Forum Settings
       
Reply To Thread

Wada ResignsFollow

#52 Mar 26 2013 at 3:11 PM Rating: Excellent
Relevant:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/61413-Don-t-panic%21-Yoshida-said-everything-ll-be-all-right-after-Wada-s-resignation?p=983588#post983588

Quote:
Producer and Director Yoshida here.

I thought I should give some answers ahead of the Producer Letter Live.

LitryQuis wrote:

I would also like to know whether Wada-san stepping down will have an impact on the development of FFXIV:ARR and future developments.

The plans, stance and structure of the development team will not be affected at all so rest assured. Some have been saying to me "You haven't posted on the forums that much recently, has this news affected you?" but it is simply a matter of me feeling like I'm going to die from the Beta operations being in full swing (heh…)

LitryQuis wrote:

Wada said that FFXIV: ARR will bring back the FF brand, and by just developing without a thought about the profits, I am now worried that what has just happened will have a huge impact. You can say that they have raised their level of perfection and aren’t slacking to avoid the game failing for a second time. But there might be split of the development budget and the billing structure may be affected after the game has been released… These are just some of the things I had been thinking about.

There will be absolutely no changes to our policy. We will continue to support the whole company and we are working at full speed for the launch of ARR.

You could actually say that the we feel the responsibilities we have with FFXIV:ARR even more, but as the Producer and Director I am well prepared to face this and anything that comes our way, and we will put all our effort into delivering the greatest game to you all.

Please rest assured
#53 Mar 26 2013 at 3:21 PM Rating: Decent
****
9,997 posts
Quote:
Listen i like the guy, i think that he is awesome as a human being, but as a game producer, he is untested, as a game designer, as showned in DQX, he flat out sucks, as a PR person he is amazing, and that is his forte, but to make him an excecutive ?


I agree that he is an amazing PR person, and he might have a good mind for management as well, for all we know. At least, he has his finger on the pulse of the industry better than many--even if he's a glorified consultant with a corporate business card, that could be a title well-earned.

But I will say in defense of his game design credentials, working on failed games does not make someone a bad game designer. Game designers have different duties within the creation of the game system. The things he designed might have been awesome--maybe they were the only things that made players enjoy the game at all. I've played many games where I could specifically say that one particular game designer dropped the ball. For example, in GW2, whoever designed the equipment system completely dropped the ball. They even admitted their mistake later with the first content update.

Of course, that doesn't mean he's a good designer either, and while his tenure seems to be putting XIV in a more positive direction, it could very easily be insufficient. And there are enough apologetics for why he NEEDS to produce a standard MMO clone that I'm really not optimistic about the game's success overall. The truth is, there's not a game that they can clone or even heavily borrow from that will work well for FFXIV's system and goals. The best they can probably do is a GW2 clone, which would still probably be found lacking in many ways.
#54REDACTED, Posted: Mar 26 2013 at 3:32 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) I'd rather them do a revamp, then do a release that follows the paths of other mmos. My opinion.
#55 Mar 26 2013 at 3:51 PM Rating: Good
Kachi wrote:
Quote:
Listen i like the guy, i think that he is awesome as a human being, but as a game producer, he is untested, as a game designer, as showned in DQX, he flat out sucks, as a PR person he is amazing, and that is his forte, but to make him an excecutive ?


I agree that he is an amazing PR person, and he might have a good mind for management as well, for all we know. At least, he has his finger on the pulse of the industry better than many--even if he's a glorified consultant with a corporate business card, that could be a title well-earned.

But I will say in defense of his game design credentials, working on failed games does not make someone a bad game designer. Game designers have different duties within the creation of the game system. The things he designed might have been awesome--maybe they were the only things that made players enjoy the game at all. I've played many games where I could specifically say that one particular game designer dropped the ball. For example, in GW2, whoever designed the equipment system completely dropped the ball. They even admitted their mistake later with the first content update.

