Final Fantasy XIV's Yoshi-P Says the Game Needs a 'Major Change in Content Hierarchy' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 03 September 2025 / 4,553 Views
Final Fantasy XIV Director Naoki Yoshida, also known as Yoshi-P, in an interview with JP Games says the game needs a "major change" in the "content hierarchy."
I think that there needs to be a restructure about how we approach the content hierarchy in game design, because content hierarchy is a part of the game’s design," said Yoshida (via VideoGamesChronicle).
"I started to feel recently particularly that the way that things are structured in Final Fantasy 14 no longer matches the players‘ preferences, and this is something that I started to feel after we entered this year. And so I felt that now we are at a time where we need to incorporate a major change in the content hierarchy and also the game’s design, and this is limited not just to expansions, but to the overall development of Final Fantasy XIV."
Yoshida added, "When we look at the content hierarchy, we feel that it has worked well as it was up until now. It has been employed right back from the Time of A Realm Reborn until Patch 7.2 and it has always worked well until now. But now I feel we need to advance more, change the content hierarchy but also change the design itself within said hierarchy. It has worked well in the past 12 years, but now we feel from our perspective it needs change and we are excited about that change and the prospects of changing it for the future of the game."
Yoshida stated the content in the game is divided into three categories - hardcore, mid-core, and casual. In the past 12 years the team has been designing new content at these groups of players. However, as new content is released, only certain elements are interesting to each group.
The future plan is to make sure all new content will be of use to all players regardless of the level of experience.
"If we continued to follow this [existing] policy… from [the casual player’s] perspective, even though [hardcore content] is implemented in the game, it’s almost the same as being non-existent to them," he stated. "And on the flip side, from a hardcore player’s perspective, [the casual content] is also non-existent.
"But we say to them: ‘Hey, look! Look at how much content you’ve got to play!’ So, this policy we had went well, but I could say that it went too well, because now we’ve created so much new content that the players are telling us: ‘Oh ,well, this content has nothing to do with me. I don’t care.'
"So, what I want to say is that, of course, for the top tier of players, we know that content tailored towards them is needed, and we will continue to produce that content. And on the other side of the spectrum, for the really casual players, we also understand that that content is also needed, and we will continue to produce that. So, we will continue to tailor content for both ends of the spectrum.
"What we’re trying to do now is to change the design so that we have content which can be enjoyed by everyone, so from [the hardcore player’s] perspective there would be five types of content, and for [the casual player’s] perspective there’s also five types."
Yoshida said the first step into this change in strategy will start with patch 7.35.
"I’d really appreciate it if players could take the opportunity to play that content, and I’d love to hear their feedback," said Yoshida.
"It would be great to hear whether they thought it was fun or not, or whether they have any specific feedback about things they want changed. This new content that will be coming in the patch is called Pilgrim’s Traverse, so I’d really love if players do check it out and let me know their thoughts."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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That's what I was thinking for years. FFXIV is an excellent MMORPG but it needs a change in game design. It becomes boring after a long while. It's always the same thing. It needs a sort of revamp. I thought they'd do it more agressively and sooner than that but at least they are realizing it.
