[Suirieko]

Bayohne has posted a translated post originally posted by Producer/Director Yoshida. This one is quite a read!

Quote

Hi everyone, Producer/Director Yoshida here.

The document I created for version 2.0 was huge and parts of it may have seemed vague and caused some confusion. I would like to provide some further details on FFXIV version 2.0, such as the transfer of character data and the decision to start billing before the next Letter from the Producer LIVE. I also intend to further explain things to you directly on the day of the LIVE broadcast as well.
(I’ll try to keep my answers on each topic as brief as possible)

FFXIV Version 2.0
The general outline for FFXIV version 2.0 is as follows:

Rebuild: Level/Map Design
Rebuild: Graphics Engine
Reboot: Server System Re-design (including layout)
Rebuild: UI System Reboot + 'Add-on' support
Reboot: Expanding the Player Community

These five points provide the driving force behind the next stage of FFXIV.
As I’ve been insisting, we’re “in the middle of overhauling the game” and I’ve been working to provide clear explanations and updates about what we have achieved so far, I’d like you to take this as an official announcement that FFXIV 2.0 is on the way.

Due to way that our servers currently operate, it has been difficult to implement and adjust these things.

Opening new servers
Setting up dedicated language-specific servers (to have language specific/global parallel worlds)
World transfer service (Limited window to move to a new server)

However, here is what the development team has managed to implement and adjust based on your feedback:

The introduction of new recipes
The Dzemael Darkhold and other new content
The introduction of personal and rental chocobos
UI Overhaul
The rebuilding of the battle system
The introduction of the Grand Company system
Quest continuation implementation
Adjusting and enhancing the beginning of the game
Continuous server adjustments

Which also define what "version 2.0" will be and will be incorporated as they are when the game relaunches.
(Working from the feedback you have given us, we’ll be switching to the brand new server and UI in the final stage).

However, after version 2.0 launches, some content will be removed or changed for quests related to "The Seventh Umbral Era" as well as new Primal content. Expect this new content to introduce items and achievements that otherwise can’t be obtained in version 2.0 (or after).

Furthermore, we’ll be implementing the following in patch 1.20:

Improving markets
⇒Purchase directly from the item search feature
⇒Transaction history of the 20 most recent items (to gauge the current market rate)
⇒Custom searches for specific item details


Implementation of a Player Search function
⇒Search for class, job, level, language, PT request, etc.

Overhaul of class actions
Primal Dark Moogle battle
Implementation of achievement system
Implementation of job system
Addition of various instanced raids
Primal Garuda battle
Empire battle content
Continuing to tweak the UI
Crafting and gathering system adjustments
New recipes and materials

We have many other tasks planned but please remember that everything here, every feature will become part of making version 2.0 what it is.

This essentially means that FFXIV in its current state and future versions will continue to evolve, and the Eorzea we have now and the Eorzea in version 2.0 will continue to grow and expand.

Between now and until version 2.0 arrives will be the only period when The Seventh Umbral Era-related stories and battle content will be available to play. I hope you enjoy experiencing firsthand the drastic changes to the world of Eorzea.

Character Data Transfer
When we port a player’s character data over, you can rest assured that NOTHING WILL BE WIPED, which means you can continue playing as normal, just as we promised.

Experience points, levels, gil, items in your inventory, completed quests - these will all be dealt with by the development team and will be converted automatically to the version 2.0 data plan.
You don’t have to worry about anything - all you have to do is continue playing as normal.
(However, when data is being transferred, there is a possibility that quests that are in-progress may be reset back to the acceptance stage. This will not happen for already completed quests, only for ones that are not yet finished).

As long as you have an FFXIV account and have created a character, your character will be transferred.

When the batches of data are converted, there is a possibility that the dev. team will utilize specialized NPCs to look after your items, in which case you will be able to retrieve them after the move. Note this will only apply to those users that have an extensive collection of items. As we won’t be deleting anything, we will be sure to make further announcements as we get closer to the transfer period.
(If we don’t convert them then we won’t be able to carry out the input inscriptions)

We are working on producing many systems that utilize gil (i.e. housing, systems to change gear color, salons, etc. Gil will be also be ported over as is.)

Our new world will also start with the economy slate wiped clean.

