Letter from the director?

[RagingAvatar]

I stopped playing XI for a while when XIV was released and recently I've come back to XI.

I have to say one of the great communication tools that XIV has that XI doesn't, is the letter from the director.

We like to know what's going on! What's coming? What is our director's mind? What is his worries and concerns? What goes on there day to day?

The XI team seems a bit like a black box to me, an unknown entity.

Please can we have more insight into what goes on behind XI.

Please press the 'Like!' button if you agree. Thanks.

[Runespider]

The "letter from the director" was/is a PR stunt, that pretty much did nothing except give some fanbois something to look at with stary eyes. I doubt many XI players would be as intrested in personalities in the same way.

FFXI doesn't really need that kind of silly stunts honestly. They posted a roadmap of planned content though, even though it's really incredibly weak and contentless (cause they don't have the money to develop stuff anymore, thx FFXIV!).

[Rosina]

Ya, i love how spunky yoshida is, his letter are a great read. He is a big mmo gamer and seems to get what players want in an mmo. Because he wants them too. Who IS the ffxi director? Personaly, i do not know. What is he like? Is he a gamer? Or is he just a suit and tie? Does he even play ffxi? Does he play mmo at all? We know alot about Yoshida and how he enjoys mmo, play various mmo while not working, and plays ffxiv on his breaks. We know he sleeps very little and that he enjoys lalafell. Heck we know his buiness attier is very casual and tends to sport a rocker look. (i got a gamer crush on him :P)

[Rosina]

The "letter from the director" was/is a PR stunt, that pretty much did nothing except give some fanbois something to look at with stary eyes. I doubt many XI players would be as intrested in personalities in the same way.

FFXI doesn't really need that kind of silly stunts honestly. They posted a roadmap of planned content though, even though it's really incredibly weak and contentless (cause they don't have the money to develop stuff anymore, thx FFXIV!).

wow..... just wow....

[RagingAvatar]

Ya, i love how spunky yoshida is, his letter are a great read. He is a big mmo gamer and seems to get what players want in an mmo. Because he wants them too. Who IS the ffxi director? Personaly, i do not know. What is he like? Is he a gamer? Or is he just a suit and tie? Does he even play ffxi? Does he play mmo at all? We know alot about Yoshida and how he enjoys mmo, play various mmo while not working, and plays ffxiv on his breaks. We know he sleeps very little and that he enjoys lalafell. Heck we know his buiness attier is very casual and tends to sport a rocker look. (i got a gamer crush on him :P)

I don't have a gamer crush on him but I agree with everything else you've written ;)

It's good to know the mind of the person who runs our world!

Mr. FFXI director! Reveal yourself!

[Buffy]

How about they just give us the August update notes instead? Since it's Aug 5th already and we haven't seen a single teaser.

[Rosina]

I don't have a gamer crush on him but I agree with everything else you've written ;)

It's good to know the mind of the person who runs our world!

Mr. FFXI director! Reveal yourself!

Ya it kida saddens me on how cynical people can be. Could it be PR? maybe or maybe not. Sometime assuming leads to poor judgments. But ya all the same it is good to get to know the ppl behind the scenes. They work hard to bring us these games. And deserve a thank you.

[Urteil]

I heard it was Sage-Sundi or was that the producer.



Actually, might be Hiromichi Tanaka or it was him at one point, I forget if he stepped down.

[RagingAvatar]

I heard it was Sage-Sundi or was that the producer.
Actually, might be Hiromichi Tanaka or it was him at one point, I forget if he stepped down.

Tanaka-san, unfortunately, is not heading up XI anymore. (I liked him on the whole - though equally he didn't communicate with the players that much.)

Mizuki Ito is the current director of Final Fantasy XI. (His Wikipedia page has recently been deleted because no-one looks at it - 'insignificant external coverage' - showing that no-one knows who he is or hears from him..)

Again, I say, Mr. Director, show yourself to your gaming public!!

[Draylo]

I wonder if they even spend time per day on this game, or is it ok its wed time to go into the ffxi room and reskin some content.

[Runespider]

Mr. FFXI director! Reveal yourself!

You should probably keep in mind he might not want to do this anyway, it's a personality thing.

Also really, of course it's a PR stunt.. the game flopped and they needed to try regain some intrest in it.

[slakyak]

I'd like to know something about the guy, not necessarily in the same format as Yoshi P's letters... Maybe something via the Twitter feed?

For all we know the guy sits at his desk playing Minesweeper all day lol.

[RagingAvatar]

Also really, of course it's a PR stunt.. the game flopped and they needed to try regain some intrest in it.

While, of course, you're absolutely right - I'd like to point out that almost every MMO I've ever seen has more transparency to it's community than XI.

This game is old. There is no great expansion currently announced. It runs on three platforms and one of those platforms (PS2) is basically archived.

This game makes Square-Enix so much money, they really need to keep this cash cow going - and I want them to because I love this game!

The question is, how are they going to communicate with us to determine the game's direction?
What is going to happen next?

So again:
Mr. FFXI director! Reveal yourself!

[Octaviane]

How about they just give us the August update notes instead? Since it's Aug 5th already and we haven't seen a single teaser.

