Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Much is quiet on the part of Square Enix lately while developers focus on the alpha and early beta process for the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XIV, the latest installment in a long and successful series of games. While more news on the game's progress will surely hit the 'net during the summer's con season, a translated interview from Dengeki PlayStation gives a sizable update on FFXIV's early testing phase.

Along with mention of the basic trials and tribulations of early testing, FFXIV devs also talk a bit about what comes next and they touch upon various features of the game and how they are being received by players.

DP: The alpha test started with the game at a rather unpolished state. How are the players taking this?

NK: A lot of players have been pointing out the poor tempo of battle and the lack of explanation for parts of the game. We are trying to decide how write the explanations for beta and commercial release, so these are really helpful comments.

HT: Komoto told the testers before alpha started that the tempo of battle is something we’re looking at. When beta test starts, we will be implementing a completely different battle system, practically remade from the ground up. We weren’t planning on using the current battle system in the first place, but we didn’t want players to wait until beta, so we explained the situation and opened the test.

You can read the full translated interview broken up into a part one and a part two on FFXIVCore.com.