1UP.com's new interview with Yoshida regarding 2.0

[Ravidrath]

Also did the author seem slightly arrogant? To quote him:

"Michael Vreeland
Freelancer Michael Vreeland has the dubious distinction of being uniquely qualified to cover Final Fantasy XIV, as he's basically the only person in the media playing it, and also the only one that also played Final Fantasy XI."

I agree that i'd rather read interviews from a current and informed player than someone who had no idea about FFXIV. But still, seems like a pompous/arrogant statement to make.

I know I'm going to regret this, but...

I am the author.

I have to say, this really surprised me. How can it be arrogant for me to say I have a "dubious distinction?" That turn of phrase specifically means it's probably not something one would or should brag about. It's like having the world record for dirtiest underwear, or something.

I don't think one could or should "brag" about playing this game or any game, really. But I'm especially not sure how or why anyone would "brag" about playing an unpopular game. And when I wrote that, I was trying to be self-deprecating, because when I tell people that I'm playing FFXIV, they kind of give this pitiful look.

Saying "the media" was probably a bit broad - correctly or incorrectly, I generally make a distinction between sites like Massively, RPGFan and the kind of sites and magazines I've written for, like 1Up, EGM, etc. I'm not sure how NeoGAF fits into this at all, though, since that's a forum and I'm really active over there.

Anyway, glad people seem to have enjoyed the interview, and I guess I'll be more careful with my blurbs in the future.

but i didnt like the attitude of the guy to be honest, calling the game dead right of the bat which is just not true, interrupting yoshida one time with a needless snarky remark (which wasnt completely accurate either)
and i really wonder why he chose pics from the 1.0 launch when we just got nice new material
it just rubbed me the wrong way...

Sorry, but by any logical standard, this game is dead. Or maybe undead? And it certainly was dead when Yoshi-P took it over. Even now, though, it is bleeding money, and the only reason you are playing it now is because against all odds Square decided to try and save it, instead of shutting the servers down after a few months, like most other companies would.

And... interrupting him? You weren't there.

It was a pretty conversational and light-hearted interview. He's a pretty open guy, and there were a number of jokes that weren't transcribed or wouldn't have worked.

For example, after his intro spiel about the three pillars, I nearly fell off of my single-legged stool, and I said it needed two more pillars, and everyone had a good laugh.

And then there was when the NA producer, Yasu, was attacked by some kind of large insect, which I deemed a chigoe. He hid in the corner and nearly knocked the TV over while the PR guy killed it. Everyone had a good laugh after that.

They also showed me 2.0... or at least tried to. I said I really wanted to get as many questions asked as possible, so was pretty focused on that. When Yoshi-P was running around that forest area, I looked at it a bit, and he was like "Oh, he's looking!" and we all chuckled, and I went back to asking questions and getting answers.

The attempts to ascertain the entirety of my being from a few questions in an E3 interview is pretty baffling.

But why didn't they slip the new shiny screen shots into the article? It sends a strange message, Hey guys this game is picking up steam in its turn around. Here is some eye candy that you saw two years ago to help get you excited.

I'm just a freelancer, and not the guy that actually put the article into 1Up's system. I sent them the new screens and asked them to use them, so we'll see what happens. But E3 is an insanely busy time for these guys, so I wouldn't blame them at all if they never got a chance to fix it.