The Special Talk Session featured a panel of the following FINAL FANTASY XIV Development Team members:

Producer, Hiromichi Tanaka

Director, Nobuaki Komoto

Battle Director, Atsushi Okada

Main Scenario Writer, Yaeko Sato

World Concept Planner, Kenichi Iwao

Level Designer, Yusuke Kigoshi

The following topics were addressed:

Battle System, World Concept, Economy, Guildleves

(Announced features are still under development, and may change before and after release)

The World of FINAL FANTASY XIV

FINAL FANTASY XIV takes place on the world of Hydaelyn, a planet much like another you all may be familiar with. Many of the people on Hydaelyn do not actually use the word ‘Hydaelyn,’ for to understand the concept of a planet, one must first know of other worlds, and most on Hydaelyn do not.

FINAL FANTASY XIV takes place in a realm known as Eorzea.

* Eorzea is one of three continents that make up a giant land mass.

* Eorzea consists of Aldenard and its surrounding islands.

* Aldenard is connected to the land mass containing the other two continents via a land bridge,

* Eorzea contains several independently governed city-states, like those found in ancient Greece.

* And just like those in Greece, the ones in Eorzea have a long history of war and alliances.

* The few that have lasted longest are the thalassocracy of Limsa Lominsa, the commercial sultanate of Ul’dah, and the forest city-state of Gridania, which some users have commented reminds them of an ancient Japanese polis.

* However, the powerful and aggressive Garlean Empire has begun their slow advance on the city-states, making the current situation in Eorzea similar to the months before the Persian Empire marched on Greece.

City-state Scenarios

[ Limsa Lominsa ]

Limsa Lominsa is a sprawling port city ruled by pirates and brigands. After the appearance of the legendary island “Swallowtail Roam,” a battle begins brewing over a treasure found there, and the player gets caught up in the action. Into whose hands will the treasure fall?

Main NPCs

Y’shtola

* Appears in the opening cutscene.

* Her origins are unknown.

Carvallain & Rhoswen

* Carvallain is cunning and cool-headed.

* Rhoswen is hot-blooded and ruthless.

* Both are captains of powerful pirate crews, and both hate the other.

Wawalago

* Guildmaster of Wawalago’s Pullers─the Fishermen’s Guild.

* An eccentric and lewd old man who uses the player to his advantage.

[ Gridania ]

The player angers the forest and travels to Gridania to remove his woodsin. There the player gets caught up in the story of a boy named Khrimm who insists elementals─beings thought to rule the wood─and sets out to find the truth. Will his findings overturn the beliefs of all Gridanians?

Main NPCs

Yda & Papalymo

* Appear in the opening cutscene.

* For some reason, Yda hides her face behind a mask.

* Both Yda and Papalymo’s origins are unknown.

E-Sumi-Yan

* Appears in the opening cutscene

* Is one of the most powerful conjurers in Gridania

* Is of a strange race known as the Padjal

Moogles

* A race rare in Hydaelyn.

* Assist the five races in their communication with the elementals

Lewein

* Leader of the Gods’ Quiver (the Archers’ Guild)

* Through events in this guild, the player learns of the beast tribe known as the Ixal.

[ Ul’dah ]

The player is caught up in a terrible accident during a city-wide parade. One of the people who perish in this accident was carrying a terrible warning to Ul’dah. To learn of this warning, there are those who would seek forbidden magicks to allow them to speak with the dead…

Main NPCs

Thancred.

* Appears in the opening cutscene

* Is a talented bard of unknown origin

Niellefresne

* Appears in the opening cutscene.

* Is a goldsmith from Esthaime’s Aesthetics (Goldsmiths’ Guild)

Titinin

* Helps run the Platinum Mirage casino

* Is polite, yet stern.

* Appears in the Pugilist class quests

Nenekko

* Lovable daughter of the owner of Amajina & Sons Minreal Concern

* Is smothered in affection by her family

[ Ishgard ]

The Knights of Ishgard are fighting a holy war with an ancient race of dragons, and are currently refusing contact with those they call ‘unbelievers.’ These defenders of the mountain realm appear in several different quest lines.

[ Guilds ]

* Not all guilds are found in each city-state.

* Class Quests can be performed by joining guilds and fulfilling certain prerequisites.

