Wash, Rinse, Repeat

by Mistress Nightshadow

Well, you've ever noticed how generally Square has screwed up big time when it came to Final Fantasy according to some sources? [And in some cases, they'd accuse me of being soft]. I've always been intrigued into no matter what Square does [Or several other companies for that matter], they always seem to break a few fingers. Definitely around here. And after something like three days thinking at it, I think I just see the answer... or at least part thereof.

At this point, I'll move completely away from RPGs, and I'll draw a rough equivilant to what I think's happening... Has anyone done Modern History? Did anyone do Russia before and during World War One? Did anyone study the Provisional Government which ruled for a very short time before Lenin and his crew took control of Russia? If you have, then you can probably guess what I'm going to say. For the rest of you, I'll give you a quick fill in.

Well, The provisional Government was a very short lived government, which lasted about a year, during the war. They were a totally consilitary government, and they tried to cater for everyone, but it soon showed that by doing so, they couldn't cater for anyone, because basically they pissed everyone off by trying to please everyone else, and when they tried to get the others back into line, they remembered what happened before and wouldn't, and also ticked off the other side/s. [eg. by giving concessions to the poor to make them happy, they pissed off the rich, by favouring the unions, they ticked off the middleclasses, by allowing the rich to cut costs and jobs for profit, they ticked off the poor and so on.] Lenin and his fellows then decided to overthrow the government, making the communist state, and they did it by gaining the support of only the biggest support group, then they murdered everyone else who might even try to oppose them... and the rest you don't really need to know.

Now, what was the point of reciting this very dull and boring bit of history? "Time flows like a river... and history repeats." Remember that? For all those who don't remember, it's from Secret of Mana. Well, currently, we have Square trying to make the mainstream happy by introducing ideas and modifying RPGs to their liking... ticking off the hardcore, old style RPGamers. With FF9, reverting back to a more traditional RPG setting, we have many RPGamers saying that it's just a con trick to convince us to buy FF10, and they still won't buy it, and some places I hear have written off FF9 as a hunk of junk compared to FF8 because it's reverting to the 'old' Final Fantasy... I'm willing to bet that some of you will be able to fill out the remaining gap.

Who's the company to pull it off is anyone's guess... and it'd be quite fun to place bets on as well. Interplay with Black Isle Studios is one, Enix is definitely another. Koamini certainly could fit the bill, and Blizzard specialising in Diablo might even run for a nice piece of the pie. What am I trying to say? Maybe it's that Square should pay attention... maybe they might be able to salvage some of this if they see it coming. Maybe they might get the hint that sometimes, when dealing with millions and millions of people, going for the biggest chunk can be better than trying to go for broke, all or nothing. Then again, The Provisional Government didn't see it coming to the last minute, and it's final defence was somewhat weak. [They got women to do the job, because men wouldn't do it. Untrained women as well.]

Which way will Square jump? Will Square survive, or will the masses choose a new leader because they failed to access the situation properly? Only time will tell... Well, If you'd like to say that history has a tale to tell and think the theory's valid, that this is just another conspiracy theory which shouldn't be paid attention to, you'd like to place bets on what's going to happen, or you're going to ring the CIA and tell them I'm a university atagoniser, and are nice enough to drop a warning shot before they chase me, send them to nightshadow_007@angelfire.com. If you'd like to make a bet, just note that everything's currently on even odds. And remember... The truth is out there...