So where is the Compilation going?

[Tetsujin]

[quote author=OWA-2 link=topic=92.msg1348#msg1348 date=1228913466]
I'm the only one who remembers that S-E already made a FFVII MMORPG(called "Dirge of Cerberus Online&quot, but it didn't work and they had to "close" it?

I doubt they will try it again.
[/quote]

The online mode of DC was an online shooter, not an RPG (and certainly not a Massive Multiplayer one).
Also, do we really know how successful or popular the online mode was in Japan?

The only MMORPG they made was FFXI, and that one's doing pretty fine I think...

 

[NoenGaruth]

Regardless of how it (DoCMP) did in Japan, I call it a win since It did bring forth the most elegant character of Argento the Silver, now if only they'd give her some screen time in a real compilation title...

Now as for an FF7 MMO, amusing note I might add is that I've had numerous randoms contact me in the past asking if they could use my Midgar in their MMO's they were creating, to which when I realize they have no idea what's involved have a good laugh to myself then politely decline informing them that such a project would have Square on their tails faster than Palmer on a cheesecake.

But yes, if they ever did make one I'd pass just as a personal Rule of avoiding MMO's (I learnt my lesson after getting hooked on Lineage II, ya just don't get anything done and as a cosplayer and 3d modeler i need all the spare time i can get)

...also MMO's cost money and screw that

 

[Tetsujin]

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of MMOs or online gaming in general anyway.
The fact that it costs money on a monthly basis is a turn-off too. D=

 

[Madame Mayor]

[quote author=Tetsujin link=topic=92.msg1352#msg1352 date=1228916503]
Yeah, I'm not really a fan of MMOs or online gaming in general anyway.
The fact that it costs money on a monthly basis is a turn-off too. D=
[/quote]
I never got into it until Halo, but the money thing was always my main issue. But hey, if my dad wants to buy my Live subscriptions, then I don't really have a problem.

 

[Nocturne]

But it's different with an MMO. I guarantee you'd be paying for live service PLUS a monthly fee for the game. Thats how those things tend to work.


I can see one more huge game, or another side game like Dirge of Cerberus, then one last huge game. I doubt they will do anything more than that with FF7. Though a while back, Nomora stated he wanted to possibly do another movie with Cloud. Id rather them just make an amazingly epic 70 hour RPG.

 

[Madame Mayor]

[quote author=Nocturne link=topic=92.msg1373#msg1373 date=1228933301]
But it's different with an MMO. I guarantee you'd be paying for live service PLUS a monthly fee for the game. Thats how those things tend to work.
[/quote]
Very true, I just was referring to playing online in general.  The only MMOs I ever touch are free ones, hack around, do some fetch quests, get bored, no money wasted.  Unless I can pay a $1 for some cool hair... gets me every time.

Speaking of SE MMOs...http://concertogate.gamescampus.com/

 

[Cat Rage Room]

[quote author=Makoeyes987 link=topic=92.msg1327#msg1327 date=1228891232]
Actually....it wouldn't. There's no evidence at all that it would take away anything from any other game. Square has worked on several projects at once repeatedly. In fact, that's what they're doing right now.
[/quote]

Of course it would! The very nature of production itself means that any work done on GAME A is taking away potential manpower, capital, and focus on a potential GAME B. Unless Square has an infinite amount of staff, money, and resources, even something as simple as Nobou taking a shit pulls away even the slightest potential work on a video game. This doesn't just apply to video games, but it applies to anything, from a car company to a group of students working on school projects.

When you have a finite amount of anything, doing 'one thing' is taking away from a potential 'another thing'. That's Business 101, man.

I love you Mako, but not one of your well, brightest statements.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Well in the strictest sense, yeah...S-E working on multiple projects would do that, but does that mean S-E should only work one project at a time then? Because what you're stating as a risk of them working on FFVII's Compilation could be applied to *anything* they work on for awhile. That's a rather weak rationalization for them to stop working on something, since as long as they're working on something, something else is going to lose their attention.

It's an understood risk that just comes with the territory of developing multiple games at the same time. The risk hasn't ever manifested itself to the point that the company ended up unable to meet its commitments and thus had to put itself on hiatus for catch up. They just carry the burden and work harder.