Of course, that doesn't mean he's a good designer either, and while his tenure seems to be putting XIV in a more positive direction, it could very easily be insufficient. And there are enough apologetics for why he NEEDS to produce a standard MMO clone that I'm really not optimistic about the game's success overall. The truth is, there's not a game that they can clone or even heavily borrow from that will work well for FFXIV's system and goals. The best they can probably do is a GW2 clone, which would still probably be found lacking in many ways.


He has a better pulse in the industry than many ? Who ? Name me one release from yoshi that was ground braking and acclaimed by millions and millions, and even emulated by other companies.... You cannot name me one, because such thing does not exist, does he has a better aproach as far as reaching out to the community ? Yes he does, is that new and shinny ? No is not, it might be for SE fan base, but for MMO fans it is not. I have no problem with the guy, other than people giving him credit for things he has yet to acomplish because they like him personally, all he has done up to today, is what anybody would have expected from a random producer, to update a game, that is all he has done up to now, when ARR releases and breaks record sales then we can call him the second comming of jesus etc etc.

Also wint, he is a corporate guy, that statement is a corporate statement, what is to be expected of him to say, is not like if they told him: "Hey we release in 3 days" he is gonna go out and be like "OMG THIS NEW GUY IS CRAZY, HE WANTS US TO RELEASE IN 3 DAYS WTF MAN".
#56 Mar 26 2013 at 3:52 PM Rating: Decent
catwho wrote:
preludes wrote:
Simply put a new MMO customer has to ask themselves.

Why should I pay monthly, every...single month for a game when I can play another one that is very similar for nothing at all. Can anyone list a reason they should? Just being a FF title isn't enough anymore.


Because it keeps the 13 year old script kiddies OUT OF THE GAME.


You talk like ARR is in a position to turn away customers, beggars can't be choosers. They just came from a failure so embarassing they had to rebuild the game due to it possibly destroying the entire brand of FF.

#57 Mar 26 2013 at 4:05 PM Rating: Decent
****
9,997 posts
Quote:
He has a better pulse in the industry than many ? Who ?


Other corporate executives at SE, which is what the comment was in reference to. I was merely pointing out that it's a good idea to have someone who knows something about the MMO industry in the corporate meetings if that's a major part of their portfolio moving forward.
#58 Mar 26 2013 at 5:11 PM Rating: Good
Avatar
****
4,780 posts
Killua125 wrote:


I can agree with that much.


As well anyone with a true desire to see the company thrive should.

SE's fans are a diverse bunch and they can make quite a bit by appealing to them both on the broad and the niche scale. But beyond even that, the fans of the game are a thirsty bunch. They'll eat up any info given to them, but starve them and they'll seek satiation elsewhere - which is bad. One of the greatest things about Final Fantasy and Square Enix in general was the ability to enthrall its audience. Even if you disagreed with certain decisions or game aspects, the story, the passion, and the general sense of true adventure instilled within their games is what keeps players coming for more.

But these 5+ year development cycles with little to no word as to the worlds and experiences that are coming leaves us with little to enjoy or be excited about. Worse, with no open communication there can be no feedback that can change something that could be disastrous to the success of a game.

Yoshida has the temperament to know what 'feedback' to ignore over his work and what feedback to incorporate. But his policies need to be spread to every project active in SE's development cycle if it wants to re-attain the rockstar status it once had. To do that, they're going to have to be more open-faced (let us see our developers! Let us see their work and passions! Show us the voice actors we love! ,etc) to satiate the ravishing hunger for media that's become the trend of this generation. If you're not at the forefront of our thoughts, you're yesterday's news - aka ancient history.
#59 Mar 26 2013 at 5:56 PM Rating: Excellent
Sage
***
1,675 posts
Square's problem was always becoming too big for their britches.

They were best at creating the Final Fantasy and other niche games...and should have stayed that way. Now they their hands in too many pots, and their resources are spread too thin.

Wada, after the Spirits Within disaster, took over (with Sony's money), merged and bought up a whole slew of companies, all the while, their stock has been declining to half of what it was in 2005.

