An Important Announcement for FINAL FANTASY XIV Fans

[sruon]

Wait wait wait

Akihiko Matsui

Isn't that the guy they put in charge of Final Fantasy XI like 4 months ago?


Edit: Thanks Kimiko lol, thought so.

[miokomioko]

They just also announced a new director for FFXI as well this evening since they've brought Yoshida over.

Yoshida has been the art director for XIV from the start.

[Kais]

so Akihiko Matsui's partly behind those awesome FFXI patches?

hopefully good signs to come then
(wiki says he worked on Chrono Trigger, shweeeet)

[Gokulo]

Holy shit! D:

[Nama]

So what other games has Naoki Yoshida worked on before? A quick search just turned up some lawyers and such.

[miokomioko]

Herp, I was talking about Akihiko Yoshida... Naoki Yoshida, mostly Dragon Quest titles I think...? He doesn't seem to have a lot of actual titles tied to his name, just a big deal guy in the general Research & Development department at Square-Enix.

[TacoTaru]

Just saw this myself. Recently started playing XI again because I got fed up with XIV but figured I'd let my free trial continue until they decided to charge me giving them chances with each update. Looks like I'll be playing both games for quite awhile now. :D Time to link my XI account to my SE account for some mad discounts.

[sruon]

Time to link my XI account to my SE account for some mad discounts.

They need to charge you on XIV for discount to happen, which isn't happening for a while obviously.

[Hyan]

Hey guys

Tanaka can finally go make another Chrono.

Win/win.

[Nevex]

so Akihiko Matsui's partly behind those awesome FFXI patches?

hopefully good signs to come then
(wiki says he worked on Chrono Trigger, shweeeet)

I think it is.
FFXI's latest patch is the kind of patches we should get in this game, not minor updates mixed with horrible nerfs that only turn people off even more.

At this point it's very likely that the game will undergo a major rehaul in the next few months.

[Hyan]

FFXI's latest patch is the kind of patches we should get in this game, not minor updates mixed with horrible nerfs that only turn people off even more.

Nerfs are still necessary in this game. Don't think of them as a bad thing for the overall game balance.

[TacoTaru]

They need to charge you on XIV for discount to happen, which isn't happening for a while obviously.

My friend who I gave my main account to when I left (which is currently linked to my SEID) said he thought he had been getting the discount. Boo I guess, but hell, $12.99 a month for two games still isn't anything to bitch about. That being said does that mean the XI discounts that were extended until March are also indefinite since they won't actually start charging until the game is in a state they consider worth paying for?

[Hyan]

That being said does that mean the XI discounts that were extended until March are also indefinite since they won't actually start charging until the game is in a state they consider worth paying for?

They did it once, I guess they'll do it twice.

Why do they have to rush with the announcements though. Now the discount means nothing once again, lol.

What I'm really excited about is that the producer changed AND he is the same guy as the director. THE MAN IS IN CHARGE OF THE BUDGET. Maybe everything they add doesn't feel like it's done with the least possible resources now, and hell, I bet Wada gave him the keys to the SE treasure vault.

[Riposte]

We will never see Tanaka do the chocobo-dance at a fanfest again ;______________;

pouring a 40 for my homie tonight

I suspect Tanaka's stepping down wasn't entirely voluntary. He seems like the kind of guy who really wanted FFXIV to be something great and he wanted to be apart of it. I also believe if that is true then getting knocked off a project of this scale at this important time doesn't fair nicely for his future in general. He might be marginalized or he might be let go completely. (SE is has been shown to be quite cool with getting rid of their pillars if they fuck up bad enough.)

EDIT: Like I said previously, Tanaka will get the blame, even if there is an off-chance he isn't at fault. We don't know either way.

Hard to react to something like this. Will it bring new efficiency and steamlining of an older plan or an entirely new direction?

EDIT: I hate seeing any game dev face disaster. However, it is very important to kick out any hubris. If I think coldly about it, it can even be refreshing.

[Hyan]

I suspect Tanaka's stepping down wasn't entirely voluntary. He seems like the kind of guy who really wanted FFXIV to be something great and he wanted to be apart of it.

To me he's always seemed like a guy with an Uncle Scrooge complex. I can't believe the budget for this game so far has been anything to write home about.

[goodr]

I don't know about roles at SE, but at my game development company, producers are primarily responsible for scheduling and coordinating efforts. I don't keep up with personnel changes, so I'm not sure who all changed jobs, but I feel most of our issues are fundamental design issues.

[Hyan]

but I feel most of our issues are fundamental design issues.

Caused by insufficient funds (ex: do not develop 2 UI's, combine them instead). What can you do as a designer but try?

[Grey Jorildyn]

I am really hoping for an entirely new direction. Something with a more "western" feel to it would be ideal imo. Let's face it, the west created the mmo and these guys began designing an online console game from the get-go with both XI and XIV even. It's not a feasible design if you plan on being competitive in this market and/or are looking for your flagship title to be your breadwinner.

This says more to me than I can put into words, but succinctly, I feel they've been listening to feedback, reading the community forums (which is almost nothing but disdain), and maybe peeking at other games (Rift's first phase of beta just ended very smoothly), and are now just starting to understand the big picture. If we see an entirely new UI that has a "familiar" feel to it, I wouldn't for a moment think that a bad thing. If I start seeing NPCs with quest markers over their heads, I won't be shaking mine. If global channels pops up or we get an AH and some semblance of a community forms as a result of similar additions, It'd bring a big smile to my face.

This has me really motivated again and I am glad for that. SE has not made leading a linkshell and recruiting for this game easy in any way at all. This may bring some naysayers back, at least for a second glance. But there's a lot riding on that too. They have to produce this time and really make that "next generation mmo" that we hear so much about in the media now, but no one has yet discovered.

[Spira]

wow.. talk about corporate restructuring..
i think the team changes for XIV were kinda necessary.. and probably with considerable pressure from shareholders...

doing business in Japan is still very pride-based, so for Tanaka-san to step down, while sensible, can easily be seen as being pretty humiliating. In fact, face-saving honor would dictate he would say sorry for all he did wrong and resign.. but this is the new-age and its not like everything he did was bad. I hope he stays and still helps out on the sidelines..

As for the new guy.. hope he can bring XIV to greater heights with his new team. He's unproven but I hope he has what it takes to make XIV really be good by the time of PS3 release... and I hope the PS3 release comes soon, cos XIV still melts my laptop

[Lazytowner]

"Oh!, an important update for XIV fans!"

come onnnn, info about in-game housing
come onnnn, info about in-game housing
come onnnn, info about in-game housing


>same stuff, a few name changes in management


When this mess gets even half as fun as Minecraft, someone PM me.

EDIT: Okay, a little harsh, but I'll keep waiting as long as this free trial keeps going.