Given the recent announcement of True Fantasy Live Online’s unexpected cancellation, we thought we would hand the mic to some of our writers and see how they felt about it. Needless to say, some felt more strongly than others, but all of us were shocked.
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Fernando Bueno
I’ll make sure to keep my part short and sweet. I know we have other writers here who were far more affected by this decision than I.
Since day one I have been very happy with my decision to get an Xbox. I’ve been very firm in my decision with each one that I’ve purchased (4; 3 of which I actually kept for a time). With games like Halo and the Xbox Live online service, I have always felt that Microsoft has made good on their word…. their “Microsoft Word†(rim shot. Thank you. Thank you.)
However, it is difficult to ignore disappointments like this. True Fantasy Live Online has officially been cancelled. Listed as an official launch title way back in 2001, TFLO made big promises. Slated as the Xbox Live’s first exclusive MMORPG it was going to meet with some huge expectations. Now I am left to wonder if after three years, maybe Microsoft realized that it had bitten off more than it could chew. Or maybe within those three years, they saw that the competition had gotten a significant insurmountable lead? Three mysterious years with little progress from a company with the deepest pockets ever… truly a mystery. How does this happen?
Officially MS has claimed that it is trying to “streamline its portfolio.†However, this being the internet, rumors abound about possible financial misdealing between MS and Level 5. Who knows really?
All that matters is that gamers are losing out on what might have been the most anticipated online game on the box after Halo 2. After all, anticipation began mounting well before November 15, 2001. I highly doubt that any gamer looking forward to TFLO will ever be satisfied with an explanation, be it the truth or rumor. But not knowing the truth will not make things any easier.
To make matters worse, the Xbox isn’t selling like hot-cakes in Japan as it is. A title like TFLO, with an established Japanese development team at the helm would hopefully have helped out in that area a bit. I can only wonder how this cancellation affects the relationship between the two. I don’t even want to assume anything at this point.
Though there are many unanswered questions and vagaries left to consider, let me leave you with one more. What do you think are the chances of someone else picking this up?
Sascha Lichtenstein
Of all the staff members at Xbox Advanced, I was likely the least emotionally affected by Microsoft’s recent decision to terminate production of True Fantasy Live Online. Despite consistently having the game hyped as the second coming by my college roommate and fellow Xbox fans online, I was never able to become excited about the game. As a member of the increasingly small population of gamer who simply don’t enjoy or see of the appeal of the MMORPG genre (they’re all just chat rooms with graphics to me), True Fantasy Live Online simply did not interest me, and there was little chance that I would ever play the game, let alone buy it.
It’s not at all unprecedented for a publisher to pull support in efforts to minimize further losses; it usually applies to games that are heading into crowded markets, and do not appear to be developing into viable contenders for consumer dollars. However, few are ever committed after development has reached even close to 80% completion. Microsoft’s statement regarding the reasons for the cancellation cited financial reasons as a contributing factor, one has to wonder how Microsoft came to the conclusion that – after providing capital for 80% of the development process – financing the final 20% of the game just wasn’t worth it.
In addition to the financial motivations, Microsoft also reasoned that the game was not living up to the internal standards Microsoft had set to ensure that Xbox gamers received only the finest quality games. Microsoft, for all the fantastic games that the company has provided us with, is as half-assed with quality control as anybody. I don’t know how they seriously expect the informed gaming populace – the ones who actually read the statements they release regarding cancellations and what not – to believe that TFLO was worse off, from a qualitative standpoint than Sneakers or Magatama (not released in the States, and for good reason).
Whatever the reason for the cancellation, whether the official reasons are telling the whole story or not, the fate of True Fantasy Live Online speaks volumes as to Microsoft’s ability to leave projects hanging late in development. One of these days they may very well withdraw their support for a title I do care about.
André Fredrick
Having managed to finally get over my shock and dismay over TFLO’s cancellation, I find myself able to react and respond. Alas, I’m sure Microsoft had its reasons; most likely financially motivated. But that doesn’t make me feel any better about the entire affair. I suppose if there’s one word that captures the emotion for me, it’d have to be disappointment. You could even couple it with any number of superlatives to maximize effect. For example, complete and/or utter disappointment. Or, soul-crushing, heart-rending disappointment…okay, okay. You see where I’m headed with this.
I can reflect on all the times I talked TFLO up to friends; about how revolutionary it was going to be; about its brilliant and innovative use of voice communication; about its incredibly deep and diverse class system; about its efforts to create a truly living and breathing fantasy world in which people from all walks of life could come together and earn experience points. But it’s all gone now, dashed to pieces in one fell swoop, leaving in its wake a gaping vacuum. Where are the MMORPGs??!! Phantasy Star Online?!?! Pffft. No sir, not even close.
