December 15th, 2015.
Just what kind of world is this “Eorzea” that will be the stage of this drama? Mr. P was on a journey to find that answer.
Mr. P had played DQX before, so he had some idea of how things worked and quickly worked his way through MSQ. A few weeks passed since the start of our new project, and Mr. P had become somewhat familiar with Eorzea.
“A blog is a bit weak as a source material?”
“Yes. It’s not just that it’s not really been done before…
It’s more about how blogs can be deleted whenever or how some other person can take the material and claim it for themselves.”
“I see…”
“Most companies wouldn’t want to get involved in a project like that. They wouldn’t see it as profitable.”
“Then what should we do…?”
“It would be best to get the blog series published.
If we made “The Father of Light” into a book,
Instead of using the blog as base, we’d have the book as the ‘original work’.
I’ll ask around with some publishing friends I know.”
“Th… Thank you.”
“A published version…”
Of course… this would come up again…
Just the mention of publishing likely had Maidy’s thoughts spinning around those old, terrible memories…
“How about some pin-ups for the preface?
lmao kidding of course.”
“……”
“……”
“Wh… What? lol”
I don’t think… Maidy took it as a joke…
People have dreams.
Hopes and ambitions.
They seek them out… reaching for that happiness… reaching for that dream.
And so a “dream” becomes a “goal.”
A new journey was about to begin…
Two would tackle this marvel of a dream; making a game blog into a TV drama…
One is a game blogger.
The other is a Producer.
This is their story.
“Ooooh lol I see. I had no idea that had happened.”
“Yeah…”
“So that’s why we’re not sure how well this dramatization will be taken…”
“Well, while the story of ‘The Father of Light’ was created by you, Maidy, the game that appears in it is FFXIV.
If we want to keep that as-is, we would of course need permission from SE to use the FFXIV logos and such in the drama.”
“We really do need their permission huh…”
“There’s a big difference between an official work and an unofficial work.
We could substitute the game with an original, imaginary version if we don’t get permission.”
“An imaginary game… Hm.”
“We could make it pretty similar to FF.”
“I… I’d rather not.
It’d feel wrong to just replace FFXIV…”
“I agree.
As such, we need to get SE’s permission first.”
“SE’s… permission…”
“It’s like we’re already at the final boss…”
“If we ask SE if it’s alright, that’d also be like…
Like asking Yoshida P/D…”
“Yes, in the end we would. But first we would have to discuss the book, and if the staff refuses to meet us, or if we have trouble with Yoshida and the FFXIV team… We’ll have to consider other options.”
“And… if they turn us away?!”
“Then it’s game over.”
“……”
“FF, DQ, KH, those are all SE’s works.
It’s highly likely they’ll just turn us away.
This is the first gate, but it won’t be easy.”
“If we wipe here… it’d be all over.”
“Yes. That’ll be the biggest wall we have to face.”
“First we should think of a way to get in contact with the FFXIV team, I think.”
“Probably.”
“Maybe we should gather friends first?”
“Friends?”
“If we have a bunch of like, actors, investors, and such all on our side, we’d show that we’re ready to go right away once they give us the go ahead, right?”
“A battle of numbers, I see!”
“However… as important as getting permission is, actors and investors have busy schedules. Getting them all to come to this sort of meeting would be… well, to be honest, impossible.”
“Ah, yeah you’re right.
I’m just worried… I don’t want us to fail…”
“I know how you feel lol”
“Maidy, do you have any good ideas?”
“How to clear this ‘castrum’ so-to-speak… There’s a pretty tried-and-true way.”
“Ohh, you are a real-life businessman after all.”
“In mecha anime, the protagonists would always steal the enemy’s uniforms and slip in unnoticed.”
“This is not that kind of thing!!”
“If we get ratted out, we’ll just fight.”
“Are you trying to make a drama or a news report here?!”
“Oh, that’s right! Mr. P, you said you work at a game company right?
Perhaps someone you know could get you in contact with SE?”
“Hm… If I ask around, there’s probably someone who could hook me up…”
“Oooh!”
“So that’d be a way through connections.
Using business connections, find out Yoshida’s e-mail address.
Finally, we’d discuss over e-mail about making the drama.”
“So instead of tackling the fortress’ defenses head-on, we’d scale the cliffs at its back to get in. Finish off the mid-boss to get the key to the final boss room. Sounds like an RPG!”