* Class quests will not only earn players rewards, but through their stories, players can also learn more about each individual city-state.

* In addition to regular rewards, completing these quests will earn players guild marks which can be used to purchase special items from that guild.

* More items will be made available for exchange in the near future.

[ Other ]

* Unlike the starting rings in FINAL FANTASY XI, there will not be any equipment that is received by choosing a certain race in a certain city-state.

* The scenarios have been designed so that most can be completed by solo players or, at the most, by small groups.

Battle

Enmity in Party Battles

For Open Beta we adjusted the amount of enmity received when using magic and abilities. However, we are not yet done, and will continue making adjustments up through and after the game’s release. We realize adding new quests, equipment, abilities, monsters, etc will directly affect the current balance, and therefore will continue making adjustments throughout the course of the game’s lifespan.

Recovering MP

Our original plan was to make MP management an important factor in the game, and we designed the game so players would have to carefully consider when and where to use MP. Rather than having weak spells that can be used over and over for minimal damage, we wanted to make magic powerful─something that delivers a single strike of massive damage and can instantly change the tide of a battle.

While maintaining this concept we will not only be conducting adjustments on existing methods to refresh MP (such as Aetheryte, abilities, and magic spells), but also plan on adding new methods.

Battle Regimens

Battle regimens work to broaden battle strategies for parties, as well as make it easier to form parties. Unlike the skillchains of FINAL FANTASY XIV, battle regimens are not only for dealing damage, but also can be used to produce the following effects:

* Lowers a target’s physical defense (normal attack -> normal attack)

* Lowers a target’s magic defense (normal attack -> magic attack)

* Increases a target’s casting time/raises MP costs (normal attack -> magic spell)

* Lowers a target’s TP progression/raises TP costs (normal attack -> weaponskill)

* Maintains the effectiveness of class abilities when used by different classes

(magic spell -> magic spell (both from same class))

(weaponskill -> weaponskill (both from same class))

* Increases player damage

(weaponskill -> weaponskill -> magic spell (weaponskills from different classes, finishing spell is optional))

(magic spell -> magic spell -> weaponskill (spells from different classes, finishing weaponskill is optional))

For example, when fighting a monster that has high physical defense, a regimen which will lower that defense is effective. On the other hand, when fighting a monster that uses magic attacks, a regimen that slows casting time and increases MP cost is recommended.

Part Damage

On some monsters, players will be able to damage individual parts such as arms and legs. For example, vines can be cut from morbols, and horns and tails can be struck from monsters that have them Parts can be damaged by using certain weaponskills while standing in certain positions.

The effect will not only be visual, but will accomplish the following:

* Weaken the monster

* Prevent the monster from using its special attacks

* Allow the player to obtain the damaged part

Notorious Monsters

* Soon Notorious Monsters will make their appearance in FFXIV.

* Most will appear different from regular monsters.

* Some are so large they will make regular morbols seem small.

Post-Release

In addition to what was announced here today, we are also planning massively multiplayer battles.

There currently exist several class abilities which may have players scratching their heads as to how they are to be used. Many of these were designed with PVP in mind. While we cannot reveal much regarding PvP now, we have some exciting announcements planned for the near future.

Crafting and the World Economy

Concept

In MMOs, we realize that crafting and the world economy are both extremely important gameplay aspects. This is why we went out of our way to make independent crafting classes rather than simply have crafting skills attached to other classes. We have designed a system that will allow players to feel like their actions (crafting, gathering, buying & selling through bazaars) are directly affecting the economy.

The Effect of Player Status on Crafting & Gathering

A player’s physical and elemental statuses greatly affect crafting and gathering. There are many hints within the game that reveal which statuses affect which aspects.

[ Crafting ]

Attributes: Works in conjunction with the type of tool used to affect synthesis quality

Elemental: Affects the occurrence rate of “god sends,” as well as synthesis stability

[ Gathering ]

Physical: Affects the number of items harvested, as well as the drop rate

Elemental: Affects the type of crystals that can be obtained during gathering

Parley

Parley is a method other than battle in which players can obtain items. Players choose ‘topics’ and then play a game using painted tiles. If you defeat your NPC opponent, you earn the right to exchange the items you have for those you need. If you do especially well, you can obtain even greater rewards.

