On April 12, Last Fantasy XIV patch 6.1 — titled Newfound Journey — went dwell, the primary main replace to the sport for the reason that launch of its newest growth, Endwalker, again in December. The discharge of the patch went a lot smoother than the growth, which had a troubling begin on its Dec. three launch as the sport’s servers could not deal with the variety of gamers logging on. 

As a substitute of a bombardment of negativity from gamers wanting to play, there was a sentiment of understanding from the neighborhood, one thing not typically seen in on-line gaming circles. This “harmonious vibe,” as Yoshida places it, between gamers and the event crew is among the keys to success for the sport which continues to develop surpassing 25 million gamers on the time of Endwalker’s launch. 

“I’m an internet gamer who grew up taking part in Diablo and Ultima On-line,” Yoshida mentioned. “I’ve seen many video games discover themselves in conditions the place it turns into the neighborhood versus the event crew. I believed to eradicate that with FF14 and to develop a more healthy crew by speaking info as overtly as potential, subsequently selling a mutual understanding between the neighborhood and growth crew.”

It has been 9 years for the reason that launch of Last Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, a complete remodeling of the unique FF14, which had an abysmal three years of existence. For the reason that reboot, gamers flocked to the sport yr after yr and it is repeatedly within the prime 25 energetic video games on Steam in line with analytics website Steam Charts. 

This continued progress of a massively multiplayer on-line RPG over the course of virtually a decade just isn’t widespread. As new content material will get added to the sport, new gamers have a tendency to search out it overwhelming to leap in. Yoshida’s crew makes it some extent that “irrespective of whenever you begin taking part in FFXIV, you possibly can nonetheless catch as much as everybody and benefit from the sport alongside them with out it taking an excessive amount of time.”

The uncommon component of FF14’s success is that new gamers are helped by the prevailing participant base who’re enthusiastic about bringing in new folks into the fold. 

“Transferring ahead, I wish to broaden the scope of the viewers by making it potential to play by way of the story solo whereas additionally drawing extra folks into the enjoyable of a multiplayer expertise,” Yoshida mentioned. 

The problems with the Endwalker launch turned out to be one other studying expertise for Yoshida and his crew. A scarcity of semiconductors attributable to the pandemic made it tough to amass the variety of servers to accommodate everybody who needed to play. They’ve since scaled up their operations in preparation for future growth. 

As for patch 6.1, it picks up after Endwalker’s story and provides two massive additions to the sport. The primary is an overhaul to the player-versus-player (PVP) fight whereas the second is a brand new housing lottery system. 

Crystalline Battle is the five-versus-five PVP mode with gamers teaming up with an goal to maneuver their respective crystal to the objective whereas stopping the opposite crew from reaching their objective. It has been successful with gamers who’ve been having fun with the distinctive motion that comes with the team-based construction. 

However, the housing lottery did not work out as anticipated. 

Housing in FF14 is an ongoing subject for the sport. Previous to patch 6.1, if gamers needed a home to be able to retailer their collectibles and have their very own house within the sport, they’d have to attend for lots to open up within the numerous residential zones and hope to be the primary one to assert a spot. These plots are restricted, and gamers would camp out in hopes of buying these spots. 

The event crew designed the housing lottery to deal with an enormous subject the neighborhood has had for years. It eliminated the necessity to camp out for a plot of land by letting gamers have an opportunity at a plot of land with out having to camp for it. When a spot opens up, gamers can be part of a lottery that lasts for 5 days. They must put up the quantity of in-game forex, generally known as gil, to be able to take part, and on the finish of the 5 days,  a winner is chosen. The issue, nevertheless, was the system wouldn’t choose a winner in any respect. Yoshida and his crew found the problem final week and apologized for the disruptions it brought about. 

With the nine-year anniversary developing for the discharge of A Realm Reborn, Yoshida says his crew has a imaginative and prescient for the following 10 years of the sport. What’s not in that imaginative and prescient, nevertheless, is the metaverse, which refers to what some name the following evolution of the web the place folks can work and work together nearly. He merely would not see FF14 being its personal metaverse. 

“I see a metaverse as merely a system, whereas FF14 is leisure,” Yoshida mentioned. “Subsequently, I consider it comes right down to ‘amusement’ being the vital consider drawing and sustaining curiosity.”