Auto-translated using Deepl with some cleanup by myself.

What emotions or experiences do you hope players will take away from Evercold? Could you tell us if there are any narrative challenges that set this expansion apart from previous ones?

With each expansion pack, we ensure we don’t simply repeat the same story or themes; we always strive to create new experiences and insights for everyone, and Evercold is no exception. Furthermore, we are doing our utmost to ensure that when players complete the 8.0 adventure, they’ll think, ‘That was fun’, ‘I’m curious about what’s next for FF14’, so I’d be delighted if you could look forward to it. I hope you’ll focus on what lies ahead for the protagonist, the Warrior of Light, and for all of you players.

When developing Evercold, were there any particular lessons or insights gained from Dawntrail? Were there any points you placed particular emphasis on?

What we’re prioritising most this time is the sense of pacing. In Dawntrail, our efforts to carefully convey encounters with new continents, lands, cultures and characters resulted in the story’s pace becoming extremely slow. The fact that this didn’t align with players’ desire to ‘keep moving forward’ was a shortcoming in my direction.

In Evercold, we’ve shifted those elements to side quests, allowing players to savour them at their leisure later on, whilst paying close attention to the story’s pace and sense of rhythm. This aspect is also linked to the overall evolution of FF14, and we must recognise just how precious gamers’ time is. After all, there’s a reality that unless the story progresses at a brisk, lively pace, it’s difficult to achieve success, so we’re prioritising this aspect this time round.

Regarding the story of Evercold, is there any content or quests that players should revisit beforehand, or that will deepen their understanding of the narrative as they play?

There isn’t anything in particular. As this is the first story in a long while to centre on the reflections of The Source, I think it might deepen your understanding of the story if you revisit the first saga of FF14—specifically the parts explained during its climax—such as ‘What exactly are the reflections?’ and ‘When did the worlds split?’.

We caught a glimpse of an illustration from Valkyrie Profile; are there any plans for a collaboration?

It’s been suggested that it’s ‘Valkyrie Profile’, and there was indeed a brief glimpse of art that looked like it (laughs). It’s not exactly a collaboration, but I’ll just say that it seems characters like those will be appearing. Speaking of Square Enix’s Nordic-themed works… I think you’ll find that the FF14 development team is, as ever, paying attention to the oddest details, so please look forward to it.

Could you tell us the reason behind the name ‘Zephyr’ for the new job, and explain once again what the concept behind it is? It would also be helpful to hear how it differs from other roles such as the Bard, Machinist and Dancer.

Of course, the name ‘Zephyr’ has a certain ring to it, but if you look up related words based on Norse mythology—words with that sort of nuance—I think the meaning will gradually become clear. I won’t reveal a definitive answer, but the various terms that appear in Evercold were created with inspiration from a certain source, so I hope you’ll pay attention to those aspects.

The Bard, Machinist and Dancer from the same role have completely different mechanics for each job to begin with, and of course, Zephyr also has entirely different mechanics. Furthermore, as Zephyr is a pet-based job, I think the main difference lies in the fact that it is a ranged physical DPS class with a strong emphasis on handling pets.

Are the Nepheles summoned by Zephyr exclusively of the hawk type? Is it possible to customise their colour or appearance?

In 8.0, they are what we call ‘hawk-type’—during the keynote speech, we referred to them as ‘birds of prey’, but I’ll keep what happens in the future under wraps. As for customising their colour and appearance, I won’t go so far as to say it’s impossible. If I say too much, I might get a bit of flak from players using other pet jobs… (wry smile).

Just as Summoners can use a diverse range of summons and possess various job-specific sub-commands, I’d like to ensure that Zephyr—including in future updates—captures the unique aspects of the Pet Job.

Regarding the new Zephyr job, I noticed that the character was being carried by a familiar whilst moving. Will it be possible to move freely at will? If so, what advantages does this offer compared to normal movement?

