Let's keep Character Crossovers from other Square-Enix titles out of FFXIV.

[Fatestorm]

No matter how well they will write it people that want to hate it will find a way to nit pick it apart.

Personally i am looking forward to people flip flopping on their stances faster than microsoft on their Xbox one80 policies as soon as it involves a character they care about. "Its completely different then when it was Lightning because of "add desperate justification here" ^~^

And the inverse, right? "Lightning was okay but _______ is totally different, this is a step too far, SE pls fix."

Which particular crossovers one happened to like or dislike was never what this topic was about.

[tou]

I personally don't see an issue with crossovers. It allows people to have fun and enjoy some of their favorite characters in previous ff games with the entire community.
Does this "hurt" the immersion/lore of the game? Yes, maybe so. I don't see it being detrimental to the game though. I would be happy seeing people enjoy the game even if it means breaking out of lore every once in a while.

People on these forums spend too much time dictating what should and shouldn't be done. Just enjoy the game.

[Fatestorm]

People on these forums spend too much time dictating what should and shouldn't be done. Just enjoy the game.

Yeah. I mean, why even post on these forums at all when we could be playing the game right? The forums shouldn't even exist at all, because people should be enjoying the game I think.

...

...not really. I disagree with you, but thanks for your opinion. Everyone is in favor of people having a good time. But we all think there's a line somewhere between fun and ridiculous. There might be someone out there who wants to see a FFXIV / Darth Vader crossover, but most of us would consider that to be over the top. This is just where I happen to think the line should be drawn.

[SkyeWindbinder]

No matter how well they will write it people that want to hate it will find a way to nit pick it apart.

Personally i am looking forward to people flip flopping on their stances faster than microsoft on their Xbox one80 policies as soon as it involves a character they care about. "Its completely different then when it was Lightning because of "add desperate justification here" ^~^

Your theory is not only mere speculation, it's also dead wrong, and I feel privileged to reveal this truth to you. ^_^

For instance, as I said before, my most favorite Final Fantasy character is Sephiroth. Hell, he's my most favorite video game character. Psh, I'm gonna go ahead and be truthful... he's my most favorite fictional character EVER. In fact, he was my first love in high school, and he isn't even friggin real. Yes, I had it that bad. So, how would I feel if Sephiroth made an appearance in FFXIV:ARR?

Absolutely mortified.

No matter how well they do the lore, no matter how well they write a character in, no matter how cool they make them appear, it will still smell like cheap fan service. Besides, if I really want to see Sephiroth again, I know I can just go play FFVII or go watch Advent Children. Now, perhaps they will do good writing Snow and Lightning into the story. Maybe they will get some cool lore or whatever. But the thing is, we all know where they came from. And given the fact that Lightning returns is just around the corner, this will still reek of marketing ploy, no matter how well they gussy up the story. Then again, that's just mho.

[Aish]

There might be someone out there who wants to see a FFXIV / Darth Vader crossover, but most of us would consider that to be over the top.

Too late! The Death Star housed Bahamut, Darth Vader was defeated right before the servers shut down, and an AT-AT walker has been spotted posing as a water tower!

[Vilhem]

Your theory is not only mere speculation, it's also dead wrong, and I feel privileged to reveal this truth to you. ^_^

For instance, as I said before, my most favorite Final Fantasy character is Sephiroth. Hell, he's my most favorite video game character. Psh, I'm gonna go ahead and be truthful... he's my most favorite fictional character EVER. In fact, he was my first love in high school, and he isn't even friggin real. Yes, I had it that bad. So, how would I feel if Sephiroth made an appearance in FFXIV:ARR?

Absolutely mortified.

No matter how well they do the lore, no matter how well they write a character in, no matter how cool they make them appear, it will still smell like cheap fan service. Besides, if I really want to see Sephiroth again, I know I can just go play FFVII or go watch Advent Children. Now, perhaps they will do good writing Snow and Lightning into the story. Maybe they will get some cool lore or whatever. But the thing is, we all know where they came from. And given the fact that Lightning returns is just around the corner, this will still reek of marketing ploy, no matter how well they gussy up the story. Then again, that's just mho.

o_o; I'll erm..just steal Thancred while you're busy gawking at Sephiroth >_> (for the record, I had a crush on him in HS too LOL)

[Keyln]

I hope you're right with this, but you've put your finger right here on what's worrying to me. Why Sephiroth and not Aeris? There is just no way to know what "We will never introduce characters that would destroy their meaning or story" and "We will not use characters that are already dead or whose role has ended in their title" means concretely. Especially characters "whose role has ended in their title." That's a baffling criterion to me and sounds tailor-made to allow anything to fly with the right sort of justification.