Also, different teams work on different games, so while FFVII's Compilation was being worked on, it had absolutely no bearing on the Ivalice Alliance since those are two different teams working on two different projects. There isn't only one team working on each and every game in the office.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

No, I'm not saying they should stop (for that reason, anyway), or only work on one thing at a time or anything, but it's certainly something to think about, and I know for a fact that it has been brought up, considered, and acted upon in one way or another in Square's business policies concerning every game that Square has ever made. Even different teams (Ivalice Alliance) working on different games falls under this business 'fact of life', because even those teams could be working on GAME A instead of GAME B or whatever or even making a different set of teams or whatever and they're still 'finite resources' as far as that specific business entity is concerned.

So far Square has been willing to divvy up the work between making the Compilation and their other works, but if someday they decide 'Yeah, we need to wrap up the Compilation so we can focus on 'GAME/GAME SERIES A', that's what they're going to do, because that's how any business is run. It's seriously something to consider when one thinks about what Square plans to do with any franchise they own.

The risk hasn't ever manifested itself to the point that the company ended up unable to meet its commitments and thus had to put itself on hiatus for catch up.

I can tell you quite a few games that I feel have suffered because of lack of available resources that Square had elsewhere.

 

[Cthulhu]

I guarantee you'd be paying for live service PLUS a monthly fee for the game. Thats how those things tend to work.

Actually, the MMO / online game market (at least the western ones) are inching towards a 'microtransaction' system, where the game is essentially free to play (after buying the game), but where you can spend money on in-game items or money. A lot of Korean (grind) MMO's have this system, and it seems to work okay.

It's 'cause a lot of people aren't really willing to pay cash each month to be able to play a game that's more repetitive than one's average day job. I know I'm not, .

 

[Schala-Kitty]

I have to say that I agree with Mako's comments. There is also the fact that several projects exist in multiple stages of production at one time. So while one game may only be in the story board phase, another might be on movie rendering so even then that would be different teams. It's no different than many other companies - a really good example is Pixar which similarly has seperate teams on multiple movies at any one time.

Besides, the company does need a constant cash flow of some sort to keep the wheels of business lubricated as it were. The revenue generated by smaller projects is what keeps the big ones moving. So there are silly games like Chocobo Racing or Itadaki Street - that money will go to fund FFXIII and DQ10, and whatever game we're looking forward to next.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Be that as it may, it doesn't really work that way. Like I said, unless Square has an infinite amount of resources, time devoted from one thing is taking away time from another thing.

 

[Makoeyes987]

But that is how it works, otherwise multiple games wouldn't be released at the same time. Not all games are in the exact stage of development thus work can be divided up between different teams allowing for no project to suffer from a shortage of man power. Unless Square is suddenly going to start laying off a bunch of their developers and workers, they have more than enough resources and manpower to continue to work on numerous series while not sacrificing others.

That's thanks to the whole division of labor and individual "teams" of developers focusing exclusively on a set of projects at varying stages of development. For example, The Kingdom Hearts team is working on both FF Versus XIII and Birth by Sleep at the same time. But since they're in different stages of production, different groups in the team can work on each in turn. The battle programers can work on Birth by Sleep, and the scenario team can flesh out the story for FF Versus XIII. That way, no project suffers.

 

[Schala-Kitty]

...Yah, that really is how it works. Even on smaller scale projects. For what its worth, that is exactly how the audio drama groups I'm a part of work. We have people working on the scripts, which then go to the actors, who send their lines to the editor, who puts them all together for the distributor, and occasionally they get picked up for animation. We have multiple projects going on in various stages of production so that something is always in the works.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

[quote author=Makoeyes987 link=topic=92.msg1417#msg1417 date=1228949846]
But that is how it works, otherwise multiple games wouldn't be released at the same time. Not all games are in the exact stage of development thus work can be divided up between different teams allowing for no project to suffer from a shortage of man power. Unless Square is suddenly going to start laying off a bunch of their developers and workers, they have more than enough resources and manpower to continue to work on numerous series while not sacrificing others.