You can move whilst being carried by your familiar at will. Of course, there are benefits compared to normal movement—not just in terms of appearance—but I cannot go into detail just yet. At the North America Fan Festival, we introduced the Evolved Modes for four jobs. Among these, we showcased the Dragoon’s ‘Sky High’—an action where you remain aloft for an extended period before falling, which is very much in keeping with the Dragoon’s style—and we’re preparing distinctive actions like this for each job. I hope you’ll consider being carried whilst clinging to Zephyr’s familiar as one such action.

This might be a bit of a tongue-in-cheek question, but was Rhitahtyn’s job originally intended to be Bastion?

When I created Rhitahtyn, the concept of the Bastion hadn’t been conceived yet, so I think the accurate answer would be that he wasn’t a Bastion when Rhitahtyn was first conceived… I feel that his character is reflected in the fact that he fights whilst holding two enormous shields to protect the lives of his subordinates—I think that really brings out his character. Also, as we’ve indicated that the origins of the new ‘Zephyr’ job lie in the north-west of the Ilsabard Continent, there may well be a connection with Rhitahtyn… We’ve included elements that link them or hint at such a connection, so I hope you’ll keep an eye out for these while undertaking the Zephyr job quest.

The ‘Gauntlet of Power’ is being added as a new content format; could you tell us the reasoning behind its implementation?

There are broadly two reasons behind its implementation. Firstly, when we considered how players could make more effective use of their free time whilst playing FF14, we started from the premise that it might be good to have content that ends within 3 to 5 minutes once a match is made. However, even though we’ve now implemented unified matchmaking within the same region, whilst some players may feel that waiting to be matched only for the content to end in three minutes is too short, others find it just right. To ensure this fits everyone’s needs, we’ve incorporated the flexibility to stop a series of consecutive runs whenever you like.

Furthermore, FF14 features an end-game-oriented design, and we’ve added a great deal of content with every update. Looking back, we’ve created an enormous amount of content, and we felt that making effective use of this—so that players can utilise it within their free time—would increase the overall range of options available in FF14. This is our second reason. We’ve implemented a system where enemies previously created as Instance Dungeon (ID) bosses appear at random for consecutive battles… Furthermore, as new IDs are added with future patches, those bosses will be included too, so the ways to enjoy the game will continue to expand.

That said, many of the bosses we created in the early stages were designed as one-offs (with specifications unique to that specific content), but thanks to the content programmers thoroughly overhauling them, they ended up functioning much more smoothly than we expected. We’ve also established a ‘balance adjustment’ system, which has allowed us to create content where both low-level and high-level players can enjoy the content at their own levels, so I really hope you’ll give it a go.

Do you envisage the existing Content Roulette remaining as it is? Or will there be changes to this as well?

The traditional Content Roulette will remain, but it will be significantly streamlined. I intend to discuss this in more detail during the Producer Letter Live (PLL) just before release, but as it was previously divided into too many fine categories, we’re planning to reduce the number of categories considerably.

The previous Content Roulette was daily, so we had no choice but to organise it that way, but from Evercold onwards, it will become weekly. Essentially, the game will revolve around clearing missions and accumulating Activity Points. In other words, the Content Roulette will no longer be the central focus, and its role will change accordingly. That is precisely why we’ve consolidated it into clearer, more straightforward categories.

The Content Roulette will remain, partly to facilitate matchmaking, but I hope you can picture that its role will be different from the current system. I actually wanted to mention this during the keynote speech, but I realised it would have pushed the presentation over four hours, so I decided against it… (wry smile).

Alliance Raid: Savage—will there be attacks and cinematic sequences exclusive to Savage, as has been the case with previous Savage raids?

Given that it’s billed as ‘Savage’, we’ve prepared mechanics exclusive to Savage, as well as effects similar to those mechanics. I think there will be moments where players think, ‘I never imagined it would take this form…!’ We’ve just finished various checks and are about to start development, so I hope you’ll look forward to it.

