Final Fantasy XIV's Experience System Explained

Nobuaki Komoto explains why his new game limits play time.

Final Fantasy fans are in an uproar about the new MMO's experience system, which reduces the amount of experience earned after eight hours of play. Game director Nobuaki Komoto has finally released a statement explaining this unusual decision.

"First off, the main concept behind FFXIV is allowing those players with little time on their hands to play effectively, and game balance is based off of that. Furthermore, it is being designed to not give those with more time on their hands to play an unfair advantage."

An interesting strategy, although limiting players to eight hours of productive play per week seems harsh to many players. After eight hours, the amount of experience the player earns for training will steadily decline. After seven more hours, no more experience can be earned. When the new week begins, full experience can once again be earned.

Komoto also said that this system would imitate real-world fatigue, wherein someone who trained for a few hours at a time would probably get tired.

While these statements make sense, it doesn't explain why someone can bypass the system by switching classes. If a player reaches her eight hours, she can simply switch classes to reset the play timer and continue to get full experience. Many feel that this punishes players who wish to play one class.

Final Fantasy XIV will be released for the PC on September 30, and for the PS3 in early 2011.