The start of FFXIV Billing
I answered a question from our recent Letter from the Producer LIVE session from the community saying that for the FINAL FANTASY name, we’re at about 50% of being able to wear that name proudly. This was a direct response to how I felt at the time before the release of patch 1.19. I realize that patch 1.20 and onwards have yet to be implemented but how I feel now won’t change…

As I said when I answered this question during the live show, if the game is in a state where there isn’t a player search or market search feature available, say, in comparison to other MMORPGS, then this is a huge problem (there is no point being able to search just for the sake of it).

At the same time, I also said there are FINAL FANTASY-like things that can only be experienced in FINAL FANTASY XIV – being absorbed in the world, characters, stories, content, sound, and the exchanges between the players and the development team on the forums. I feel that the game starts to feel like a FINAL FANTASY in 1.19 and in the future this will continue to become even more apparent.

On this basis, we would like billing to start after patch 1.20 has been released, around the beginning of December.

One of the big talking points in 1.20 is the implementation of “Player Character Search” and “Market Search” functions. For markets in particular, it will be a tough challenge to implement the auction house system as this will be done before the server revamp is completed. (I plan to change the appearance of the market again in version 2.0) In regards to having a minimum expectation for an MMORPG, I think there is a significant difference between having these two functions or not.

So without changing our plans we will continue to forge ahead and implement the Primal battles, instanced raids, job systems, Imperial battle content and other large scale content from version 2.0 onward. Furthermore, we are offering a play experience unlike any other MMORPG by providing content that is only available to enjoy now.

For all of our players who play our game and who have purchased FFXIV, bringing the best possible service to everyone involves numerous expenses no matter what (whether it’s ongoing server maintenance, 24-hour GM support, etc.) and that’s even if we were to leave out our development costs!

Therefore, please don’t limit yourself to the latest 1.20 version; try out 1.21 and 1.22, and by all means make up your own mind about the billing based on whether you like the game by then.

The dev. team and I have developed FFXIV from the minimum building blocks and we have set our goal to keep on raising the game to new heights to become the number one MMORPG.

So that is the direction version 2.0 is steering towards. In order to realize 2.0, we have a number of fundamental elements to redesign and rebuild.

Why make the billing announcement now?
This is an issue that we spent a lot of time discussing. If we had made the announcement any later, the announcement would have been made close to the release of patch 1.20. We wanted to give customers enough time in between the announcement and the start of billing, and by making the announcement now we were able to provide an additional 2-month free to play period.

As you all know, you will not be able to play FFXIV if you don’t agree to the automatic renewal for billing, even during the free to play period. There is a possibility that players who have stopped playing will not be aware of the billing announcement. As such, there may be players worried that they will be billed without their consent, even though they no longer play the game.

With that in mind, as we stated in our announcement, we decided to stop automatic renewals before we begin billing, and players will have to agree to the terms of automatic renewal again in order to begin billing. However, this does not mean that we thought it would be OK to not make an effort to publicize our announcement because we are stopping automatic renewals.

We knew we would make a big impact with the announcement of the game’s rebirth, so we thought it was a good time to announce the beginning of billing as well. We wanted the players to be able to experience patches 1.19 and 1.20 while the game was still free to play.

We will continue to do everything we can to keep the content interesting.

Improving Service and Game Quality

Content Finder
Language Servers (language servers and global servers)
Housing
PvP/Large Scale PvP
Free Company
Primal Summoning
Crystal Tower


Including the above, there are many things we would like to add to the game. This includes things that are a part of other MMOs and other unique ideas.

The MMORPG is a genre that will continue to evolve without limits. Once an idea is implemented, it will lead to additional demands and avenues to explore. This is what makes developing an MMORPG so interesting.

In order for players to continue to enjoy playing, we will continue operations and development with our best efforts. I believe it is my responsibility to elevate the game to a higher level for the players to enjoy.

I’m sorry that I have rambled on for so long…

Source: http://forum.square-...ll=1#post400289

[magnux]

Awesome, 1.20 is looking good too, I like others have barely scratched the surface of 1.19 and will be enjoying it until 1.20 hits. I have to give it to Yoshi-P he is doing a fine job communicating to the player base what is going on. With this reiteration of what is coming from 1.20 I think I can safely say that I will be staying and becoming a sub for the game. I will sub for 6 months for sure, that way if I lose my job I will of paid for that time lol. Ver2.0 is looking promising, there is summoning job coming as well as a BST job coming which means I can get back to BST that I stopped playing in XI

[IzzeFF]

gewd gewwwwd *rub hands*

[Dawiichan]

So the Job system and the class skill overhaul is in the 1.20 patch? Ummm, I did not expect that, thought they said 1.21. I guess I can try jobs out before subs hit :D, though I was probably going to pay anyway.

