NIS America. A concept I loved.

[Sushirom]

http://nisamerica.com/prams/

NISAmerica. The people who dish out the Disgaea series. When it came to player community and player <> company rapport, they always impressed me. They have this thing called Pram's Wishlist. What it is...is that the community, the clientele~, can nominate a wish. Things on this site usually involve "We'd like to see this game you produce brought to America." , or "Can we have a Manga version of this~?" But after being nominated on to the list, all the players are allowed a certain number of votes that they can use on the list. After a certain wish has achieved....I think it's Top 5?, the company obliges. It'd be nice to see this kind of system established here. Just saying~

[Shai]

After the decline of Final Fantasy (in my opinion) NIS filled that void with me due to things like this and consistent quality of their games as well as lots of cameo characters and boss fights from previous titles.

Note: Ports of FF 1-6 also have a way of drawing my interest due to cameo boss fights.

[Malakhim]

NIS is also a company with a very small(albeit dedicated) fanbase, and they've also been hemorrhaging money over the past few years.

Two things SE probably wants to avoid as a large company with a relatively large fanbase full of diverging opinions.

[Sushirom]

After the decline of Final Fantasy (in my opinion) NIS filled that void with me due to things like this and consistent quality of their games as well as lots of cameo characters and boss fights from previous titles.

Note: Ports of FF 1-6 also have a way of drawing my interest due to cameo boss fights.

I like cameos. I just feel it wouldn't be appropriate for 14.

NIS is also a company with a very small(albeit dedicated) fanbase, and they've also been hemorrhaging money over the past few years.

Two things SE probably wants to avoid as a large company with a relatively large fanbase full of diverging opinions.

I don't think the fan base is that small. In regards to the North American gaming fan base, yes. But they're demographic, not only the games but the fact that they license and release shows and comics, hits a very large spectrum of NA "Anime Fans". Which isn't very small. And I'm not saying it's anywhere near Square's size as well as not saying it's not involved with a lot of niche markets. But the wishlist isn't a system that wouldn't work with prioritizing the development teams....lesser than necessity objectives. Obviously the battle system and the various other corner stone fixes must be done first. But having an active vote system for everyone's little wants and dreams probably could cut down repetitive arguments. Oh sure, they'd still argue. But at least it could be isolated into a single official poll thread about an objective. Their finances have actually gone up quite a bit this past year after their plummet in 2009.

Aren't these forums kind of the same concept?

Good point. Forums = Valuable source of voiced opinion data. I imagine it could be as easy as this, to obtain numerical data for Square's benefit. Integrate a working poll system into the forums. Many forums have these. That'd be one step. Now adding to the way dev's interact with us in threads. Let's say a poll thread catches fire, a huge amount of feedback, possibly they could sticky it to the first page to mark it as being a weight on the development team's consideration.

Throw a like on on topic post

I consider the "Like"s a tad too vague. They never add up enough, and technically there's no comparative data. It's just "Okay~ a lot of people like this." An influence, but not as great of one in my opinion. There's a different feel to a poll. They see the opposing numbers rack up. Some who don't care enough to "Like" something may be more inclined to participate simply because the visual fact that it IS a poll might queue them to act.

[Shai]

I like cameos. I just feel it wouldn't be appropriate for 14.

You don't want to fight Doom Train?

I think they could put cameos in FF14 as long as it was holiday/fun/event related. I also think it would have to be well down the road and limited optional not related to the world lore or story of the game. Such as fighting various villains or heroes in the Colosseum or something. If they added that junk now to an "unfinished" game lacking in polish it would be a slap in the face, but I think XI (for example) is way past the time they could have introduced some fun "Final Fantasy Appreciation" events where you fight old bosses or heroes in revamped graphics and unique MMO gameplay.

As I said, this isn't something I'm asking for in XIV. I was simply stating some of the things NIS does well that keep me drawn to their products.

[Sushirom]

Whoa whoa whoa. Are you that dude that wanted Kefka BCNM's? Okay, Doom Train~ let me consider that. This goes into a different territory. Summons are something different. CHARACTER cameos I personally think would kill a little bit of the immersion of this world. Mostly because, any possibly story line reasoning would have to involve some dimensional transports, or portals, or rifts, or whatever~. Their worlds had their own names and cities, ours has its own. It's not like Dissidia or Ergheiz. A summon, or a lore creature can work. Because obviously, were encountering summons already in the story. Doom Train though, they'd have to feed us some lore first. Like maybe if they expand the game and there happens to be a new town involved in heavy steam works. Or possibly~ if they elaborate on Uldah's mine cart systems and use that.

[Shai]

Whoa whoa whoa. Are you that dude that wanted Kefka BCNM's? Okay, Doom Train~ let me consider that. This goes into a different territory. Summons are something different. CHARACTER cameos I personally think would kill a little bit of the immersion of this world. Mostly because, any possibly story line reasoning would have to involve some dimensional transports, or portals, or rifts, or whatever~. Their worlds had their own names and cities, ours has its own. It's not like Dissidia or Ergheiz. A summon, or a lore creature can work. Because obviously, were encountering summons already in the story. Doom Train though, they'd have to feed us some lore first. Like maybe if they expand the game and there happens to be a new town involved in heavy steam works. Or possibly~ if they elaborate on Uldah's mine cart systems and use that.

I don't think I'm "that dood" but if you read what I just said, it wouldn't have story, lore or any connection to the world. It could (and easily) but it could just be a fun event they throw at us 5 years down the road. It almost seems like a wasted opportunity to me to garner some fan service in a game that goes on and on. Don't break your brain trying to figure out why Kuja just appeared in Eorzea. Just fight him. Gain a title/achievement. Move on. It's just for fun.

Also since I brought up XI and you brought up portals - You do realize that Vana'diel is being "torn apart" by dimensional rifts in space and time, right? As I said, XI is well past its prime to introduce a Voidwalker "Kain" or something. So XI it could even work into the story, but as I said - there's no reason to do this if everyone accepts it just something for fun and fan service.

[Sonic_the_Hedgehog]

Aren't these forums kind of the same concept?

[Coombah]

Aren't these forums kind of the same concept?

^ This is all that needs to be said

[Dargoth_Draconia]

Throw a like on on topic post