To save SE, they most play to their strength...

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

Hoo boy...

To save S-E, they need a time machine back to go back and cancel The Spirits Within, prevent Wada from becoming President, and continue the legacy that was 1990s Squaresoft for a whole 'nother decade. But since I'm not letting them use my TARDIS, going forward they need to...

1. Get rid of Wada.
2. Put Nomura back on KH3 and Versus and launch those damn games already.
3. Contract Sakaguchi etc to do an HD remake of Final Fantasy VII. Everyone wants it, so you might as well cash in on it.
4. Upgrade FFXI to FFXI-2, same game same world but now in HD. Roll out a few HD-only servers for current players to transfer to if they want to, and roll out a few HD servers specific for people who want to start over in a fresh economy.
5. Use the money from HD FFVII and FFXI for the following:
6. Cancel FFXIV and completely scrap it. Give all the people who bought it a refund or a voucher for the next project.
7. Announce Final Fantasy Online, put Yoshida in charge of it and give him unlimited staff to make it happen in two years or less. If Crystal Tools can't be salvaged within 6 months, license an engine that works (Frostbite comes to mind).
8. Hire back Matsuno and give him unlimited time and money to make any game he wants to make. Stock up on as many drugs and hookers as necessary to keep his stress under control.
9. Purchase Vanillaware and Atlus - let them keep doing what they do best (with no interference) but provide their games with a much wider market and no crappy Ignition dubs.

[Rydin]

[*]Put Nomura back on KH3 and Versus and launch those damn games already.

Is he not on it? I know Versus is taking forever.... but isn't that what he is doing?

[Shai]

Is he not on it? I know Versus is taking forever.... but isn't that what he is doing?

He's on like 10 different projects.
He needs to be focused on games that are actually good and anticipated is the point, I think.

That's a good list of things SE should do to get into shape.

[Duelle]

[*]Contract Sakaguchi etc to do an HD remake of Final Fantasy VII. Everyone wants it, so you might as well cash in on it.
[*]Upgrade FFXI to FFXI-2, same game same world but now in HD. Roll out a few HD-only servers for current players to transfer to if they want to, and roll out a few HD servers specific for people who want to start over in a fresh economy.

The first one is something I know they're saving for a rainy day. The second one won't happen based on the mess of a programming code behind XI. That and PS2 limitations. :O

[*]Announce Final Fantasy Online, put Yoshida in charge of it and give him unlimited staff to make it happen in two years or less. If Crystal Tools can't be salvaged within 6 months, license an engine that works (Frostbite comes to mind).

I'd scrap crystal tools entirely and go for Frostbite or Unreal3. No need to waste 6 months of development time trying to salvage something that is clearly sub-optimal. And I agree in putting Yoshida in charge. The guy is known more for FFXI making the notable turn around under his watch, so he definitely knows what he's doing as director.

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

Is he not on it? I know Versus is taking forever.... but isn't that what he is doing?

Like Shai says below, he's on like every project. Versus and KH3 are technically his projects, but he can't work on (or at least release) them until all his other projects are completed. And we won't see Versus until after FFXIII-2 launches.

XIII-2 only exists because they need to "redeem" XIII-1. Any bets on XIII-2-2 if XIII-2 bombs?

He's on like 10 different projects.
He needs to be focused on games that are actually good and anticipated is the point, I think.

That's a good list of things SE should do to get into shape.

I wouldn't mind if his other projects were TWEWY2, but that's just an example of S-E saying, "Look, we tried something new and original and great, so let's stop with that and go back to doing what we did before."

The first one is something I know they're saving for a rainy day. The second one won't happen based on the mess of a programming code behind XI. That and PS2 limitations. :O
I'd scrap crystal tools entirely and go for Frostbite or Unreal3. No need to waste 6 months of development time trying to salvage something that is clearly sub-optimal. And I agree in putting Yoshida in charge. The guy is known more for FFXI making the notable turn around under his watch, so he definitely knows what he's doing as director.

