Friday, December 10, 2010

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Imagine you suspect that a certain MMORPG is dying, but the producers are loth to announce it. What kind of announcements would they make instead, the kind of stuff which sounds positive, but is a sure sign of a game going down the drain? Well, restructuring the development team and firing the lead designer would certainly be high up on that list. Prolonging the free trial indefinitely also rings that sort of bell. And postponing the console version of the game indefinitely is something that might happen to such a game as well.

Final Fantasy XIV just announced all three of those. Of course you might be an eternal optimist, speaking about how Square Enix is turning the game around, for it to emerge stronger and with a console version some time down the road. But it is extremely hard to believe in a game when these signs are there that even the publisher has just about given up hope. A re-emergence of Final Fantasy XIV at this point would require a miracle. Us old cynics don't believe in miracles any more.

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