So I'd say it's less to do about the last financial quarter, than the past 8 years of declining stocks.

Ironically, now seems a great time to buy. @$11 a share, with FFXIV actually looking pretty good, games like TR (which was awesome BTW), and some other restructuring (hopefully their moblie dept), I can see this stock gaining some ground in the next year for sure.

#60 Mar 26 2013 at 6:01 PM Rating: Good
**
676 posts
Ostia wrote:
Oh! Thank which ever god got him to Resign!! The Squaresoft killer has finally given Up!

Now whoever becomes CEO, needs to release FF Type 0, tell toriyama to pack his backs and GTFO! Oh and gives us a damm update on Versis jesus is been like a decade <.<


I know it's just a rumor, but I'm betting its true that versus was rebranded as FFXV. It would make sense that around the same time that development stopped 2 years ago is the same time that FFXIV's launch failed to bring in the numbers they were wanting. It would only make sense to put off other projects to make sure your current ones are able to float by themselves.
#61 Mar 26 2013 at 6:22 PM Rating: Excellent
***
1,313 posts
If XIV was free to play, I wouldn't play. Too much douche bags and weirdos in F2P games.
#62 Mar 26 2013 at 6:55 PM Rating: Default
Kachi wrote:
Quote:
He has a better pulse in the industry than many ? Who ?


Other corporate executives at SE, which is what the comment was in reference to. I was merely pointing out that it's a good idea to have someone who knows something about the MMO industry in the corporate meetings if that's a major part of their portfolio moving forward.


Well you did say better than many in the Industry Smiley: rolleyes But oh Well! As far as better than anybody in SE ? Who knows i am not interested in a blogger producer, i am interested in a producer that can deliver quality games(Yazmat, Ito, Sakaguchi) tho yoshi does brings a fresh newer look into MMO to SE, i just dont think emulating the norm is gonna be enough, he needs to give the game some FF feeling and by that i do not mean to literally bring parts of the series into this game.
#63 Mar 26 2013 at 7:10 PM Rating: Excellent
Avatar
**
599 posts
I often debate my decision to post in arguments like this because there is little to say one answer is right and the other wrong. I stand fully behind SE in their decision to make the game P2P.

I avoid F2P MMOs. Ridiculous though it may sound, I develop a 'buyer beware' attitude around games which proclaim themselves 'free'. I believe very few things in life can truly be labeled as free. There are consequences, trade-offs, risks and rewards with every choice in life as with game design. Put simply I view F2P as the bottom of the barrel. I recognize my dislike to be irrational and to have little basis but I get frustrated with the perpetual lowering of standards for service or what I see as a constant 'lowering of the bar'. Although not a prime example the airline industry stands out as an example of the declines in customer service and methods to bill for every thing previously included in the price. I rather dislike this trend. I get it, I really do, but I don't have to like it. In my rather vivid imagination, P2P games have an intangible standard of service which is lacking in F2P games. I get access to everything for one low price.

I also agree that the day it goes F2P is the day SE will lose me as a paying customer (pun intended). I say this not in a vain attempt to further expand the argument merely to state the way I 'feel' about things.

Edited, Mar 26th 2013 9:13pm by kainsilv
____________________________
"The next time you have the urge to stab me in the back have the guts to do it to my face." - Malcolm Reynolds
#64 Mar 26 2013 at 7:23 PM Rating: Excellent
preludes wrote:
catwho wrote:
preludes wrote:
Simply put a new MMO customer has to ask themselves.

Why should I pay monthly, every...single month for a game when I can play another one that is very similar for nothing at all. Can anyone list a reason they should? Just being a FF title isn't enough anymore.


Because it keeps the 13 year old script kiddies OUT OF THE GAME.


You talk like ARR is in a position to turn away customers, beggars can't be choosers. They just came from a failure so embarassing they had to rebuild the game due to it possibly destroying the entire brand of FF.



Turning away customers who aren't paying you money anyway doesn't cost you a dime.

Beggars gain nothing from begging from other beggars.

