Blind faith.

[Neresh]

I'm curious about something...I brought this up with Northy, so I figured I'd throw it out here.

(btw, if this needs to be put in a different subforum, that's fine)

Has this server merge and stuff effected how you feel about SE and its games? I used to have a good bit of blind faith with them, (hell, I bought the Bouncer...twice) but this has kinda tested that.

I'm not going to be getting FF13 when it comes out...partially because I don't know which version to get (360 has achievements, PS3 looks a lot better), but also because I don't really feel like buying it now. Instead, I may give Sega some love (yeah, there's a healthy relationship, I know) and buy Resonance of Fate.

I still support some of SE's brands...bought the DS Valkyrie Profile yesterday for good example (on sale, $14.95 @ Best Buy) and I'd still like to get Star Ocean 4 for the PS3...but I'm not so sure about anything else.

And the new Front Mission just makes me sad 'cuz it's not turn based, but that's neither-here-nor-there.

I've always felt somewhat slapped around by SE on here. I had a long list in my head of different additions to that point, but I lost them somewhere in the 30 work-related e-mails I've sent out since 8AM. x.x

Anyhow, that's what's on my mind. Do you guys still feel like supporting them as strongly as we have in the past? If you do, why do you feel that way? Are we just doing this knowing we're gonna get back-handed again, or do some of you have some hope that a different game means different things will happen?

Enlighten me.

SH

[Cydori]

Considering that I've been looking forward to FF13 for a long, long time, a fairly recently announced change in FF11 didn't affect that at all. And I stopped buying many of the games SE releases long, long ago.

Edit: And I'm still really wanting FF13 despite being less-than-impressed and taking years to finish FF12.

[Nif]

SE isn't my favorite publisher anymore, for sure, but it's been coming to that for a really long time. I used to buy everything with a Squaresoft logo on it in the SNES and PS1 days. The last FF I really looked forward to was 12, and that was because it was directed (mostly, until he got pushed out) by Matsuno, who made Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story. For a while, SE's given most of their in-house projects to Nomura and company. That's not always a bad thing, but they seem to have a certain look to them that's shifted away from classical FF and more to this overly stylized and moody anime stuff that I don't find attractive at all.

They also really want to focus on pre-rendered CG cutscenes way more than they should. I think it started in the 90s when the CG cutscenes are really what pushed them from a somewhat niche developer to a AAA developer that everyone knew (with Final Fantasy 7). The prerendered cutscenes were an important part of that because most people had never seen anything like that in a videogame. Nowadays graphics are so good that you can tell an amazing story without spending millions of dollars per second on the pre rendered stuff. They're still focusing on what made them popular two generations ago, but I think most other developers have already moved on.

It doesn't help my excitement that the biggest complaint about 13 so far is that it's such a guided experience. :<

Apart from FF, I don't think they know what they want to do. They're publishing a lot more than they're developing, and they're still trying to break through in the west with shooters and action games, but I think that's really a lost cause.

Now I consider Bioware my new top developer, somewhat like Squaresoft was in the 90s. Mistwalker games feel a lot more to me like what jRPGs were in the SNES and early PS1 days, but I don't know how long they can keep going without a big hit. :<

[Zeneith]

SE runs a terrible MMO. I still think they can pull their own in the console market. The two are easily distinguishable. A console game is a unit, one package, that is wrapped up and shipped. An MMO is a business model made into a game, where people essentially pay for Software as a Service. As the business owner, SE needs to continually add new content, and shift things around, etc. Unfortunately, this leads to decisions based on financial viability instead of in-game results. The server merge is that type of decision (merging servers reduces overhead). The level cap is another (need a new source of content to keep players around).

If my opinion of a game publisher was predicated on their ability to release console games AND run a player-focused MMO, I would hate all publishers.

Alternatively, I will continue to enjoy SE's console options (and will continue to "blindly" buy them, as evidenced by the fact that I didn't read reviews for my last 3 SE game purchases, something I would normally obsess about with other publishers). And I will continue to accept that FFXI (and MMOs in general) place the business before the players.