You mentioned that you’re considering ways to expand housing features during the 8.x series; are you looking into plans to add new housing areas to planets that have been colonised or rebuilt via the Cosmo Explorer?

We have no plans at present to add housing areas in new regions. As I mentioned in the keynote speech, our priority is to provide as many players as possible with houses featuring gardens. If we were to simply add housing areas to specific regions, ultimately, houses would only increase in those locations. Instead, we are planning a new system for the game as a whole, and we intend to significantly expand the number of housing areas using one of the three patterns we have now narrowed down to.

That said, I do wonder whether you might be satisfied with the system for adjusting the size of individual houses within a housing area—one of the updates I discussed today—once it is introduced. If that were to happen, there is a possibility that land added later might go unused. Furthermore, whilst we could, for example, provide each player with their own private house and garden, this would eliminate the concept of ‘passers-by’—in other words, the ability to show your home to other players.

We are currently on the verge of deciding whether this is truly what players want… and where the right balance lies. I believe every approach has its pros and cons, and whilst taking these into account, I hope to deliver something in the update from version 8.1 that everyone will find satisfactory. However, if we were to wait until then to order the servers, we would be slow to get started, so we have decided to purchase the servers in advance. For this reason, we do not currently plan to add housing on an ‘area’ basis for the time being; instead, we would like to prioritise providing you all with as much land as possible.

Since version 8.0, what will be the status of armour crafted through the crafting system (so-called ‘new-style equipment’)?

Armour crafted by crafters—commonly referred to as ‘new-style gear’—will continue to exist. In terms of its positioning, we envisage it bridging the gap between Season Gear and Raid Gear, and we have clearly defined the role of crafted armour. We intend to provide further details on this in future PLLs and similar updates.

To what extent will the ‘PvP Hall of the Novice’ enable players to learn the basics of PvP?

Actions such as ‘Guard’ to reduce damage, using ‘Recuperate’ to restore HP, and fully restoring MP with ‘Standard-issue Elixir’ are concepts that do not exist in PvE. We intend to start with these basics. The idea is that there will be an NPC instructor, and players will follow the guide to actually move their characters, learning basic movements and fundamental terminology. Ultimately, I’m also planning to create an application where you fight against the enemy team’s NPCs alongside your own NPC. I imagine that amongst those who find PvP difficult, there are some who find the very act of being attacked by an opposing player frightening. To help players get used to this, I plan to carefully implement a system where you are attacked by NPCs that are so realistic they could be mistaken for actual players.

Today saw the semi-finals and finals of the official Japanese Crystal Conflict tournament, and watching how the players moved, I noticed they were constantly staying close to the walls to block their opponents’ line of sight. This tactic of ‘blocking the line of sight’ is unique to PvP, and I think there are many aspects you simply won’t understand until you’ve tried it yourself. I’d like to incorporate these kinds of elements into the ‘PvP Hall of the Novice’. Of course, if I try to explain all the elements at once might prove too difficult, and some people might end up giving up. For that reason, I intend to take a step-by-step approach, and I’m currently focusing on developing the content with great care and attention to detail.

Will there be job-specific guides available in the PvP Hall of the Novice?

Actually, we’re planning to create job-specific guides for the PvE side first. We intend to provide content for each job that allows playing FF14 for the first time, or those who have used the level skip feature, we’re currently working on preparing content for each job that allows them to learn the basics of how to use that job whilst actually playing through the game. As for the PvP job guides, I imagine we’ll look into those once that’s settled.

I’ve just briefly touched upon some new information, but as the details we’ve shared so far regarding Evercold is still only a fraction of the whole; we’re proceeding with development with the determination to change and evolve every aspect, and to tackle everything we haven’t been able to address until now.

