Naoki Yoshida interview @Gamescom

[Chessala]

I think you are misreading Yoshida-san and applying a fairly harsh filter to your reading of him as well. I do think he cares pationately about the game and the players. He's very much a MMORPG player, and cares about how things play. I think this is clearly evident in many of the interviews and presentations he's given over the years.

That care and attention translates to sometimes excessive transparency and perhaps attempts to cater to the whims of the loudest forum voices. But because he is open about most things, people on this forum and elsewhere play "Monday morning quarterback" with his every word, and when things do not work out as expected (not uncommon in game development) folks are quick to jump on him about it and use prior interviews against him.

Perhaps if he were like most game producers and really never talked much about the game or what they are trying to do people might be less apt to second guess everything, or be pre-critical about every change before it's even made. On the other hand, if Yoshida-san did that, we would not have the level of communication from the developers that we do currently.

I prefer the current situation and am realistic about how things can change during development. Heck if I was held to every conceptual discussion or prototype I ever made during development, I'd never deliver a thing because I'd be too busy chasing the ephemeral goals created by others' perceptions and expectations.

I honestly considered to stop reading when I saw "Yoshida-san". He is lucky to have such dedicated fans as yourself that see everything he does positively. I want to make a few things clear:
- I do not think he does everything wrong
- I do think he cares about the game to certain extent
- I appreciate the level of communication he is trying to keep up
- I have no problem with the current cash shop

However, an increased level of communication with a gaming community also means that he should be able to deal with an increased amount of criticism. Gamers (and customers) will ALWAYS complain, there is just no way to satisfy everyone.
The problem I specifically have with how he handles the game is, that he has a set vision and is not very willing to go away from that vision. This could have many reasons, including monetization. No matter if we like it not, a game needs to make money to be kept up and running. And if there is one thing Yoshi is good at, it's finding ways to make money.

Just look at the cash shop. Yes, people might feel entitled to certain items because they pay a sub. Fact is: they are not. Having a game running only with subs is difficult at best, even a title as prestigious as "Final Fantasy" will have problems with that eventually, especially with the content schedule they are running (I explained this before and will not do so again). The cash shop offers unnecessary fluff that do not influence your progression in-game at all. This is what I expect from a cash shop in a sub game. If you want the fluff item, you pay for it. We still get plenty of them in-game anyway. If a mount you can't get in game and that you don't want to pay for, ruins your gaming experience, that's your problem.

As for him catering to the "loudest" voices. All he does is cater to the JAPANESE community and even then it is things that fit in his set vision. He only listens to the voices that are convenient for him. And no, he does not understand the community. Look at LoV. People wanted some small minion fight minigame.Maybe be able to challenge someone they stand next to and have their minions brawl. What we got was a convoluted system using DF.

I am not intending to bash on Yoshi, I am just being realistic. He can bring as much communication as he wants, if the content behind it is lacking, that won't help anything.

[Mugiawara]

As for him catering to the "loudest" voices. All he does is cater to the JAPANESE community and even then it is things that fit in his set vision. He only listens to the voices that are convenient for him.

Have a hard time completely believing this.
Of course he's going to listen to Japan a bit. That is his home country but to say that's all he does [and I'm sure you gotta be stretching it a bit] gots to be untrue.
A lot of these nerfs for example, have to be because these forums cry so loud and the absolute hardest that he has no choice but to turn around and try to calm 'em.
Whether here or Reddit and maybe even review/articles.
I don't think the Japanese give up on a lot of things so easily as well, but NA/EU do so much and scream nerf so it's like "Uhh..." We're a bigger crowd than Japan.

Then again, I have not the slightest how the Japanese thinks about most of this stuff just from what I know mostly from this side.
Also, some things we ask for get skewered via translations. One time it was completely wrong lol.

[Alexander_Dragonfang]

Then again, I have not the slightest how the Japanese thinks about most of this stuff just from what I know mostly from this side.
Also, some things we ask for get skewered via translations. One time it was completely wrong lol.

