BYE TANAKA!

[Dragoy]

I was listening to/watching the stream at night/early morning (my time), and while I do understand quite a bit of Japanese, I wasn't quite certain that he was 'passing the torch' and leaving, but there we have it.

I'm sure there are people jumping for joy, but I for one do hope he will be OK, and am able to say thank you, and farewell with the best regards in mind.

さ
ら
ば
だ
。
。
。

[Zerich]

desu tanaka-san....desu

[ForeverZero]

I hope Tanaka will be ok and has a quick recovery. Thanks for all you have done for Final Fantasy XI and past games, Tanaka!

[saevel]

The reason there is so much hate for Tanaka is that he worshiped the status quo and used it as his guiding principle. Basically his design philosophy was that nothing should change. New gear, content and abilities, as long as nothing changes. Our relative power level and ability to accomplish goals must remain the same no matter what content is released, hence the years and years of side grades and "situational" gear. The fact that gear obtained in 2005 was still not only relevant but often the most powerful in slot in 2008 is testament to the problem. He didn't like Abyssea because it changed the status quo and allowed us to do things we couldn't do before thus forcing more work on the development team. He then spent the rest of the time after Abyssea trying to force the status quo of 2008 back onto us.

This isn't a bad idea for single player console RPGs, it's the absolute worst thing you can do for dynamic evolving MMORPGs.

[Dazusu]

This isn't a bad idea for single player console RPGs, it's the absolute worst thing you can do for dynamic evolving MMORPGs.

Considering Tanaka had no idea what he was doing - FFIX has done pretty well for its self being in its tenth year of service, with enough subscribers to warrant a new boxed expansion and thousands of people turning up to VanaFests whenever they're thrown. Not to mention the fact that all the same people who sit on the forums and cry about the game every day continue to be active subscribers, and by extension, players.

Remind me again why we're all still subscribed?

The fact you're still subscribed yourself makes your posts in this thread scream of hypocrisy.

Clearly the man was doing something right; and if you think he made all the decisions of every aspect of game play, then you're severely mistaken. Judging by how well written your posts are, I'm surprised that the content of them is as flatulent as it is. MMOs need teams and experimentation to get things right, and while I agree that FFXI (or any other MMO for that matter) don't always come up with the best ideas - to scream "zomg it's all tanaka's fault" is pretty short sighted.

[saevel]

Considering Tanaka had no idea what he was doing - FFIX has done pretty well for its self being in its tenth year of service, with enough subscribers to warrant a new boxed expansion and thousands of people turning up to VanaFests whenever they're thrown. Not to mention the fact that all the same people who sit on the forums and cry about the game every day continue to be active subscribers, and by extension, players.

Remind me again why we're all still subscribed?

The fact you're still subscribed yourself makes your posts in this thread scream of hypocrisy.

Clearly the man was doing something right; and if you think he made all the decisions of every aspect of game play, then you're severely mistaken. Judging by how well written your posts are, I'm surprised that the content of them is as flatulent as it is. MMOs need teams and experimentation to get things right, and while I agree that FFXI (or any other MMO for that matter) don't always come up with the best ideas - to scream "zomg it's all tanaka's fault" is pretty short sighted.

You can attempt to blame shift all you want, ultimately he's directly responsible for the "nothing shall change" policy that set it post-abyssea. He as much as came out and stated it.

The reason we still subscribe is that while the games been severely damaged, there is still enough gameplay involved to warrant continuing it. Most importantly, I've got years upon years (since 2003) of effort put into my characters, starting over on a different game means starting from scratch, something that I no longer have time to do. For the record I also play DDO and have played WoW / DAOC / LoTR / ect.., I stuck with DDO and FFXI due to the effort I've put into both games.

The "no experience" excuse was fine for the first five years, then they created abyssea which was an amazing step forward in gameplay. Instead of learning what worked and didn't work they freaked out and decided to do everything in their power to send the game back into 2007~2008 era and halt all player progression.

[Benihana]

You can attempt to blame shift all you want, ultimately he's directly responsible for the "nothing shall change" policy that set it post-abyssea. He as much as came out and stated it.

You don't know what you are talking about, lol.

Get me the quote where he states, "NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE UNDER MY WATCH!".

How unintelligent of you to assume, his saying "Nothing will change" has anything to do with him personally and nothing to do with the team asa whole, let alone SE.

I know it must be nice that since he's gone, you seem so optimistic, telling yourself whatever you wanna believe.

Unfortunately for you, when the content for the next year comes around (you might be gone, idk) ill be sure to swiftly remind you that, it was never tanaka calling the shots in regards to the vision of ffxi. Thats a team effort, thats the companies baby. Tanaka was simply putting in his own input, giving his approval and checking with his superiors like any other producer.

All I got to say is, get ready for more grinds and low drop rates on the epic stuff. SE isn't going to change their vision for endgame, it's just now you have someone new to blame. lol...

Not trying to be cold here, I'm just sick of people blaming tanaka for what they didnt like, and not praising him for the things they did, like abyssea.. He was the producer of it..

