Tabata Responds to feedback (Active Time Report)

[Tyson]

An interesting watch, I'm glad the two biggest complaints were the lock on system and camera, seems those problems are already being addressed.

Also interesting to see how the geographical regions compare, Japan doesn't seem to like it as much as the US/EU.

[Ayen]

Them not liking it doesn't surprise me. I remember reading somewhere the Japanese aren't too keen on big, open worlds like we are. Unless you meant something else, not sure. I don't have the patience to watch an hour long video.

[Loony BoB]

I'll have to find a summary of that video somewhere. But yeah, when watching Danielle try it out (I haven't played it just yet) I found the camera to be really awkward. It needs to be able to zoom out.

[Tyson]

Them not liking it doesn't surprise me. I remember reading somewhere the Japanese aren't too keen on big, open worlds like we are. Unless you meant something else, not sure. I don't have the patience to watch an hour long video.

Yeah the Japanese results were rather polarizing. The over whelming response by the Japanese audience was the demo was too hard (both the US/EU thought it was too easy) They also didn't seem to care about the story or characters whatsover (was very important to the Western Audience) Tabata even mentioned that in Western interviews people seemed far more interested in the narrative/story then the Japanese audience. It really does seem like the Japanese want it to be almost like a 3DS game, something you can just pick up and play, that is very direct with little to no custscenes/story elements.

For me personally FF has always been about the story and characters so I hope they keep trying to appease the EU/US audiences, I also much prefer the open world gameplay.

The big highlights are they're planning to release an update to Episode Duscae in Mid May (Version 2.0) That fixes a bunch of stuff and even adds some functionality like a dodge roll option (You can choose that instead of the warp dodge ability.)

They're also skipping E3 (although they said there may be a small trailer) They said the first big info blow out will be at Gamescom in August. It's supposedly the start of promotion for the full game there.

[Del Murder]

That is very interesting about the culture change in Japanese gaming. Hopefully they don't cave to that pressure which would be difficult seeing as they are a Japanese company.

Also interesting is that they plan on updating the demo. It's almost like this is a beta test rather than a demo.

[Loony BoB]

If so, that's a seriously good thing.

[Del Murder]

I think it is mostly good, but it could be bad if they start making ad hoc changes based on feedback that addresses very specific concerns but does not mesh with the overall atmosphere and objective of the game. This has been something I've seen in the FFXIII series. SE has done a great job showing that they care about fan feedback lately but I feel like they are amateurs at actually incorporating that feedback seamlessly into their original vision.

[Loony BoB]

Given that the things they are changing are things like "camera" and "lock on system" I don't think it'll break things.

[Del Murder]

Yeah, but someone mentioned characters and story and I started thinking ...

I haven't actually watched the video so it could be nothing.

[Mirage]

It sounds like they had no idea why europeans complained about cindy. Almsot like the idea of having a female character in the party that wasn't fanservice was a completely foreign concept to them.

Was I interpreting it wrong?

[Sephiroth]

I really like this. Square Enix totally shows that it still knows how to sell itself.

Also, Eye Candy Cindy is no problem. People should really start realizing that sometimes talking nonsense just for the sake of doing so is too much. There is no problem with being appealing and still having a normal, active and cheerful personality. I am more annoying by Cindy's accent and the fact that in the West she really is called Cindy now. But apparently not through mistranslation but intentional so I am fine with that in a way. Just like with Terra or Bartz.

- A European.

It sounds like they had no idea why europeans complained about cindy. Almsot like the idea of having a female character in the party that wasn't fanservice was a completely foreign concept to them.

Was I interpreting it wrong?

No, Tabata-san did indeed talk a bit about other aspects of why you could not like that. Which is why the other man told him what was meant. He did kinda understand it then but I guess they did not see that people mean "ohh no! she is oversexualized for the sake of it (even though I am fine with it in many other games because as the rest of the world I am sexually attracted to other people and do actually only complain because I have no normal, constructive and non-hypocritical comment)!" And so he still talked a bit about other aspects as well.

[Mirage]

Considering they had gotten very many messages about it, a lot of people disagree with you on that it isn't a problem.

I'm not sure why you bring up that everyone is sexually attracted to other people. That's got nothing to do with this thing. Liking tits doesn't mean I want to see them in every possible situation they could be in. How come some games manage to avoid doing it? Are these games exclusively for asexual people?

[Sephiroth]

Considering they had gotten very many messages about it, a lot of people disagree with you on that it isn't a problem.

People disagree with many things. That does not make them right or not magically "no longer searching for something just for the argument's sake". Just like 3/4 of the Dragon Ball community makes claims that are just not right. Or how half complaints about things that have fans are just nonsensical arguments.

[Fox]

I really like this. Square Enix totally shows that it still knows how to sell itself.

Also, Eye Candy Cindy is no problem. People should really start realizing that sometimes talking nonsense just for the sake of doing so is too much. There is no problem with being appealing and still having a normal, active and cheerful personality. I am more annoying by Cindy's accent and the fact that in the West she really is called Cindy now. But apparently not through mistranslation but intentional so I am fine with that in a way. Just like with Terra or Bartz.

Look, it boils down to this:

Is Cindy intended to be an interesting, well fleshed out, respected character with a meaningful presence in the story?

• If yes, why distract people from that by focussing the camera on her bending over in hot pants so much? How much would Auron's role in FFX be affected if he walked around in crotchless pants and a banana hammock? "This is your story," he would say, while gently thrusting his hips towards camera.
• If no, and she's just there to provide sexy boobs... then the problem is obvious.

Either way, it doesn't come out being a smart idea.

Regarding the rest of the report, good to see they're using the feedback constructively. Although I was very surprised to learn of an update to the XV demo! Hope they didn't waste too much time on that one!

[Mirage]

Considering they had gotten very many messages about it, a lot of people disagree with you on that it isn't a problem.

People disagree with many things. That does not make them right or not magically "no longer searching for something just for the argument's sake". Just like 3/4 of the Dragon Ball community makes claims that are just not right. Or how half complaints about things that have fans are just nonsensical arguments.

No, you're right. It takes a good argument as well. Which a lot of people have supplied. There is a mile long thread full of such arguments somewhere else so let's not repeat it here.