Yoshi-P doesn't want FF14 to share the same "very tragic" fate of one classic MMO

Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshi, better known as Yoshi-P, has revealed that he wants to avoid the game going down the same unfortunate route as another classic MMO.

As part of his keynote speech to open this weekend's Anaheim Fan Festival, Yoshi-P officially announced a new, more simplified combat system was set to join the game as part of the next expansion.

This new system will give players a choice between the 'Reborn' combat system they're used to and the more streamlined 'Evolved' version.

The confirmation that all new Jobs going forward will only support the Evolved system was met with murmurs from the crowd, however.

In a press conference on Friday evening, Yoshi-P addressed the changes, referencing the unfortunate fate of Star Wars Galaxies.

After asking the room if anyone remembers Star Wars Galaxies, Yoshi-P remarked, "If you know about the game, then I'm sure you know what happened to it when it did its thing."

This is in reference to the New Game Enhancements (NGEs) that were introduced to Galaxies in November 2005, which players regarded as having reduced the game's depth and complexity, and subsequently led to a dramatic fall in player numbers.

"I actually really liked Star Wars Galxies and its game design," he explained.

"For the betterment of the gameplay experience – they were doing it for the players – but then they took an existing system and they just changed it to something entirely new.

"And players did not take that very well, and I know people have been referring to it like a very tragic incident."

Yoshi-P went on to ruminate on the state of FF14, and the struggles of keeping such a long-lived game fresh, while keeping elements of what players have enjoyed for so long.

"Counting from the original Final Fantasy XIV, we've been around for 15 years – 13 if we count from A Realm Reborn – so we've been building this game together with players worldwide and we've been on this journey together, and people have gotten so familiar and used to the system that we have established.

"And so, I knew that I didn't want to just suddenly remove what we've been used to, and that was my decision from the start.

"And of course, this notion of keeping the 'Reborn' mode – I mentioned to Yokozawa Sato and the people I discussed with, when I talked about developing the 'Evolved' mode, I really wanted to keep [Reborn].

"So, we are going to continue adjusting and updating at Evercold release, and so, we need to make sure that, of course, we will develop the Evolved system, but let's address what we have as well."

Here's hoping Evolved Jobs herald another decade of FF14, and not the beginning of a slow decline.

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