[Suirieko]

Pretty sure Jobs will be coming in 1.21, as explained in the FFXIV roadmap.

[Velhart Aurion]

Suirieko, on 17 October 2011 - 04:28 PM, said:

Pretty sure Jobs will be coming in 1.21, as explained in the FFXIV roadmap.

He did say anything is subject to change, and this says it in the 1.20 category. May need clarification from them.

[talligan]

I'm really confused about the following:

1) He talks about transferring data over to the 2.0 data plan etc...

2)

Quote

This essentially means that FFXIV in its current state and future versions will continue to evolve, and the Eorzea we have now and the Eorzea in version 2.0 will continue to grow and expand.
Between now and until version 2.0 arrives will be the only period when The Seventh Umbral Era-related stories and battle content will be available to play. I hope you enjoy experiencing firsthand the drastic changes to the world of Eorzea.

Does this mean that there will be two Final Fantasy XIV's playing parallel to one another where you can transfer your character between them? And I haven't been playing FFXIV right now but does the thing about the 7th Umbral Era stories mean that the total storyline and World is getting rewritten?

[Jackel]

"Version 2.0" to me will simply be the culmination of all of these changes.


In my eye's, what that means is that all of these changes will be rolled out on their own, all in due time, in various 1.xx patches. Only when everything on their agenda is applied and live will they call it "Version 2.0".
I think many people are looking at some patch to be called 2.0 that will add all sorts of various things to it, and I believe that to be untrue.

This is my perception of the whole process though, and it might not be the same as others.

[Dawiichan]

Yea, they just confirmed the typo. It's 1.20 and beyond.

[romper89]

Hahahaha no one is going to pay for the game at this point with all this change, and why should they? Keeping it free-to-play makes a lot more sense than pay to play. The game has been out for over a year and how many people stayed around just because it is F2P even though it was so awful for so long. How many do they think will stick around once subs come up especially with out being able to try the 1.20 changes before hand?

[Jackel]

romper89, on 17 October 2011 - 07:06 PM, said:

Hahahaha no one is going to pay for the game at this point with all this change, and why should they?

I'm going to pay. Does that throw a wrench in the whole "no one" take on things? :)

Plenty of Free to Play games out there, but that doesn't mean people are going to play them. As is being discussed in the other thread on this topic, some people enjoy the game in it's current phase and have no qualms about paying as changes are being rolled out.

[Dawiichan]

romper89, on 17 October 2011 - 07:06 PM, said:

Hahahaha no one is going to pay for the game at this point with all this change, and why should they? Keeping it free-to-play makes a lot more sense than pay to play. The game has been out for over a year and how many people stayed around just because it is F2P even though it was so awful for so long. How many do they think will stick around once subs come up especially with out being able to try the 1.20 changes before hand?

The official forums which a lot of the people that plan to stay don't go to has a poll where out of the total, around 70% of them said they were staying, and I am to so... Yea.

Also, they said we will be able to try out 1.19 and 1.20 before subs if you read above.

This post has been edited by Dawiichan: 17 October 2011 - 07:44 PM

[XraizenX]

I am going to pay. $14 bucks a month isn't really a lot of money. Im excited for 2.0 and I cant wait to see the story and play the new jobs. ADD A FREAKIN THF THO!!!

[Hayde]

I'm personally contemplating if I should resub at all between 1.2 and 2.0; I stated in another thread/poll that I would not be subbing right away. The reasoning for this is because I have no jobs over 20 as I've kept re-rolling over the past year every time a friend from FFXI, some other MMO, or from RL wanted to play--then they end up quitting, and the vicious cycle repeats. I even had a pretty good linkshell that kept dying, coming back...dying, etc.

I"m wondering at this point whether I should just wait until 2.0 to start so I can enjoy the game from 1 to 50 in its all new-found glory. I realize I"ll be way behind others, but I'm not too worried about getting to an end-game or anything like that at this point. In fact, right now I find it hard to level my jobs even because there's such a limited amount of items in the market for the lower levels...and I find that trying to do rank 20 leve's with a mix of starting gear and crafted gear in the teens isn't working all too well...