Check credits people. Its listed publicly whos worked on what. Tanaka gave us alot of good stuff we all love. We got bad stuff too, but Tanaka shouldn't take the whole blame. ITS SQUARE ENIX, the teams vision.

And now that hes gone? Don't expect anything to change LOL. Nyzul? GOOD LUCK. HNMP? 1.5k sup
ADL? GOOD LUCK. VW? Fixed enough. ODIN V2? Start recruiting

FFXI endgame is GRIND, always has been, since day1, always will be. No matter whos producing. SE releases content in such a way that THE NEED THE BUFFER FROM HORRID DROP RATES, LONG SPAWNS OR COMPLICATED MECHANICS making it very luck based. Thats the way it is guys. Thios isn't new, It's just the slow return of the environment we had back at 75: you need a ls or group to get the best. You also need luck. Those are the factors for having the best in ffxi, and i truly dont think thats ever going to change.

[Nala]

As a counter point you cant tell me you noticed the day a night difference between Dev team response and willingness to work with the player base on the inception of these forums and the subsequent lack of both interaction (in part to staffing i will admit) and response to the players concerns (this i will not brush off however)

When these forums first started it felt (by no small margin due to dev team responsiveness) that our input was not only valued but taken to heart, but after a certain point (which i had discovered the return of a certain some one from XIV) that the dev team did a 180 (perhaps in part due to the "failure" of abyssea) in any case point is he had the final call on what should and should not be adjusted.

For an example at the beginning of these forums the rampant issues with RDM (that is their pure lack of job specific abilities traits and or spells) may have been addressed (and don't you dare call out gravity 2 or merit spells the damn job needs a sch esc overhaul), but as we all know even know that concern is a far cry from any Dev's care factor currently, considering its one of the few jobs that needs attention the most.

tl;dr Dev team used to listen, then something changed i'll let you figure out what, you can't deny that fact.

[Arcon]

As a counter point you cant tell me you noticed the day a night difference between Dev team response and willingness to work with the player base on the inception of these forums and the subsequent lack of both interaction (in part to staffing i will admit) and response to the players concerns (this i will not brush off however)

When these forums first started it felt (by no small margin due to dev team responsiveness) that our input was not only valued but taken to heart, but after a certain point (which i had discovered the return of a certain some one from XIV) that the dev team did a 180 (perhaps in part due to the "failure" of abyssea) in any case point is he had the final call on what should and should not be adjusted.

You're completely full of it. The forums weren't even made until several months after Tanaka left FFXIV. So you just basically admitted that was his doing that the dev team was listening to people in the beginning.

tl;dr Dev team used to listen, then something changed i'll let you figure out what, you can't deny that fact.

That's also your perception and is complete and utter bullshit. Throughout the existence of the forums, community interaction has not changed one bit, it's still as low as it ever was. RDM was never addressed, not now and not then. I don't know what you're talking about. When was that magical time that they showed any remote interest in RDM?

[Benihana]

if anyone thinks the endgame direction and vision is going to change with the departure of tanaka, you are going to be severely disappointed. I strongly suggest if this is your reason for coming back, prepare for a rage quit.

It wasn't TANAKA'S VISION, it is SQUARE ENIX's vision. They have a vision for endgame, and current direction it is going atm, is that direction or vision.

Tanaka was, 100% the producer and supporter of ABYSSEA. The statment issued by SE that stated "abyssea was a mistake" was NOT even a direct quote from TANAKA HIMSELF. It was ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE TEAM.(the CURRENT DIRECTOR, if im not mistaken. I could be wrong)

I was gonna post this on bg, but someone else hit the nail on the coffin: I cannot wait to see all you whining and blaming The new producer when he shells out content that is of the vision SE has always had for ffxi. That day is coming without a doubt, because if you honestly think Tanaka was calling the shots and that the current and past visions of the game were his and his alone, you are DELUSIONAL.


This is square enix's vision. And i assure you, all of you, the replacement for Tanaka is going to 100% continue to drive ffxi in the direction it has been going: Toward more LS or group orientated endgame content, with craptastic drop rates, luck gear/events and more grinds.

The new grinds might be fun, who knows. But SE not going to ever, ever, ever, ever make endgame abyssea level reward:difficulty ratio. A grind FFXI is the only ffxi ENDGAme you guys ever have,. Get over. Its a10 yr MMO and has always been this way. If you dont like it, quit.

Abyssea was never endgame, It was FILLER content designed to keep us busy and preparing for the return of an epic endgame. Tanaka OK'd it because he knew we would need great gear and weapons before they shell out new 99 endgame, and that's the reason abyssea was created. It was filler content, and they themselves stated, it was never intended to be endgame and the reward part of it was a MISTAKE, because it changed the mindset of the player base, and changing it back is going to take time. They are going to do everything they can to avoid abyssea level reward ratio in ffxi.

In short, There will never be abyssea-Endgame. Abyssea wasa filler content that was too rewarding to a playerbase that is otherwise very unspoiled. They are slowly trying to change the mindset of the players expectations and willingness, and trust me, theyre gonna keep trying.

The new producer isnt going to change anything in regards to the vision of ffxis endgame.