It’s not hard to considerFinal Fantasy 14one of the greatest comebacks in gaming. Met with scorn from the gaming community, the originalFinal Fantasy 14was considered a stain on the franchise and a subpar MMORPG. Following a well-received reboot and subsequent expansions,Final Fantasy 14is a big successand some of the credit can go to spreadsheets.
In an interview with PC Gamer,Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborndirector Naoki Yoshida spoke about the triumphant recovery of the secondFinal FantasyMMO. While explaining the way Yoshisa and his development team approached fixingFinal Fantasy 14, he gave credit to three key elements: communication, hard work, and spreadsheets.
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The latter is of particular interest as it’s not often that spreadsheets are brought up when discussing game development, but Yoshida considers it a crucial and necessary step in saving the then loathedFinal Fantasytitle. With the original version ofFinal Fantasy 14having long list of issues, Yoshida felt that actually writing down each task for the game would be the most practical and effective way of tackling what was a monumental assignment.
The spreadsheet even expanded beyond what elements to fix and turned into an elaborate and detailed schedule for the development. According to Yoshida, this included meetings as well as bathroom breaks. With only two and a half years to essentially fixFinal Fantasy 14, time was of the essence thus requiring an development spreadsheet like no other.
Spreadsheets have even expanded beyond being a helpful assistant for developers and are now useful tools for gaming communities. Ever evolving games like MMOs are always changing and sometimes it can be rough for fans to keep up with the information. WithDestiny 2, one Redditor made thedefinitive spreadsheet for weapon sunsettingto help players prepare for the upcoming season.
With fans still thriving within the world of Hydaelyn, many continue to explore the new quests and events popping up on a regular basis. Many fans are currently exploring the big changes made in Patch 5.3 which sought to streamlineA Realm Reborn’s main scenario. While the changes have mostly been welcomed, it alsoremoved some popular quests fromFinal Fantasy 14.
Final Fantasy 14is available now for PC and PS4.
