Concerned about Yoshi-P

[Rjain]

This is a bit different from the norm and I'll probably be ranted out by a select few of you who would better spend their time complaining about a certain pixel being out of place or your characters boobs not being big enough, but I'd like to address an issue that is obviously happening at Square-Enix.

I know a few people who work in Japan, my brother is one of them, and the amount of stress taken on when it comes to jobs there is tenfold the average stress from jobs in most other parts of the world. Yoshi-P has expressed throughout a great deal of his letters that he is a workaholic, and has stated several facts such as long commutes, incredible work hours, lack of sleep, heavy smoking and coffee habits, etc.

The thing is that this isn't just normal for Yoshi-P, it's normal for a large number of Japanese with bigger "salary" jobs. Over 10,000 of them die each year from it, and it is so well-known there that they have their own name for it which is 過労死 (death from overworking). It is ingrained in the Japanese culture that it is difficult to say no, and working hard and being loyal to your superiors under all other circumstances is normal. Many people end up never seeing their families for days/weeks on end, end up sleeping at work, and many as I said above ultimately die. Heart attacks, strokes, aneurysms, and other forms of sudden death occur in a lot of these people, even people with no previous background of illness.

Yoshi-P makes it seem that he loves his job and he really wants to make the fans happy, and for the most part this is true. But so do anime artists, graphic designers, business directors, and engineers who enjoy their jobs and end up suddenly kicking the bucket due to overworking.

The reason I am posting this is that I am concerned for Yoshi-P and I believe, even with the demanding schedules put in place by Square-Enix, his supervisors should take further into account his and the rest of the team's health. Day after day we have people on this board complaining that things aren't good enough for them, things that "should have been in the game", things that ultimately do not matter. These guys are literally putting their lives on the line to give you a pleasant entertainment experience, so I believe people should be showing them more support than they have been.

[Colino]

I'm sure he's doing fine and doesn't need you crying over him.

Think about yourself and everything will be ok.

[Teakwood]

I would totally be up for contributing to some kind of care package for the entire development team as a show of support from the NA (or just general) fan base. I'm just not sure how you'd actually -do- that / what legal issues might be involved.

I'm sure 1.20 and 2.0 won't be -perfect- but I have a lot of faith in and respect for this current development team; when they -do- screw something up (like TP degen) it's fixed within a week pretty much; there's only one really astoundingly awful idea to have come out of the entire process so far (Ifrit weapons) and he's said in interviews he's giving up that idea, which means he -is- flexible to community input.

I'd like to do something nice for Yoshida - and the entire mostly-anonymous dev team, really, as it seems like he's got a lot of really talented people working on his team, and he's getting the best work possible out of the original dev team members who are still around - any thoughts? If nothing else, there are -some- people on the forums cheering you guys on! (And, honestly, I'd wager a lot of the haters, if they stopped and stepped back a moment, are pretty much in support of the team itself, just not one or another particular idea, and they're just not phrasing shit properly.) It's important to be critical - that's part of why Yoshida was determined to run the game until 2.0, not just put it on hiatus - but critical while supportive of the dev team and its efforts. They obviously care about this game and its fan-base!

[Kaijin]

That's very true. I do think there's a little too much negativity and that I would like to see more support of their fine efforts. I don't believe it'll change their working habits, or make them less likely to run themselves into the ground. He may do that without his superiors asking him to or even thinking they expect it of him. I get the impression that Yoshi is a man on a mission. I believe that he (and many others who are workaholics) choose to be that way first and foremost. There is a bit of indoctrination when it comes to these kinds of behaviors, I will agree. If the society as a whole didn't support the behavior as much as they do, there would certainly be less of it.

Every society has their ways of expediting death, though. In America it tends to be our diets. Loaded with strange chemicals, devoid of nutrition, crack addicted to the almighty and horribly inflammatory sugar. We advertise "whole grains," "fat free!" and "nutri-awesome" all over packaging for food that kills us. Most Americans aren't aware of how bad it is, but most know its bad to at least some degree--and we still do it. It's definitely unfortunate that we allow these habits to continue unchecked.

All that being said, I do want bigger boobs. I don't have a time line though, so take your time fellas. ^.^b
Also, Bravo on a job well done so far Dev. Team!

[Nayt]

I think the best thing to keep in mind is being civil and not rage so much on the boards. Doesn't mean you can't post criticism, but you get the picture

[Travesty]

.....the dude is a grown man. Chill.

[Jinko]

Japanese are just hard working, im sure he has a nice holiday planned after 2.0 goes live.

[Munba]

Japanese are just hard working, im sure he has a nice holiday planned after 2.0 goes live.

1 month holiday i hope! He derserves that.

[Edgecrusher]

I'm sure he's doing fine and doesn't need you crying over him.

Think about yourself and everything will be ok.

While i don't share that particular sentiment, i do agree, that SE probably has hopefully put some extra hands on the deck if only just to help keep the timetable they've placed for the reworked game, and to make sure that they are all above ground to reap the accolades or blame. :-)

[Zenaku]

I think he would have a lot of time off when 2.0 hits seeing how the game would be good enough for them to not work so much.