Character Creation Has A Race Problem

[Nandina]

You can't claim that this is about 'fairness' when you've called for the game not to be released outside of Japan because it doesn't bend over backwards to give you exactly what you want. Multiple players have given you advice in regards to designing a character to your specifications and whenever it is pointed out you seem to immediately move the goalposts elsewhere.

You’re stretching the truth a bit. That’s not me campaigning for the game to be removed from everywhere but Japan because I have a problem with the options. Read that dialogue back. If I released a product outside of the US, I’m not going to say that people elsewhere have no right to critique my product despite the fact I’m advertising to them. Critique comes with the territory. Criticism leads to improvement. People leave product reviews all the time. KaivaC said that it being a Japanese MMO makes the discussion a moot point, which I disagreed with. It being a Japanese MMO doesn’t immunize FFXIV from the critique of those outside Japan when it’s being marketed outside its home country. To say otherwise is ridiculous. Clearly they care about the audience outside of it to some extent. I know for certain if I didn’t care about a demographic outside of my country I wouldn’t bother with a western localization team. I know I wouldn’t bother putting any other language forum besides Japanese on my website. I wouldn’t plaster advertisements on non-Japanese websites. I wouldn’t plaster it on the foreign equivalent of the Playstation Store. There’s plenty of Japanese games that don’t get released outside of Japan. I wouldn’t critique character customization on those games being limited because it’s not being marketed towards me. Therefor if SE has a problem with foreign critique on their product, then again common sense dictates that they not release the product outside of Japan.

The issues I've discussed have been the same issues from the beginning of the thread. Lack of hair styles, off skin color, and lack of differing facial types. Noticed I actually stopped talking about facial types for the most part (unless someone responded to me when I mentioned it) as they explained why it would've been harder because software has to be written (in other words laziness). The comment has been made by others that because it's a Japanese MMO, they cater to Japan and only keep Japan in mind when making decisions. And being that I'm paying money, I'm free to criticize. That's fair. Point blank, period. Have you ever thought that maybe the suggestions people were making didn't either address my problem accurately? Telling me to make another playable race, when I'm talking about Hyurs specifically is not very good advice and isn't staying on topic. I'm not critiquing the options for Roegadyns. That's basically telling me to avoid the issue altogether by picking something else. Micropanther7 told me about the reshader and I asked further questions, and they responded. I don’t play on PC, so I can’t utilize this option and I’m not buying the game a second time to do so. I’m not opposed to advice that’s applicable.

Why you want me to address this with you, when you were not even directly involved in that conversation that I was having with them, I don't know. If I have an opinion to give about a subject or a person, I will state it - I very rarely sugarcoat anything on the forums.

Honestly, with the way your going on about underrepresentation, this feels so much like you're wanting to be offended by something.


Neither are Hyurs, if you really want to be technical about it. Dunno why you cherry picked me and singled out Roes, but it's whatever. I'll repeat this again - I've managed to do it with BOTH and Hyur and a Hellsguard Roe with the default 3.55 character creation before ultimately settling on Au RA.

You quoted me, and said that it invited me to criticism, so I clarified why I said what I said. Regardless of who you’re talking to, when my name is mentioned, I’m going to respond if I feel the need. Everyone else has been hopping into other people’s conversations and no one complained about that. You’re posting on a public forum. If you didn’t want me or anyone else interjecting then should’ve contacted Magic-Mal personally. It’s not about being offended, I can’t be offended by what’s not there. So again, you’re gaslighting me by constantly suggesting I’m offended. Hypothetically, if I was offended, it still doesn’t invalidate anything I’ve stated. I’m not cherry picking you, I have tried my best to respond to everyone that I could (and I’m sure I missed some). You literally said:

The thing is, you say you want to hit at least hit the dart board... But you can. Hyur and Roes can... I've done it before I settled on Au Ra.

So I responded to that and disagreed. What I’m guessing the issue is here, is that many don’t fully understand what an undertone is, and that’s leading to the discrepancy. It’s coming across as though many feel that undertone and skin color are the same thing, and it’s not. Two people can have the same base skin color, but different undertones. If people don’t know what an undertone is, then they should research it or ask. I would’ve gladly explained. Many have brought up and agreed with the limitations of the character customization system, but when I’m more specific instead of being broad, that’s the issue apparently. So again, I have to sugarcoat. Is it saying that the game mainly offers a white aesthetic what shattered everyone’s world? So I have to be ultra PC and color blind now? If the situation was reversed, and someone said that the game mainly catered to black or biracial people, I would not be offended. My skin isn’t paper thin like that. I would either agree or disagree, but I wouldn’t start claiming the person is starting a race war. Going to that extent is a huge exaggeration, and saying otherwise is a reach. Nor would I use it being a fantasy world as an excuse. If anything, it being a fantasy world that’s still being developed allows room for the changes. We saw Yugiri and had the ninja job long before we saw Doma. Meaning SE could release these features and not even explain them for years into the future.

Again it ultimately comes down to what SE wants to put in THEIR game whether you like it or not. And at no point have I seen anyone on here justifying SE's decisions, just pointing out that you have options. Also, maybe try not insulting people, it makes you seem arrogant and cheapens whatever argument you may have.

When I say justifying SE’s decisions, I’m not talking about just this thread alone, which is why I made sure to say the forum. Again, it can be THEIR game but I have the right to criticize like everyone else when I’m spending MY money whether you like it or not, or am I only allowed to criticize aspects of the game the community deems acceptable, in a very specific way? But I can’t help but notice you are doing just that, justifying that SE can do what it wants because it’s their game, which is an easy cop out. While I agree with that, the people using the weak “this is fantasy and not real life” tried better than that. Your response doesn’t add to the discussion at all.

If people are being manipulative and gaslighting, and claiming that I’m saying the game is racist, which was never the argument; or that I want a character that looks exactly like me, which again was never the argument, then I’m going to go in and let have. I’m not going to keep clarifying the same point a hundred times. I’m not about to sit around and let people put words in my mouth. I’m not going to let people claim that I’m trying to start a race war, when I’m not. Notice I haven’t been short-tempered with you or other people, just certain individuals because they kept deflecting. Everyone who is a member of this forum could use those same petty tactics against me, and I’m still not backing down.

It doesn’t matter if me insulting a select few people cheapens my argument against them, because their comments largely were irrelevant. Claiming I’m crying racism when I wasn’t cheapens their arguments. You have Vidu who doesn’t really care about the topic and has admitted it themselves, but yet chooses to vehemently comment. You have others mentioning Roegadyn, Au’Ra, and Miqo’te as if they have a point when the discussion is Hyurs. I wouldn’t discuss carpentry when everyone else is talking about sewing, and I wouldn’t say that the wooden tables available come in a brown hue when someone mentions that their thread doesn’t have that same color available.