FFXIV Live Letter summary: Dawntrail brings benchmark, DLSS upscaling, blacklist updates, and Yo-kai Watch event

Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter 80 was broadcast live today with director and producer Naoki Yoshida and his team. While it heavily focused on the upcoming Dawntrail graphical update, we were also shown other changes to get excited for with the benchmark announcement, quality of life feature reveals, and tons of little secrets tucked away in between.

Although the Live Letter from the Producers itself wasn’t translated, we have reliable translations thanks to the efforts of Minori and Miuna over on the FFXIV Subreddit Discord server. The community there notes these are not officially endorsed translations, and of course, there may be some interpretations not entirely clear.

FFXIV Dawntrail Benchmark trailer and client

In a not-unexpected turn of events, the Benchmark for 7.0 was announced at the very opening, and the trailer revealed many new and exciting things, including some never-before-seen Job Actions. 

The Benchmark will be released within 24 hours from the time of writing on April 14. If you’re unsure whether your current set-up will be able to run Dawntrail, this is the perfect opportunity to test, and Yoshida urged players to do so as soon as possible. 

Dawntrail brings DLSS, FSR in FFXIV graphics update

The first half of the LLP (Live Letter from the Producers) focused solely on specific aspects of the long-awaited Graphical Update, with live in-game comparisons between 6.58 and 7.0. Yoshida showed off current locations and even a few that had never been seen in-game before, exploring with the graphical update in (mostly) full effect for the first time.

• Grass and foliage now move in response to player movement
• Mounts not only appear sharper but also pitch when turning
• All textures are improved, including rocky terrain, aetherytes, gear sets, and character models
• Increased number of light sources and reflective surfaces in all areas
• Scenery items, such as background plants, now move with the environment and weather
• Stone floors are much less dull and reflect the environment around them, especially when wet
• Gear reflects the environment better, such as having a blue tint when blue skies are present
• Added more polygons to fingers and toes
• Fog improvements add a ‘mysterious feeling’ when visible in the distance
• Anti-aliasing updates
• Nvidia DLSS 2.0 and AMD FSR 1.0 upscaling added
• 3D Graphics Resolution Scaling for AMD FSR, reducing device load and maintaining resolution quality
• Dynamic Resolution for DLSS/FSR to keep fps stable
• PC and Mac users have Soft Shadows option, making shadows naturally soften or sharpen based on distance
• Improved wave textures and animations, appearing more realistic along coastlines
• NPC eyes move slightly in gameplay, adding life to characters. This will not happen during cutscenes or gpose.
• Increased number of objects in many areas
• PlayStation 4 and Xbox Series S players will have low-detail models forcibly enabled for distant objects and shadows

Everything newly added in 7.0 will benefit from the newly updated graphics, while some older items may have to wait their turn to get their glow-up. Version 6.0 Job gear will be the first in line for their makeover, which launches in Patch 7.1, except for Paladin. Paladin Job gear has been used a lot for testing, so this gear will be fully updated with the release of Version 7.0, Dawntrail.

Sneak peeks of Tuliyolal, including lighting and texture updates

Much to the development team's discomfort, Yoshida insisted on showing off some of Tulliyolal in its vibrant, well-textured glory. This included a large number of objects we've never seen before and the area's aetherytes, as well as lighting differences between night and day. 

During this demonstration, eager viewers caught sight of a tower in the distance which Yoshida admitted was a ‘place you can get to if you try really hard’ before eluding to the fact that it may or may not be a jumping puzzle. 

Yoshida also referred to the grapes, explaining, yet again, that there will be no more low-poly grapes. We also caught a glimpse of a small part of Solution 9, though Yoshida refused to turn the camera, citing his fear that the ‘scenario team will be very mad’.

FFXIV Blacklist improvements planned for Dawntrail

Finally, after ages of begging, the FFXIV blacklist is no longer just a glorified mute button. The team is taking steps to add enhanced functionality with Dawntrail that provides plenty of filters for blocking or muting, and using those functions in places like your FFXIV housing/FC estate, the Lodestone, or just generally in-game.

Enhanced blacklist functionality

• Up to 200 people can be added to the blacklist, data is stored server-side
• Character models are removed from sight once a character is blacklisted, extending to all characters tied to the blacklisted character's service account
• Where encounters with the blacklisted character are necessary, such as during duties, the player's name will be displayed as “Unknown,” and if they try to communicate, players will be able to choose whether to temporarily see their message

Mute list

• Up to 200 characters can be added to the mute list, data is stored client-side
• Entirely separate from the blacklist, this prevents you from seeing messages from a muted character outside of duties
• During duties, the muted player names display as normal, and you’ll have the option to temporarily view the chat

Term filter

• Can specify terms to be filtered out of chat. This applies to Say, Tell, Yell, Shout and /emote in all circumstances, including during duties

Estate expulsion

• Estate owners and masters will have the power to banish people from their estate for a 10-day period
• Estate owners and masters can grant this privilege to up to four members of the estate’s associated Free Company
• When a player with this privilege is on the estate, any player that they have blacklisted will be immediately expelled from the estate

Enhanced Lodestone privacy settings

• Limit who can view parts or all of your Lodestone profile, or remove yourself from the database search entirely
• Characters that you’ve blocklisted in-game will be prevented from viewing your profile on the Lodestone

Yo-kai Watch x FFXIV collaboration event returns on April 24

The Yo-Kai Watch collaboration is on its way back, so get those Blue Mages ready for some FATE farming. Beginning on April 24, players have another chance to get their hands on all of the rewards associated with the previous Yo-kai Watch crossover and one very special new addition with a Framer’s Kit reward.

Full schedule for FFXIV in the run up to Dawntrail

Between now and the release of Dawntrail, there’s a lot to look forward to, including two collaboration events (Yo-kai Watch and Dragon Quest), the second half of Moogle Treasure Trove: The Hunt for Genesis, two more Live Letters from the Producers and a media tour. 

That’s a lot to fit in, and we encourage you to check out Destructoid's frequently updated list of current and previous FFXIV seasonal events scheduled in the lead-up to Dawntrail. However, if you're just looking for the new stuff, here's a brief rundown of what Yoshi-P revealed in this recent stream:

Remember, if you want to participate in the Dawntrail Early Access, you'll need to pre-order the FFXIV expansion and redeem the promotional code. Every version of Dawntrail, either physical or digital, grants you access.

Some Final Fantasy XIV statistics to leave you with

• Final Fantasy XIV has amassed more than 30 million players worldwide.
• The game has been nominated for 313 awards, winning 240 of them.
• Players have attuned to 88 aetherytes on their adventure from A Realm Reborn to Endwalker, not including those to come in Dawntrail.
• There are 325 duties available in Duty Finder.
• Including side quests, there are currently over 159 hours worth of cutscenes.
• If you listened to every song from FFXIV, you’d be listening for 4,917 minutes. That’s over 80 hours.
• In the last year, players have melded 16,096 tonnes of materia to their gear. 
• Corks fired from bottles of Realm Reborn Red have travelled a combined distance of 46,152km. Is it just me or are these statistics getting a little strange?
• In the last year, players have gulped down over 54 million liters of potions, not including Fantasia

Finally, in a touching moment, it was revealed what Final Fantasy XIV means to its players, by way of a touching word cloud:

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