Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki Yoshida talks blacklists, friend lists, and Island Sanctuaries

So you meet some people in a random group in Final Fantasy XIV whom you never want to see ever again, and you blacklist them. But they still show up in a group with you. Shouldn’t the game’s matchmaking system take that into account? According to a recent interview on MMORPG.com with the game’s producer and director, Naoki Yoshida, it does; the key element is just that the matchmaking process needs to stay fairly simple to improve overall functionality speed. Changing it too severely would impact everyone’s matchmaking.

Yoshida also discusses the game’s friend list feature, noting that while people would like it to be expanded only 1% of players appear to actually have a completely full list. He also notes that the point of the Island Sanctuary content coming with the next expansion is not to serve as an equivalent to housing, but rather to do things that cannot currently be done with the game’s housing system. Check out the full interview for more bits and pieces from the man in charge.