I was under the impression that Trails SC was on the backburner for so long before the first game sold like shit on the PSP. However since XSeed saw that the PC release of the game sold well they've decided to speed up the process.
That's not entirely true. SC was always in the cards, but because of its immense size, we couldn't prioritize it over other titles that could be localized more quickly because -- especially at the time -- we weren't exactly making money hand over fist, and a game that requires THAT MUCH manpower and time isn't going to help us keep our doors open and put food on our tables.
So, we outsourced it to Carpe Fulgur, who were very helpful and more than willing to take on the project on our behalves. Considering the manpower at Carpe Fulgur, and the fact that they too had their own projects to work on, I think they did a pretty nice job getting it done in a reasonable amount of time... as reasonable as can be expected with a game of that size and scope under those specific circumstances, anyway.
We actually never "sped it up," either -- rather, it just got done. It's been in progress this whole time, and the proof lies in the fact that we now have a more-or-less complete script to work with. The reason we released the PC version when we did, in fact, was because SC was nearing completion, and we wanted to make sure that when FC made its second debut, fans didn't have such a tremendously long time to wait for the followup... again.
So ultimately, it wasn't the success of the PC version that drove us to speed up our work on SC, but rather the nearing completion of SC that drove us to release Trails on Steam and GOG when we did.
Yes, our work on the series probably could've been handled better, but I don't see how we or Carpe Fulgur could've known any of the hurdles that would pop up when going into this project (even you guys don't know all of them -- the amount of drama surrounding these games is kind of unreal!). We're older and wiser now, and better equipped to deal with future titles of this size than ever before... but one cannot retroactively apply present wisdom to the decisions of the past.
Bottom line is, we did the best we could at the time, and we're poised to release the thing this year now that all the pieces have fallen into place. We're sorry to have made you guys wait, but we're confident that the wait will be worth it. Try to keep positive and be patient just the tiniest bit longer, and you will have the game you've been seeking.
I really don't get this seemingly new negativity on GAF towards XSEED. I've been very happy with all their releases, starting way back with Brave Story and Wild Arms XF on PSP and all the way up to their continued great support for the Falcom Steam titles.
So what if they take a bit longer for some things, quality takes time.
Thank you, Durante!
...Also, as a general aside, please note that the silhouettes on our New Year's card are more representative of the characters depicted on them than they are of any specific games. Not that it'll necessarily make a difference in most cases, but just FYI!
-Tom