First off, we got the official name of the game's next expansion, which will be titled Evercold. It's seemingly taking us to another shard, one that has been taken over by ice, and it will at least feature Alphinaud, Estinien, and our Warriors of Light.
We then got a lot of updates about the game, starting with a completely different UI being called the "Adventurer Activity" UI that will help transfer the game from a daily progression system to a weekly one. Yoshi-P says that pretty much everything can be done on this one screen, but it's still early in development and will almost definitely change before the full release.
One of the ways the game is shifting to a weekly schedule is with Activity Points, which you'll be given by doing various activities and quests, each one giving you a varying different amount of points. On top of that, we'll also be able to go back and earn last week's rewards as long as the current weeks are complete.
ILvl Is Being Overhauled
Yoshi-P then explains that Final Fantasy 14 is getting a few new ways to increase ILVL, arguing that the only ways to do so are to acquire gear from savage raids. He argues that this creates a "content gap" in odd numbered patches, and that this is something they want to fix. Unfortunately, more details weren't provided, and more news will come during Tokyo's FanFest.
Final Fantasy 14 Will Be Getting A Seasonal Structure
Yoshi-P goes on to explain that a new seasonal system will be coming in, but reassures us that there will be no extra charges, and that we won't have to pay for Season Passes. Instead, this is referring to how patches work, as two combined patches will now be referred to as a single season. For example, Evercold's 8.0 and the patch after (8.1), will be referred to as a single season. He then ends this section by explaining that the team will try to reduce patch wait times.
The Armory System Is Getting Overhauled Too
Next up, Yoshi-P discusses the game's Armorey System, claiming that it's rarely been touched since the game's inception. However, starting in Evercold, players will no longer have to painstakingly grind for gear for all their jobs, as they'll be allowed to reflect their highest Ilvl onto other jobs. You'll still have to level jobs individually, but when it comes to gear, it's becoming much easier to gear up jobs.
This doesn't apply to stat boosts given by materia, so if you want to really hone in on one job, you can do that, but when it comes to standard gearing, you'll be able to switch jobs much easier.
Character Action Skins Have Been Announced
A smaller update now, as Yoshi-P announces that character action skins are being added, which will be specific animations that can be unlocked which will change the animations of certain skills to give you extra customization.
In a massive update, Yoshi-P has revealed that, thanks to Final Fantasy 14's graphical update, the game will be getting enhanced character customization. We don't know all the features coming, but a big one will be a color picker for hair, eyes, and skin tones, letting you pick from many new different colors, and enhance customization.
We'll also be getting improved eye and lip customization, as well as improved eye shadow and face paint layering. We'll also be able to toggle parts of gear that are visible and parts that aren't, including shoulder pads, belts, and more. Character customization will also be further improved in post 8.0 patches.
Final Fantasy 14's Content Is Evolving
We then move onto actual content, and Yoshi-P begins by explaining that he wants to improve public fields by adding more content and making them feel more alive, and less lonely. At the same time, it was also announced that a way to make questing less troublesome is also being worked on, but more details will be revealed in Berlin.
As for battle content, it was revealed that Evercold will be introducing a new tier for 8-man raids, one that is between Normal and Savage. It has been hinted that this will have its own rewards, and Yoshi-P wants to shore up the completion rate gap between Normal and Savage.
Alliance Raids were also mentioned, with Yoshi-P admitting that the raids themselves can be time-consuming, but there are no plans to shorten them. Instead, ways to make them more profitable are being worked on, though more details will be revealed in Tokyo.
Final Fantasy 14 Is Finally Getting Same-Region Player Matching
One of the bigger announcements made was the addition of same-region player matching, allowing players from all worlds in a certain region to match together. It will massively increase the number of players you can connect with, and to make things even better, this will also apply to Party Finder as well.
And thankfully, we don't have to wait until 8.0 for this. It was announced that same-region player matching will happen just the Patch 7.5x series, with a stress test set to happen pretty soon.
Evercold Will Get Two New Jobs
It was then confirmed that Evercold will introduce two new jobs, rather than the one that people feared. It was also confirmed that these will be a Tank and a Physical Ranged, and that they'll be FF14-specific jobs, rather than legacy jobs from other Final Fantasy games. No more details were given, but they did promise the first job would be announced in Berlin.
