Assist Channel/Topics

From FFXI Wiki

The Assist Channel was added in the November 2020 Version Update. The development team made comments on it during its creation and about its reception.

2020

During Freshly Picked #51 (video here) broadcast on July 7th, 2020, the devs discuss the new chat channel they're working on. Funkworkz provided a summary below in his post on FFXIAH.

Future Plans of a new chat channel for helping returning players, similar to the mentor system as well as linkshell concierge.

During the July 2020 Digest video, the team commented on the unnamed feature.

Fujito: The second announcement is that we're working on a chat channel for beginners. Our idea is a channel where beginners and returning players can communicate, which we plan on linking with the mentor system.
Matsui: I believe meeting other players is the best content of all, and we've been working on this feature for a long time to assist with that. We're also working on some countermeasures to prevent spam. I hope it'll be a channel where you can hang out comfortably.
Fujito: We're also working on making Linkshell Concierges more accessible by moving the entrance to the main menu.
Matsui: The idea is to have the new chat channel become a gathering area for beginners and returning players, which would hopefully then lead into joining linkshells.

2021

In a May interview with Famitsu, the poor reception of the Assist Channel was brought up. FFXIAH poster Manque provided a translation below in their post here.

Q: Changing tracks a bit here. Assist Channel. Ain't nobody using it! What do?
Fujito: I don't think you can say it's not being used, but it certainly isn't the helpful tool we envisioned. However, the tool's power is really in the hands of the community, not on our side. We can do things like expand the areas it can be used in, but we're not sure it will be used even if we do. We want to limit our participation in the channel as that would change the role of the channel. The assist channel can be a place to ask for help or ask simple questions. We received feedback that it's hard to hold a conversation with the limits on the channel, but remember you can always use /tell or join a party.