Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida says the MMO is getting a "big update" to bring out the "uniqueness of each job" in battle content. While that's likely music to the ears of many, some confusion has been sparked by the following statement that, actually, "nothing is going to change" if you're happy with the way things are.
Speaking to PCGamesN, Yoshi-P says, "Within the MSQ, we can't always provide a unique expression for the jobs in every patch," but "when it comes to using the jobs in battle content and bringing out more of that uniqueness of each job, we are working on a big update."
That's not too dissimilar from what has been said before. A little over a year ago now, Yoshi-P assured fans that Dawntrail (and updates "beyond" the expansion) would finally return "more individuality" to jobs, to make them "more interesting for players to use." It's safe to say the expansion itself and subsequent patches have proven rocky at best so far, though, with Dawntrail still sitting with "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam. Said "individuality" hasn't yet arrived, and it's one of the more consistent bugbears with the Dawntrail run of content.
Continuing, Yoshi-P says, "People might think of it as an expansion of the system that we have in the game. So the players who already like the way things are can feel at ease that nothing is going to change for their experience. But we are trying to do something new on top of what we already have."
It's the "nothing is going to change" bit that has some players sighing in exhaustion, as it could mean less drastic adjustments than expected. Perhaps, it could just be difficult to describe the balance Square Enix wants to strike between the changes necessary to restore "individuality" and the core features fans love about each job. His closing sentiment seems to express this – although, as always, answers given through translation always come with an extra barrier.
"In terms of the individuality of each job and also showcasing the player character to the fullest in terms of how they are the hero of the game," he concludes, "we want to continue placing importance on both of these aspects moving forward."
Yoshi-P's remarks have fellow fans sharing their thoughts (namely, their concerns) online, with one Reddit thread's original poster asking, "So, who likes the way things are now? The uh… uniqueness and individuality of each job?" One player responds, "Now, what the fuck does that mean, Yoshida?" Another states that "'we're working on big changes' and 'players who like things as they are shouldn't worry because nothing will change' are two contradictory statements."
Elsewhere on Reddit, a player recalls that Yoshi-P "said that he had 'something quite big planned for jobs,' and now this," admitting they "don't know what to think anymore." Another fan tells the community not to worry, as "what does need addressing is the homogenization, and this does not read like he's backtracking on it at all."
Here's hoping that they're right – Square Enix is "planning to upgrade" new content, anyway, and some much-needed job changes would slot in quite nicely, in my opinion (but perhaps that's just my healer-shaped desperation speaking).
