Letter from the Producer, XXXII (07/23/2012)

[Elexia]

WTF you changed your pic? My whole world is falling apart around me!

Nah the forums lag and show the old pic people chose before using game avatars.

[Chardrizard]

Did some ppl just generalize all chinese as RMT?

[Jynx]

You seem to be blindly championing the game left and right when, honestly, it could have benefited from the deal.

I think the largest issue for companies is that China has special rules they need to put into place litteraly making it a different game from what most players get.

It's not like they just pop up a "China server" they have to actually rework alot of the game. No mentions of Nukes, No skeletons (dunno why) Restrictions on playtime, and needs to be able to get through the great firewall. SE will pretty much give the chinese company a copy of FFXIV and let them have at it until it's ready for government aproval. SE will have very little input for the game from that point on. Expansions and whatnot will also go through a "Filter" when released.

It's more trouble than it's worth for some companies.

[Nakiamiie]

Seems like Yoshi is apologizing because he already knows people are going to be disappointed with them. I have to agree, they look pretty goofy.

Don't get me wrong, I would have preferred a long one, but it doesn't mean I don't like the short one.
I will have fun with it nevertheless!

[Elexia]

Don't get me wrong, I would have preferred a long one, but it doesn't mean I don't like the short one.
I will have fun with it nevertheless!

Yep people would have complained even if they got the traditional style.

"Where's the sexy one?"

"Where's the short one?"

[Firesped]

given that they are "partnering" with another company, I bet that, that other company will host the servers for china meaning we won't see a china take over our servers. that's just my guess.

[Biggs]

Just a FYI to most people there is a massive chance that Chinese players will be relegated to their own server to avoid RMT issues.

It's a shame though as I know a good deal of Chinese players who don't like being treated like second class citizens because of this. It will be interested to see how SE handles China if they allow them onto the main server (Although I doubt it I think Chinese law mandates you can't have skeletons in the game or something) So they will probably end on a special server for that alone.

I could be totally wrong, but I thought it had more to do with the Chinese government keeping tight reins on what its citizens do on the internet more than it had anything to do with RMT activity. Given the Chinese track record with copyright infringment and what not, it doesnt seem like they would really give a shit about people selling gil. Like I said though, there are plenty of angles to this I may not be seeing. I always pegged this sort of thing as more of a Big Brother issue than a financial one, but what your talking about could be one in the same.

[Hyrist]

That's my guess. The China Company is going to be doing the rework on whatever localization they need to go through to pass China regulations and then they'll be the the go-to company for all such things for FFXIV updates from then on.

Most defiantly worth the cost this time around as an untapped audience is an undamaged audience in this case. And given general Chinese subscription numbers for MMOs, it's a fair bet such a move just insured the well being of FFXIV into the future.

[Jynx]

I could be totally wrong, but I thought it had more to do with the Chinese government keeping tight reins on what its citizens do on the internet more than it had anything to do with RMT activity.

For the most part it is. China has alot of internet laws that make MMO's hard to get off the ground in the chinese market.

Just a nice thing for people who don't think the internet should stay as it is. You could always move to China!

[Tricksy]

They'll probably just get the Chinese company that made most of FF14 to do the localization in China. They will feel right at home with the bird-chickens? and the like.

Faux Pas?