Market Wards

We do not want the extent of a Disciple of the Hand/Land’s stay in Eorzea to be about simply putting the items he creates/gathers up for auction, which is why we have envisioned a bazaar-driven economy in which players can be creative in the methods they use to sell their wares. To better achieve this, we are currently working on ways to increase a players’ ease of using the markets by adding additional features, as well as tweaking existing ones.

Retainers

We are aware of the amount of time it took to buy items from retainers, and so we have been working diligently to make this system quicker and smoother by the time of release. Also, we are looking into ways to make it easier for players to buy and sell items through retainers.

Inventory Response Time

We are fully aware that inventory interface response speed needs to be improved.

At the time of release, we hope to have made significant improvement, and plan to continue our work after release as well.

Guildleves

Open Beta GLs

First, we would like to apologize to all of the Open Beta testers for the frequent client side errors that occurred during levequests. We are working hard to make sure all the problems are solved by the time the game is officially released.

Retrying Levequests

Levequest targets give players many times more EXP and skill points than normal monsters (even if not using guardian aspect). To prevent some players from taking advantage of this system by completing most of a levequest, failing on purpose, and then trying the quest again immediately, we have made it impossible to retry a levequest immediately after failing it. However, this does not mean players are not allowed to retry levequests. By returning and talking to the NPC who issued the quest, players can gain the opportunity to retry the quest objectives.

Guildleve Issuing

Currently, players must wait 2 earth days before being reissued a leve. However, we planning a significant reduction in this wait.

In conjunction with this change, we will also be shortening the amount of time anima takes to recharge.

Guildleves have been designed with several different features that allow for players to cooperate with others to complete the corresponding quests. For example, ‘leve linking’ allows two players with the same leve to join their guildleves to receive a reward bonus. ‘Leve sharing’ allows people without a leve to participate in a party with a person who does.

The level recommendations on guildleves are a loose guideline for solo players. We encourage players looking for a challenge to join up with other adventurers and try their hands at more difficult leves.

The Future of Guildleves

We are planning the implementation of many different types of guildleves in the near future.

First, several high-level leves will be introduced. Among those will be leves with not only new rules, but new monsters and new operation locations. Also, to answer the demand from our players, we will be introducing guildleve-based NM battles shortly.

We also ask that our players try out the Faction Leves that were introduced in Open Beta and are only accessible by special means. These leves are different from regular ones, and often involve exciting battles and interactions with NPCs. The rewards are also much better.

In addition, we are currently working on several new ideas such as leves in which Disciples of the Land and Hand must cooperate with Disciples of War and Magic to complete certain tasks.

The following is a list of some of the things we have planned for the upcoming release:

* Implementation of a hardware mouse feature

* Introduction of discounted monthly fee payment plans (3-month plan in Japan/ 3 and 6 month plans in North America and Europe)

* Raising of the level cap to 50

* Adjustment of the Armoury System UI so player abilities will not reset when changing classes.

PvE/PvP currencies will convert to Justice and Honor Points in Patch 4.0.

Blizzard poster Bashiok has just posted an in-depth explanation of the PvE/PvP currency system changes that are coming in Cataclysm, and it’s an informative read. The lengthy post can be found in its entirety after the jump, but I’ll attempt to summarize the important parts.

The upcoming 4.0 patch will convert Emblems of Triumph and Frost into Justice Points (PvE), and Arena Points, Honor Points, Battleground Marks of Honor, Stone Keeper’s Shards, Venture Coins, and Spirit Shards into Honor Points (PvP). Simple, right? All PvE badges below Frost and Triumph will be converted into gold.

There will be a limit to the amount of new currencies you can hold, but Blizzard’s providing a grace period in the form of a soft cap. This means your conversion can go over the hard cap, but you can’t earn more until you go below the hard cap. Here’s an example: the conversion gives you 4,200 Justice Points, but the hard cap is 4,000. You’ll have to spend some points to dip under 4,000 before you can earn more. Another patch before Cataclysm will actually enforce the hard cap, and your excess points will be turned into gold.

Keep reading below for more details. Bashiok said that all conversion math should be posted tomorrow afternoon if you’re curious how many Justice and Honor Points you’re going to earn in patch 4.0.

