Final Fantasy 14 will make life easier for solo players
Plus plans for visual upgrades
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker brought a close to some of the long-running MMO's story arcs, but it's far from the end for a game that proved so popular Square Enix briefly removed it from sale. In a live broadcast earlier this week, producer and director Naoki Yoshida outlined future ambitions, including making it possible to play all "main scenario dungeons of A Realm Reborn" with NPC pals instead of other players.
Yoshida also mentioned the game's first planned graphical update, and a partial roadmap of new content to come in future patches.
You can watch an archive of the full Letter From The Produce livestream over on Twitch, if you've got five hours spare.
Currently, FFXIV contains a Trust System via which players can delve into some main scenario dungeons with a party of NPCs. The upcoming patch 6.1 will expand it to all those in A Realm Reborn, with more to be added "at a later date." It's been a while since I've played an MMO but I was always a solo player when I did, and so I appreciate features like this. Square plan on going further, too, by adjusting "several low-level" dungeons "to support an accessible, solo-play experience."
A Realm Reborn launched back in 2013 and hasn't received a graphical update since. It still finds ways to be pretty, but proper visual enhancements will arrive with the next expansion pack. That includes plans for improvements to characters, the world, and "will encompass elements like higher-resolution textures, improved material qualities, and better lighting and shadow effects."
While announcing a "partial" roadmap for future updates, Yoshida also said that future patches would be released every four months, rather than every three-and-a-half as before. "Looking at our schedule and how we work, I do want my team to be healthy, and to be able to maintain a good level of quality because they’re taking the necessary breaks,” Yoshida said via translator. "To be honest, there were areas where we might not have performed as well as we should have, because some of us may have been pushing too hard."
Here's that partial roadmap in full:
Patch 6.1 Series- New Main Scenario Questline – Patch 6.1 - 6.5
- “Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures”– Patch 6.1 – 6.5
- “Tataru’s Grand Endeavor” Sidequest Series – Patch 6.1 – 6.5
- Myths of the Realm #1 (Alliance Raid)
- Crystalline Conflict (New PvP)
- Arkasodara Tribe Quests and Dailies
- Dragonsong’s Reprise (New Ultimate Duty)
- Ultima’s Bane (Unreal)
- Trust Support for A Realm Reborn(Patch 2.0) Main Scenario Dungeons
- New Calling Card-Style UI (Name TBD)
- New Hairstyles for Hrothgar
- Empyreum (Ishgard Housing)
- Custom Deliveries: Ameliance
- Plus New Trials and Other Assorted Updates...
- Trust Support for A Realm Reborn 2.X Main Scenario Dungeons
- Trust Support for 2-3 Heavensward™Main Scenario Dungeons
- New Weapon Enhancements
- New "Criterion" Dungeon with Variable Difficulty (for 1–4 Players)
- "Island Sanctuary" Debuts
- Plus Pandæmonium, Faux Hollows, Other Trials, and More...
- Trust system for Remaining Heavensward Main Scenario Dungeons
- Deep Dungeon Series #3
- Ultimate Duty #5
- Island Sanctuary Updates
- Plus Myths of the Realm, Faux Hollows, Other Trials, and More...
- Trust system for Stormblood™ Main Scenario Dungeons
- “Criterion” Dungeons #2 & #3
- Additional Area for Island Sanctuary
- Plus the Conclusion to Pandæmonium, Further Myths of the Realm, Faux Hollows, Other Trials, and More...
- More Plans for Patches 6.4 and 6.5 are Being Made as we Speak!