^ Me, too, I actually asked Alexander O. Smith and his partner what the likelihood of this happening was at PAX East last year(Inside Game Localization FF12, Tactics Ogre, and Beyond! Part III - YouTube -> starts off just shortly after I started talking!). He didn't shoot me down! But he also said he can't comment, which leads me to believe he's already signed the Non-Disclosure Agreement. It's happening, baby!!!

I think your thoughts are interesting, Wolf. I haven't played Vagrant Story (I'm scared to, is it on US PS Store?) but from what I've heard it does sound like it was an original game with nods to Tactics as a kind of easter egg for fans of the director.

I still kind of feel like XII was intended to be a MGS3-type precursor, where the implications of how the world turned out the way it did in the later games isn't immediately apparent. But I think with the location of Rozarria and the explanation of the creation of nethicite/magicite, and the little Glabados nod at the end, it was intended to be the "Episode I" kind of entry in the series. But I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up uncovering some dev docs confirming what you say.

Man, I really love these games, I hope they come back together, too!