Jesus christ, enough about free trials.
Thank you.
Lets get back to business, I picked this up off the Eorzapedia site and another forum:
Going between two languages, it is easy for things to get lost in translation. Not only that, but for Final Fantasy XIV, the sites for each region are also presented in entirely different ways. That means sometimes there can be pictures or text in one that doesn’t show up in the either.
At the moment, we have extensive text on the NA site about some of the monster families like Aldgoats and Antelopes. However, the Japanese site does not contain any additional text, just the pictures that were released to the Japanese media. For those in Japan, they have to get their information from the magazines released this weekend or one of the several gaming news websites like GAME Watch or 4Gamer.
Let’s check out what was in the magazines that isn’t on the NA site as well as what things may have been lost along the way.
WEEKLY FAMITSU
FFXIV is down in the Weekly Famitsu ratings, from 12 to 21. It seems to follow a pattern though. The week or two after new info it rises, but after a lull it falls back down. That’s to be expected at this stage in the game.
In this issue, there are seven pages dedicated to the new information released by SE as well as some short Q&As as well. Let’s start with the Q&As first. For the most part, I will only cover things that haven’t already been discussed in other articles.
World Overview
There will be a tavern-like places in the game similar to what we saw in the Tokyo Game Show trailer. These places will be an important part of the game. Also in previous trailers as well as the TGS trailer, there have been scenes of a group of adventurers taking on a large number of enemies. SE says that this kind of giant battle will not be the norm but this will happen on occasion and is one of the new game play features for FFXIV. The GAME Watch interview also confirmed this but the music in the second half of the trailer is one of the many battle themes as well.
Weapons and Tools
Each weapon will vary in what the best attacking range for it will be. Some may be closer than others, or farther than others. One example is the polearm mentioned in the official text for Lancer. Confirmed in the Q&A as well, polearms allow you to attack outside of the melee attacking range of your opponent. They also confirm that Lancers will be able to use both the two-handed polearms and the throwing javelins. The javelins will be treated as throwing weapons rather than as the main weapon you walk around with. This was how throwing weapons worked in FFXI as well. They would like to add other throwing weapons to other classes as well.
The Q&A talks about the weapon degradation as well. As your weapon wears down, its functional ability will decrease, requiring you to get it repaired. Tools will also need to be repaired from time to time too.
There are some interesting responses to the Q&A about crafting. The interviewer asks if the ability to use a particular tool or use particular materials could be limited to a set race. The nameless respondent from SE replies this could happen. However, they will strive for balance so that no race is dominant over the others. They also ask what will be needed to craft things. You will need the proper tool or tools. Preparing good tools and proper armor will be key. You will also need the proper materials and a crystal. Many times you will need to choose the right equipment as well. We can see one example of that in the Lifestyle report on the Culinarian talking about how she could use the equipment at the Culinarian’s Guild. To craft some things, you might also need to meet certain additional requirements as well. They mention the possibility of needing assistance or having to wait for a particular type of weather or other natural phenomena.
Finally, eating food will have an effect on player’s stats. They don’t want your party to be affected too much by what you eat. Instead, they want to make it so that people are free to eat what they want and have the ability to eat lots of different things. It sounds like they are still in the planning stages for how food will work in game.
After you have crafted a lot of things, it’s only natural to sell them. In previous interviews, they said they were working on a new system different from the Auction House used in FFXI. SE has now given us a name for this new system, the Market. However, I’ll talk more about what we know about the Market later.
Famitsu Ideas
As part of the Japanese media kit, sites were given a story to go with the pictures that describe the crafting process from the point of view of a Culinarian. You can see examples on GAME Watch or Gpara. Weekly Famitsu decided to write their own speculation based on the story instead of running the original text. Here’s what they came away with:
The tool you use will have a large effect on your results. For example, the same ingredients prepared with the skillet or with the kitchen knife could result in different dishes. The amount could change as well.
Guilds will have equipment available to assist your crafting efforts. Sometimes it will be necessary to use them.
You need a crystal to craft.
After making a recipe once, it will appear in a personal recipe book.
There is a chance that the amount will increase. (This is similar to HQ’ing in FFXI for some recipes.)
There will be a way for crafters to set prices for something they want to sell.
DENGEKI PLAYSTATION
This week FFXIV comes in at 5th in Dengeki PlayStation’s Anticipated Titles poll. Last issue it made it all the way up to 3rd.
Dengeki PlayStation also ran the newly released information and pictures, however, they kept it to a short 4 pages. 1/3 of one of those pages was dedicated to their own speculations:
There will be multiple markets. Each market will have a different name.
They feel the stands will be player-run as well as named by players.
Food will spoil over time. Because of this, you will be able to check on the status of an item when you look at it. Another option would be to have a skill or ability that lets you check the status of items/armor/food/etc.
It will be fairly costly to use equipment at the various guilds.
The various aetheryte points will be named Camp ________. This is actually the second time we’ve seen “Camp _______” used at the aetheryte points.
The Miqo’te Kabobs will increase attack power.
Gil is the currency of Eorzea.
DIFFERENCES
The speculations we make are completely based on what we can read. In general, the Japanese versions are very straight-forward. The English versions are much more colorful. It makes for great reading in English but harder to tell what is important.
For starters, the picture of the kabobs. In the English version of the site, they are only referred to as “crispy kabobs”. However, they have an actual name in the Japanese version. ミコッテ風山の幸串焼 Literally translates as “Miqo’te style Mountain Foods Grilled on Sticks”. This is nearly identical to what is used in FFXI for Meat Mithkabobs, swapping Mithra for Miqo’te.
How about the names of places? In the English version, the market is named Glutton’s Alley and the stand is called The Scratching Post. In Japanese, they have がつがつ横丁 which can easily turn into Glutton’s Alley. However, the name of the stand is completely different. The Japanese “Totoya” doesn’t turn into anything specifically outside of “Fish Store”. In fact, there are some seafood restaurants named Totoya. However, the people at Dengeki PlayStation took it to mean that maybe the stand was run by a person named Toto (with the ya part meaning store). Thus, from their point of view, the stands could be named after the player or perhaps even freely named. In the English version, with “The Scratching Post”, it is clearly not a player’s name. However, it fits the player, a Miqo’te, that was selling their goods. The speculations we can make are very dependent on the version we are reading. The words “Market” and “Stand” are also highlighted in the Japanese version to make it clear these are important keywords to be remembered. The English version is much more casual about how they are used and requires people to read into things a bit more.
Finally, there are a few pictures not used on the NA site. These food items don’t have names yet but their shapes are very familiar to foods used in FFXI. Perhaps we will be seeing a lot of old favorites? Only time will tell.
That’s it for this week. See ya later!
I've seen plenty of single player games with demo discs but not MMOs prior to WoW. I wonder if there's a place with the information of this minor crap (even wiki doesn't, hehe)