That's thanks to the whole division of labor and individual "teams" of developers focusing exclusively on a set of projects at varying stages of development. For example, The Kingdom Hearts team is working on both FF Versus XIII and Birth by Sleep at the same time. But since they're in different stages of production, different groups in the team can work on each in turn. The battle programers can work on Birth by Sleep, and the scenario team can flesh out the story for FF Versus XIII. That way, no project suffers.
[/quote]

But you're looking at it too black and white. I'm not saying that it's UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE for Square to release more than one game at a time and they have to divvy up 5 bucks, a cubicle, and 10 employees. I'm just saying that in a scenario where you have a finite amount of resources, one project will invariably take away potential resources for another, whether it's talent, money, or time.

Like I said, I can think of quite a few projects that weren't what they could have been because Square simply didn't give them enough resources compared to something else. I'm not holding that against Square, it happens, but it's proof of what I'm saying it's true; any business with a finite amount of resources (read: all of them) takes away resources from one potential thing for another potential thing.

 

[Makoeyes987]

If that can be said about any business then, what's the point bringing it up regarding Square-Enix, since it'd inevitably happen in the first place and is an inherent risk in working several projects at once?

They're minimizing that risk by dividing up the labor and balancing out who works on what, thus alleviating the burden of said risk. You worrying about an inherent disadvantage of working on simultaneous projects is more black and white than me just stating what they just do to get around it. It's hardly a reason to stop working on something, and I'm not sure what projects you're talking about but again, that can be said about any project or game S-E has worked on that has its share of criticism. Not everyone is going to be happy, nor accepting of how much time X project got, as compared to Y.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Well, the point of bringing it with Square Enix is because that's what we're talking about, but I digress...

But I never said they should STOP working on anything. I'm just saying that in regards to that law of business (division of resources), that influences my own personal opinion on where the Compilation should go. Considering that this topic is all about opinions, it's my opinion that I'd enjoy it more if Square would finish up the Compilation so that they can divert their resources towards other things.

I'm not sure what projects you're talking about

The SaGa series is one example. It's long been noted by fans that the only thing stopping from Kawazu from making something really good is the fact that Square gives him next to no resources to do so.

 

[Anzu Mazaki]

I'm definitely thinking there will be more Genesis; while he had his role in Crisis Core, I feel like the ending to Dirge of Cerberus was just setting up something for him...

Aside from Genesis, I have trouble thinking what more there could be...There probably won't be anymore prequels, at least for now since everything finally came together. Maybe another game featuring Cloud?

Or maybe that PS3 version of VII =D

 

[Max Payne]

One more game/feature is a given.

Pretty sure the remake bollocks is going to keeps going round and round till it actually happens.

I want a spikey haired baby in Tifa's arms

Fuck that. I already hate the generic motherly figure they're making her out to be, the last thing I'd want is for her to fall further into the background by having that loser's kid.

AC butchered Tifa for me.

 

[null.]

Tifa's always been too Cloud-centric. She needs her own adventure, or at least a more independent role in the next title.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Square has almost outright shouted that Cloud and Tifa are banging on the daily. I don't think that they're going to be too separate.

 

[ForceStealer]

I think the next game should involve everyone. If they're really determined to separate them, they could separate the game into different parts for each of the characters, but with such a lack of focus it would likely suck.

I'm feelin' an epic RPG with everyone to end everything.

 

[Max Payne]

[quote author=ForceStealer link=topic=92.msg1685#msg1685 date=1229056840]
I'm feelin' an epic RPG with everyone to end everything.
[/quote]

I wouldn't count on it. Simply would be too much like doing right for SE.

 

[Nocturne]

I dont see why people think Tifa wouldnt be seen as a motherly figure. She always seemed like she had the caring, nurturing personality. In fact, thats one of the qualities I liked most about her.

 

[Purple]

[quote author=Dacon link=topic=92.msg1458#msg1458 date=1228973262]

the last thing I'd want is for her to fall further into the background by having that loser's kid.

AC butchered Tifa for me.
[/quote]

Haha! I agree. I like the fact that they're living together but it would just be too corny for them to have a baby on the next game. If there'll ever be one.