New interview with Naoki Yoshida about the Final Fantasy XIV Graphic Update, Solo Play and the future

With Final Fantasy XIV‘s Newfound adventure Era well underway, PlayStation Blog has a new interview with producer and director Naoki Yoshida about the long roadmap of plans the team has for the game, and more about what’s to come in the near future.

Any FFXIV The fan will be familiar with the secrecy of the details, but the interview gives an overview of what has recently been added, including improving the game for solo players, new quests, challenges and other things that are in the works.

The alliance raid Myths of the Realm is inspired by the lore of Eorzea. While looking at player theories and “some of them might not be far from hitting the mark,” Yoshida gave the tidbit that deities chosen during character select don’t affect your status there.

The interview also covers the announced graphical update that will come over time. While a graphical update could take many forms, community interest is once again firmly paramount. When you have loyal players that have been with you for a decade, taking things slow and getting the right feedback is the way to go with such a big update. “The beauty of graphics depends not only on the method used, but also on the sensibility of the individual, so I only aim at “the development of the graphic from the perspective of FFXIV‘ he says of the upgrade planning.

When it comes to MMORPGs adding more solo play options alongside story, it might seem like a contradiction in terms, but its design philosophy emphasizes player pace and discovery.

“What I want to do is lower the barrier to entry for those who feel intimidated by MMORPGs or who aren’t good at multiplayer games. Of course, I am happy when players are satisfied after just completing the story or when they discover the fun of multiplayer and MMORPGs during their journey and push them to try different types of content.”

Finally, when asked about the design behind the new Dragonsong’s Reprise Ultimate, lowering the barriers wasn’t a factor here. “As for difficulty…we don’t quite have accessibility in mind.”

Read along for the full interview Final Fantasy XIV‘s Naoki Yoshida over on the PlayStation Blog.