Square Enix Working to Regain Gamers Trust Over Final Fantasy XIV

[Logan Westbrook]

Square Enix Working to Regain Gamers Trust Over Final Fantasy XIV

CEO Yoichi Wada says that Square Enix must move quickly to fix Final Fantasy XIV [http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Pc/dp/B002I0JJ2U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1288954564&sr=8-2], or risk losing players forever.

You could make the case that MMOs can never really be considered "finished", because they're always evolving, as things get tweaked and rebalanced and the developers add more content. But there's a heck of difference between "constantly evolving" and "broken," and Final Fantasy XIV was so broken when it came out that Square Enix extended its free trial period for a month.

Knowing that the game is a precarious position at the moment, Wada said he wants to devote as many resources as possible to regaining player's trust and getting Final Fantasy XIV up to scratch. He thought that if Square Enix could move quickly enough in getting the problems fixed, then the players would stay, but if it took too long, then players would find other ways to spend their time and money. Wada also thought that at least some of the perceived problems were because people's expectations for the game were too high, making it the finished product seem lackluster.

One bright point for Square Enix is that shipment levels for Final Fantasy XIV have been fairly strong. Around 630,000 units have been shipped in the first month and a half, with 190,000 shipped to Japan, 210,000 to North America and 230,000 to Europe. It's not clear exactly how many copies have actually been sold, however, and the biggest challenge for Square Enix will be maintaining those numbers in the face of a less-than-stellar game.

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/31364/Square_Enix_Ships_630000_FFXIV_Copies_Working_On_Regaining_Trust.php]


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[Fasckira]

Wada also thought that at least some of the perceived problems were because people's expectations for the game were too high, making it the finished product seem lackluster.

Ah. So its our fault too, sorry about that....

 

[Magners]

Making a game is hard work yes but how hard can it be to release something that isn't broken I mean really you'd think they would take some time to test it to make sure that their millions are well spent.

 

[vxicepickxv]

I thought XI was boring, so I'm going to skip XIV.

 

[Dectilon]

Wada also thought that at least some of the perceived problems were because people's expectations for the game were too high, making it the finished product seem lackluster.

Ah. So its our fault too, sorry about that....

Awesome! I can just see him reading a script he's been handed in a monotone voice "We'reverysorryforshippingabrokengame..." and then just slapping the papers down and going "Who am I kidding? It's all your fault!"

This news post needed some additional testing before release too! "Knowing that the game is a precarious position..."

 

[Danzaivar]

If the problems can be fixed in a couple of months, what the hell was they doing during the years of development?

And complaining that people expect too much. From a Final Fantasy. Really now, if this was any other franchise this game would be dead.

 

[Aurgelmir]

No thank you, Final Fantasy stopped existing after FFX.

The only asian MMO i have any hopes for is Tera, they are atleast taking the fact that the west and east like different games, and are remaking the game for the west.

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

Why don't they just make it free to play and then people will actually give a crap about it. As for people expecting more out of it I think he doesn't realise that the game make FFXI look like a WOW killer in comparison. FFXIV was a stupid idea in the first place and they should just call it quits on the game and send free copies of FFXI the the current players and stick to making the regular style Final Fantasy's. I WAS going to buy it for PS3 back when I saw the E3 trailer but after reviews and gameplay footage and talking with a couple of players, I've decided that I am not touching it unless it's free to play.

I hate to say this but Square-Enix should just let Final Fantasy die and stick with what they haven't killed yet... which is pretty much just Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest since they killed Front Mission and Parasite Eve and don't have many franchises to fall back on.

 

[AsurasFinest]

"Wada also thought that at least some of the perceived problems were because people's expectations for the game were too high, making it the finished product seem lackluster."

How many times are we hearing this god damn excuse from them

It has to be the single most stupid excuse I've ever heard and yet they somehow stand by it
I didn't have any expectations for this game to be good and so did many other people
There were no high expectations at all

 

[viranimus]

I played the beta and honestly did feel like it was incomplete then. Which lead me to speculate that what SE is trying to do is build up a fanbase in advance of ToRs release and not go up against another juggernaut in the making like they did against Warcraft.

As incomplete as It felt like, I would imagine it would only take nominal front end development to get it working well. 6 months is not an unrealistic timetable for that.

It takes time to develop any MMO. What is the last MMO that you can recall that had a stellar launch?

Im sort of torn what to say, On the one hand the game surprised me, it was a better exp than I had expected, So i cant just dismiss the game as bad, because the potential IS there for something good. I would like to see them build something out of it.

