POL News: The Bottom of the Barrel.

Now, I will not deny the fact that I am a positive advocate for SquareEnix as a company. I don't really believe the fans deserve full disclosure on everything done in their business, nor do I really believe they are accountable to us for every single thing that happens as we play the game. In the days of religious hysteria we had the convenient excuse of the devil to blame, in this world where such values hold far less sway people tend to latch on to the closest, easiest thing to blame that is not themselves.

HOWEVER, after reading the latest "news flash" on POL's website, the above is now what I deem this latest offering from SE. Infact, I think they should throw in an in-game scraper just to make sure we get everything from it.



In a company that prefers to keep a fairly private public profile, this is one of the most trasparent efforts at changing a system from a personal attention to an automated, hands off affair, did this department really cost SE so much money it had to be axed? Apparently so.

However for those who are interested, they are now offering the Wedding Services via a player interface which automates the whole process now, instead of having a real GM show up and put in the effort.

This feels like a really hollow update. I hate all these automated systems that go on in real life, I don't really want to subject myself to one in a fantasy world either. Yes, if you want to be pedantic the whole concept of FFXI is an automated world, but there is an important distinction between the game play I enjoy and the idea of going through a once personal system in favour of something that now just feels like a cookie-cutter process. Do I feel empowered? Not in the slightest. To coin a phrase, weak-sauce.

<a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/files/2008/05/00_empty_wine_barrel.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/files/2008/05/00_empty_wine_barrel.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 415px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" /></a><br /><br />Now, I will not deny the fact that I am a positive advocate for SquareEnix as a company. I don't really believe the fans deserve full disclosure on everything done in their business, nor do I really believe they are accountable to us for every single thing that happens as we play the game. In the days of religious hysteria we had the convenient excuse of the devil to blame, in this world where such values hold far less sway people tend to latch on to the closest, easiest thing to blame that is not themselves.<br /><br />HOWEVER, after reading the latest "news flash" on POL's website, the above is now what I deem this latest offering from SE. Infact, I think they should throw in an in-game scraper just to make sure we get everything from it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4936/4936.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4936/4936.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 415px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><br /><br />In a company that prefers to keep a fairly private public profile, this is one of the most trasparent efforts at changing a system from a personal attention to an automated, hands off affair, did this department really cost SE so much money it had to be axed? Apparently so.<br /><br />However for those who are interested, they are now offering the Wedding Services via a player interface which automates the whole process now, instead of having a real GM show up and put in the effort. <br /><br />This feels like a really hollow update. I hate all these automated systems that go on in real life, I don't really want to subject myself to one in a fantasy world either. Yes, if you want to be pedantic the whole concept of FFXI is an automated world, but there is an important distinction between the game play I enjoy and the idea of going through a once personal system in favour of something that now just feels like a cookie-cutter process. Do I feel empowered? Not in the slightest. To coin a phrase, weak-sauce.