Well, you played it by yourself because of your own thread...
This thread reminds me of old Shark Fin Soup to be honest :)
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You know what? I actually do like a lot of your points and it certainly helps put things into perspective. You also gave it a fair discussion without coming in swinging like most people so I really respect that.
I'm on the half and half point that I still don't like the chair in general and what it looks like/still wish it looked more dignified. I'd really rather it have been named in general "heightened chair" or something more fanciful if it was going to be a general item for all instead of what we expected it to be. This is also me and other lalafell players in general still wishing for dwarven furniture but... -shrugs-
But your point of potential furniture later down the line and what people would say then did make me think on it. I guess it all comes down to how they incorporate it in a respectful manner.
I'd love to see other racial furniture that made sense to each particular party. Whether that be enormous roegadyn/hrothgar sized or something more aspected to a clan's culture such as a viera's homeland or the like.
There is a severe disconnect in any MMO. Whether people want to acknowledge this fact or not: the pixels one sees on the screen are "connected" to a real human being on the other side of said screen. A human being with a heart, soul, & mind. That is not something that can be denied.
In my experience in FFXIV: those who play Lalafell do so for a simple reason... They like playing the shortest race in the game & (according to some sources) the race with the fastest "appearance wise" ground movement speed. Those I know who play Lalafell, play them because of those reasons or how they can "look cute" in just about any outfit. I know several people who play Lalafell who are in different countries & different ages: none of them view Lalafell as "children" in FFXIV. True, the lore given does not do a good job at pin pointing their "age bracket" & we do see "children" of other races in the game. However, to summarily say that a race "possessed of a childlike countenance" automatically makes them children in the game is difficult for me to grasp. I will not deny that there are those who would perverse such for their own ends; but, I dare say your average FFXIV player would not.
Let me put it this way:
A man with a family decides to play FFXIV. He decides to play a male Lalafell because he finds the "cowlick" in one of the hairstyles adorable and reminds him of his hair as a child. Going off of pure aesthetics alone: does that automatically make him a pedo?
A woman with a family decides to play FFXIV. She decides to play Hrothgar because she likes their tiger/lion like appearance. Going off of pure aesthetics alone: does that automatically make her a "furry?"
A young man decides to play FFIXIV. He decides to play as a male Elezen, chooses the "boyish" face because he himself still looks "boyish" & wants his character to match. Not knowing the lore behind Elezen & going off of pure aesthetics alone: does that automatically make him a "giraffe?"
I could continue to give examples; but, I think my meaning is clear. In my opinion: it is not the chair that has Lalafell players in an uproar; but, the stereotype given to Lalafell players as a means of reinforced belittlement & harassment. The "chair" has been used to give voice to a much larger issue & over all concern among the Lalafell players in the FFXIV. Instead of reacting with telling players they are being irrational or to fantasia to another race: have a little empathy for a change & try to see where they are coming from. To the Lalafell players who saw the "chair" & laughed at it or simply said "Ok; but, that is not something I want to use," thank you for not viewing it as a sign of preconceived indignation. While I am guilty of what I am about to say: with all the other issues in the world going on right now, to have a 33 page forum post regarding a housing item become a major issue of conversation.... Well, maybe a quote from FFXIV is correct: "There is no hope for mankind."
Obviously not the other poster, but I'm so glad that you've truly listened to them and that their extremely well-articulated comment helped to give you a broader perspective on this situation.
Can we delete the thread now..? Seriously, I'm not even joking.
People are kicking off about hate against lalafell players but I promise you that this thread is doing so much more damage to you guys than any other thing possibly could have without all of this dramatisation of the chair. People vibe so hard with drama because it tickles a little part of their brain and they'll just keep coming back for more tickles... and usually they're exactly the kind of person who's going to say things you don't like just to stir it up and stop the drama from dying down.
Start a new thread, in the right forum location, and ask for the chair to be dyeable like many other furniture items are; I'm going to back you on that 100%. I think it was a real poor move on SE's part for not making it properly dyeable so that people could make it fit in better and choose just how childlike or not this item appears to be, and I'd like to see them fix it. To do that, though, they don't need to remove the chair or change the name/flavour text - they just need to consider that most people won't want a white chair in the middle of their living space.
I am going to expound a bit more on what I previously said. The "beauty" of games like FFXIV is that it allow many people to be in game what they cannot be in real life for various reasons. A young man who is struggling to be a bodybuilder might find comfort in being able to play as a Roe in FFXIV. A young woman who struggles with self esteem issues might find comfort in being able to look beautiful in FFXIV. The point is: no one knows what is going on with the person who is playing the character. If everyone would treat everyone like human beings and not just "pixels" on a screen... FFXIV and other MMOs would be alot better off in the long run. I am not saying it will be perfect and as no human is perfect; but, if everyone strove to treat everyone with respect and common decency: then things like this would have to take place. Yes, Lalafells were and are targeted by inscrutable individuals with disgusting motives. Yes, there are people who are "uncomfortable" with seeing Lalafells in certain venues. Don't see the Lalafell... Try to see the person on the other side of the screen.
So let's see...
Lalafells are the reason why the WoL can never physically interact with other characters in cutscenes, be that fighting against enemies or even something as simple as hugging one of the Scions, to the point that the only relevant interaction is grabbing the Exarch's staff in the 5.3 trial, which still had to move the Exarch around to accommodate the child race.
Lalafells get unique areas that other races are not allowed to access.
Lalafells are the race for whom most emotes are actually created and then not adjusted to look good on other races.
More characters on the hero (Pipin, Tataru, Krile, Nanamo, Momodi, Giott, Lamitt, Wedge, Dewlala, Papashan, Shamani, Anogg, Konogg, and Papalymo) side are lalafells than any other race and second most on the villain side (Lolorito, Teledji, and Yuyuhase) behind only the Garleans.
And yet despite all this Lalafell players who picked the race literally designed to look like toddlers and described as "child-like" in the character creator really think SE discriminates against them because of one incredibly light jab in an item description?
Someone explain the logic to me.
And yet despite all this Lalafell players who picked the race literally designed to look like ̶t̶o̶d̶d̶l̶e̶r̶s̶ loot Goblins and described as ̶"̶c̶h̶i̶l̶d̶-̶l̶i̶k̶e̶"̶ ̶ Goblinesque in the character creator really think SE discriminates against them because of one incredibly light jab in an item description?
Fixed it for you.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...737&height=135
What did YoshiP mean by this then?
Developer intent is rarely 1:1 with community perception.
Most people playing lala aren't playing them because they are child-like, they are playing them because they are devious little gremlin energy having chaos hobos.
Infact, the people who play lala as child-like make the rest of us rather uncomfortable due to the close association with a weird little subset of sussy RPers that give off a bad vibe.