Over the weekend Square Enix showed up to this year's Tokyo Game Show. For those Final Fantasy XIV players outside Japan the highlight was probably the Producer's Live Letter #83 broadcast live from the stage. With only 90 minutes to present the head of Creative Studio III, Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P), managed to pack in a lot of information to whet the appetites of players looking forward to patch 7.1. While the presentation was in Japanese, the sides, as usual, were produced with both Japanese and English text. For those outside the game, the FFXIV sub-Reddit not only has a Discord server but performs translation services for all presentations done without English translations.
The first bit of news is the name of patch 7.1, Crossroads, and the release date. Okay, Yoshi-P mixed up the name of the patch with a movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but from the screenshots I don't think we will meet aliens in the patch. The release date was listed as mid-November, but if all goes according to schedule, we will get to play on 12 November. Personally I bet on the 12th and took a paid day off from work to try to play the patch at launch.
Crossroads will have a lot of different quests. Besides the standard continuation of the main story questline (MSQ), those who complete all the role quests in 7.0 will receive a new role quest to do in the next patch. The role quest isn't just limited to combat jobs. Those who complete all the Wachumeqimeqi crafting and gathering quests will also receive quests, which Yoshi-P described as a finale for the business district.
As is usual, the developers are adding a new Allied Society, the Pelupelu. The quests associated with the standings grind are combat quests, as also happened in Endwalker. The Allied Societies back in the first few expansions were known as tribal quests for those who haven't played past the free trial.
The new Custom Deliveries NPC will have players heading north of the bridge to FFXIV's version of the southwestern United States. Nitowikwe, a female Hrothgar, apparently will set up at or near the rail station in Shaaloani.
Oh, and the Hildibrand saga will once again appear in the game. Yoshi-P said during the presentation that 7.1 is sort of a prologue for the Dawntrail version of Hildibrand.
Those who like doing combat related content hopefully will see the upcoming content and feel satisfied. First comes a new 4-character dungeon and 8-character trial for the MSQ. The savage versions of the content will probably release two weeks after the launch of Crossroads.
Next comes alliance raids. That's right, players will get more than one raid. The new regular alliance raid series is Echoes of Vana'diel. A cross-over with Final Fantasy XI, the 24-character raid will not follow the layout of its FFXI version. But then the developers also created a more challenging raid series, The Cloud of Darkness (Chaotic). The new type of Chaotic content is supposed to be more savage than extreme in difficulty. The Cloud of Darkness is also using a changed reward system that gives an incentive to repeatedly clear the content and help other players to do the same. A bit different than the current system that only allows one clear per week.
And finally the new Ultimate raid is based around Ryne and Gaia, Futures Rewritten. Expect lots of callbacks to the Eden series. The Ultimate will appear one or two weeks after the launch of Crossroads.
Yoshi-P also talked about two duty-related items. The first is the development team has begun adding non-MSQ duties to the Duty Support system. Expect to see the level 20 duty Halatali in the Duty Support list in Crossroads. But Yoshi-P warned not to expect the conversion of all the non-MSQ dungeons quickly. As in expecting the conversion to finish within the next 10 years.
What I do wonder is if the effort to convert non-MSQ dungeons is related to the Grand Company dungeons. Halatali is the lowest level dungeon players can run with their Squadrons. I would think Yoshi-P would not want to maintain a second set of dungeons anymore.
The second development is adding an additional set of training missions at level 49. Currently players get a tutorial around level 15 to help teach about certain concepts before entering their first dungeon. Some of the mechanics confuse players when first encountered. A popular one is a new player getting a stacking marker and thinking they are supposed to run away from other players. An advanced tutorial showing mechanics introduced after A Realm Reborn would come in handy.
I should also point out the Dawntrail MSQ will become available in New Game Plus in Crossroads. Why weren't they added once completing the MSQ? I don't know. But I will finally use the feature to take a look back at Heritage Found, as the zone changes radically after the player has finished the MSQ in the area.
PvP won't receive any content love until patch 7.2 when the developers plan big updates for Frontline. Until then, each job will receive new PvP actions, except for the newest jobs added in Dawntrail. Also, changes to hit detection are coming in 7.1. Some attacks, like the machinist's limit break and warrior's primal rend, would register the effect of the attack before the animation completed. That issue is resolved, allowing healers to throw shields on their teammates more effectively.
The Gold Saucer is receiving an update to Doman Mahjong. Players will have the ability to purchase voiced reactions and commentary from the Scions for MGP. I understand a lot of Mahjong players signed up for FFXIV just to play Mahjong online. Yoshi-P said he was most scared of Y'shtola.
Finally come the housing updates. Players will now have the ability to select interior designs from different residential areas regardless of the location of the plot. Also, the developers are adding new interior designs without pillars. Players won't have to remove their interior decorations before changing the design of their homes, but will have to place everything back manually.
Coming in a later patch (not 7.1!!!) Yoshi-P plans on turning housing into TARDIS. That's right, if Yoshi-P can include Star Trek references in Stormblood (remember the Kobayashi Maru fishing area?), why not throw in a little Dr. Who as well? Owning a cottage will no longer mean not having the interior of a mansion. Yoshi-P warned utilizing the option will cost lots of gil, but in the future a housing plot will just represent the outside area available for decoration and holding events. But details are still forthcoming, such as any potential increases in item caps, etc.
Not bad for an hour presentation. Part 2 of the live letter will come when Yoshi-P is back in the office. At that time I expect a lot more details for not just Crossroads but the rest of the Dawntrail patches. Okay, perhaps teasers for patches 7.2 and beyond. But I have the feeling the upcoming content drops will peak interest in FFXIV, at least for a little while.
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