All right, I'll try to keep this short for brevity's sake, as the same thread I posted elsewhere didn't receive too much attention due to the massive wall-of-text.

Unfortunately, the previous artist I worked with had to quit the project due to private issues. I don't intend to ever give up on this project, however, so here I am, hoping to find an awesome artist with whom I can team up.

tl;dr: Looking for artist to team up with to produce a weekly webcomic series based on the FFXI storylines.

Project details:

  • Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/ATaleRetold & https://twitter.com/ATaleRetold - will see more use once things get rolling
  • A Tale Retold - FINAL FANTASY XI is essentially a fan project attempting to adapt and reimagine the entirety of FFXI's main storylines via sequential art, i.e. as a webcomic in graphic novel format.
  • Targeted toward FFXI veterans and non-FFXI players alike, who wish to enjoy the game's story again or for the first time, but are unable to do so
  • Original plan was to publish 1 page every Sunday, with additional special pages (gag strips, guest strips, splash pages) on Wednesdays
  • Content will include all major storylines intertwined with the best sidequests and several original storylines without diluting the essence of FFXI
  • Features an original cast to serve as window into the world (essentially player characters) with complex personalities and storylines
  • Primarily serious and mature style, but not unnecessarily edgy or grimdark, exploring several of the heavier themes present within the game
  • All dialogue, interactions and scenes will be original, with some parts rearranged to improve pacing or flow, or to simply fix some of the plot holes or inconsistencies, but the overall plot will follow the in-game mission progression closely
  • Not a rehash of my own time spent in the game; no unnecessary self-inserts
  • Spent almost 300 hours researching the lore and storylines for this project, along with spending several hundred bucks on materials. I'm quite serious about this.
  • Original storylines are outlined from start up until the end of WotG (and slightly beyond); there won't be any meandering in search of a plot
  • Constructive criticism always welcome
  • Why for such an old game? I've spent more time in FFXI than in any other game I've ever played, and some of my fondest memories stem from it. It has always been my favorite FF title of the entire series, particularly due to the setting and lore. FF7 is timeless to many people, and so is FF11 for me.


Information for interested artists:

  • I will cover all things related to writing, website (incl. hosting fees) and similar matters
  • I'm looking for an art style similar FFXI, perhaps slightly more realistic with regard to proportions or facial features, but I'm flexible on this
  • I would like to regularly publish at least a single page per week
  • The previous artist was planning to create full-color pages using Wakfu. I'm personally fine with just B&W drawings, but color would be an awesome bonus
  • Will feature blood and gore as this is intended for a mature audience. Please keep this in mind.
  • This webcomic is intended to be a long-running webseries, but you can just keep going for as long as you like. I'll do my best to keep the project alive until it's completed, no matter what.
  • If we are lucky enough to get reader donations or ad revenue, I'm fine with 100% of it going to the artist after hosting fees are covered
  • Though pretty much everything is already outlined, I will do my best to incorporate any creative input you, the artist, may wish to offer. If we team up for this, the project will be yours as much as it is mine.


My part of the work/what I will provide:

  • A written script in the form of a screenplay
  • A storyboard for each page, with panel layouts and rough content sketches (I'm a terrible artist, sorry ), all of them heavily annotated for clarity and to preserve important details
  • Reference screenshots from the game (any help from the readership would be greatly appreciated)
  • Almost 150 pages of scanned concept artwork from the "A Decade of Vana'diel" and "Memorial Ultimania" books I imported from Japan for reference purposes
  • Extensive character profiles for the original cast, including appearance, backstory, story in ATR, story themes et al
  • A chapter roadmap detailing the rough plan for all incorporated storylines from start up until the current planned ending
  • Anything else you might need that I can provide. I would like you to enjoy working on this just as much as I do, so I'll do whatever it takes to make things easier for the artist.


Feel to ask any questions even if you're no artist! I'd love to see some discussion for this project, as I've been working on this for quite some time with the only feedback coming from my cirlce of friends.