Sage Sundi

What?  An update on JPB?  It’s been a long time since the last update when we talked about the WorldPlay Initiative.  Since there, there hasn’t been much to talk about.

Surely, Vanafest 2010 is coming up.  People who want to keep up to date on that should check out Elmer’s coverage at ZAM or the live event presented by Pet Food Alpha and Limit Break Radio.  Information on that can be found on their respective websites or at Eorzeapedia where they do a joint FFXIV podcast. There is also a chance that something might appear on JPB in the days to come.

Of course, for official information, follow the new Vanafest2010 twitter accounts (presented in English, French, and German) or watch the Vanafest page.  According to Destiny on the Creator’s Voice blog, there should be streaming live video of the event, including a mini concert from The Small Onions.

While separate from Vanafest and yet also a big part of it, there will be a version update soon.  This isn’t terribly surprising since they have done something similar in the past.  Also, the Nomad Mog Bonanza entry page said prizes would be distributed after the next version update, so you know it had to be coming up.  Perhaps it will give us lots of interesting things to talk about.

In the meantime, I stumbled across an interview with Sage Sundi featured in the March 2010 issue of Connect!On magazine.  Sage Sundi, as the majority of you already know, is the Global Online Producer for FFXI.  This particular interview is about Sage Sundi’s personal experience with online gaming and community building.  After reading it, I got a better understanding for why certain things are included in FFXI.  It was also like seeing a softer side of Sage Sundi compared with the one we normally see talking about GM tools and fighting RMT.  Let’s take a look at what he shared with the interviewer at Connect!On:

Read more »

Hello, everyone. I hope you’re all enjoying Final Fantasy XI. I think they released an expansion recently… something about pants, I dunno.

Thought I’d share a few interviews with you having to do with Square Enix and localization. They center around Alexander O. Smith and Joseph Reeder, two freelance translators who work together as Kajiya Productions. Kajiya (鍛冶屋) means “blacksmith.” 鍛冶師 (ka-ji-shi) will be the name of the class appearing in Final Fantasy XIV.

Read on for the interviews!

Read more »

With promises of another FFXI team interview to come, this month Famitsu Xbox 360 magazine carried the last part of a three part interview with game producer Hiromichi Tanaka as part of their “Behind the Scenes of Vana’diel” series.

This time the two main topics are the servers that people play on and the level system in-game. I have to admit, I was less than impressed with the first part of the interview with producer Tanaka. It was boring compared to the other team interviews and I felt disappointed that I’d have to wait a whole three months before another team interview would be published. However, part 2 of the interview (here) was more interesting and part 3 has some interesting tidbits to share as well.

Let’s see what Tanaka had to say this time!

Read more »

Famitsu Xbox360 magazine continues their coverage of FFXI with the “Behind the Scenes of Vana’diel” series. They interviewed GMs, the Localization team, the Effects team, and now the big guy himself, Hiromichi Tanaka.

The first part of the interview was published last month. It covered what Tanaka is responsible for as the producer, a bit on ACP, and how FFXI is unique for being available on multiple consoles. The second part was published recently and has some interesting stats and tidbits, especially looking forward at FFXIV and in light of our recent player survey. Here are some of the things Tanaka had to say this month:

Read more »

Now here’s a nice surprise: James Miekle, back in action now at 1up.com, has posted a pretty interesting interview with members of the FFXI Development Team. James writes:

I approached the development team — Masato Kato (Scenario writer), Koichi Ogawa (FFXI Director), Toshio Murouchi (Global Community Producer) — with a batch of questions regarding ACP, the newly-released security token, and the future of PlayOnline. To their credit — particularly Koichi Ogawa — they roll with the punches and do their best to answer my blunt line of questioning.

Nice to see a meaty interview outside the confines of FanFest. It looks like the efforts to build community support are moving along nicely.

CLICK HERE to check it out!

Nobody seemed to like the Dynamis Q&A, but that’s okay. The real meat is in this interview, which covers large-scale events throughout the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion.

Developers present:

FFXI Planner – Mizuki Ito 伊藤 泉貴
Involved in a wide variety of content, including Salvage design and battle logic.

FFXI Planner – Yuichiro Kawanishi 河西 雄一郎
Worked on systems for Assault, Salvage, etc. In charge of Bhaflau Remnants.

FFXI Planner – Mitsutoshi Gondai 権代 光俊
In charge of Merit Points and battle/design for new jobs.

FFXI Planner – Daisuke Sase 佐瀬 太亮
Worked as a battle planner, among other roles. In charge of Silver Seas Remnants.

FFXI Planner – Kenzou Takeda 武田 謙三
Involved in monster data and more. In charge of Arrapago Remnants.

FFXI Planner – Yousuke Hayashi 林 洋介
Involved in work related to items. In charge of Zhaylom Remnants.

Read more »

Famitsuu Xbox 360 Magazine’s interview series, “Behind the Scenes of Vana’diel”, continues this month with part 3 of the interview done with the Effects Team. Part 1 covered some of the basics about the team and the many things they are responsible for. Part 2 contained some interesting tidbits about things that go unnoticed as well as how the team adds sounds and vibrations to effects in the game. In the last part of this interview, part 3, the team talks about background effects, some of the difficulties they face while working, and what they’d like people to notice about the work they do.

This interview contains spoilers for things that appear in some cut scenes for WotG.

Read more »

The fun continues from Vana’diel Tsuushin with a Q&A about Dynamis. These were presented in the middle of a giant section of Dynamis strategies. It’s actually a pretty solid guide to have sitting open for times you don’t want to (or can’t) click through webpages to find what you need.

There are also a number of little comics sprinkled throughout the section, which I’ve pasted below. With each successive answer, the only thing that becomes clearer is why I made sure to include the extra entertainment.

Read more »

Volume 7 of the ヴァナ・ディール通信 has hit the shelves, and trapped inside its shiny, plastic wrapping is a bonus DVD.

The main content of the DVD actually consists of Salvage tutorials put together with help from Air’s Museum, a site well-known throughout JP and EN communities for providing excellent maps and guides for large-scale content in Final Fantasy XI.

What we’re going to look at, however, is a 13-minute video called “Creator’s View,” in which a few developers sit down and talk about the upcoming add-on scenario, A Crystalline Prophecy.

Read more »

Famitsuu Xbox 360 Magazine’s interview series, “Behind the Scenes of Vana’diel”, continues this month with part 2 of the interview done with the Effects Team. The Effects Team is currently made up of 3 people. Part 1 covered some of the basics about the team and the many things they are responsible for. Part 2 contains a couple of interesting tidbits about things hidden in the game that normally go unnoticed. Please be aware that there are minor spoilers for the WotG storyline included in this interview.

As a reminder, the Effects Team is currently made up of 3 people. In charge of the team is the animated and energetic Yuuko Hatae who is assisted by Kouji Tsutsui and Yuuko Tashiro.

Read more »