Mostly like us. They hated diadem, they have conflicted opinions on PotD, they also wore out of the tomestone system, their numbers are going down as much as ours after 3 years of this constant patching. Their reactions are mostly identical to ours, that thing about "cultural diferences" is just plain made up BS.

[Mugiawara]

Mostly like us. They hated diadem, they have conflicted opinions on PotD, they also wore out of the tomestone system, their numbers are going down as much as ours after 3 years of this constant patching. Their reactions are mostly identical to ours, that thing about "cultural diferences" is just plain made up BS.

Thanks for clarification. So I guess we're all in the same boat here...

[Kosmos992k]

I honestly considered to stop reading when I saw "Yoshida-san".

I could have said Mr Yoshida, or even Yoshi-P, but I went with the Japanese honorific since he is Japanese, I see no reason why I should not use simple polite language when discussing something he's said or done.

The problem I specifically have with how he handles the game is, that he has a set vision and is not very willing to go away from that vision.

A game maker without a vision and the guts to stick with it is simply a populist and will ultimately drive their game into the ground.

As for him catering to the "loudest" voices. All he does is cater to the JAPANESE community and even then it is things that fit in his set vision.

All he does is cater to the Japanese community? Really? That totally explains this then...

Duel Mode
We've received numerous requests to implement dueling from the North America region, and so we're pleased to announce the addition of a duel mode in Patch 3.4!

quoted from;
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post3849410

North America, not Japan...

Also, I'm pretty sure that it was not the Japanese audience that were clamoring for an EU data center.

He only listens to the voices that are convenient for him. And no, he does not understand the community. Look at LoV. People wanted some small minion fight minigame.Maybe be able to challenge someone they stand next to and have their minions brawl. What we got was a convoluted system using DF.

What you got was a mini RTS game at the GS, with a DF lobby added later. But you described a trading card game, which was already added - called Triple Triad. So rather than add another trading card game, they tried to give us a RTS game instead. I appreciate the effort, even if it is difficult to use (controller)

[Chessala]

I am not sure why I bother answering a white knight so this will be my last reply regardless of your answer.

I could have said Mr Yoshida, or even Yoshi-P, but I went with the Japanese honorific since he is Japanese, I see no reason why I should not use simple polite language when discussing something he's said or done.

Thank you for explaining Japanese honorifics that I totally didn't know after studying Japanese language and culture for several years.
However, I am also aware of the "twist" that is usually given to it when westerners use it (admiration - culture imitation). That is what my comment was based on.

A game maker without a vision and the guts to stick with it is simply a populist and will ultimately drive their game into the ground.

*sigh* As I have tried to explain multiple times, it is not about abandoning visions to ride the latest "complain train" but about staying flexible. The problem is Yoshi's "set-in-(tome)stone" behaviour for me. I didn't say you should agree, to each their own.

All he does is cater to the Japanese community? Really? That totally explains this then...

quoted from;
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post3849410

North America, not Japan...

Also, I'm pretty sure that it was not the Japanese audience that were clamoring for an EU data center.

One example and one of the most useless things ever. Having spoken and worked with several Asian developers, they usually do not put an emphasis on PvP. This change is a standard adjustment for the west that can be found in multiple games as the western community (for whatever reason) often revels in killing each other.

As for the data center: have you checked how long they waited to do it? Also, better latency = better gameplay= people more willing to join that might not have due to latency before. In either case, having an EU data center when you publish a game in the EU is standard procedure. Not doing it is bad business.

What you got was a mini RTS game at the GS, with a DF lobby added later. But you described a trading card game, which was already added - called Triple Triad. So rather than add another trading card game, they tried to give us a RTS game instead. I appreciate the effort, even if it is difficult to use (controller)

I don't know how you can mistake what I said for a trading game like Triple Triad but ok, have it your way and see it as a trading card game.

Disclaimer: Everything expressed here is my own opinion, which is based on work experience after having worked with games and game publishing for 6+ years. I do not try to force it on anyone.