WoW was only the most successful MMO of all time because it had thirteen million people paying them money. If a sub base has thirteen million people, but only a hundred thousand of them actually ever spend any money, the company is wasting resources. The other 12.9 million people are providing them no value other than a big number to brag about.
#65 Mar 26 2013 at 8:01 PM Rating: Excellent
Quote:
Turning away customers who aren't paying you money anyway doesn't cost you a dime.


Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I'm a good example. I bought GW2, and haven't bought a single thing from the gem store. In fact, nobody I know has bought anything from the gem store.

Meanwhile, I'll be giving SE my legacy monthly fee when playing FFXIV... actually, two monthly fees, because my wife is playing too. And I'll be buying a PS3 version. It doesn't take a lot of people like me to make F2P very worthwhile over the long run.

Over the same period of time, GW2 (f2p) will never profit from me beyond what I spent on the initial game.

Edited, Mar 26th 2013 7:01pm by Thayos
____________________________
Thayos Redblade
Jormungandr
Hyperion
#66 Mar 26 2013 at 8:55 PM Rating: Excellent
catwho wrote:
preludes wrote:
catwho wrote:
preludes wrote:
Simply put a new MMO customer has to ask themselves.

Why should I pay monthly, every...single month for a game when I can play another one that is very similar for nothing at all. Can anyone list a reason they should? Just being a FF title isn't enough anymore.


Because it keeps the 13 year old script kiddies OUT OF THE GAME.


You talk like ARR is in a position to turn away customers, beggars can't be choosers. They just came from a failure so embarassing they had to rebuild the game due to it possibly destroying the entire brand of FF.



Turning away customers who aren't paying you money anyway doesn't cost you a dime.

Beggars gain nothing from begging from other beggars.

WoW was only the most successful MMO of all time because it had thirteen million people paying them money. If a sub base has thirteen million people, but only a hundred thousand of them actually ever spend any money, the company is wasting resources. The other 12.9 million people are providing them no value other than a big number to brag about.


Glad we're both already romantically involved because I am Smiley: inlove with this post Smiley: laugh
#67 Mar 26 2013 at 9:23 PM Rating: Decent
Thayos wrote:
Quote:
Turning away customers who aren't paying you money anyway doesn't cost you a dime.


Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I'm a good example. I bought GW2, and haven't bought a single thing from the gem store. In fact, nobody I know has bought anything from the gem store.

Meanwhile, I'll be giving SE my legacy monthly fee when playing FFXIV... actually, two monthly fees, because my wife is playing too. And I'll be buying a PS3 version. It doesn't take a lot of people like me to make F2P very worthwhile over the long run.

Over the same period of time, GW2 (f2p) will never profit from me beyond what I spent on the initial game.

Edited, Mar 26th 2013 7:01pm by Thayos


I think it's fair to say that you're a unique case. Square Enix does not have to create a payment model which will please you, because it sounds like you are going to play regardless.

Square Enix does need to create a payment model which will bring in fresh blood. Bring in the average gamer. I don't know if this means free-to-play, free trials up to a certain level, buy-to-play, or what.

Edited, Mar 26th 2013 11:24pm by Killua125
#68 Mar 26 2013 at 9:32 PM Rating: Excellent
The average gamer is above thirty years old and has kids and a career these days. They can afford to pay $15 a month for quality.
#69 Mar 26 2013 at 9:45 PM Rating: Default
It's about bringing them in. The average gamer can and will pay for a game they like, but bringing people in with a subscription model is a whole different story these days.
#70 Mar 26 2013 at 9:58 PM Rating: Default
Thayos wrote:
[quote]Turning away customers who aren't paying you money anyway doesn't cost you a dime.


Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I'm a good example. I bought GW2, and haven't bought a single thing from the gem store. In fact, nobody I know has bought anything from the gem store.

Meanwhile, I'll be giving SE my legacy monthly fee when playing FFXIV... actually, two monthly fees, because my wife is playing too. And I'll be buying a PS3 version. It doesn't take a lot of people like me to make F2P very worthwhile over the long run.

