Habast
[12] Conqueror
I typed quite a bit, so here ya go. I hope you guys read all of it and think about it.
In a perfect world, I see SC6 like this:
Owned and developed by Project Soul and co developed/produced with Platinum Games on their own dime.
Think about that for a moment. PS would have freedom to work on it at their own pace, PG would help in the fine tuning and animation bits and the customers would get a great item.
In reality: No way would that ever happen even if all the money that was needed was achieved. The major publishers would most likely never give PS the time to finish it. Hell, they might even do more of the DLC bs when said DLC was already written to disk (thankfully, scv was not that much of a problem in that regard).
What I think...no...what I know is the problem with making another SC game is not particularly DLC or publishers (though those are huge contributing factors), it is more so that the community and the developers communication is not so good as a whole. This is a problem considering that we all have feedback on this (obviously, just read every single post on this site alone), yet we have many huge roadblocks that we do not even think about.
A.) Different languages: Majority of these guys only speak Japanese, and SC is a franchise with fan bases in many countries. Not much can be done about this, however, I do believe that is highly possible to work something out rather soon.
B.) Division in Ideals: This spans into either west vs east thoughts (which are not too different depending on who you ask), but also (and more importantly) Hardcore VS Casual. Let us be honest here, we all are not gonna get our perfect game until we all realize that both sides have equally important input to making a fully realized product...
A full product must be made to sell to the general audience, but there must also be a rich rewarding combat system that equally draws people in. I care not if the story itself is trash or not (which it is), however, the mode itself gives someone something to do with the game and unlockables such as concept art or armor parts help in such a way. Yet the latter is a bit more difficult to tackle. Making any game that is rewarding enough would take, at best, 3 years (assuming you have the most amazing team ever. making games is not easy).
C.) Market: Lets face facts people, the fighting game as a whole is being kicked out the door more and more every day. What is the hottest games? Mostly shovel wear first person shooters. What is the most quality of games? Usually, a fighting game is never mentioned, you get great games do not get me wrong, but the fighting game itself has lost touch. Personally, I think more games that want to be fighting should try the more boxing and bushido blade routes....But, fact is, none of us can remember the last time a fighting game was brand new and was well received enough to warrant a game of the year or even commercials.
Yet these can all be helped. More and more you guys keep supporting soul calibur in hopes it will make things better for the series. If we want any chance of this succeeding in any way shape or form 3 things must happen. First, Bamco listens and we actually have an open dialogue that works. Second, new designers who want to keep this alive or make another series superior must step up into this field. Finally, you guys keep doing what you are doing.
We all have complaints about sc5, but the best thing one can do is continue it's support and keep mentioning what good can come of changes that are needed (and I mean needed for a whole product including it's lasting power). If you dislike how sc5 is now, best thing you can do is support PS and give them reasons to continue. There does need to be many changes, but we need to let both PS and Bamco know that we need to be heard on this. This is a series we love and we should not let our immaturity take hold of what we love so dear.
Troll if you must, but this is what needs to happen as a fan base. If you love it, do what you can.
Give this guy a Klondike Bar.
But seriously, you make a lot of good points that I think are rarely considered. Especially the 'B' section. Every single SC player has their view about what PS is doing right, what they're doing wrong, and how they can improve the series. And no matter what you'd like to believe, the next fan's opinion is just as valid as yours. So how can PS please everyone? Honestly, they can't. But by listening to the opinions of both their hardcore and their casual fans and weighing everything carefully, they could create a game that has just enough of both to satisfy most fans.
Polls on their website might be a good way to get opinions from their international fanbase without having to worry too much about the language barrier. Just a thought.