As part of their work to help improve Final Fantasy XIV the new development team working on the MMORPG recently conducted a “Players Poll” where they asked players (only those with Square Enix accounts ) from around the world to voice their opinion on several aspects of the game.
Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida ( playfully referred to as “The Duck” or “Yoshi-P” by some Japanese players) shared his thoughts on the questionnaire results as well. You can read his anaylsis at Loadstone. There was a total of 11 questions asked. I posted a few of them here in no particular order.
What is your biggest expectation for the newly restructured development team?
A majority of players from around the world overwhelmingly anticipate a huge change in FFXIV’s current gameplay state. This should come as no surprise.
Which of the following issues you would like to see addressed first? (Choose only one)
Would you welcome changes to FINAL FANTASY XIV that would drastically alter the rules already set in Eorzea?
What do you find most appealing about FINAL FANTASY XIV? (Choose only one)
Some of the results to this question surprised me. The general consensus from both players and critics was that FFXIV is no doubt a gorgeous looking game so graphics being the most appealing part of the it isn’t shocking. What took me by surprise was the fact that only 9.1% of Japanese players find the name “Final Fantasy” appealing for the mmorpg.
The number was higher by 4% among North American players with an even larger gap with Great Britain users. However at 35%, the name Final Fantasy ( at least where FFXIV is concerned ) has the most appeal with French players . I some how expected Japan or North America to lead in that aspect.
Which of the following would you like to see implemented first? (Choose only one)
When asked to list the online games they have played before, Final Fantasy XI was the number one response from each region. In North America, Great Britain, France, and Denmark World Of WarCraft came in a close second. See those results here.
Naoki Yoshida also took the time to respond to a fan in California who was concerned by the word “reboot” in which Yoshida-san had used to describe the new direction FFXIV was headed over New Years. The fan was worried that current character data would be deleted when the team is done reconstructing the game. Yoichi-P replied : “I apologize for any confusion that this choice of terminology may have caused, but rest assured that character data will not be wiped.”
