Long-time players of FFXIV know how the MSQ in a new expansion plays out. You’re taken to the first player hub, you visit zone A, then zone B, then you get your first dungeon. Even if you’re enjoying the story, it can feel a little predictable. But all that will change when Evercold launches, thanks to the game’s focus on Auto Content Balancing. During the keynote at Berlin FanFest, Yoshi-P gave an overview on how your decisions will change how you experience the story.
How it Works
As opposed to Dawntrail, where players explored Urqopacha and Yak T’el before getting their first dungeon, Evercold will start with three zones open to the player. Players can choose which zone and branch of the MSQ to tackle first. After players finish that area, they’ll head back to the player hub they started the game at, before moving on to the next zone. After three zones, they’ll move back on a linear path of the MSQ and visit the next area. You might think, “That still sounds too much like how Dawntrail did it. What’s different?”
This is where Auto Content Balancing kicks in. For enemies, FATEs, and dungeons in these areas, difficulty will be scaled appropriately to a player’s individual level. Whether you’re only level 100, or only a few levels below the cap, you’ll get the same experience in each area. The goal is to give players more ways to experience the story, while maintaining balance across combat encounters.
“What about dungeon rewards?” That too will be changing. While Yoshi-P didn’t reveal any details, he did say instance rewards would be adjusted for this new system. Beyond the MSQ, he also said the dev team was thinking of ways to incorporate this system into additional content.
Getting into Dungeons Quicker
One of the biggest impacts this will have on the player experience is lessening the time to get into a dungeon. Where you first had to run through two zones in previous expansions before getting to your first dungeon, players might only need to visit one zone in Evercold. You might not have to wait that long to start getting better gear for stats and glamout.
How the balancing works is something of a mystery. It could potentially sync all players in a party to their average level and adjusting difficulty based on that. We don’t know the full details just yet, but hopefully it makes the MSQ more fun, and faster paced than previous expansions. The more choices players have, the better.
And as mentioned, this system will allow players to experience the story in the order they please. If there’s a zone that doesn’t particularly interest you, you can go to the other zones first. Or alternatively, get it out of the way so you can enjoy the other two more. And it will make discussions with other players interesting as everyone sees the story play out in their own way. The system has a lot of potential, and hopefully we learn more at Tokyo FanFest in a few months.
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