Yoshi-P says his approach to development on FF14 "hasn't really changed" since A Realm Reborn

13 years on from the relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV with A Realm Reborn, Yoshi-P claims that he hasn't changed much about the way he develops new content.

In a press conference at the recent Berlin Fan Festival, director and producer Yoshi-P explained his mindset, noting that while the foundation for his approach to development hasn't changed, the specifics of design must constantly evolve.

"Essentially speaking, my fundamental approach hasn't really changed," he began.

"That said, with time, the approach to game design does need to change because it's not necessarily the case that good game design in the past would be appropriate for today and would still be engaging and fun today.

"So, sometimes there are cases where a game design approach that would have worked in the past would not necessarily be appropriate with how the times have changed today."

He goes on to explain that the biggest way that his thinking on games has perhaps changed is with regard to optimising for players' free time.

"In Japan, there is something that we call a 'time progression battle', and of course, in these modern times as well, people have less time that they can use. They have less free time on their hands.

"So, we need to really think about what would be fun, what would be engaging based on these new conditions that we have, and that in itself is a challenge."

That commitment to respecting players' time may have been a contributing factor to his decision to overhaul the housing system, with two major updates currently in development.

They will arrive after the start of the Evercold expansion, which will deliver among other things two new jobs and a crossover raid with Final Fantasy 7.

Following the mixed reception to Dawntrail, Yoshi-P's stock had fallen slightly among the players of FF14, but with what we've seen of Evercold so far, he may be on the verge of winning players back.

Only time will tell if his unchanging philosophy will do the business again for one of the biggest MMORPGs around as it has time and time before.