off of that.

Matsui: We considered it for Beastmasters at first, but ended up implementing it on Dragoons before them. It’s how a Wyvern’s HP, attack and accuracy rise. It’s no good having a jug pet’s stats be set values every single time, so we thought it would be better to encourage the use of a variety of pets, allowing players to more broadly choose from different beasts to match their enemies for maximum effectiveness.

However, there is still the issue of being limited to a stack of 12 per each jug, so game balance is still preserved. We’re thinking of ways to let Beastmasters enjoy fighting alongside their pets without disrupting the balance of the game.

I see. So what would be your ideal situation for Beastmasters, Matsui?

Matsui: I would like to see Beastmasters as a job with an expert knowledge of monsters, knowing what beast to use to take down any foe; a job that can quickly nab a nearby baddie to get out of a jam. That would be the ideal Beastmaster to me. I would like to see them have knowledge extending to monsters that aren’t often fought.

Regarding Summoners, you have made it clear that new Avatars do exist, but what exactly are you considering?

Gondai: If I say the name, I’ll get yelled at, but they are set to be implemented in the not too distant future.

Tell me about the concept behind these new Avatars.

Gondai: They are different than any of the current ones. The way you use them is a little different. I can’t say any more. (laughs) There will definitely be a battle required to learn them.

It seems that Ixion and Alexander are the most anticipated.

Gondai: Feel free to anticipate them. (laughs) We intend to put together something that will make people happy, so we don’t think anyone will be disappointed in these.

As for job balance, take Samurai for example, there seems to be the impression that all other melees look weak in comparison. What are your impressions, and future plans, regarding this situation?

Gondai: I think Samurai is fairly popular because it is strong. Previously, we strengthened two-handed weapons, but overdid it and had to weaken them a bit. Weakening them once again isn’t something I think we will do. Instead, we will expand upon the specialties of other jobs.

I see. Are there any front-line jobs you want to expand upon now?

Gondai: Well, for example, with Dragoon we wanted to improve the damage output of their Weaponskills, and therefore strengthened their Mythic Weaponskill. Similar to that, there are various minor tweaks we are tossing around. I can’t say what order this will all be done in, but we’re always looking at all jobs. We aren’t really looking to nerf anything.

What plan do you have for job balance adjustments going forward?

Gondai: Making these jobs more fun to play is the top priority. Next, we try to compare the jobs to each other, and help balance them out in aspects where they may fall behind.

Developer Panel

Improving low to mid-level content… 160 inventory?! We will ever see the day?!

In Japan, you mentioned improvements in Storage. Can we expect a future of 160 or 240 Storage spaces?

Tanaka: Multiples of 80. With the limits of PS2 memory, and the need for the entire storage list to be in memory at once, we are stuck at the initially planned limit, 80 slots. We think there could be a kind of switch and you could replace slots in the list from outside, but how it would work or be implemented is still in the planning stages.

I think what users really hope for is more on-hand inventory. Something like, “Today I’m going White Mage, so I’ll take my WHM bag with me.”

Tanaka: It’s still early in the planning stages, but we think that’s the way we’ll have to do it. The inventory limit for users is at 70 now, so there’s still 10 spaces free. We still have room for improvement.

So, first you’ll expand to 80, and then you’ll experiment with replacement systems?

Tanaka: Yes, that’s right. We making preparations now to do so. I can’t even consider now what shape it will take in the end, however. I had thought more people would want to raise a second character. I didn’t think so many would have second, third, and more and more jobs all on the same character. The number of people with 10+ jobs is constantly growing, so we need to respond to that.

That may be so, but I thought the existence of Maat’s Cap was an encouragement for people to level many jobs on one character and enjoy having such a variety to which to Job Change.

Matsui: That was a complete afterthought. We had no reason to plan something like that from the beginning, and it was after we were astounded by the growing number of players with multiple level 75 jobs, that the idea came to add it as a reward.

Players don’t really have the tendency to increase their number of characters.

Gondai: No, they don’t. That’s the kind of system it has become. Support Jobs too, with all the combinations you can make, have players wanted to raise those jobs on their current character.

Starting recently with Level Sync, and now continuing with Fields of Valor and Treasure Caskets, low-level and mid-level content has been receiving a huge makeover. What’s the story behind this?

Matsui: From the beginning, high-level content has always been improved upon. However, there are players that quit before even reaching it, or others who do and want to play with new friends they invite to the game. We didn’t originally think FFXI would make it this far. To put it bluntly, we hear a lot of recent MMOs are much easier. We couldn’t change the battle system of FFXI and remove it’s uniqueness, so we thought we could make leveling a faster, less painful process.

Now, to explain Level Sync, that was for the large amount of people who desired to play at the same level together. At first, it was simply a system to match players to the same level, but it would be a pain for high-level players to intentionally lower themselves, so being able to receive full experience points was the motivation to get them to do so. By the way, when setting the experience points, we knew we had to adjust equipment as well and save people the hassle of having to gather up weapons and armor depending on the level.

