At Gamescom, we met the producer and head writer of Final Fantasy XIV. They revealed in the interview how the process of writing the story of the MMORPG looks. Gameplay and player experience are the top priority. The story is meant to wrap around the game and support the content. There is no guarantee of a happy ending in Final Fantasy XIV.
Naoki Yoshida is the producer and director of FFXIV and Natsuko Ishikawa is the head writer of the MMORPG. The two were available for an interview at Gamescom 2017, explaining what role the story of Final Fantasy XIV plays for them and what processes are involved in telling stories in an MMORPG.
They also provided insight into what makes a good story for them.
The story is important for the entire player experience – it supports the content
In Final Fantasy XIV, fans repeatedly rave about the brilliant and touching story. It is lovingly crafted in every detail, and the connections between individual plot lines are coherent. For example, some characters that players had missed in FF XIV for years reappeared in the Stormblood expansion without feeling out of place.
One might think that an MMORPG known for its breathtaking story would also focus on it. However, the truth is different.
Yoshida emphasized that gameplay and player experience always come first in FFXIV, and the story comes afterward. The story is a means to highlight and make the content unique. Yoshida explained this process using the new swimming feature.
With the Stormblood expansion, players could swim and dive in FFXIV for the first time. Yoshida wanted this feature in the game when he took over the production of Final Fantasy XIV in 2010.
The game designers realized that swimming should be unlocked at level 63 and somehow tied to a boss fight. Once these details were worked out, Ishikawa and her team came into play.
The designers asked the writers how to make swimming as a new feature more interesting.
The scenario team devised a part of the main quest that unlocks swimming for the players. To settle an ancient feud between two underwater races, the player is gifted the ability to breathe underwater. Swimming is thus not simply unlocked by reaching level 63, but players must earn it through an underwater quest.
The scenario was written around swimming.
Ishikawa connects the scenarios of the writing groups and ensures a flow
The writers are divided into several groups that focus on different areas of the story. As the head writer, Ishikawa’s job is to create a seamless transition between scenarios.
There is a quest team that is divided into two groups. One group primarily focuses on writing, while the other considers how to best implement this in the game. Ishikawa oversees both groups for quality and sets the pace. She creates the connections between individual scenarios and must especially ensure that there are no overlaps or illogical links.
For the scenarios, there are different areas divided among the writers. There are job quests, raid quests, or gathering quests. The writing team is always asked who wants to work on which category. If someone raises their hand for a particular storytelling project, they take responsibility for it and bring it to fruition.
Therefore, as Ishikawa says, a writer for such a complex MMORPG needs more than just skill and writing experience. The ability to work in a team is paramount, as every cog must fit together.
A good story must reflect reality – even in a fantasy world
The entire team of FFXIV has created one of the best stories in the MMORPG with its methods. Many experts and fans agree on this.
What, then, makes a good story for the two leading minds, Yoshida and Ishikawa?
Producer Yoshida: “I think a lot about what justice is. What is good? What is evil? Looking at reality, injustice is still very present. People grow up with different backgrounds. Education, religion, values, and experiences influence the actions of individuals. Everyone has a different point of view. One must show the good and the evil of a person and bring those elements together. When I ask someone to write a story for me, or I write one myself, I always want all aspects of a person to be illuminated.
In games, it is often the case that you defeat the final boss and everything then is “happily ever after”. But that is not the truth. If the world were that simple, there would be no wars and injustices. But that is still the reality for us. We do not want to run away from this fact, but choose to represent reality.”
Head writer Ishikawa: “We want to face the conflicts of people. Everyone thinks differently, and there is more than black and white. It doesn’t always have to end with a “happy ending”. Sometimes there are conflicts where we do not reach mutual understanding, and that is the reality. In the world of Final Fantasy, we want to show that light and shadow belong together.”
Our FFXIV expert and editor-in-chief Schuhmann played through the Stormblood expansion. Even though the story of the expansion reminded him a bit of Star Wars, he finds it outstanding.
