Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida says more hardcore fans of the MMO might find patch 7.3's Deep Dungeon "lacking," so the team is adding an "extra hard boss" you can fight after reaching floor 99.
Speaking to RPGSite, Yoshida delves into the challenges of catering to everyone in the MMO's varied fanbase. Introducing a high-end raid is wonderful if you're a hardcore player with a dedicated group to perfect each encounter with, though it's likely to appeal less to those who just want to hang out between story drops. With Pilgrim's Traverse – a roguelike-inspired, ever-changing multi-floor dungeon – Yoshida is trying to strike a balance by providing something for everyone.
"We think this will appeal to a more casual playstyle, but we're also anticipating that more hardcore players who might find it less challenging will feel it's lacking," he says. "This is why we're adding an additional extra hard boss you can fight after reaching floor 99."
Yoshida's comments touch on a wider challenge Final Fantasy 14 has been facing since the launch of Dawntrail. While the content roadmap offers something for most, some fans have had to wait longer than they'd like due to the increased time between patches. For example, midcore fans looking forward to the Occult Crescent field operation or the Cosmic Exploration 'lifestyle content' had to wait until patch 7.2, which launched roughly a year after Dawntrail's main expansion.
And then there's executing the plan itself. Alongside the challenge of developing everything outlined in the roadmap, Final Fantasy 14 developers have had to keep the MMO itself running smoothly. It hasn't always been easy, with Yoshida taking the time to apologize in a recent stream before outlining what the team was doing to remedy frustrations with Cosmic Exploration and Occult Crescent.
"We are trying to work within a specific timescale, and trying to satisfy both types of players [note: casual players that rarely engage with raid content, and more hardcore players that do]," he says. "At the same time, even if we were to double our number of developers, I don't think we'd necessarily be able to double our output while trying to maintain the same level of quality."
Final Fantasy 14's 7.3 patch – called The Promise of Tomorrow – is due to release in early August.
Final Fantasy 14 director Yoshi-P admits recent raid was "a misstep in development" that "wasn't meant to be hardcore," says Square is "trying to satisfy both" casual and hardcore MMO players.