With the addition of new raid difficulty levels such as ‘Fierce’, it seems the mid-range difficulty tiers have been further subdivided. Will the high-end difficulty levels, such as ‘Savage’ and ‘Ultimate’, remain as they are? Or will there be vertical expansion?

Personally, I’ve always felt that there was a gap in the mid-range of content difficulty. The clear rate for Normal-difficulty 8-player raids is extremely high, and it was clear that as long as you had eight players, you could complete them. However, as things stand, the next level of difficulty are Extreme Trials, so I felt we needed something to bridge that gap. That’s why we’ve created the newly added ‘Fierce’ difficulty.

With the addition of the so-called ‘Fierce’ difficulty, I imagine people might focus solely on the name, but Fierce is intended to be tackled after clearing Normal mode; it’s a difficulty level designed to be attempted once you’ve seen the basic mechanics in Normal mode. Furthermore, as it’s a milder difficulty than an Extreme Trial, I believe it will fit the bill perfectly. There are quite a few individual mechanics, and the difficulty is such that even if you’re half-destroyed, you can recover and clear the stage; above all, I want you to experience the joy of clearing it and moving forward. If, however, there are still many comments saying it’s too difficult, I’ll probably lower the difficulty further.

The status of Savage and Ultimate remains unchanged, but a new ‘Alliance Raid: Savage’ will be added. As I mentioned in the keynote speech, the 8-player Savage raid is balanced so that players can clear it even without a full set of armour (using ‘New-style’ gear), whilst Alliance Raid: Savage is a high-difficulty challenge designed for players who have upgraded their raid gear during even-numbered patches , so I imagine it will feel more difficult than the 8-player Savage raid immediately after an even-numbered patch is released. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s on a par with up to Tier 4 of the 8-player Savage raid, but I think it would be best to approach it with the mindset of tackling Tier 3. The idea is that players will further enhance their gear there and then go on to challenge the Ultimate difficulty beyond that.

As for high-difficulty content, we aren’t planning anything beyond Ultimate. The difficulty of Ultimate’s mechanics is the absolute peak, and I don’t believe we can create anything beyond that. If we were to make it any harder, we’d have to cap the item level, which would result in an approach similar to ‘Alexander: Gordias (Savage)’. I don’t think that’s what players would want, so I believe it’s impossible to go beyond Ultimate. Whilst Savage and Ultimate will remain unchanged, the new Alliance Raid: Savage is being added, so I’d really like those who enjoy high-difficulty battle content to give it a go.

In Evercold, this marks the first time that both 8-player raids and Alliance Raids will feature as crossover content. Whilst there is much anticipation, some have expressed concerns that, as collaborations tend to be self-contained stories that delve less deeply into the FF14 universe, there may be a lack of completely new original FF14 content, as well as insufficient focus on the roles and development of original characters. Furthermore, some players have expressed regret that popular characters from side content rarely reappear in other content or the main questline. Are there any plans or policies in place to ensure that, in future, such characters are not confined to specific collaborations or content, but are instead featured more widely across a broader range of content and storylines?

Firstly, whilst I think the concerns regarding the former are entirely valid, Evercold features Trials and Extreme Trials unique to this expansion, which incorporate a completely new storyline. Therefore, I believe you can rest assured that there is indeed content that properly depicts FF14’s original story. Also, whilst I cannot go into too much detail yet, all of the crossover content is integrated in a way that is grounded in the FF14 universe, allowing players to delve even deeper into the story. I think it’s safe to say that you shouldn’t view these as separate, self-contained entities.

Regarding the latter point, whilst we’d love to include them, no matter how popular a character might be in a side quest, they’re ultimately only appearing in that side quest. If we were to bring them into the main storyline, players who haven’t done the side quest would be left wondering, ‘Who on earth is this?’. At the same time, we’d need to create branching dialogue paths—for instance, what the character says if someone who hasn’t played the side content meets them first in the main quest, or conversely, what they say if they’ve already met them in the side content and then encounter them again in the main quest. If we were to keep adding these, the number of possible lines would become astronomical.