[tharpy]

I'm planning on buying 13 (or at least looking for it) tomorrow. If i find it, i'll most likely get it.

That being said. I haven't been as much a fanboy of SE as i have of FF. Slap FF's name on it...and i'll most likely buy it. (I even owned FF Mystic Quest for the SNES ;;)

I think SE had a good thing in the first couple of years with FFXI, the problem was they have never showed any attention to the fan base, and when they did it was several YEARS too late. I've forgotten how many times we've complained in shell about some fairly routine and easy fixes to some of SE's issues.

I'm not hyped at all about 14...for a couple of reasons...but mainly because i think SE is really starting to fail with their application of decisions in FFXI. But its damn hard to give up on.... 7? years of of my time. I've had XI since the NA - PC release date. Its been a hell of a ride.

I'm not really taken by any one publisher but there are those who through multiple games have earned my trust in being able to put out quality stuff... Bioware comes to mind, Infinity Ward, and i have my collection of sports titles.

Yeah...overall SE reputation with me has slid..but that's directed at their MMO management and not necessarily at the rest of their game lines...we'll see how that stacks up after i get 13

[Neresh]

You shouldn't feel bad, Tharp...I bought Mystic Quest a long time ago too, after finishing it several times. It may be an easy little game, but you can't beat the music.

You guys do make a good point that I need to separate SE's MMO side from its regular game producing/making side...though it's rather hard when I've always figured them to be the same company.

That said, I prolly won't buy into FF13 for a while anyway. Going with the other two flimsy reasons I have, I want to add another...I've really been enjoying Darksiders, and I'd like to finish it. I have a tendency to buy games while I'm in the middle of other games and never go back to them.

I sat down last night and realized that I've bought more SE games than I figured. Two days ago, I bought Thexder NEO for the PS3. Granted, they only published it, but I still bought it. I've got both versions (PS3 and PSN), and I bought them on the hope that they would do a remake of Silpheed as well...so I guess I am still supporting the company, I'm just forgetting to tell myself that I am.

I'm still not horribly thrilled with the company's decisions on a whole, (good example, why is the new Front Mission a mecha sim and not a turn-based strat?) but they do make some decent titles still, or at least they publish some decent titles.

And if I ever see Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia or Terranigma on the Virtual console they're immediately bought, and they're old enix games. x.x

SH

[tharpy]

Originally Posted by tharpy

I'm planning on buying 13 (or at least looking for it) tomorrow. If i find it, i'll most likely get it.

*holds up a copy of the 360 game and the hard cover strategy guide* yeah... i found them >.>; Best Buy had $10 off the guide if you bought both...so it was 'regular' price

[Neresh]

I should change the title of this to peer pressure, but I figured Doc Holliday was a better fit.

So yeah, after my somewhat lengthy diatribe up there about how I wasn't gonna get FFXIII and was going to support Sega instead...

Oh come on, you all should see where this is going...

After dynamis last night, I went questing for FFXIII. I was going to get it at Best Buy because Tharpy told me about a deal he got with the game and strat guide. However, Best Buy's website lies, and the store near me closed at 9 rather than 10. Luckily, there was a Target nearby. Talias told me about a deal where you get the game there and you get a $10 gift card. I was able to get the last copy they had of the PS3 version.

My God, it's beautiful. It is crazy linear thus far (I'm like two hours in), but that almost gives it a certain charm, especially with how deals with the individual characters.

I have no idea if I'll actually finish this one, but I've already spent more time with it than I have FFXII.

I'm still going to buy Resonance of Fate when it hits (here, have a preview: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/pr...nance-of/62773 ), 'cuz I really want to support other JRPGs, it's a genre that I still enjoy...even I rarely have the time to finish one these days.

SH

(Oh yeah, and I'm gonna get the limited edition strat guide, too. *sigh*)

[Cydori]

I saw your status on PSN last night, but I wasn't going to say anything... *attempts to look innocent*

[Neresh]

I can lie to myself ("This hair loss isn't that bad...), but I can't lie to PSN. x.x

SH