Oh that's what I mean by XI-2, it can be a completely optional HD patch. PS2 and crappy PCs get left behind, but anyone who's advanced technologically could get into the brand new shiny game. I'd start over in Vana'diel HD if it was an option.

And yeah. As down as I am on S-E, I have faith in Yoshida. My dream project (besides an HD Vagrant Story/2 or bringing back all the old people and making Chrono Break) would be Yoshida teaming up with Matsuno and the rest of Team Ivalice to bring us Ivalice Online.

A boy has the right to dream.

[Elexia]

I'd scrap crystal tools entirely and go for Frostbite or Unreal3. No need to waste 6 months of development time trying to salvage something that is clearly sub-optimal..

And rather spend 1 1/2 - 2.5 years redoing the game in an entirely new engine?

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

And rather spend 1 1/2 - 2.5 years redoing the game in an entirely new engine?

I don't think it would take that long. Frostbite is a complete engine, Crystal Tools is an incomplete engine. All the artwork and models and stuff was already made, so it's just a question of plugging it into Frostbite instead, and that would take maybe two weeks tops.

SWTOR's Story driven content (which really pisses me off because I could like a game like that if it wasnt Sci-Fi).

Good news: Star Wars isn't sci-fi. It's fantasy... in space.

Knights and wizards and magic swords and a princess. Sounds like fantasy to me.

[Duelle]

I don't think it would take that long. Frostbite is a complete engine, Crystal Tools is an incomplete engine. All the artwork and models and stuff was already made, so it's just a question of plugging it into Frostbite instead, and that would take maybe two weeks tops.

You pretty much beat me to the punch there.

Also, my PS2 comment was purely tongue-in-cheek, though I was serious about the programming mess behind XI. Not to mention that pre-Abyssea Vana'diel would not be able to hold my interest these days. My days of putting up with NM camping, forced partying and refresh whoring are long over.

not optimized for gamepad play, not on a hassle free system like a console

You have to keep in mind that MMORPGs are very different beasts from console games. The PS2 and XI has taught us that even with the earnings from the console market, the game in the long run suffers in terms of development because things you could do on a pure PC game you cannot do on a console if the changes surpass the capabilities of the console in question.

While it may sound harsh, the PS2 helped XI maintain a playerbase but notably hurt its potential for growth as a game.

[Anty]

And rather spend 1 1/2 - 2.5 years redoing the game in an entirely new engine?

sounds stupid but if the current engine doesnt improve by 300% it will always keep new content back and every bit of content or fix will take forever... this i think is the major problem. I don't think they lack good ideas but the programming, servers, engine etc. is what holds them back big time.

[Anty]

Hoo boy...

To save S-E, they need a time machine back to go back and cancel The Spirits Within, prevent Wada from becoming President, and continue the legacy that was 1990s Squaresoft for a whole 'nother decade. But since I'm not letting them use my TARDIS, going forward they need to...

1. Get rid of Wada.
2. Put Nomura back on KH3 and Versus and launch those damn games already.
3. Contract Sakaguchi etc to do an HD remake of Final Fantasy VII. Everyone wants it, so you might as well cash in on it.
4. Upgrade FFXI to FFXI-2, same game same world but now in HD. Roll out a few HD-only servers for current players to transfer to if they want to, and roll out a few HD servers specific for people who want to start over in a fresh economy.
5. Use the money from HD FFVII and FFXI for the following:
6. Cancel FFXIV and completely scrap it. Give all the people who bought it a refund or a voucher for the next project.
7. Announce Final Fantasy Online, put Yoshida in charge of it and give him unlimited staff to make it happen in two years or less. If Crystal Tools can't be salvaged within 6 months, license an engine that works (Frostbite comes to mind).
8. Hire back Matsuno and give him unlimited time and money to make any game he wants to make. Stock up on as many drugs and hookers as necessary to keep his stress under control.
9. Purchase Vanillaware and Atlus - let them keep doing what they do best (with no interference) but provide their games with a much wider market and no crappy Ignition dubs.

haha awesome ideas here