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From Bashiok’s post:

As we discussed in our previous announcement (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=24401796793), we’re refining the currency systems used for purchasing PvE and PvP items in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and the transition to this new system will take place in two stages. Today, we’re going into more detail on how these changes will be rolled out, so if you haven’t yet, make sure to check out the prior article to get up to speed on the currency names.
One change of note since that original announcement is that we’ve changed the name of the low-tier PvE currency from Hero Points to Justice Points. The original announcement post has been updated to reflect this.
Out With the Old
In the upcoming 4.0 patch we’ll begin the first stage of the conversion to the new currencies. Emblems of Triumph and Emblems of Frost will be converted into Justice Points. For this initial conversion there will be a soft cap of points you can have, with a hard cap enforced later as detailed below. All PvE emblems and badges below Frost and Triumph will be converted into gold. This even includes legacy badges, like Badges of Justice. If any of these older currencies are converted into gold, the player will receive it through an in-game letter.
At this time any bosses a player defeats that are level-appropriate to them (and previously awarded badges or emblems upon defeat) will award them with the new Justice Points. Similarly, any items that previously cost emblems or badges of any type will now cost Justice Points instead.
On the PvP side, Season 8 will end with the release of patch 4.0, and all Arena Points, Honor Points, any leftover Battleground Marks of Honor, Stone Keeper’s Shards, Venture Coins, and Spirit Shards will be converted into the new Honor Points. The new Honor Point pool will also have a soft cap for these conversions, but a hard cap will be enforced later. At the time of conversion, items that previously cost Honor or Arena Points will be sold in exchange for the new Honor Points. Rated Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds won’t be available again until Season 9 (shortly after the release of Cataclysm), when they can be entered to win the higher-tier PvP Conquest Points.
In addition, purchasing any item with these secondary currencies (Honor Points and Justice Points) will now require that the purchaser meet the item’s minimum level requirement.
It’s important to note that these conversions are not 1:1, but are indicative of the level and relative worth of each before the conversion to the new point systems. For example, Stone Keeper’s Shards will convert into more Honor Points than Spirit Shards.
Tip of the Cap
While we previously announced that there’s a limit to the amount of these new currencies you can stockpile, we’re providing a grace period in the form of a soft cap. This soft cap will allow the initial conversion to push the amount owned over the cap, but will not allow any further points to be earned (or returned through item refunds) until enough points are spent to put you below the hard cap.
For instance, a player has 3000 Emblems of Triumph, and 1200 Emblems of Frost; at the time of conversion they’ll be given 4200 Justice Points. The hard cap for Justice Points is 4000, so that player won’t be able to earn any more Justice Points until he or she spends enough points to reduce the total to under 4000. This also applies to the new PvP Honor Points, which also have a cap of 4000.
Shortly before Cataclysm is released, another patch will enforce the hard cap, marking the second stage of the currency conversion. Any Justice or Honor Points above the hard cap will be converted to gold, and just like in the first stage of the conversion, the player will receive an in-game letter explaining that some of their currencies were converted into gold as well as delivering the gold itself.

Let us know what you think and if you have any questions. We’re planning to post all of the conversion math tomorrow afternoon for those that want to know how many of each they’ll be getting.

This Internet phenomenon started with the release of a video clip online to the World of Warcraft forums. The video was released by the World of Warcraft Alliance player guild PALS FOR LIFE on the Laughing Skull PvP realm.

Leeroy was given a substantial boost in notoriety by the publication of an article in the August 2005 issue of PC Gamer UK, entitled “The Ballad of Leeroy Jenkins”. The article claims that the original video was designed as a negative commentary on the kind of “nerd-guilds” that meticulously and statistically plan out raids the way Leeroy’s guild was apparently doing. Leeroy is in fact the hero of the piece, acting against the geekiness of his guild.