I think this is a product of poor translation more than anything. I think what Yoshi is saying that characters who can't travel worlds (due to being dead or incapacitated) will not show up in FFXIV. Everyone else is fair game.

Like, as an example, I'm struggling to understand how the example Yoshi himself gave, Red XIII from Final Fantasy VII, is different from Lightning. Why would he not include him in FFXIV? Not that I want him in the game--quite the opposite--but I'm wondering why Yoshi has disqualified one and not the other. Who's to say that Red XIII's role "has ended in his title?" Does Yoshi just mean games that aren't finished yet (Like Lightning Returns)? I really don't know. But why does Sephiroth keep rising from the grave when he got killed at the end of Final Fantasy VII? I really don't know. (Unless I'm being cynical and say because fanservice.) So again, my point is this:

It looks like Yoshi has given us a safeguard that he will preserve plot and character integrity; but this is nowhere near an objective criterion at all. It's basically him saying "come on... trust me!"--and so it's worth precisely that much.

At this point, you have a choice to have faith or not. I choose to have faith in Yoshi in that he'll do a good job in translating the characters to FFXIV, and will be faithful to what the series has already done.

It's also been part of my argument that these crossovers do, by their very nature, damage the plot and character of the respective works involved; and that to properly preserve the integrity of the story one must either ignore them or look upon them as deuterocanonical. So Yoshi's response that Lightning is the one and only Lightning and not a copy, and that the writing team worked hard on the quest story--all of that is I suppose a good thing for the team implementing all this, but really misses my fundamental worry entirely.

And here's where I fundamentally disagree with you. You come from a position that crossovers must be fundamentally bad. I come from a position that crossovers are neither bad nor good, but how well they are written. There are certainly bad crossover events, where one party is overshadowed or overplayed by another, but there are also good crossovers where both parties play well with each other, and highlight their strengths beautifully. A good example of this is in this crossover between Aladdin and Hercules. JLA/Avengers is also a good example of a good crossover. I can think of a few others, but for the sake of brevity, I'll choose to omit those. In short, and to repeat myself, crossovers are not inherently bad, but it does depend heavily on who's doing the writing.

I, however, have a hermeneutic of suspicion with this whole crossover business, with all of it. Laying all my cards on the table, and with the understanding that I can't prove any of this or don't know for a fact that this is the case: I think that Square-Enix decided, at the upper level somewhere, that this sort of crossover was going to happen as part of a more aggressive marketing campaign of Square-Enix products and titles, and that Yoshi got told that this FFXIV crossover was going to happen. Or maybe he agreed, or came up with the idea himself; I've no idea. But what's clear to me is that Yoshi and his team sat down and said "ok... crossovers are happening. What's the least painful way for this to happen with respect to story? How can we make this happen?" rather than the other way around-- that is, the lore team didn't come up with a fantastic story for a Lightning crossover and then go ask Yoshi "hey look at this great idea we came up with, can we please do this, I bet players will love it."

How do you know? Are you privy to some behind the scenes dealings that the rest of us aren't?

Given with what we know about the early designs of ARR, it is quite possible (and daresay probable) that Yoshi, looking at the feedback given, and probably a Final Fantasy fan like ourselves, wanted to have elements from previous Final Fantasies, and I don't see anything that could preclude having characters from previous Final Fantasies included. I doubt that this idea came from on high, considering the changing of the guard during the development of ARR. I think your strong dislike of crossovers is clouding your vision here, and putting things that may or may not have happened without further evidence.

[tou]

Yeah. I mean, why even post on these forums at all when we could be playing the game right? The forums shouldn't even exist at all, because people should be enjoying the game I think.

...

...not really. I disagree with you, but thanks for your opinion. Everyone is in favor of people having a good time. But we all think there's a line somewhere between fun and ridiculous. There might be someone out there who wants to see a FFXIV / Darth Vader crossover, but most of us would consider that to be over the top. This is just where I happen to think the line should be drawn.

How is incorporating previous popular FF characters crossing a line. Darth Vader? How do you even come to that conclusion? If anything it will be something SE came up with.

You come off as very condescending and with no right. If SE wants to place Vivi into the game for a certain event, more power to them. I am sure people will enjoy seeing it. You need to take it easy.

[SkyeWindbinder]

o_o; I'll erm..just steal Thancred while you're busy gawking at Sephiroth >_> (for the record, I had a crush on him in HS too LOL)

UNHAND my boy toys, Vil!

[Vilhem]

UNHAND my boy toys, Vil!

For some reason this popped into my head:

Skye: UNHAND MY BOYTOYS!!!



Me: /runs the hell away! >.>