Mark of Tanaka

[Kiote]

Tanaka still has a role in XIV's development. He is in the credits with a position in handling Business relations or something like that.

Producer's job is to handle budget and maintain schedule. Unless his position significantly differs from that of most people under the title of Producer in Japanese game development, he has had no part in the actual game design of neither XI or XIV.

Producers actually decide what will be aloud to go into the game. Designers can pitch anything they want, but it is the producer who decides if it merits a place in the game and how much emphasis will be put on it. It is a very significant role that has a Huge impact on the development of a game.

People often make the mistake of believing the "Director" is like a movie director and calls all the shots, but in the Gaming Industry, the Producer calls the shots in the games direction and Directors do the paperwork and schmooze with the suits. Any given game will have Three or Four, sometimes more, Directors(Design, QA, Marketing, etc.).

Director is the higher Ranked Position, but they have less front line impact on the games development.

[Betelgeuzah]

Producers actually decide what will be aloud to go into the game. Designers can pitch anything they want, but it is the producer who decides if it merits a place in the game and how much emphasis will be put on it. It is a very significant role that has a Huge impact on the development of a game.

Director is the higher Ranked Position, but they have less front line impact on the games development.

Producers control the game, as in they are the ones who make sure that the upper management's demands are met. They aren't actively developing the game, but they do consult with the directors to ensure that the intended aspects are handled in a timely and accurate manner.

So while the producer is the boss of the game, the director(s) control the actual staff. That said it is unfortunate that the game's previous director openly admitted that he was not capable of performing as a director and preferred to solve game design problems rather than to lead the workforce. In XI the only issue is the lack of allocated money to the project. Either way- if the directors who consult the producer state that a Marketward system is a good thing and that the UI should be serverside and if the upper management's demands are met with those design decisions, the producer's job is done.

If the director is too busy playing with legos and the designers are incompetent enough to come up with design that they can't keep under control it is a much bigger problem. Tanaka got the boot, but so did the project management as a whole pretty much, with Tanaka singlehandedly taking the blame. XI has a much more balanced team, if not as competent as people would like, Tanaka is just a chest piece in the equation ensuring that Wada is happy and that the product is out on time. Whatever design the directors and designers come up with is their responsibility. Tanaka can't be everywhere. He doesn't decide what means the designers use to lengthen the content with the resources available. He simply gives them the resources to work with, and makes sure that something comes out of it.