 

[AsurasFinest]

Why don't they just make it free to play and then people will actually give a crap about it. As for people expecting more out of it I think he doesn't realise that the game make FFXI look like a WOW killer in comparison. FFXIV was a stupid idea in the first place and they should just call it quits on the game and send free copies of FFXI the the current players and stick to making the regular style Final Fantasy's. I WAS going to buy it for PS3 back when I saw the E3 trailer but after reviews and gameplay footage and talking with a couple of players, I've decided that I am not touching it unless it's free to play.

I hate to say this but Square-Enix should just let Final Fantasy die and stick with what they haven't killed yet... which is pretty much just Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest since they killed Front Mission and Parasite Eve and don't have many franchises to fall back on.

As much as I love the Kingdom Hearts series I think they did kill it with all that convoluted nonsensical plot that has spawned from the seemingly neverending prequels and spinoffs
At this point I don't trust them to lead it in any positve direction

 

[SpaceMedarotterX]

Wada also thought that at least some of the perceived problems were because people's expectations for the game were too high, making it the finished product seem lackluster.

Ah. So its our fault too, sorry about that....

Japanese Kotick, just repeat that phrase and EVERYTHING he says makes sense.

And on that note, WOW did you screw the pooch on this one. I mean I've seen people fuck up before but ho~oly HELL did you go for gold! At least when you released the capital Failboat that was FFXIII you released a mostly bug free game- and I use the word game with it's loosest possible definition.

You know what, I'm secretly of the opinion that Wada WANTS Final Fantasy to fail. No No think about it! he was head of Enix when the merger happened, FF's direct competitor. His series may have been big in japan but it was NEVER a huge hit outside of it. it made the first innovations to the budding Genre but everything after that could quite calmly be claimed by Square Soft (Well and Namco Bandai, I need to check my dates on which of the two had the first RPG with an active battle system (meaning you could move your character.) I think Namco got it with Tales of Phantasia though I could be wrong)

Meanwhile Dragon Quests biggest innovations? 7 almost literally interchangeable games up until they gave the game design to Level-5. (And yes, I have played all 9 DQ games, no I don't have any company loyalty. They certainly weren't a Breath of Fire) You know the guys who don't make bad games. (Well in my opinion, see I think they can make 'uninspired' games like White Knight Chronicles but it was certainly fun)

he's already driven most of the former staff from the Square Soft days to quitting, or assigned them to asinine duties that don't make use of there strengths (Why is Kitase a Producer again? the man was the DIRECTOR behind FFVII and as much as I'm indifferent towards the game it sold a lot for a reason. and Nomura the guy who made a new franchise at the company from scratch and turned it into a hit (Kingdom Hearts) is relegated to producing (again not something he's good at) the fucking spin-offs.

The FFIX guy gets slapped with an MMO and the FFT guy quits/was forced out of the company. And if you ask 'wasn't he sick?' in Japan you never leave your job unless it's STRONGLY hinted that your not wanted there.

So He's either mishandling the series on a creative level so bad that a 4 year old could point out the mistakes... or he's doing it on purpose.

Either way, as I say in all my comments.

I. Fucking. Hate. Yoichi. Wada. The man is the Japanese Bobby Kotick, except he's fucking with a franchise I regularly played. as the company head the success and failures are all on your head and my oh my are there a LOT of failures.

 

[unacomn]

If this game lives when Tabula Rasa died just as it was getting better, than there is no justice left and the world must burn. I've already got a lighter just in case.

 

[Safaia]

All I know is that I'm not touching it with a ten foot poll. After the way FFXI consumed my life way way way too long I can't afford nor do I want to get sucked into a MMO again even if it a Final Fantasy.

Not to mention the beta was so poorly handled that I think SE just enjoys watching us flail around. Case and point: every single time they sort of hint at remaking FFVII.

 

[WittyInfidel]

Glad to see that Square/Enix has finally realized people are not happy with FF14, and another few free days of a cruddy game just isn't going to stem the rising tide of venom.

Still, I don't think they were planning things correctly when somebody looked up from the cocaine line and said: "You know what we need? Another MMO game!"

I also love how they quoted how many units they shipped, not sold. Like they really accomplished something. How many units of FF13 have they shipped again, versus how many actually sold once word got out that it was crud, too?

Square/Enix, you guys are just too much. Thanks for the laugh this morning.

 

[ItsAPaul]

My expectations were too high? Is Square Enix an indie developer or something?

 

[Brotherofwill]

This news post needed some additional testing before release too! "Knowing that the game is a precarious position..."

Logan should be working to regain our trust, otherwise he risks losing us forever! Unacceptable!

 

[Twad]

Wada also thought that at least some of the perceived problems were because people's expectations for the game were too high, making it the finished product seem lackluster.

Ah. So its our fault too, sorry about that....

How dare we expect a good game with an effective user interface, original maps (that dont use copy/pasting), effective trading and questing, reasonably complex yet fun crafting,reasonable travelling system and good combat.
We trully are heartless monsters.