Even though I’m still a Sprout 400 hours in, I know Final Fantasy 14 would benefit from more quality-of-life features. Dawntrail brought improved graphics and the two-dye system, but the MMO’s avenues for communication could use work. I’m always staring at the chat box, be that milling around Limsa or in the midst of a tough trial, and Square Enix just showed off multiple ways it’s looking to improve how we talk in-game.
Now that Dawntrail is here, the 7.0 patches for Final Fantasy 14 present some great quality-of-life opportunities for Square Enix, and the studio is taking them. Square Enix dropped by PAX West 2024 for the ‘Putting the ‘U’ in UI: Tailoring the Final Fantasy 14 Experience’ panel, with a couple of teasers for upcoming UI additions sprinkled into the chat.
We’ve already talked to director Naoki Yoshida about what’s next for FF14’s combat after Dawntrail, but communication is an equally important part of the MMORPG. To that end, one of the most-used unofficial plugins finally has an official counterpart. That’s right, we’ve got our first look at FF14 chat bubbles.
“This is what we’re trying to test right now,” FF14 lead UI designer Kei Odagiri says via a live translator. “As you can see, there are dialogue chat bubbles over the character’s heads. Yoshida might have mentioned this in different events or media interviews, and he’s been hinting at it, but we are trying to test to see if we can put in a functionality that allows for players to choose to have chat bubbles over their heads.
“Before we can officially implement such a system we still have a few hurdles to overcome. We can visibily see it functioning but I’m afraid it might still take some time before we can officially put it in. The development team is looking for a solution to that currently.”
It’s unsurprising, but the crowd easily gave the biggest reaction to talk of a Final Fantasy 14 chat bubble. It was nowhere near the uproar two dye slots got at 2023’s Las Vegas Fan Fest, but the feature is still one players have been clamoring for.
You can technically already get chat bubbles in FF14 via a third-party plugin but as Yoshida explained a few years ago, these are “strictly prohibited” and can lead to suspensions or bans. I won’t link to where you can find these plugins for obvious reasons, but it’s still important to note that Square Enix clearly understands the value of some plugin features, and is attempting to incorporate their own versions into the base game.
That wasn’t all we got at the PAX panel, as Square Enix also showed off the concept screenshots for a strategy board editing feature. “This is slated for implementation sometime during the patch 7.x series,” Odagiri begins, meaning we’ll get it before the next expansion after Dawntrail.
We then get a good look at the strategy board’s editing window, but Odagiri adds that “implementation work is underway, but that’s all the information we can provide at this time.” You can seemingly collaborate with other players in your party or duty with the feature, placing markers for each role on a board so each player can immediately understand how best to tackle a duty.
So instead of experienced players typing out what to do in chat (which can easily be misinterpreted, as I’ve done many a time), it looks like this strategy board can be shared with your team to instantly make information clear. It’s a feature I hadn’t even considered, but it’ll make duty communication that much simpler, especially between PC and console players.
If you’re deep in Tural and want a little help, we’ve got you covered with all the Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail Aether Current locations and exactly how to get the Final Fantasy 14 free Fantasia in the expansion as well.
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