Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - Letter from the Producer LIVE in TGS 2014 summary

Letter from the Producer LIVE @ Tokyo Game Show 2014 just concluded, and while there were no special announcements regarding Patch 2.4, there were a few smaller ones regarding the upcoming Patch 2,4; Dungeons, Shiva, PvP, Fan Festivals and more.

The stream opened with what could only be described as the likely intro to Shiva’s Primal Battle, with the Primal being reflected in ice before flying toward the player’s screen. The usual Naoki Yoshida and Toshi “Foxclon” Murouchi took to the stage to greet audiences and viewers alike. Yoshida started by addressing the current housing issues that are causing problems for players, he reiterated his apologies of the housing being expensive and tied to Free Company instances but went on to explain that this was to create a community of players rather than everyone abandoning their FC houses for personal zones. Yoshida also went on to say that instances housing is not the answer to fixing this problem, as it would be too costly to the servers; instead they will be doubling the Housing Wards in 2.4, and continuing to add more as we move forward with the addition of more options in the future.

Confirmation of the three new Dungeons in Patch 2.4; “Snowcloak” the brand new dungeon set beyond the wall of ice currently standing between Central and Western Coerthas, both music and environments look fantastic. “Sastasha Seagrot (Hard)” is the first of the hard mode dungeons this time around, looking drained of its water and even spookier than before it will certainly be interesting to return to the first dungeon once again. Finally “The Sunken Temple of Qarn (Hard)” makes it debut hosting a wide range of seemingly more vicious monsters and traps than before. For pictures of these dungeons please refer to our Gallery below.

A sneak peek of the battle arena and Shiva was also shown, titled “The Ahk Afah Amphitheatre”; a wide open Colosseum-style arena with an accessible lower outer ring and large crystalline objects around the outside, the environment distances look fantastic from up there. Gameplay was also shown relating to Ninja but nothing we haven’t seen before and with less variety than previous clips, it was more of a reminder of the upcoming class/job than an actual trailer, Yoshida also declined to reveal the cross-class abilities tied to Ninja.

The finale of “The Binding Coil of Bahamut” was once again confirmed to be coming in Patch 2.4, with the savage version becoming available in 2.5. Other tidbits of information as follows: Brand new PvP ranks will be making an appearance in Patch 2.4, Yoshida went on to say that they will be changing the Wolves Den to generate interest with players, as well as adding new rules and tournaments in the future. The “Eternal Bond” system will be making it’s debut in Patch 2.45 allowing you to “Bond” with any player regardless of Race/Gender. Leviathan EX’s “Mirror of Whorl” will be receiving an increased drop-rate due to the ever increasing iLevel. The possibility of Savage Primals was also discussed as well as a nerf to the Labyrinth of the Ancients to allow for less players to challenge the content.

Outside of in-game content the team announced some information about the upcoming Fan Festivals taking place in October/December in Las Vegas, London and Tokyo; A Keynote, Letter from the Producer LIVE, Developer Panel, Music Special Presented by Sound Director Masayoshi Soken, Battle Challenge (Find out what special new challenge awaits attendees!), as well as a variety of Floor Activities such as LIVE Quest, Photo Booth, Fanart Display, Merchandise, Cosplay Contest, and Art Contest.

On the merchandise front, firstly, “Delivery Moogle Plushies” will be on sale at the Fan-Festivals before making their appearance in the online store, each purchase comes with a in-game Wind-Up Delivery Moogle. Secondly, a new Blu-Ray Soundtrack titled “Final Fantasy XIV: From Astral to Umbral” an arranged OST from Masayoshi’s new band “The Primals” alongside some piano covers is due December 17th, and finally, “The Art of Eorzea” a world-wide and very first official art book showing the history of how Eorzea was reborn, due October 17th (also contains an in-game Wind-Up Enterprise and tiny Cid onboard) was revealed.

All in all a very small LIVE Letter lasting just over an hour in length, our next LIVE Letter is likely the Fan Festivals where it was confirmed in previous interviews that each will have its own special announcements. With 2.4 just around the corner, we will be sure to post all related information and keep you up to date with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.


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Michael Fisher

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