Semi-hidden between the weapon and armor shops, a doorway leads to this mostly abandoned pub. A single tipsy dwarf is the lone occupant.

At least that explains why the pub is otherwise abandoned.

The dwarf dances an awkward spinning dance that does nothing to help his condition.

And in the English and EasyType versions, that's all that's here. However, in the original Japanese version, a passage through the wall next to a dirty spot on the floor leads to a hidden flight of stairs...

This area is still here in the DS remake, though the developers themselves are replaced with the remake staff and have vastly different messages. The battles here are similarly drastically changed. Talking to everyone makes an augment appear in the lower room.

The energetic music most often played when Cid is being productive serves as background to this strange place filled with a wide variety of unusual characters.

For this section only, I'm leaving the honorifics and other name-suffixes uninterpreted.

Golden Week is a series of Japanese holidays at the beginning of May. The implication here seems to be that they worked right through it without a break.

The familiar Final Fantasy Prelude plays in this room.

Seiken Densetsu, a Game Boy action-adventure developed as a Final Fantasy spinoff, went by Final Fantasy Adventure in North America and Mystic Quest in Europe (no relation to the SNES game Final Fantasy Mystic Quest). Sequels followed, starting with the game North Americans call Secret of Mana.

The Tower of Prayer music plays down here.

Of course, he doesn't actually join the party, even though the fanfare plays.

There's also a memo on the wall:

And in the bookcase, with its own unique fanfare, the one, the only (actually not, since Katsuhisa Higuchi also drops them), the infamous...

A joke item, it can be sold for 290 gil, or used from the menu. Using it causes the party / lead character to look around nervously, then tints the screen pink, plays the Calcabrina intro music, displays a message, and that's it.

Accusations that the Lewd Magazine and Nintendo's strict censorship policies were responsible for the removal of this area in the North American release are almost certainly false. The area was also removed from the EasyType, which had no such concerns, and more importantly, these versions both have a vastly expanded tutorial area that does not exist in the original version. In all probability, removing the Development Room freed up space for the new tutorial center.

A number of developers also appear as random encounters in the main room. Fortunately, they tend towards joke battles, and the encounter rate is quite low. Still, it pays to be careful all the same. Any of the seven following developers may appear as enemies...

ひぐち　かつひさ (Katsuhisa Higuchi) appears as a Bomb. As an opponent, he takes only 1 damage from most attacks, but does nothing until hit physically. At that point, he gets indignant...

...and uses Self-Destruct, inflicting a single hit point of damage since he only has 2 to begin with. Victory is worth 50 gil, no experience, and a Lewd Magazine.

There are a few ways to avoid the counterattack. Why bother, though?

いとう　ひろゆき (Hiroyuki Itou), one of the battle designers, appears as a puppeteer. As an opponent, he expresses irritation at being disturbed...

...then casts Sleepel on himself, and the battle ends prematurely (even if the spell missed).

It's possible to kill him if anyone can act and do enough damage quickly enough, though he's only worth 10 (total) exp and 5 gil.

まつい　あきひこ (Akihiko Matsui) appears as a floating tiny person. Wikipedia lists him as a battle designer for this game. As an opponent, he starts by casting Library on a random character and making snide remarks...

That first line only seems to appear if Library misses, which only rarely happens.

...then casts it on himself, which displays his single hit point and weaknesses to Flame, Ice, Thunder, Holy, and Projectiles. Additionally, the following messages also display as though part of the spell result:

This could also be taken as "Weak against Tetsuya", possibly Tetsuya Takahashi, below.

He's rather shocked by this...

...and runs away.

It's also possible to kill him if you're quick enough, though he's only worth 5 (total) exp and 10 gil.

あおき　かずひこ (Kazuhiko Aoki), one of the battle designers, appears as a soldier. As an opponent, he just talks for a bit...

...and then the battle ends prematurely.

It's possible to kill him if you can get enough attacks in quickly enough. He has 10,000 hit points, though, and only gives 100 (total) exp and 150 gil anyway.

なかだ　ひろみ (Hiromi Nakada) appears as a lamia. As noted above, she worked on graphics. As an opponent, she changes the music to Fabul's and opens with the following line:

She then does nothing for several turns unless someone damages her (typically an insignificant amount due to her extreme defense), which she counters with a Slap and an insult:

However, the battle is interrupted before long.

At this point, she dies, leaving 500 (total) exp and dropping a Maiden's Kiss (changed to a Panacea in the English and EasyType versions even though the battle goes unused).

You could also win through damage by using Toad or Porky to prevent her from using the suicide skill, except that there's no real point to it.

よしい　きよし (Kiyoshi Yoshii), one of the battle programmers, appears as an ogre. As an opponent, he just talks for a bit...

Those are heavy breathing noises, I think.

...and then the battle ends prematurely.

It's theoretically possible to kill him. He has 65,000 hit points, though, and only gives 20 (total) exp and 10 gil anyway.

たかはし　てつや (Tetsuya Takahashi) appears as a doll. According to Wikipedia, he was involved in developing the battle graphics. As an opponent, he'll make threats for seven turns in a row...

...then on his eighth turn, attack someone, most likely inflicting 9,999 damage (he has 254 attack power and gets 99 hits at 99% accuracy). His behavior then repeats. In addition to very high attack, he also has very high defense, making him nearly invulnerable.

Although you're probably expected to run away, you can beat him by using Poison and Bio (for the status effects), and defense-ignoring magic (like the Dragon summon). Defensively, cast Slow twice and either revive as needed or use Blink to keep his attacks from hitting. Debilitating status effects also help if you can get them to hit, especially the Toad or Minimum spells to cripple his attack and defense. Winning is worth 5 (total) exp and a Phoenix Tail.

...and now, back to the story.