Furthermore, creating these branching paths prevents us from taking bold creative liberties with the narrative. For instance, we cannot kill off that character. Nor can we have a scenario where, precisely because they have a role in the side content, they end up sustaining serious injuries whilst shielding the Warrior of Light during the main quest. We fully understand, of course, that there are many compelling characters in the side content and that they’re hugely popular, but rather than bringing them to the forefront, we’d like to expand the side content as a series of interconnected stories, so that players can enjoy the characters and the story in that way.

It would be good to bring them back into the spotlight when we create new types of content, such as the ‘Gauntlet of Power’ announced during this keynote speech. As it’s quite a challenge to create entirely new characters every time, we’d like to take a more flexible approach. However, this is extremely valuable feedback, so we’ll certainly take it on board.

Raid rewards are changing from a lottery system to individual chests; will a similar reward system be adopted for other content (such as Extreme Trials)?

It’s difficult to give a clear answer when you say ‘other content’, as that encompasses everything apart from raids. However, our policy is to minimise opportunities for players to compete for items as much as possible. Of course, I do believe the lottery system has its own unique appeal, so it won’t be eliminated entirely. We’ll provide the final details on this during the PLL just before the release.

To reiterate, our policy is to avoid situations where players get frustrated at not being able to obtain items and think, ‘Oh no, another run…’. That said, we also don’t want to take away the thrill of everyone rolling the dice together when an ultra-rare item drops. We’d appreciate it if you could bear this in mind for now.

In Evercold, the character creation elements have been significantly overhauled; in particular, I was struck by the fact that players can now choose their Au Ra’s horns and face type. Was there a specific intention behind this design choice?

Our initial policy was that an Au Ra’s horns represent the race’s identity and is also linked to their lore, so we didn’t want to change it; nor did we intend to leave it up to the players to decide how their horns should be. However, seeing how the desire to dress up one’s character to make it look cooler or cuter has become a major motivator for play, we felt that rather than sticking rigidly to our original policy, it would be better to leave it up to the players—including their own preferences regarding lore—and that is the intention behind this design change. This applies not only to Au Ra, but also allows players to remove various race-specific symbols, such as the Miqo’te’s battle makeup. Various settings will be introduced from Patch 8.1, and I expect these to increase in the future, so I would be delighted if you could look forward to these elements of character creation and customisation.

I understand that the customisation feature for outfit decorations, which players have been eagerly awaiting, is set to be implemented—but will this feature apply only to specific gear, such as Seasonal Gear or Raid Gear? Is there a possibility that similar functionality will be applied to gear that was introduced in the past?

Just as with the introduction of two-colour dyeing for gear, the workload involved is simply too immense to implement this across all gear at once. However, this feature has already been applied to the vast majority of the gear set to be introduced in 8.0. Therefore, you can safely assume that it applies to Season Gear, Raid Gear, job-specific gear, and some fashion gear. As there’s a great deal of fine-tuning available, we’re planning to hold a PLL focusing on character creation to demonstrate this on the actual game client. It’s much easier to understand when you see it in action—for example, just how easily you can toggle decorations on and off, or adjust the height of a collar so that it doesn’t get in the way of your hair. We’ll also begin retroactively applying this to gear that was implemented in the past. We’ll be tackling items in order of popularity, but given that there are literally tens of thousands of them… Please just think of it as being updated gradually via patches.

Once the Q&A session had concluded, there was a little time left over, so I asked some additional detailed questions about rewards in Savage from version 8.0 onwards.

If we discuss specific aspects of the specifications, people will inevitably compare just those parts to the current state. As announced during this keynote speech, Savage will be changing from the traditional 8-player group format to individual drops; regarding rewards, they’ve made adjustments across the board to ensure players can enjoy strengthening their gear whilst minimising any inconvenience. Further details will be explained during the PLL, so I’m looking forward to that.