Stormwind contains four instanced areas:

The Stockade – Located to the immediate north east of the Mage District, The Stockade is one of Stormwind’s two prison complexes, intended to hold lesser criminals. The Stockade has recently been overrun by its inmates, mostly captured Defias thugs, and the guards have been driven up to the surface. It takes the form of an instanced dungeon for characters of approximate levels 25-32, for whom there are six quests available for clearing the Stockade. Although it is possible for a horde player to enter the instance most horde players don’t bother.
Champion’s Hall – This was an instanced chamber accessible only to Alliance characters with a PvP rank of 6 or above, however after Patch 2.0.1 this chamber was opened to all players. The Hall of Legends is situated in the Old Town district, near the headquarters of the Stormwind Army; there is an equivalent Officers-only area for the Horde in Orgrimmar.
The Mystery Instance – This is an instance in the southeast section of Stormwind, between the Trade District and the Old Town district. The instance is inaccessible to regular players of the game, since the entrance is blocked by a gate. It was rumored to be a testing ground for GMs(Gamemasters), however through interviews with some developers it appears to be the location of the housing district if Blizzard ever decides to implement it. Currently, it is possible to get into the small tunnel behind it using exploit, but nothing is there; the forks of the tunnel both go into nowhere.
The Deeprun Tram – Located in the eastern section of the Dwarven District, it is a free mode of transportion between the Alliance cities of Stormwind and Ironforge. There is a quick and fun quest involving rats in this Instance. You must be lower level to receive it, but can be acquired at the Ironforge end of the Tram.

Early versions of the game introduced an honor system in which players were rewarded for participating in PvP campaigns of any type. The honor system was divided into 14 ranks of increasing achievement. [4]. Rankings were updated on a weekly basis, and each player’s PvP statistics would be published on the World of Warcraft website. Published rankings for that period were broken down into server and factions, so that players of individual servers could compare and compete with their fellow faction members.

There were several statistics associated with this honor system:

Honor kills (HK) is the number of opposing players which were killed.
Dishonorable kills (DK, or less commonly DHK) is a penalty applied when higher level players would kill lower level players or NPCs. This penalty was applied to earned honor, reducing that players honor, and might even reduce their rank.
Earned honor, or honor points, was a weighted value which took into consideration the rank of the successful kill. Killing players of higher rank would earn more honor than players of lower rank, yet each would earn a single HK. A law of diminishing returns was integrated into the system to prevent the exploitation of repeatedly killing the same player. Successive kills of the same player would earn less honor, until no honor was earned.
The honor system was subject to “honor decay”. If players did not participate in PvP, their earned honor points would begin to decay, reducing players rank to consecutive lower ranks. Higher rankings would decay at a faster rate, until one could ultimately lose their ranking. It was not uncommon to see a player who was at rank 14 suddenly demoted to a lower rank, in the space of a single week.

The cities of Orgrimmar and Stormwind houses a special “officer quarters” which players of rank six or higher were entitled to access. Inside were vendors from which players could purchase rewards based on current rank. For players who were lower than rank six, another vendor was located outside this building who would sell a limited inventory, also based on current rank.

These vendors would sell equipment only based on current rank; if a players rank decayed to a lower rank, that player was no longer eligible to purchase the higher ranked rewards. During this period, it was not uncommon for players to “make the rush”, earning the highest level rank possible, and then purchasing all available rewards before they were locked out. This particular issue was eventually removed, thus allowing players to purchase rewards based upon their lifetime rank, rather than current rank.

Ultimately, this entire honor system was scrapped in favor of the current system introduced with patch 2.0.1, released 2006-12-05. Titles which were previously attainable by achieving large amounts of honor, though no longer attainable, were retained by those who had earned them prior to the patch.

Both honor decay and dishonor was removed. Killing lower level characters gains no honor, but does not have the adverse affect of diminishing honor. Killing NPCs nets no honor at all, regardless of the NPC or players levels. Honor kills is now a running total of all kills, and earned honor is still weighted against the opposing characters PvP accomplishments; more or less honor is earned depending on the opponents individual PvP statistics. Accumulated honor is now used as a type of currency for purchasing gear and items. [5]

Sample PvP statsTo illustrate some of these statistics, a sample screenshot is provided on the left.

This player is of the Horde faction. This is indicated by the icon which is located to the right of the word “Honor”. Alliance players have a corresponding icon.
Due to the presence of an honor rank, First Sergeant, this indicates that this player participated in PvP prior to the honor system changes detailed above. This rank indicated is a Horde title, in this case, First Sergeant being Rank 5.
Player has accumulated a total of 3,406 lifetime kills; 102 being the prior day.
Accumulated honor is 2092, which is a calculated value based on a number of related statistics.
Player does not participate in the arena system, as the lack of stats for the arena indicates.
Comparatively, this player does not often participate in PvP campaigns.