[tcaudilllg]

Make no mistake about it: the head of SE is a total ass. I really liked FF Legacy. It was a much better game than SE's own awful FF XI. That said, most things developed by SE over the past decade have been total crap.

It just goes to show the danger of attaching oneself emotionally to commercial games.

[BadMrBox]

I had to google around a bit to figure out what both Byond and FF legacy is. It's always a asshat move when a big company like that shuts down a fan game, but it is a calculated risk when you rip every thinkable art asset.
SE isnt exactly the only company that shuts down fangames. Nintendo and Sega has their own history on the matter.

I do agree that it is quite awhile since SquareEnix made a fantastic game.
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[RampantCoyote]

The last SE game I enjoyed enough to play to completion was FF X - and it wasn't as good as their older stuff. I think they were ruined by their foray into the MMO space.

Companies are under an obligation to protect their IP rights if they want to keep them - particularly when it comes to enforcing trademarks. So there's a certain level where they are required by law to be jerks. But there are many companies that have figured out 'better', legal, cooler ways to support both fans and their own business. Some have even come out with guidelines and packets containing everything a fan-project would need to do to stay legal.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[tcaudilllg]

It's no great loss really to lose the tiles... style and "flavor" are easy to copy. The original palette could probably be used, which is a major aspect of the style.

I've played FF Legacy and man, it was becoming the online game Square refused to create. They were adding original bosses, original classes, and innovative game mechanics. It may be that Square is shivering in its boots that someone is going to make the epic FF7 remake that has fans have been clamoring for (like was happening with Chrono Trigger).

(BTW, have you heard of the FF7 NES pirate copy that's being remade to resemble the original game? Already as far as Shina Tower! But yeah, waste of time)

There was also a (very large and difficult to get into) FFV copy on BYOND, and a FF6 copy was in the works. DQ copies had been on since... 2002?

There is an argument that obsession on these franchises yields stagnation. I know of some who sit and play games all day, living on SSI or with their parents who don't care to make them leave, and don't work, perpetual students and the like. Is this good? Bad? I dunno. We've been in economic depression for the last five years, and are only steadily working our way out. It's probably not good for the people who were being overworked in all that time, in that there was no huge burst of outrage (until recently) against the people. Instead the politicians were blamed and the fire of righteous anger that brings about just business -- the business of "not being evil" -- was not stoked.

Graphics get better and better... at least to a point. Then you'll probably get extreme closeups, the likes of which current technology cannot produce. It seems more and more that people pay just for graphics. Skyrim... graphics without end. Dark Souls... graphics. Everything... graphics. I still remember the comments from my cousin, "if I pay money for a game, I want it to have good graphics".

I still long for those Super NES titles I was exposed to as a child. Those cheery titles which had bright, vibrant graphics. I've reviewed them all since then and they still aren't enough! I want more! I loved Eternal Sonata... but it didn't make as much money as some people would have liked and as such, we haven't seen another like it in some time.

I was recently watching Xenogears on YouTube. What happened to the days of such storytelling? Granted Xenogears is a master work the likes of which is hard to compare. There are all other games, and then there is Xenogears, and after you've played it through you're not the same. It took everything Evangelion was an made it better. Not a perfect game, but a brilliant animated novel.

Xenogears was an apex. Eternal Sonata and VP 1 compare. Only them. Lords of Shadow comes close but, it lacks the scale.

My impression is that Sakaguchi has lost "the touch" since leaving Square Enix, experimenting wildly but missing the dream team formula that made CT and Xenogears sublime. Square's CEO has destroyed the company's legacy, corrupted. Squeenix was a merger that never should have happened. The only result was destruction, and now Tatsuya Nomura is steering Japan into a pathetic ruin of its former self.

The marriage of Disney with Final Fantasy! The church lady with the town drunkard! Goofy and Donald Duck, icons of corruption! The only reason WE can't produce games with Mickey Mouse, if we so chose, is because the copyright protection period was legally extended FOR THE SPECIFIC PURPOSE.OF PRESERVING THE COPYRIGHT ON MICKEY MOUSE. Marry the purity of Final Fantasy with that? But that's what has lead us to this: the final boss hurtling lights of judgment from on high at loyal fans and, quite frankly, meritable talent.

But you know what I think is the future? I think the future is a game making community where people work hard, making excellent work, and have real relationships with fans. A community of teams which appreciate all views and makes games as a means of expressing our deepest imaginative depths, like the fabled SNES era. Too much thought about what consumers "want" and not enough listening. Not enough caring. We take joy only in our achievements and not in the achievements of others. That's the game industry we have now.

[Bjorn]

Ah, this thread reminded me of this post:

http://www.1up.com/news/chrono-trigger-hd-fan-remake

One can still have hope. :-)