“Perhaps… but is it realistic?”
“I think it’s a good idea! You might have trouble getting to Yoshida, but he’s said some stuff that sounds like he’s read The Father of Light! I think he’ll say yes!”
“Hmmm…”
“??”
“What is it?”
“The idea does seem really RPG-y…
But don’t those sorts of plans usually backfire?”
“W-Well in manga and stuff, I guess. And there’s traps that have the main characters get captured and such…
Do you have some amazing fool-proof plan then?”
“In mecha anime, the best plan of attack…
is to fight head-on with everything you’ve got.”
“My goodness, no! I mean, yeah that’s how it works there but…
This is real. life. Not an anime…”
“Actually… he may have a point…”
“Huh?”
“A producer’s job to have a handle on the overall of a project.
So if someone were to weasel their way through a project’s defenses, an unwelcoming situation would likely await them…
On the other hand, being honest and up front tends to be far more favored.
Though it does depend a bit on their personality as well…
“Go through the front door… or slip through the back…”
“You two probably have a better idea how the FFXIV team is than I do. Which do you think would be better?”
“…”
“…”
At last year’s fanfest…
the development team had some words for us.
We will continue making this game you all love because we care about you, our fans, more than anyone else.
We want to continue onward, working together with you as we have been, one step at a time.
We want to continue making Final Fantasy XIV together, with you.
Not just now… but forever.
We want to make a game for all of us to play. Thank you very much.
Right in front of all of us players… he told us what he really felt. In that moment, I felt it.
I’m still worried that if we try to go through the front door we might be turned away…
But Maidy… The best plan is definitely…
“No tricks or under-handed tactics. We should just go at it head-on.”
“!!”
“Alright then lol If you think that’s the best idea, then that’s what we’ll do.
I’ll go back to my original plan and contact them directly and see how it goes.”
“That’s right! In mecha anime, in the last episode, they usually go head-on for the final confrontation! This is bound to work!!”
“Maidy… When you say last episode… do you mean…”
“Well, in like Tomino’s works, usually everyone dies at the end but…”
“No… Just stop Maidy…”
“Leave the rest to me!”
Mr. P said with bursting confidence.
In the end, Mr. P dropped all ideas of trying to slip in through the back. He called their publicly available phone number, and spoke with SE.
That’s not to say we weren’t nervous of course…
Final Fantasy as a main element to a TV drama…
And one being proposed by a player… This is nothing short of crazy.
My thoughts raced. Would we be turned away right at the door again?
Maidy let out a laugh… but is it really going to be alright?
If we fail here… Maidy and Mr. P’s dream… will die, won’t it?
We rang in the new year. January 8th, 2016.
This would be the day Mr. P visited SE’s offices.
His appointment was scheduled for 3pm…
“Right now… Mr. P is doing his best…”
“He sounded optimistic based on the phone call when he made the appointment.”
“It’s not like it’ll just be a ‘Please let us do this!’ Hand shake, and done.”
“True… Mr. P did say the best result would be for them to listen and tell them they’ll consider it… but…”
“Yeah… I’m worried.”
We waited impatiently in the FC house for Mr. P to come back with SE’s answer.
At only 3:40, Mr. P came bursting through the door.
He came into the FC house in a frenzy.
I-It’s only been about 40 minutes…!
“Maidy! Aru-san!”
“Mr. P! You’re on early!”
“D-Did something happen?!”
“Maidy… Aru-san…
About the drama…
SE said…
Without a second thought!!!”
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeh?!”
“I-Immediately?!”
January 8th, 2016.
It was that day that SE gave us the go ahead for the drama.
Our 2016 was already looking bright.
We were excited beyond belief. Our straight-forward hit landed!
Maidy jumped for joy, shouting how it was a miracle.
That day, Maidy wrote his true, honest feelings down in a blog entry.
We did it! We’re gonna make the drama!
However… Amidst our fanfare, Mr. P spoke up.
“That’s not a certainty yet. All we have right now is SE’s permission.
I’d say right now we’ve only got a 10% chance of making the drama.“
Mr. P continued, mentioning how this was only the beginning of the road to creating a drama.
“SE also issued us a challenge.”
An unimaginable amount of troubles were ahead.
N-No way… Is this even possible?
Next time, on the Producer of Light.
“That’s the Road with No Destination.”
Please look forward to it!
To Be Continued.
Pieces of Eorzea 