Q: In real life, how would you breed the best Chocobo, and what would you call him?
Yoshida: The name will be ‘Boco’. It was the FFVII Chocobo’s default name so, if you didn’t change the name, it would have been Boco. I really like FFVII, so I’ll stick to that origin. In real life, if I had a Chocobo I think I would spoil him, so he would become a fat chocobo - I would need to make sure he’s constantly on a diet.
Q: When will we have the Gold Saucer, and what will it do?
Yoshida: First of all, it will not be in 2.4 patch; it will be sometime during the series, but before 3.0.
The gold saucer, the name itself is still to be confirmed, but let’s call it that for now. I can let you know that a chocobo race will be in there, and Triple Triad, the card game from FFVIII, will be in there as well. With the card game, you’ll also be able to try out with players and NPCs. Also, there will be a lot of minigames, like a basketball-type game as well. We’re also planning to have a dedicated Fate, which will happen in the Gold Saucer area. I want to make sure that there are many exciting things that players will love to stay in this area.
And about the chocobo race: we want to make sure that players can ride their own chocobo, and also race your own – it’s very close to the FFVII chocobo race.
Q: Do you still have faith in the subscription model?
Yoshida: First of all, I would like to clarify that I’m not saying subscription model is better than free-to-play. I selected the subscription model for FFXIV because of the history – we had to rebuild the whole game, make sure we regained the trust of the players, established the ground once again, and made sure there’s enough content to bring constantly. In order to do that, we thought subscription model would be the best choice. I’m not saying that subscription models have advantages in general, but that it was a suitable model for this game.
I do disagree to the general atmosphere that the subscription MMO model is having a tough time these days. If the game is good, people will enjoy it. I don’t think that, just because it’s a subscription model, the game will go downhill.
But I do realize one thing is changing, especially to the player’s priority and mentality. The subscription model is paying for next month where you might be playing, but the players these days prefer to pay for what they play. I do see that the players are moving towards paying for what they play, rather than what they might be playing.
Another reason why I didn’t want to go with the free-to-play model for FFXIV is because there are many MMOs out there which started with a subscription but struggled to keep it, and switched to free-to-play. It looks like it was a failure, and I didn’t want to have that negative atmosphere related to FFXIV.
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I’m not saying that the free-to-play model is a bad choice or anything – it all depends on the type of game we’re talking about. That’s why I’m not saying we will always stick to the subscription model; maybe one day we will switch to free-to-play. I’m not saying that day will never come – it possibly could – but it’s not because we have trouble with the game or user numbers are decreasing, it’s because it’s another business model that I want to try out in a positive way. Things will change, maybe, but it will only change if it makes sense.
If we are going to make changes to the subscription model, then it will be a new business model that we’ll be trying out.
Q: In terms of new content, are you focusing more on long-term, or what’s going to make the game more enjoyable right now?
Yoshida: In the FFXIV dev team, we do really detailed planning in advance for the long-term; we have all the content planned. In Patch 2.4 we’re going to be bringing in Ninja (the new Job) and also Rogue (a new class). But at the same time, the team are also working on Patch 2.5, so there is a long-term schedule. Talking about the long-term, we already have content planned up to 1.5 years in the future.
On top of the planned content, the Adrift team make content based on player feedback now. If they’re saying that this content has too many restrictions or needs to be more exciting, then this team will make changes that can be brought in straight away. This team does all the ad-hoc add-on stuff, on top of the long term plans. When we bring out a major patch, this includes all the long-term content we originally planned, but also the content based on feedback from players.
That’s why, because we have a long plan, we can constantly bring in a lot of content constantly. But if we also stick to what we planned a long time ago, then the players who are playing now may be left out – that we’re not listening to what they’re saying now. That’s very important – we spend manpower on the team to listen and make adjustments based on player feedback. Both are very important.
Q: Apart from the expansion and launching in China, are there any other projects that you’re working on?
Yoshida: If I do something else I might die! [laughs]
Not only FFXIV, but I’m also in charge of a fifth business division of Square Enix Japan; this team works on many other titles as well. There are plans to bring out a new project, which I may be managing myself or being a producer on. These projects may start in the future, so most of my time is spent on FFXIV, but there are other titles I’m working on as well.
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Q: Can we level beyond 50?
Yoshida: Yes, when we bring out the expansion pack, you will be able to go higher than level 50.
Q: Can we raise a personal chocobo without a Free Company?
Yoshida: Yes, we do have plans. In the city-states there’s a Chocobo stable, and we have plans to let players train their own personal chocobo there.
Q: Many MMOs have problems with late-game. Are you satisfied with this level of content?
Yoshida: Because it’s end-game/late-game content, I think there could be as much as possible – I’m not saying I’m satisfied with what we have now. We do have three main foundations – the housing system, the raiding system and the PvP system – but of course I want to bring in more, and enhance all these three main pillars. To answer your question, I’m not satisfied; I want to bring in more.
Personally, I’m playing a lot and still haven’t managed to do everything, so I still think there’s a lot there. I’m actually really into the Frontline large-scale PvP system – I haven’t been to the Crystal Tower for three weeks now. There’s a lot to do.