The planned August update has been pushed back to maybe September iirc and could take longer given all the billing problems.

[Septimus]

I stopped playing XI for a while when XIV was released and recently I've come back to XI.

I have to say one of the great communication tools that XIV has that XI doesn't, is the letter from the director.

We like to know what's going on! What's coming? What is our director's mind? What is his worries and concerns? What goes on there day to day?

The XI team seems a bit like a black box to me, an unknown entity.

Please can we have more insight into what goes on behind XI.

Please press the 'Like!' button if you agree. Thanks.

http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/6064/detail.html

There you go.

We have an official forum to let us know about what is going on, what is coming up, what is on the Director's (Mizuki Ito since people in this thread don't seem to know) mind, and his worries and concerns.

Compared to how things used to be before the old dev team left for FFXIV, things are absolutely transparent these days. Back in the olden days when dinosaurs roamed across Uleguerand Range, we would get one or two interviews a year where the Devs would send out Sage Sundi to be the scapegoat for their evasiveness and disdain for answers. (On a side note, I feel really bad for the garbage that Sage Sundi went through, and I feel very shameful that I heaped some of it on him. He actually wanted to change some of the worst aspects of the game but the old Dev Team would not listen to him.)

Now we get answers from the community several times a week. Do people not get how shockingly different that was from the old system? Back in the CoP era we would have loved to have known that our complaints were even being listened to, let alone potentially acted upon. It is like people have a taste of something good and demand more but have no idea how good they have it now...

[RAIST]

A Message from the FINAL FANTASY XI Development Team (12/10/2010)

just saying....time for some more communication.

[Septimus]

just saying....time for some more communication.

Like the entire forum here?

[RAIST]

Like the entire forum here?

that is communication from the moderators and the developors, which is restricted by their superiors and thus is often rather vague or kind of "last-minute". What we are talking about is communication from the Director (or at least someone in between that is making the bigger decisions)

Just look at all the notices about the changes in the payment system. The most important problem that was known by the staff for well over a month was never disclosed and was not discovered until AFTER it was implemented.

[RagingAvatar]

Like the entire forum here?

Well, this is a great official place for us, the fans, to gather - but it's not giving me any insights into what the Director is thinking and the general direction that the game is heading.

I agree with your previous sentiments - this is FAR better than what we had in the CoP days (and before that even!) but there is still a long way to go. Getting the roadmap was a great thing but I'd like to hear from Ito-san as to how he thinks it's going.. what are his priorities, why did they choose to do some things over other things, does he play the game, what does he enjoy most, how are we going to attract new players etc.

I guess I feel that this game is important to me and that I'm invested in it - I want to know that the world is in safe hands.

[RAIST]

yeah... after 6+ years with a company, you would think they would care a little more if you are getting cut off from their service because of some half-baked idea they privately decided to implement. All we are getting is virtually ". . ."

[Buffy]

The planned August update has been pushed back to maybe September iirc and could take longer given all the billing problems.

Can you please provide a source for this statement.

[Septimus]

that is communication from the moderators and the developors, which is restricted by their superiors and thus is often rather vague or kind of "last-minute". What we are talking about is communication from the Director (or at least someone in between that is making the bigger decisions)

Just look at all the notices about the changes in the payment system. The most important problem that was known by the staff for well over a month was never disclosed and was not discovered until AFTER it was implemented.


Well, this is a great official place for us, the fans, to gather - but it's not giving me any insights into what the Director is thinking and the general direction that the game is heading.

I agree with your previous sentiments - this is FAR better than what we had in the CoP days (and before that even!) but there is still a long way to go. Getting the roadmap was a great thing but I'd like to hear from Ito-san as to how he thinks it's going.. what are his priorities, why did they choose to do some things over other things, does he play the game, what does he enjoy most, how are we going to attract new players etc.

I guess I feel that this game is important to me and that I'm invested in it - I want to know that the world is in safe hands.


yeah... after 6+ years with a company, you would think they would care a little more if you are getting cut off from their service because of some half-baked idea they privately decided to implement. All we are getting is virtually ". . ."

Does anyone actually think that the Dev team for FFXI came up with this payment system idea? (Which just happens to be the same system that is used on FFXIV that no one there liked.) Am I the only person who thinks that this sounds suspiciously like an edict handed down from Corporate big-wigs? Transferring from game-specific to company-wide accounts would be out of the hands of the people in charge of this game. They may not have anything to say because Corporate won't let them. But let's not derail this thread with that.

Where do you think the update announcements come from? Who do you think made that road-map? That comes from the director, even if he doesn't write it himself. Yeah, it isn't constant contact, but it is something.

I know that it is human nature to want more, but just stop and think about what we are getting now. Yes, I would love to get a cookie-bouquet from the Community team with a card that says "We miss your front-page updates Septimus", but I am happy to get what we have because it is so much more than what we used to get. Be thankful that getting even the smallest morsel of information isn't like pulling teeth anymore.

[RAIST]

Update details are given as updates are coming. That is common chatter. A broad generalized note of where they are going is just that.. a broad, generalized note.

