Final Fantasy XI producer leaves Square Enix

 decoy1978 FFXIV 2.0 is probably overhyped but, I'm holding out a little hope for a miracle. FFXI was pure greatness back in it's heyday.

 Sniperwire There aren't enough light bulbs in the world to make FFXIV's future look bright.

 Mimicry I'm not so sure.I'm liking what i'm hearing about it. and  a lot of people were impressed at E3 with version 2.0 and are excited to see the relaunch.

 greeklegend well.. it was better than final fantasy 14.. at least ;D

 oskuuu yea but PONG is better than FFXIV

 LIQUID-X-SKULL Actually alot of flak thrown at japanese game companies is that they have failed to westernize enough and are really behind the times. it's not the 90's anymore, you have to evolve to the market.

@tachsniper @LIQUID-X-SKULL I disagree. I think westernizing to an extent is good but the western world isnt the only one that exists and our tastes arent global. I agree with liquid skull, SE needs to go back to its roots and go from there.

 mack10  tachsniper I also agree. I like JRPG's. Westernization is good in certain genres, not in others.

@mack10 I agree with you tremendously on the westernizing aspect. The west is not the center of the world and is not the best thing out there. Variety is the spice of life; Japanese games have an aspect to them that gives them a particular "taste" that you can't get from western games. Sad to see that go away with this "need to be western in everything" idea.

 leimonides  mack10  Well, leimonides  said it perfectly. Japanese games have their own unique taste to them. Western games also have one, but those two tastes are mutually exclusive. Its not a matter of which is better. Its a matter of keeping both unique tastes and not messing one of them up by forcing it to taste like the other.

 tachsniper adding on to mack10 , I think the game market is very accepting for hardcore Japanese games. Don't get me wrong, I love western games (including western RPG) and I do not want them to be influenced by Japanese games. I think Japanese games should stick to being Japanese games, to keep their fans cheering, and western games to do the same. I just think that the "in-betweens" are not as successful.

 LIQUID-X-SKULL They Will never get that feeling back because two of the men that gave the games that feeling more than any one else (Uematsu and Sakaguchi) left Square a long time ago...

 brollyandvegeta Brilliant! :-D

 FinalDuo1886 yea I quit FFXI after standing there looking for a group for literally 2 1/2 hours. At that point my gaming time could be spent on something fun instead of just standing there.

 GunnyHath The Japanese have a reputation to overwork their employees. Just look at what Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono had to say about being overworked in this interview:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-11-the-rise-and-collapse-of-yoshinori-ono

I don't think they would "clearly let you take a leave of absence" as you suggest. It's not well seen for them.

It's not surprising that a veteran like Hiromichi Tanaka would want to work under a less stressful environment in light of Japanese culture.

 d_generate_x Yes the Japanese work ethic would drive most of us Americans insane. they have a drive to them that is both amazing and sometimes self destructive.

 Vickman178 It wouldn't surprise me.  The world governments raised the "safe" levels of radiation instead of letting everybody know that there are much, much higher levels in the air then before.  Not to mention that the American and Canadian governments have stopped testing the air or fish for radiation.  

Sounds crazy, but there were dozens of articles on the net reporting this earlier this year.

 Vickman178 well the human body can take a pretty good dose of radiation and still be able to fully heal itself. While i don't disagree they may be some I don't think unless you live right next to the plant that it would be that harmful.

 Justforvisit Agreed.  I wish the best for Tanaka-san.  Regardless of FF's many recent failures, He's part of the team that made FF so epic.  he deserves more than enough respect and honor for that. 

 Geertwillers Was he responsible for 13?  Idk, that's why I'm asking.  It says he's had a very long history with the company and that he was responsible for much of FF11, but they don't mention 13 in this article.

 Ovirew  Geertwillers I think he meant that he doesn't care if Tanaka-san is leaving Square, he wants whoever at Square that's responsible for 13 to leave, and I wholeheartedly agree. 

 tigertaru Ah, I misread, my mistake.  I wasn't too big on FF13 either, but I don't think anyone should really get canned for it.

 Ovirew No, they should get canned for 13,13-2, and 14 as well lol.  I know there are a few gamers that will testify that 13 is the greatest rpg ever but many long term FF fans have a huge sense of disappointment over the last several games (I've played since the 1st and I agree that I feel that way).  Many feel that it's been going downhill since 10 (I however had a huge addiction to 11 and actually liked 12).  It's no mistake that Square is having its share of problems which even they acknowledge.  I'm just hopeful that they at least get close to as good as they used to be, because many long term fans lived and died by FF releases and now many (like me) aren't even remotely motivated to buy anything Square anymore.