Gondai: At first, I heard Fujito and Matsui discussing a system wherein you could forcibly lower your level and earn points of some sort. That sparked an idea, and I requested to develop such a system where you could also earn experience points. Tanaka said “Make sure RMT can’t abuse it,” and after much trial and error, I came up with the content you see now. It was quite complicated to accomplish, but I am glad that everyone is enjoying it.

Matsui: I’ve always wanted to make level-capped areas and battlefields. I’ve wanted to, but the big issue was always items and equipment. This issue was especially prevalent in Chains of Promathia. For example, you would be capped at level 30, yet most high-level players had gotten rid of their level 30 equipment. If that issue can’t be fixed, then there’s no point to level-capping areas.

I spoke a little about it already, but I am just glad that we were able to accomplish this. Level Sync was designed to bring players together, and for Promathia missions it serves as the perfect solution for people who are discouraged from helping new players through the story due to lack of equipment. Together with Treasure Caskets, it is also a great feature for Free Trial members to use and enjoy.

Did it also serve as a little invitation to do Chains of Promathia?

Matsui: You could say that. (laughs) It was planned so that people who may have been put off would return and reunite with old friends.

Conversely, what do you think may be lacking for low and mid-level players?

Tanaka: I notice that getting properly equipped as you level up can be pretty tough. Raising money is difficult, and the auction houses in the three nations aren’t well stocked.

Matsui: People level up and then head to Jeuno, so new players in the three nations can’t get the equipment they need. There are talks about what to do for this. As for raising gil, if we make it too easy, it gets exploited by RMT. However, we still need a way for legitimate players to gain new weapons and armor. The answer to that is Treasure Caskets.

What’s in store for Vana’diel in 2009? More stuff for Nyzul Isle and Assault?!

The instanced areas that have been added with recent missions and quests are really great. How will you expand upon this?

Itou: Going forth, there will be more content involving battling enemies together with NPCs. It would be a shame to limit that to always being a quest or mission. We want no limitations, just like we’re doing with Moblin Maze Mongers, and we will keep using the instanced area system.

Treasures of Aht Urghan has been upgraded substantially, I think. Wings of the Goddess has yet to receive a system like ZNMs, Nyzul Isle or Einherjar, where many people can work together towards great rewards. How does the future look regarding this?

Ogawa: There is something planned for after the missions are complete, but they are progressing at a somewhat slow pace, so I think it will be a while.

Will it be tied to the missions?

Ogawa: The area will be difficult to get to if you don’t complete the missions.

So, like how Tu’Lia is for Rise of the Zilart?

Ogawa: Yes, like that. I must apologize to the Battle Team, because they can’t do anything until things progress far enough. You’ll have to wait on that being implemented for the time being.

With Balrahn’s Secret Treasures finally implemented, can we view that content as being complete?

Ogawa: Yes, you can. However, there’s no reason to have it end there, and we’ve made it so that it can continue.

Itou: It doesn’t end at floor 100, and it’s been made so that up to 200 or up to 300 can be made. You climbed upwards, and now you may descend downwards. We’re considering various things like that.

Be that as it may, once Balrahn’s Secret Treasures were added, the objective behind Nyzul Isle seemed to change completely.

Itou: It caused a lot of congestion, and now peak times are incredibly crowded. We implemented measures to address the issue, but it can’t solve the core problem. We can’t add even more new elements to Nyzul with it being this crowded to being with. (laughs)

Ogawa: Congestion levels vary from World to World, but if even one World has a significant problem with certain content, it precludes us from adding new elements to it.

Balrahn’s Secret Treasures serve as a new kind of Relic Weapon, but the difficulty level of their acquisition is just incredibly high.

Ogawa: The original concept was to make it equal to that of Relic Weapons.

So there’s no way you will change anything regarding their acquisition?

Ogawa: We already changed it once, so for the time being, no.

Here’s my final question. Please tell me one thing each that you would like to accomplish in 2009.

Itou: 2009 is the time to reap the harvest from the seeds we have sown this year, and add some very fun new content. I feel the way I view current and future content has changed compared to before. I want to see which addition succeed and build upon them over the next year.

Matsui: While Itou works on high-level content, I want to follow low and mid-level players up through level 50. As for solo battle, players have come to simply beat the easiest enemies possible to gain experience. I want to continue to make objectives that involve defeating a wide variety of enemies. I made the Count system in Fields of Valor to accomplish just that, and am thinking of other practical ways to encourage that behavior.

Gondai: Along with adding new Avatars, I’ve got a lot of stuff that needs to be done, and I’ll take it on one at a time.

Tanaka: I have some things, like the non-expansion add-on scenarios, that have been planned for years that I can now make some progress on. I feel like I’m back on track for next year.

Ogawa: Recently, I’ve just been surrounded by Missions, Quests and cut-scenes, all of which will find their way into the game for you to enjoy from here on.

Fujito: My future goals are clearly set on improving and expanding the MMM system that I am implementing in this update. Besides that, I don’t work on much mainstream content, so I want to see if I can’t make something happen with side-content that has been neglected.

Sage Sundi: The STF will continue to work hard, and soon we will be shifting around some members within the office. Also, there was a Premiere Site made in Japan, but it hasn’t gone over well enough, and we would like to try again with more support and correspondence with the community. We want to strive for a global network of feedback.

Thank you very much for your time.