What is the recent single, most contraversial decision made by the higher ups (ie, above the DEV team's jurisdiction) having a profound impact on the community, made since that last letter in December, 2010 (possibly even since roadmap was released in April as well)?

That's right...the credit card debaucle.

We have been getting communique on this specific change since June 25. I assure you, the dev. team knew about this change well before that, as I have been involved in setting these things up in the past. The higher authorites did NOT disclose that all BUT the JP clients would loose the ability to pay SE directly with their credit cards. What they did release in fact impled that if we had a 3DS supported card, we sould still be able to pay directly--when in fact (as we discovered July 26), that was NOT true.

The higher authorities opted to withold a very importand "game changing" decision all the way up to implementation, and have remained silent since.

[Septimus]

So update notes, the 12 month road-map, job adjustment manifesto, things leaked by the Community Team, the existence of this very forum: none of those count as communication with the development team in your eyes? What more do you want from them? When will you finally be satisfied that they care about what you want from this game?

[RAIST]

Those are from the developers... we are talking about the executive decisions, and the restraints they put on the flow of information, as well as their silence. And those road maps have already been cut up now because of developmental delays.

For example, they release details on VW and WoE and such...has nothing to do with assuring the future of FFXI (in relation to the billing changes), even though that is the hot topic on the forums for the last couple of weeks, as well as a big issue on the FFXIV forums

[Nashreen]

The "letter from the director" was/is a PR stunt, that pretty much did nothing except give some fanbois something to look at with stary eyes. I doubt many XI players would be as intrested in personalities in the same way.
The problem is that they kind of do have (had) that type of PR with the Japanese press where the producer, director, main planners all appeared frequently for interviews. For some reason that was never done with the NA or EU press as far as I know. I'm hoping they will use the forum in the future. If not a producer letter, seeing a monthly "dev team letter" would be nice (doesn't have to be written by the same person every time, and it could also be about past stories or random anecdotes).

[Septimus]

No executive is going to go on record saying that he/she approved this idea because if (and in this case, when) it goes bad they would have to take the blame for it. This is Business 101. The PR department probably told the Development and Community Teams to say as little about it as possible because it was obviously going to be a fiasco. (And if you pretend hard enough, it will go away.)

They obviously didn't expect it to go as bad as it is though. If they allowed direct payments for everyone like they do for JP accounts, people wouldn't be upset at all. If they didn't allow direct payments at all, I think that most people (besides those in countries that ClickAndBuy and Crysta don't service, which is another tore-down wreck) would have calmed down by now because Crysta really isn't that terrible. (Minimize your mules so that you are as close to even as possible, and pay as little as you can right before the 30 days is up.) They would have to offer a very good explanation as to why they will accept direct payment from Japanese players, such as "there was a law passed that says..." But even then, they would also have to explain why Japanese players also get to specifically choose the amount of Crysta that they pay. (Now that is where it goes to truly ridiculous.)

But there is no way that anyone is going to go on record to be the gardener for when this poo-flower blossoms. Instead, they will more likely blame the current Development Team saying that this is the result of Abyssea (since that is what everyone is complaining about), fire them, hire someone else, and watch their cash cow circle the drain. Management never takes responsibility.

[Insaniac]

Tanaka-san, unfortunately, is not heading up XI anymore. (I liked him on the whole - though equally he didn't communicate with the players that much.)

Mizuki Ito is the current director of Final Fantasy XI. (His Wikipedia page has recently been deleted because no-one looks at it - 'insignificant external coverage' - showing that no-one knows who he is or hears from him..)

Again, I say, Mr. Director, show yourself to your gaming public!!Tanaka should be repeatedly thrown out of a 2nd story window until he forgets who he is. This game was a pile of garbage for the first few years. Thinking back I don't even know how I played it. It was 90% addictive and 10% fun. The game has only gotten better since he left.

[Nashreen]

Tanaka-san, unfortunately, is not heading up XI anymore. (I liked him on the whole - though equally he didn't communicate with the players that much.)

Mizuki Ito is the current director of Final Fantasy XI. (His Wikipedia page has recently been deleted because no-one looks at it - 'insignificant external coverage' - showing that no-one knows who he is or hears from him..)
Tanaka was never the director to start with (or so I think), he was and still is the producer (according to his Wiki/Twitter, and the fact he's still in FFXI coverage), he only left his position as a producer for FF14 it seems. Tanaka was also the producer for Xenogears, Chrono Cross and other classics, he was a key person in Secret of Mana too.

The current director is one of the FFXI guys who were often interviewed and apparently he's a veteran.

EDIT :
Actually, looking at the Wikipedia I checked and Ito is the 5th director of the game, after Ishii Koichi, Komoto Nobuaki, Ogawa Koichi, and Matsui Akihiko. Sakaguchi also worked as a producer for the game before he left, but that must have been in the early development time-wise, iirc he left SE before XI was even out.

[Trumpy]

also keep in mind we will be gettin a test server sometime in the coming months. so other than them lettin us know their basic plans and lettin us communicate what we think about them, we will aslo have the chance to test said content out and see for ourselves. And have much more impact.