Julio Casal

Final Fantasy XI Retrospective Video

Julio — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:55:58 GMT

I just wanted to share here this very cool retrospective video from GameTrailers that Brian mentioned in one of his latest posts. The video takes you from the initial development of Final Fantasy XI all the way to the latest expansion, Wing of the Goddess. You can see there how Square Enix entered the MMORPG land, how players embraced this game, parts of the original story and how the expansions came to expand its already massive world.

A must see for any Final Fantasy XI fan. Enjoy!

Final Fantasy XIV Suggested Extensibility Points

Julio — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:55:04 GMT

As I commented on some past post, Square Enix should provide some extensibility points in Final Fantasy XIV so that software developers like me could build on top of the game expanding it in several possible ways. Here I’d like to discuss what extensibility points should be added to the game:

Market/Auction House. I have no idea how the guys at Final Fantasy XI Auction House managed to build such a great site where they present all sorts of statistics of last sales of every possible item in the in-game Auction House of XI. I’m not sure if I missed some Square Enix public site where they provide such information, but I just can’t find a way to build something like that site. In the end, I think that Final Fantasy XIV should provide some sort of web services or REST API where I can query the in-game auction house to get market statistics in real time, maybe to build a great site like the one mentioned or to just build a small gadget/widget to put in my blog or to install in my PC. Maybe I just want to know how my sales are going in real time without having to enter the game (maybe I’m at work and the boss won’t allow me to play!).

General game statistics. How much people is logged in my server? Which of my linkshell friends are online now? How much people is wondering around Area X? Who are the most active players of last week? Which is the most repeated quest of all time? How much people have reached level 75 in my nation? There are unlimited possible questions here. A set of web services or a REST API would allow me to build something that would expose that statistics via a simple webpage.
Calendar and Weather conditions. Again, I have no idea how the guy(s) behind FFXI Time Information built such a useful web page. Current in-game time, day of the week, moon phase, guild opening/closing state, airship arrival/departing times, you can get all that info there, but no idea how to make a site like that. Exposing an API that I can query from my website would allow me to present not only real time but also historic in-game conditions that I could use to take decisions about when to do some stuff in the game.

Character information. Here I am thinking of a small kind of widget that would show all my character’s achievements, current armor, crafting/experience levels, latest locations and all the info that would allow me to present my character glory to the world. Square Enix could provide a web page where I can get and customize the widget or they can, again, provide some API that let me build something cool.
Mobile gaming. Suppose you are in the subway or in a cab on a terrible traffic day where you have nothing more than your PSP, Nintendo DS, your cell phone or any fancy gadget you take with you and, of course, you have internet connectivity. Shouldn’t you be able to have “some” interaction with the game to take advantage of that wasted time? I don’t mean like “let’s build a party from my cell”, but maybe I can just check my last sales and put some other stuff for sale in the market. Or maybe I just want to chat with my linkshell pals. Or maybe I would like to see a list of notorious monster battles taking place right now and enter to see that battle like seeing a football game on the TV. Square could provide a mobile dedicated site for this or an API to let me build it!

Events/Missions/Quests. Let’s suppose you really need to do this mission that would grant you access to some awesome area in the game, but you also need the help of 3 or 4 other guys with specific jobs to successfully complete the mission. Wouldn't it be great if you could just go to a website, get the mission list, pick your mission and click a button to say “I need this one”? Then all other people that also need that one would visit the same page, see that there are other 3 or 10 guys needing it and click the button too. When the required number of people has applied for that mission the page would notify everybody that the party is complete and offer you a place to schedule the mission or prepare the strategy for it. All of this without even having to enter the game. This would be so useful.

I think that’s for now, maybe some other stuff comes to my developer head later. Now, back to coding!

Julio.

My “What I would like to see in Final Fantasy XIV” post

Julio — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:23:40 GMT

Of course I’m not the first one posting his desires on Final Fantasy XIV, but I would like to add my vote for the following features that I think would be cool to see in the next MMORPG from Square Enix:

Age. I would really love to start the game like a child (maybe like a 5 year old boy) with very limited skills and experience and start growing at some rate, something like maybe grow one character year per one real life month. That would certainly open several interesting scenarios during the life of the character.
Unlimited Chocobo access. I mean, I would like to be able to call my chocobo whenever I want, wherever I am. No need to buy and recharge whistles or similar items to just call my chocobo. Maybe also my chocobo wants to walk next to me when I dismount him, not just always leave. Also, instead of having to feed him all the time, can’t I just leave some large amounts of food on his “home” so he always have food?

No need of party to grow my character. Do I like to party? Yes. Do I like to depend on having a party to get my artifact armor, or to be able to increase my level cap, or to get access to some game region? NO!!! I mean, just let me be able to grow my character in any possible way without always require a party.
Add much more life to big open areas. I’m pretty sure that any Final Fantasy XI player finds the Gustaberg lands are very dead, desert lands, with no more life than some very ugly monsters. The worst thing is that this area is the first one you see when you get out of my home city! More life please!

Market improvements. I’m not sure if there will be the Auction House concept in Final Fantasy XIV, but I’m pretty sure there will be some kind of market where you can buy/sell stuff. Some improvements I’d like to see there are:
- No limits for the amount of items you can put on sale there. I think the 7 item limit has something to do with the chances one player has to affect all the market, but still I don’t think Ebay puts some sort of limits for sellers, does it?
- Sold items, required items notifications. I mean, just send some sort of email or alert when one of your items has sold in the market or when somebody requires one specific item that you may know how to get.
- Item search. Yep, in Final Fantasy XI you can’t just search for an item, you have to know the exact category and subcategory in order to get to the item you want to buy. Just add a search box somewhere in the new game.
- Add something like “last price” next to each item, so you can immediately know which was the last price the item was sold for. I think that would be better than having to see all price history all the time.

Real money trading. I’m not a fan at all of this Real Money Traders (RMT), who has all the time in the world to collect in game money (gil) in order to sell it for real money (dollars) to people that just don’t want to or don’t know how to get money in the game. That’s the reason why the game should incorporate some sort of ability to bring real money (dollars) to the game for players that have it and want to spend it. Maybe you could just not “buy” game money with dollars but you may be able to buy some assets or stocks in the game that you can sell later. I know this is just a crazy idea, but maybe is one way we can stop the RMT business. If you have a better idea, please add your comment!
Home improvements. In Final Fantasy XI you have this “Mog House” concept, which basically is your own house or home in the game. The bad thing here is that this is no more than a room in the same spot as everybody else in the same country or kingdom. Shouldn’t I be able to buy some sort of piece of land and then build my small or big house there with plenty of rooms and accessories? And then invite my friends there? There is so much opportunities here!

That’s it for now, hope Square Enix ever read this post. I have some other ideas focused on game extensibility. Another post on that soon!

Julio.