Square Enix are ditching the traditional MMO staple of gather/grinding for experience points in order to level your characters, instead they want more ‘natural growth’.
It takes note of FFXI’s job system which had ”lasting appeal” noted director Nobuaki Komoto, but FFXIV will have ”something completely different.” Weapons dictate ”how you play.”
”This time, there will be no experience points or level system,” said producer Hiromichi Tanaka, in a video interview with Famitsu. ”It will be a different system altogether.”
Adding to that, FFXIV director Nobuaki-san wants ”people who may never have tried an online game before have the freedom to try many different things and tackle any number of quests and grow naturally from their experiences… That’s our priority: players enjoying the process of character growth.”
The success of Final Fantasy XI’s job system, which let gamers combine character classes and undertake sub-jobs to expand them, has heavily influenced Square Enix plans.
”We believe the main factor behind Final Fantasy XI’s lasting appeal is the job system,” said Komoto-san. ”However, the system will become something completely different. The focus here will be on weapons. Your weapon will determine how you play. Your weapon will determine how you fight.”
”We want to afford players enough variety to choose a different way to play on any given day. If they could practice one skill one day, they could work on another one the next.”
”You can trust that we plan to create a world of new possibilities that redefine the MMO. I hope you’re looking forward to everything we have in store,” he concluded.
Final Fantasy XIV is being released on PS3 and PC next year.
Source: Eurogamer
