Don’t be the one that defends Final Fantasy at all cost. Let me explain…

Some fans can be an annoyance to the gaming community. They’re not always wrong, but they complain too much. Usually, they destroy the games they try to defend in the process. I can see why people defend their games to the end. Having friends is nice, but being right is even better. I guess it’s harmless enough. Just don’t resort to personal attacks. I got this from somewhere…

Either way, fans love raising their voices to defend games and calling businesses out. I don’t see why businesses would ever bend over backward to appease them if they achieve their sales. No publicity is bad publicity. In fact, I think fans might actually be taking the flak for what game developers didn’t do. And this ultimately works in the game developer’s favor…

Say you have a game you thought was going to be amazing. And by all probability, it should have been, if they only put more effort into it. And then, you have news that not all was ever right. Now you have two factions. One side defends the company at all cost. The other side criticizes baseless claims. But both tend to claim that the other side was at fault; they compelled the company to act a certain way.

So what’s really going on here? The developers are letting the ever gullible fans take the fall, just to get the heat off them. Trusted sources leak objective material, of course. I believe this. However, saying their business decision was due to social pressure (of a vocal minority) is a little bit too convenient. In fact, it’s Tatemae. Tatemae involves saving the face of people, rather than covering up objective facts. Ironically, you have to cover up the fact in order to present Tatemae. Can anyone list situations in which you don’t?

And this sort of “white lying” isn’t uncommon in Japanese business culture. For example, think of Cindy. Cindy was blatant fan service. Square Enix didn’t care to change her but said she wasn’t a sexy character. Even though the first shot of Cindy is her butt. Despite the vocalization, changing her is a low priority. But fans complained, and to silence them…they used Tatemae. Or what we call in the West, gaslighting.

Now fans fight among themselves, against their common sense. Either to defend or call out the gaslighting. Is this tatemae? Don’t maximize entities beyond necessity…

We do this a bit when we save face in the West, so we can relate. It’s still not right, and we should be brave enough to know better. Instead of taking responsibility, we shift the blame to make things sound nicer. This is an emotional response happening everywhere, to spare feelings. Consider Final Fantasy XV. Parts of the story weren’t as well along as they were programming the game. They made logical cuts and stayed silent when fans blamed each other. Square Enix blamed fans too because this is also a game of politics. To keep the heat off of them, they blamed whoever they needed. So now we point the finger at the fans. Fans are lashing out while Square Enix remedies their mistakes. They become the hero when they give us what we should have had. Deceptive. Smart move. Untrustworthy.

I’m mad at Final Fantasy fans for being annoying, but they aren’t ever the reason behind a game’s lack. But companies can see them as “useful idiots” and scapegoats. If they hadn’t spoken up, Square Enix would have had to give another lie for us to pick apart. The culture of tatemae is incompetent. Most aren’t good at it because no one challenges tatemae. Thus, they won’t get better at it, even if they double down. But it’s all around, nevertheless. And I’m sure it’s fooling no one.

In the end, no one’s really at fault here. This is the circumstance that we’ve all found ourselves in. Business wanted a hard date for release to make money and continue making games. Square Enix had to make smart sacrifices with what they had. Fans had some valid complaints. Others fans got defensive. Everyone lost in the end, but we got a great game nonetheless.

I think.

And no, this isn’t about Final Fantasy XV. I’m thinking ahead…