Over the same period of time, GW2 (f2p) will never profit from me beyond what I spent on the initial game.


Same story here :) Tho i will not garantee i will P2P FFXIV if end game is lacking, but i will give it an honest try.
#71 Mar 26 2013 at 10:12 PM Rating: Decent
Guru
***
1,310 posts
catwho wrote:
The average gamer is above thirty years old and has kids and a career these days. They can afford to pay $15 a month for quality.


Indeed. The average had been 37 up till a couple of years ago when people realized smart phones and tablets should be included in the calculation, and then the age suddenly dropped to 30.
http://kotaku.com/5931077/the-average-age-of-a-gamer-just-dropped-by-seven-years-um-what

Edited, Mar 27th 2013 12:14am by Xoie
#72 Mar 26 2013 at 10:13 PM Rating: Excellent
***
2,232 posts
Killua125 wrote:
It's about bringing them in. The average gamer can and will pay for a game they like, but bringing people in with a subscription model is a whole different story these days.


$180 a year is less than 3 regular games. I buy very few, so it's not a stretch at all. That being said, I'm currently in love with Gamefly. At the rate I fly through them any more, it's just not worth sticker price.

Regarding the F2P vs P2P conversation; damn near EVERY game used to be F2P. Now you can't even finish some games without visiting their DLC shop. And don't even get me started on all those "Free" games for mobile devices. This trend is what's really under my skin about the industry lately. So, I've given up "completing" games and just keep them the 3 or 4 days it takes me to finish the story, then send them back. If I play anything that's over 10 hours any more, it's a big surprise.

I really don't see the sub fee payment method being a barrier to entry any longer either. With the advent of loadable debit cards and such, there's no reason a kid can't spend his allowance on a sub fee. On the other hand, an adult budgeting for video games can just take 3 mediocre titles off the "maybe" list and steer those funds towards the sub fee. And like Cat said, the average gaming population is in their 30's. If they're anything like me, they just want to set up that auto payment for the sub fee on their debit/credit card and forget about it. The convenience is worth it. I also prefer the sub fee model because it does somewhat limit spammers and RMT. I know it doesn't get rid of them completely, but it is a barrier to them. And I'm certainly all for that.

#73 Mar 26 2013 at 10:39 PM Rating: Good
****
9,526 posts
This thread has made me want to play everquest 2... Haven't thought about my favourite "free to play" game in awhile.

I generally agree in terms of FtP vs PtP, but I think people are forgetting that it is not really black and white, lots of games have subscriber options which give you the whole kitten caboodle in terms of access to content with a sub (and with EQ2 a recurring monthy sub includes some currency for costume items/mounts etc) while making extra from costume items etc

I can say everquest 2 made way more money off me than they would have without their cashshop... Only paid for 3 months subscription but I bought a unicorn mount, a rhino mount... A house... Etc

Free to play is often badly done but I think people are overswinging a bit. I never noticed any worse community than say, wow, in EQ2... And never got a RMT tell (vs FFXI, which I have)

Anyway, I just don't think even if XIV did have free to play options it would necessarily be the end of the world. I might even still like the game as long as it isn't pay to win.

As for free to play mobile games, well those, yes, pretty much universally suck.


Edited, Mar 26th 2013 9:41pm by Olorinus
#74 Mar 26 2013 at 10:52 PM Rating: Excellent
Quote:
The average gamer is above thirty years old and has kids and a career these days. They can afford to pay $15 a month for quality.


I very much agree with this. And I'm willing to pay more money over time if that means playing a game with a more invested community.

As a previous poster said, I am different than other gamers because 1) I plan on playing FFXIV, and 2) I'm a lifelong fan of the Final Fantasy franchise (I started playing at the launch of the first title, and not FFVII). This game doesn't have to be the best MMO ever in order to win several years of my business. It just needs to be good.

