>>536826252
Q: Hello, I'm a fan of Western fantasy adventures and really enjoy items with "traditional fantasy" designs. I've collected many items that hint at this worldview, and every time I see them, I feel like I'm transported to the world of Final Fantasy. When designing items, how do you blend the style, aesthetics, and audience of the relevant region with the style of Final Fantasy itself? Regarding items, I love the details they reveal about the lives of the people on this planet. For example, the Sparkstone reminds me of flint and coal. When designing these, were you drawing inspiration from real life and then adapting them to be "Final Fantasy"? Thank you!

Hayashi: This is all thanks to our world setting team.
The world of Eorzea, and indeed FF14 as a whole, features mechanics and technology that differ significantly from the real world we live in. When considering a new item, we often begin by thinking about how it would be used in the real world, and then consider how that use would translate within FF14. This deliberation takes considerable time. Our world design team has worked tirelessly to avoid abstract explanations like "magical powers" in item descriptions.