Final Fantasy XI developers talk to players

FFXI Fan Festival gives a sneak peak at Wings of the Goddess expansion

November 16, 2007

Fans gathered today in Anaheim, California for Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival to meet up with their online friends and get some exclusive previews of what's to come for the MMORPG. The day ended with a developer's panel, in which the development team revealled some new details about the game. The fourth expansion to Final Fantasy XI, Wings of the Goddess will be released on November 20, so discussion focused on that event.

New Storyline

The new storyline and missions for Wings of the Goddess have been the topic of much speculation. From early on, the scenes of what appeared to be Vana'diel's past gave the idea of time travel, and indeed a potential gateway, Atomos, was later revealled. Details about the storyline slowly surfaced from Square Enix.

Apparently, Cait Sith may hold the secrets connecting the past and present of Vana'diel.

Today, two important details were also revealled. One, is that pyreflies known as Carniverous Maws will be very important to the story. The other is a central feline character that will be very important to the story. The character is apparently a reincarnation of a fan-favourite: Final Fantasy VII's Cait Sith.

Campaign

Much of the discussion centered around "Campaign", a new battle system that is being introduced in the FFXI expanison. Campaign puts high-level adventurers into Garrison-like battles that made up the Crystal War. The developers have also mentioned that the four portions of Campaign that have been revealled so far only account for half of the components to the new system.

There will be 15 areas in which Allied Campaigns can appear. The Campaigns will be somewhat similar to the current Besieged system, with Beastmen being able to occupy some nation areas and keep strongholds that players can, in turn, invade. The frequency of these battles is still being worked out.

New Jobs: Dancer and Scholar

As has been previously announced, the new jobs Scholar and Dancer will be added with the Wings of the Goddess expansion.

Two new jobs, Scholar and Dancer, will be added to Final Fantasy XI in Wings of the Goddess, brining the game's total jobs to 20.

Dancer has been demonstrated to have a Provoke-like ability, giving rise to speculation that the job might serve as a tank (or at least an alternative to the /WAR sub for tanks. The job's abilities seem to be TP-based, possibly able to use small amounts of TP to perform moves, rather than using 100% TP or more in a single shot as Weapon Skills are performed.

Meanwhile, Scholar will make use of Abilities more than other mage jobs. Scholars will use spells on a system of 'charges' that will regenerate after four minutes. Scholars will also have abilities to affect both White and Black magic spells, such as cutting MP use, cast/recast times and increasing potency.

Adjustments to Exisitng Jobs

A number of existing jobs will be changed in the near future, most of which will

Warriors will be getting a new boost to its claiming skills to help the job get a chance at NMs. WARs will also get a new counter-like ability that gives extra TP. The goal is to improve the Warrior's viability as a tank.

Developers comment that recent changes to Samurai have left it too powerful, and adjustments will be made. And so may end a brief period of intense satisfaction for Samurais who briefly enjoyed priority in many game events. But developers won't simply 'nerf' the job, but instead replace some of the current raw power with abilities that, when used properly, can increase the effectiveness of weapon skills and skillchains.

Monks will have some adjustments to lower the amount of TP given to mobs by attacks, as well as placing more attention on Kick moves.

The Ranger job will also reportedly receieve a new ability and strong ranged attacks, but will forefeit some melee power.

The developers confirmed that new Avatars are on the way for Summoners, but insisted that further details were "top secret". Summoners will be able to use their elemental Avatars to regain some MP.

White Mages will get a new spell called Repose, which causes Sleep. This will also benefit Scholars. New telepoints will also be added to the game with the Wings of the Goddess release, giving players more ways to get around Vana'diel.

The game's developers realize that Black Mages are less important due to a decrease in skillchains. Skillchains will be made a little easier to perform, possibly by providing a wider window in which to perform weapon skills. New transportation methods are also appearing for Black Mage, which may include more destination choices for Warp spells.

Red Mages will receive undisclosed advancements to make them more effective on the front line. Paladins may get a Reflect spell that will allow their shields to return damage, and Dark Knights will be steered back towards magic with new spells.

Thieves will also gain a new ability. The "Accomplice" ability will allow them to steal Enmity from party members. This new feature is meant to be combined with the 2-hour ability "Perfect Dodge" to save party members in distress.

Beastmasters will get some love. New pet foods will eliminate status ailments and lower Reward's recast. A new "Snarl" ability will also allow pets to essentially Provoke enemies back onto themselves.

Bards will get a new ability to allow them to target a single person for a song, rather than rely on the positions of their party members. This will make bards "busier" by giving them more songs to cast on different party members.

The Tonko ninjitsu may be matched with a Sneak spell, giving Ninjas both stealth effects. Dragoons will benefit from more active Wyverns who do more in battle, and Blue Mages will be able to learn new spells from mobs.

The Corsair job will get two new rolls to match the new Scholar and Dancer jobs. A Scholar-like recharge for Quick Draw will also be added to this job. And finally, Puppetmasters will get some new attachments and automan weapon skills.

Other Game Changes

A new Windowed mode will be available to the game for the first time. This will allow players to enjoy Final Fantasy XI in a movable, minimizable window without relying on a third-party tool.

The game's Pankration system of Pokéman-like pet battles will receive some expansion, with new pets and a staging area in which to train and show off your pets.

One of the interesting notions brought up by the developers was the introduction of a Lottery. This would be a fairly rare but significant event, in which players could participate in a server-wide lottery that would give away certain rare items, offering an alternative to some of the frustrating NMs to a few lucky players.

Naturally, not all of the ideas discussed by the developers will be coming immediately, as some are only in the concept phase. But this rare opportunity to get a glance at the direction of the game gives some insight into the developer's thinking with recent and planned updates.

Previously announced improvements to the game include expanded storage capacity for jobs (an expanded Gobbie Bag is rumored to increase to 80 items), more space for longer macros and the ability to invite friends into your Mog House.

Merchandise from the event will be on sale November 19 through Square Enix's USA store, which ships to U.S. states only.

Wings of the Goddess will be released on November 20, with its contents first becoming accessible in the online world of Final Fantasy XI on November 22. Meanwhile, the Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival continues tomorrow, November 17, with at least one more 'special announcement'.