I’m looking for total immersion. I’m looking for scope of concept and depth of vision. I’m looking for endless possibilities and limitless potential. I’m looking for TFLO, but its ship has set sail and met its fate upon the unforgiving shores of Japan, never to return. Soon the time of mourning shall pass, and TFLO will become a forgotten blurb in the annals of gaming history, but alas poor TFLO, we hardly knew ye.
Knowing that there is little to nothing that this editorial will do to change Microsoft’s decision, I am left with little recourse than to lament the loss of what could have been a contender. The whole thing makes me wonder where cancelled games go when they die. Somewhere out there are heaps of code and scripting and character models and textures, all of them just rotting away in testament to the fickleness of the gaming industry.
Brett Jones
I’m a born-again RPG player. To clarify, a combination of Everquest and Final Fantasy VIII managed to eliminate any hope I had for a great game to stem from the genre. It was not until several years later that I found myself willing to dip my toe into the proverbial waters once more, and upon doing so, a combination Phantasy Star Online versions I & II and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic pulled me into a genre that I felt I, as a consumer, was once again ready to make a splash in. I found solace in action-oriented gameplay that had room enough to provide plenty of character micromanagement and a robust mercantile system. I loved the community that blossomed as a result of the voice communication capabilities in PSO. I loved the deep story that sustained KOTOR for nearly 30 hours. Role Playing Games had once again curried my favor.
As such, I became increasingly interested in True Fantasy Live Online. At first, it seemed like a very good idea; a robust, massive online world complete with voice communicator functionality that was being created by one of the finer Japanese RPG developers there is. That’s enough to spark interest in anyone, I imagine. For me, that interest blossomed and became, dare I say, an obsession. I had what I knew was only the slightest taste of what an MMORPG could offer in PSO. I knew that I wanted more: more jobs, bigger worlds to explore, delicious art direction, dragons, horses, camels, even brooms for transport, even my own shop where I could create and sell weapons, armor, whatever tickled my fancy. I want a change of pace from not only the rest overabundance of first person shooters but also a change of pace from the rest of the MMORPGs available. I want True Fantasy Live Online.
My initial reaction to the cancellation of True Fantasy Live Online was a combination of shock and anger that led me to proclaim that Microsoft had “cancelled Christmas.†This announcement came only several weeks following the discontinuation of Microsoft’s agreement to publish Psychonauts, one of the more promising original titles on Xbox’s radar. I am certainly excited about the forthcoming offline roleplaying games on Xbox, but I can’t help but feel deluged with first person shooters and remakes of games that originated only one generation ago. TFLO offered an escape from these conventions within a genre that not only piques my interest but indeed commands it. To me, the cancellation of the game is nothing short of tragic (as far as games go).
I feel deceived. Microsoft claims that a combination of expense and delays led to the ultimate termination of the game. Sorry, Microsoft, but once your former CEO becomes the richest man on the face of the planet, you forfeit all rights to play claim “financial disparity.†And while the game was oft delayed, delays are inherently a part of such a large-scale project. How, under this guideline, did Brute Force make its way to the marketplace? If Microsoft were to cancel each title it planned to publish as a result of numerous delays, we would scarcely recall the name “Project Ego†and would have likely never even heard the name “Fable.†And as Microsoft continues to flounder in Japan, one wonders: What management committee decided that such a large-scale project, tailor-made for Japanese gamers, should be done away with? Is Microsoft conceding the Japanese market to its competitors, or are they simply mocking it?
Shortly after the cancellation of TFLO, Peter Moore, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for Xbox, said that “We [the gaming industry] need to build [intellectual property] and own [intellectual property] in this industry, rather than pay the movie companies and the sports companies for the ability to live vicariously through their licenses.” How then can projects with the depth of True Fantasy Live Online or the innovation of Psychonauts wind up without support, given this statement? My initial interest in Xbox was largely tied to its robust hardware that provided new, not simply updated, but new means for console gaming. I continued to enjoy my Xbox because so many games seemed expertly tailored to suit my particular tastes. Now it seems as Xbox and its lineup becomes more established, Microsoft is willing to take fewer chances on new intellectual properties that could truly break new ground in terms of console gaming. Sure, they’ve still got a strong line-up that would make any Xbox owner excited, but it seems that little by little Microsoft is foregoing ingenuity–the reason I fell in love with the console in the first place.
I cannot help but wonder what Microsoft has up their sleeve to reconcile these recent cancellations, particularly that of TFLO. Japan is still an area of great concern for the Xbox. The Xbox is still devoid of a true MMORPG. While these issues linger, I am eagerly anticipating future announcements to see how Microsoft plans to rectify each situation. Selfishly, I am eager to see if Microsoft can once again elicit from me the passionate anticipation that I held for True Fantasy Live Online. Rest assured that until that time I will remain more jaded than any empire Microsoft would offer.