[Gretious]

Quote

Opening new servers
Setting up dedicated language-specific servers (to have language specific/global parallel worlds)
World transfer service (Limited window to move to a new server)

maybe it just me but creating language specific server kinda kills FF cross region uniqueness. Literally it will be like FF14 US Server, FF14 Europe Server, FF14 China Server, FF14 Japan Server before long. I love how ff11 was one of the few games you could literally make Global friends it was fun. Hopefully their "global parallel worlds"(mistaken?) are cross region but i get the feeling most people will join Language Specific server.

other then that i just wish they create direct credit/debit card option. else i can't play even if i wanted to lol got 1 months ++ to lvl up damn should have started playing earlier

[Zemus101]

I haven't posted in awhile on here, though I've been visiting FFXIVCORE for years. I was looking forward to the PS3 release (and the game's release in general) and as we all know that fell through awhile back. I've kept up with all the information on patches and all the letters from Yoshi-P. I am so thankful that things are going the way they are right now, and I'm so anxious to jump into the PS3 beta this holiday sometime. Hoping the code I used when I purchased my FFXIII is still good. Sent that away forever ago. Anyways, I'm sure you PC guys will have a lot of avid FF fans jumping into your worlds when the PS3 version launches.

[LVII]

I'm definitely subbing. The game is heading in the right direction and is really starting to feel great. The main reason to play now insteading of waiting for 2.0 is to enjoy the content that is exclusive right now. The storyline is pretty cool and seeing the new jobs implemented is going to be awesome.

They also said that our names now will be in the history pages of 2.0. Saying we slayed (insert antagonist). So just being apart of an evolving world that you get a sense of heroism and the feeling that you left a mark is exciting enough for me

[Griphyt]

So... when the version 2.0 pop you can make a new character with all that you got in FFXIV before?? or you will be tranfered to version 2.0 with the same race and all the stuff? @_@

[Krausus]

talligan, on 17 October 2011 - 05:10 PM, said:

I'm really confused about the following:

1) He talks about transferring data over to the 2.0 data plan etc...

2)

Does this mean that there will be two Final Fantasy XIV's playing parallel to one another where you can transfer your character between them? And I haven't been playing FFXIV right now but does the thing about the 7th Umbral Era stories mean that the total storyline and World is getting rewritten?

Think of it like Cataclysm from WoW only you have no choice but to play it (not an expansion but a whole new client) once 2.0 kicks in you will no longer be able to do the story missions up to it since the world will completely change and that era will end and usher in the next era. I'm super excited to see the events that lead up to what ever it is that ends the 7th umbral era, anyone not playing will miss it as basically any content from 1.0 to 2.0 is a one time event.

romper89, on 17 October 2011 - 07:06 PM, said:

Hahahaha no one is going to pay for the game at this point with all this change, and why should they? Keeping it free-to-play makes a lot more sense than pay to play. The game has been out for over a year and how many people stayed around just because it is F2P even though it was so awful for so long. How many do they think will stick around once subs come up especially with out being able to try the 1.20 changes before hand?

the people disagree with you http://forum.square-...t-your-votes%21

Griphyt, on 18 October 2011 - 04:55 AM, said:

So... when the version 2.0 pop you can make a new character with all that you got in FFXIV before?? or you will be tranfered to version 2.0 with the same race and all the stuff? @_@

your data transfers over but I believe they are going to give you the option of redesigning your character race/gender/looks

Hayde, on 17 October 2011 - 08:23 PM, said:

I'm personally contemplating if I should resub at all between 1.2 and 2.0; I stated in another thread/poll that I would not be subbing right away. The reasoning for this is because I have no jobs over 20 as I've kept re-rolling over the past year every time a friend from FFXI, some other MMO, or from RL wanted to play--then they end up quitting, and the vicious cycle repeats. I even had a pretty good linkshell that kept dying, coming back...dying, etc.

I"m wondering at this point whether I should just wait until 2.0 to start so I can enjoy the game from 1 to 50 in its all new-found glory. I realize I"ll be way behind others, but I'm not too worried about getting to an end-game or anything like that at this point. In fact, right now I find it hard to level my jobs even because there's such a limited amount of items in the market for the lower levels...and I find that trying to do rank 20 leve's with a mix of starting gear and crafted gear in the teens isn't working all too well...

with the PS3 folks joining I dont think you will find it hard to level up, but keep in mind if you wait until 2.0 then you will miss out on all the content that leads up to the events that change Eorzea.

This post has been edited by Krausus: 18 October 2011 - 08:53 AM

[Jackel]

Krausus, on 18 October 2011 - 08:52 AM, said:

with the PS3 folks joining I dont think you will find it hard to level up, but keep in mind if you wait until 2.0 then you will miss out on all the content that leads up to the events that change Eorzea.

All in for Level Sync? yesprz? :(