What happened to the 8 years of data and market analysis?

[Abriael]

Okay, how many games released when the fans (and a large number of them) where trying to tell the devs that their game was unfinished and did well because of it?

One example for all. Final Fantasy XI. It was released in an abysmal state and it still worked well in the end. WoW was also released in a state that I (and many others) would define (and have defined) quite far from optimal.

Quite often publishers are stuck between the anvil and the hammer, and are given two options that are both bad business. Releasing the game as is, or breaking other deals (or running out of budget, which I don't think is the case for FFXIV, but it happens a lot in the market).

What doesn't help anyone is blindly accusing people on a personal and professional level without knowing anything much of what went on behind the scenes.

Pointing fingers at someone (that you don't know) and crying "boogeyman!" isn't exactly constructive of helpful in any way or form.

I love how nobody is allowed to a valid opinion except for the armchair expert of all things.

Not as armchair as you would think.

[Evovenom]

So you're saying Tanaka was a figure head for his whole life...which makes him even worse then a failure.

He was the top guy, if he didn't call the shot, and things didn't run through his desk, and he was a "pencil pusher" then he definitely deserved to get fired for that instead.

That's what it means by "It happened on his watch". You're not suppose to sleep, even if you inherited(which he didn't)

And if anyone actually watch the collector's ed DVD "making of" He definitely should have been fired. He pretty much gives a nod of the head to all the controversies that were in the polls.

The truism of "On his watch" is profound since he was the the video game producer. The supposed "super star" position of the gaming world. And they get fame and fortune well because of it.

In fact it maybe more damnation to Tanaka's name because one of the game producer duties is usually the liaison of the development team and the higher management/shareholders. Unless it was unusually different for FF14, then that means Tanaka was the Author Anderson of Enron.

The stake is pretty big because Tanaka's position is that important.

We can call a lot of stupidity that happened in FF14, but if the head-hancho let it happen, it's how it rolls.

You are dumber then Birdhair, just shut up. You have no idea what happened, your talking out of your a$$. You just want someone to blame, fail human being.

[Evovenom]

I love how nobody is allowed to a valid opinion except for the armchair expert of all things.

I love how you made over billion topics of same exact things other idiots posted. Oh wait that was all you

Dear Mr Rofl.
Your mutiple posting is filling not only the English forrums but the Japanese forrums`NEW POSTS as well.
Mr Yosihida already said that he will only announce what he can promise to deliver on date.
Thank you for your cooperation. From Japan.

[Arek_Fairbairn]

I'm a simple guy, and so please bear with my simple opinion on this complex matter. ^^;

The way I see it, Square Enix's net income has been steadily decreasing. Very much like the release of Final Fantasy I, I think the general mindset was to try to get a boost for their financial stability. I’m sure Tanaka was severely pressured to pump this game out due to financial difficulties. While Tanaka stepping down could be for the better, Yoshida's background in the Final Fantasy series is....disheartening. However, he does seem to have the get up and go that the game needs.

I don't think Tanaka has to take much of the blame for the sorry state XIV is in. When it all comes down to it he had to answer to a deadline set by the executives. Granted, I'm sure he can share some of the blame (I swear, why does everything have to be so black and white?) rests on his shoulders for not properly getting priorities in order. Another thing to take into account, Tanaka now had two companies breathing down his neck instead of one.

I hate to play this card, but shouldn't Enix at least be brought into the equation here? Keep in mind, I'm not talking about devs, I'm talking about executives. XI was released before the merge with Enix; just food for thought. I just don't think it's fair to look at the outcome of XIV's release without properly considering all the variables.

I hardly feel my opinion is valid seeing as Final Fantasy XIV is my first MMORPG, and I wasn't here in the beginning to see how bad it really was. However, I don't think it's really fair to place so much blame on one person that has been with Square since the beginning. If you really need to point your finger at somebody, point it at Yoichi Wada.

[Evovenom]

I'm a simple guy, and so please bear with my simple opinion on this complex matter. ^^;

The way I see it, Square Enix's net income has been steadily decreasing. Very much like the release of Final Fantasy I, I think the general mindset was to try to get a boost for their financial stability. I’m sure Tanaka was severely pressured to pump this game out due to financial difficulties. While Tanaka stepping down could be for the better, Yoshida's background in the Final Fantasy series is....disheartening. However, he does seem to have the get up and go that the game needs.

I don't think Tanaka has to take much of the blame for the sorry state XIV is in. When it all comes down to it he had to answer to a deadline set by the executives. Granted, I'm sure he can share some of the blame (I swear, why does everything have to be so black and white?) rests on his shoulders for not properly getting priorities in order. Another thing to take into account, Tanaka now had two companies breathing down his neck instead of one.

I hate to play this card, but shouldn't Enix at least be brought into the equation here? Keep in mind, I'm not talking about devs, I'm talking about executives. XI was released before the merge with Enix; just food for thought. I just don't think it's fair to look at the outcome of XIV's release without properly considering all the variables.

I hardly feel my opinion is valid seeing as Final Fantasy XIV is my first MMORPG, and I wasn't here in the beginning to see how bad it really was. However, I don't think it's really fair to place so much blame on one person that has been with Square since the beginning. If you really need to point your finger at somebody, point it at Yoichi Wada.

What nobody seems to understand is both Enix and Square were already fucked up. Enix with acquiring 99.2 billion worth of stock shares in order to publish the latters Grandia series and square Square also suffered financially in 2001 mainly from the box office failure of its feature film final fantasy the spirits within which comes down to they only merge to mutually decrease development costs and to compete with foreign developers. Problem started way back.

[Evenstar]

The answer of all financial problems of SE (if they have any :P): FF7 HD remake

[Jibe]

The answer of all financial problems of SE (if they have any :P): FF7 HD remake

I would SO love this. I think they would sell a hundred million gazillion copies too.

[BelgianRofl]

The way I see it, Square Enix's net income has been steadily decreasing. Very much like the release of Final Fantasy I, I think the general mindset was to try to get a boost for their financial stability. I’m sure Tanaka was severely pressured to pump this game out due to financial difficulties.

Ya, cuz they only gave him 5 years to make a game after having made a DX-9 engine.

[Mr_Gyactus]

Players want:
a system free, with classes, high customization, without a tedious levelling, for solo play in group, where you don't need to heal or tank but you have a specific role in a group, with a combat fast but slow, with powerful skills without cooldowns, a crafting where you sell things but easy to level.

Now, to be honest this is all possible, but in a offline videogame. You are the only player, you are the king of the jungle.

The biggest problem in FF14 is an still remain a lack of knowledge. There is too much to understand, too much to evaluate, too much to learn. It's fun, but now, the common player wanna log and play without reading a single page of manual: if you die fighting a marmot it's not because you suck, it's a bug!

Another problem is they have given too much weight to pools (yes exactly the opposite): next gen, new combat system, amazing graphic... all wrong, all lies. Players want a plain game (=RIFT) with classes, raids and battlegrounds, nothing more, nothing less.

[Abriael]

Ya, cuz they only gave him 5 years to make a game after having made a DX-9 engine.

Ah belgian, you think you know so many things that you do *not* know. You don't know when actual full-scale work on the game started exactly. You don't know with what pace, funding and team. Having a tech demo means nothing. Most games start with a very small team drawing simple concepts, and writing project documents and go on like that for a while. Tanaka, Komoto and many others of the team were still working on Final Fantasy XI for a long while after the tech demo you so love basing your bashing on.