-
Final Fantasy XIV Novel
I don't know if this will be something sent up the chain in the FF14 team but I figure I make a post regardless to give a request.
Has the team ever considered having the FF14 story released as a novel series or something?
I'm sure it would take some time to get things written proper but considering how many vouch for FF14's plot (not to mention other FF games) it would be nice to have the book I could buy that, maybe, I could gift to friends, family, kids/grandkids. There's plenty of lessons to learn in these stories. I know at least 3 people (not including myself) who would love to experience the story but aren't really a fan of the game genre.
I know other people who aren't a fan of video games whom I believe would enjoy it as a book. As for me, I've really only been able to play FF14-16 because of the play style. All the past versions are difficult for me to go through as it's turn based and somehow it's the one style I simply can't play. (maybe if my life was on the line but that's not the point of games) Worst part is that video games are falling off for me too which is a new thing I'm experiencing.
While we have encyclopedias, it's just that, an encyclopedia, not a novel. I'm not asking to make a movie, show, etc, that'd be a lot to ask (though I'm sure many would like it). And I know others might simply say "look up a youtube video of the game's story" which my response would be it's just not the same and you're missing the point.
If it ever became a thing, I'd give good money for hardcover just to be able to pass it down.
-
-
I imagine it would be exceedingly difficult to write the story in such a way that WoL was generic enough to not infringe on how people view their own character. There are the side stories if you haven't read them (https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes.../#side_storyes), but a lot of those only work by referring to your character in passing, and the most customization you have is choosing a gendered pronoun.
-
Not that I don't think it could work with adjustments, but I kind of feel like purely narrative adaptations of RPGs like this at least partially miss the point of their appeal. I don't think that its theoretical writer(s) should be preoccupied with making the WoL a suitable everyman, because that won't please everyone anyway and often makes for a boring protagonist (of course there are exceptions and entire genres built around self-insertable heroes outside role-playing games, but nevertheless)... But I wonder how mass the appeal would be for retellings of a story we've already played -- only without our WoL. Nevermind that, without the novelty of playing through these stories in the manner we do, and particularly in an MMO (a genre widely bereft of narrative experiences like this), I'm not so sure it would really hold up in a book, at least not without a little artistic license here and there. Of course, a little artistic license probably goes without saying anyway.
Now, granted, the WoL we see in the MSQ isn't exactly bereft of characterization that may or may not chafe with the way we perceive our characters to begin with. I don't think they're just a cardboard cutout. A novelization could allow a writer to expand on that, while also exploring interpersonal relationships with the rest of the cast in ways they can't really in the game -- not without taking away what little agency the players do have (or maybe not "agency", exactly, but our right to imagine what we'd like about our characters' relationships). There certainly is appeal there, if only as a way to learn more about the Scions as actual characters and not just as the tools they're sometimes used as by the game, especially before Shadowbringers. But still, I wonder how niche even that audience would be. And even within that audience, I can just imagine the fandom drama it could still create...
On the other hand, the Encylcopaedias are probably at least as niche, and we still get those, despite how expensive printing can be, even done in-house (and I'd be surprised if they were, but I'm too lazy to look it up, either way lol). But just as the writers give players more opportunities to express some semblance of our own personalities through more frequent dialogue options, I wonder if removing that element entirely isn't still a concern.