If it's not good, then I'll give it the same treatment I'm giving GW2... beat the central storyline as soon as possible so I can move onto something else. There's a reason I enjoy Final Fantasy games so deeply though, and I really enjoyed the storyline Yoshi-P introduced to v1.x. Based on that, I'm confident that I won't be disappointed by 2.0.
____________________________
Thayos Redblade
Jormungandr
Hyperion
#75 Mar 27 2013 at 12:07 AM Rating: Excellent
Thayos wrote:
Quote:
Turning away customers who aren't paying you money anyway doesn't cost you a dime.


Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I'm a good example. I bought GW2, and haven't bought a single thing from the gem store. In fact, nobody I know has bought anything from the gem store.

Meanwhile, I'll be giving SE my legacy monthly fee when playing FFXIV... actually, two monthly fees, because my wife is playing too. And I'll be buying a PS3 version. It doesn't take a lot of people like me to make F2P very worthwhile over the long run.

Over the same period of time, GW2 (f2p) will never profit from me beyond what I spent on the initial game.

Edited, Mar 26th 2013 7:01pm by Thayos


Wint wrote:
catwho wrote:
preludes wrote:
catwho wrote:
preludes wrote:
Simply put a new MMO customer has to ask themselves.

Why should I pay monthly, every...single month for a game when I can play another one that is very similar for nothing at all. Can anyone list a reason they should? Just being a FF title isn't enough anymore.


Because it keeps the 13 year old script kiddies OUT OF THE GAME.


You talk like ARR is in a position to turn away customers, beggars can't be choosers. They just came from a failure so embarassing they had to rebuild the game due to it possibly destroying the entire brand of FF.



Turning away customers who aren't paying you money anyway doesn't cost you a dime.

Beggars gain nothing from begging from other beggars.

WoW was only the most successful MMO of all time because it had thirteen million people paying them money. If a sub base has thirteen million people, but only a hundred thousand of them actually ever spend any money, the company is wasting resources. The other 12.9 million people are providing them no value other than a big number to brag about.


Glad we're both already romantically involved because I am Smiley: inlove with this post Smiley: laugh


I'm going to need all of you to stop spouting good old fashioned common sense. It hurts my brain.
#76 Mar 27 2013 at 4:29 AM Rating: Decent
Iron Chef Olorinus wrote:
This thread has made me want to play everquest 2... Haven't thought about my favourite "free to play" game in awhile.

I generally agree in terms of FtP vs PtP, but I think people are forgetting that it is not really black and white, lots of games have subscriber options which give you the whole kitten caboodle in terms of access to content with a sub (and with EQ2 a recurring monthy sub includes some currency for costume items/mounts etc) while making extra from costume items etc

I can say everquest 2 made way more money off me than they would have without their cashshop... Only paid for 3 months subscription but I bought a unicorn mount, a rhino mount... A house... Etc

Free to play is often badly done but I think people are overswinging a bit. I never noticed any worse community than say, wow, in EQ2... And never got a RMT tell (vs FFXI, which I have)

Anyway, I just don't think even if XIV did have free to play options it would necessarily be the end of the world. I might even still like the game as long as it isn't pay to win.

As for free to play mobile games, well those, yes, pretty much universally suck.


Edited, Mar 26th 2013 9:41pm by Olorinus


I agree. There is definitely an exaggeration going on here about the effects of free-to-play versus pay-to-play, but Final Fantasy fans have always been like this.

People used to suggest that it was a good time for Final Fantasy XI to go free, and that was always met with widespread negativity. Users who were normally calm/civil would verbally berate whoever suggested it. It was quite strange.

I don't really care that much. After all, Square Enix is likely going to introduce microtransactions even if the game stays P2P. I know that FFXI has had microtransactions in certain forms, and I expect FFXIV to go 10 steps further with pets, mounts, and more for real money. While I'm not poor or unable to afford it, that would get to be a bit much on top of a subscription fee.
Reply To Thread

Colors Smileys Quote OriginalQuote Checked Help

 

Recent Visitors: 288 All times are in CST
Anonymous Guests (288)