I wrote a Rogerian essay on the CnD for an English class and some people on IRC wanted to see it, so here it is in plain text and in RTF format. Apparently I can't upload RTF documents so oh well.
Rogerian style is an argumentative essay directed toward a specific audience (in this case to Square Enix) with a problem, the pros and cons of said problem, and a win/win solution that compromises just a little bit so everybody gets what they want. It's non-confrontational so the "audience" will actually pay attention. That was the assignment, so that's how I wrote it.
It's pretty useless but it got me an A.
MrBekkler (You didn't think I'd post my real name, did you?)
English 210
Rogerian Essay
Blood, Sweat, and Peers: The Death of a Fan Game
In 2004, a group of hardcore fans of a Squaresoft video game, Chrono Trigger, started reverse-engineering the game’s code in ROM format, playable on a Super Nintendo emulator on a PC (Chrono). The original game was released in 1995, and a semi-sequel was released for the Playstation console in 1999, entitled Chrono Cross. The gameplay between the two titles was severely altered and the plots of the games, while tied together, had several key events unexplained or just missing altogether. The main characters from the first game were not in the sequel. In fact, Chrono Cross had over forty playable characters, and none of them had come directly from Chrono Trigger. The new game’s battle system was also changed dramatically. Despite the differences and plot holes, a large fan community developed, as well as a website/encyclopedia/forum called the Chrono Compendium (Chrono). The owners of this site were the same hardcore fans that started work on their fan project, a hacked version of Chrono Trigger to include an all new story to tie the official games together, with all the original game’s playable characters, music, and engine. There were no plans to distribute the copyrighted game Chrono Trigger in any form. The new game was to be called Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes, and was to be released as a patch one could apply to a Chrono Trigger ROM for free. In fact, the entire Chrono Compendium website is so adamant about not accepting money, they don’t even use advertisements or a donation button anywhere on the website. In May of 2009, with the project literally two weeks from release, and after five years of development, Square Enix (formerly Squaresoft) issued a Cease and Desist order to the owners of the website. The developers immediately accepted the decision and followed instructions to destroy all copies of the current ninety-eight percent complete build of the game, including the beta testing team’s copies. I believe the development team was well within their rights creating a non-profit fan made sequel to a game that hasn’t been updated in almost fifteen years, and that the Cease and Desist order only hurts Square Enix’s chance at making a profit. Fans of the franchise want a new Chrono game. Specifics on gameplay and story don’t even matter to many, they would just like to see the series continued. This is what the Crimson Echoes team was trying to achieve, a continuation of the series by fans, and for fans.
Square Enix is well known for their Final Fantasy games, as well as the Dragon Quest series, which is popular in Japan, and the newer Kingdom Hearts franchise, in which Square partners with Disney. The Chrono series has had little if any attention for ten years, and recently a port of Chrono Trigger was released on the Nintendo DS. The graphics remain unchanged, as well as the music, and the game’s written script received a minor update. This is the second time the game has been re-released, the first re-release was on the Playstation console. It is possible the company saw Crimson Echoes as a threat to their profits on Chrono Trigger DS. They own copyright on the graphics, music, and names that were used in the game. However, customers are the most important part of any business, and all fans are customers at some point. Under copyright law in the U.S., each violation of copyright can result in a fine of anywhere from two hundred dollars to one hundred fifty thousand dollars. Distribution of ROM files is illegal, so it is understandable that Square Enix would be hesitant toward the project. The development team of Crimson Echoes never intended to release a ROM file in any form, however, releasing a patch that can only be applied to a Chrono Trigger ROM is grounds enough for a Cease and Desist. Most of the contact from Square Enix is from the legal department, and not from the higher managers or game developers. In fact, Square Enix’s core staff may not even know the fan made game exists at all. Immediately following the Cease and Desist letter, fans from the Chrono Compendium forums started spreading the story to different news outlets across radio and the Internet. This is bad press for Square Enix, but could be turned around into something beneficial for both groups.
If Square Enix were to buy the game from the fan developers, or even just “take” it, as it is their intellectual property in question, they wouldn’t actually need to spend any time or money on the project. The playable product clocked in with around thirty-five hours of game play, with ten alternate endings, and worked with established canon to explain how the plot from Chrono Trigger ended up with Chrono Cross. This is a finished game, delivering exactly what many fans have wanted to see, with little to no work on Square Enix’s part involved in “polishing” to make it professional and sellable. The game would have to be translated to Japanese for a Japan release, and it would have to be ported or emulated if distributed by the company. There are several ways to do this, as the current generation of video game consoles all offer a downloadable content service, and the Nintendo Wii in particular has a Virtual Console system established to play Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and games from other systems. Since Chrono Trigger DS was released, fan interest in the series is at an all-time high. Now would be the perfect time to release a sequel on the Virtual Console. It would cost Square Enix nothing, and every purchase would be pure profit for the company. This would also retain faith from fans who may have taken the Cease and Desist notice personally, and everyone involved would get what they want. The Crimson Echoes team never asked for money, and never will. They merely love the franchise and wish for it to continue, in any way possible. Crimson Echoes’ completed version was supposed to be deleted from every computer that had a copy, and everyone involved claims this has been done. However, personal copies are not illegal if the person who has the copy also legitimately owns the original game. It may still exist, hiding on a lonely computer with no intent to distribute. Currently, a video play-through of one of the beta testers is being released in ten-minute installments on Youtube.com. Square Enix has no problem with this, because the game is not up for download. Fans will remain attached to the franchise whether Square makes more games or not, but they could really use the Public Relations now. It only makes sense for Square to take the game and release it. Chrono fans across the world would rejoice for this company that has already provided many classic memories.
Works Cited
Chrono Compendium. 3 Jun 2009. 3 Jun 2009
<http://www.chronocompendium.com>.
