Square Enix Polls Players On FFXIV Updates, 'Drastic' Changes

Weeks after restructuring its Final Fantasy XIV development team and delaying the MMORPG's PS3 release, Square Enix sent an email to subscribers promising a new direction and polling them about possible changes. Launched for Windows PCs in September 2010, the PC edition of FFXIV received much criticism from reviewers and players over a lack of content, features, and polish. Square Enix responded by extending free trial periods, replacing producer Hiromichi Tanaka and director Nobuaki Komoto, and introducing new "handpicked" leaders to the MMO's existing team. "The last few weeks of 2010 were tumultuous times for us all, what with the announcement of the development team restructuring and multiple version updates," said Naoki Yoshida -- Komoto and Tanaka's replacement, and a previously inconspicuous figure at the company -- in the email distributed to FFXIV players last weekend. He added, "As part of the new direction promised, we here on the development and management teams have adopted four new keywords for FFXIV: fun, live, reboot, and rebuild. Forgive our translators if these buzzwords seem a bit cryptic or cliche, but I am using these English words as-is in the Japanese, and insisted they use the same words for a global resonance." The email solicited subscribers to fill out a short questionnaire about changes they want to see in FFXIV, asking them to identify their biggest expectations from the restructured team ("an overhaul to fundamental gameplay aspects", "an accelerated version update schedule", or "increased communication with the players"). Square Enix's survey also players asked what issues they want addressed first, what in-game content and features they want added first, what site content (e.g. forums, in-depth play guides) they want implemented first, and whether they would welcome changes that would "drastically alter the rules already set" in FFXIV.