As it's Valentione's Day, I ask do we even need in-game marriage; period!

[Tahldon]

I cannot support a company financially who does not support equality in love.

I tend to get the feeling that you want the FFXIV team to take a stance regardless of what the parent company as a whole, the board of directors, the shareholders, other companies, as well as any partner organizations, as well as other players in differing country markets desire.

Sure it's a few lines of code to make it happen, but it's the stance behind it that's what is keeping the team from doing so. I'm sure that if Yoshi-P and team could just slip those few lines of code in and things just so happened to remain quiet, they'd do so. But we all know that there would be multiple articles published about it -- to agree or disagree with the decision. That single decision would get loud. All across the spectrum, it'd be a thing to be heard about. Look at the press that BioWare got from the Dragon Age and Mass Effect games. And then SE has to deal with the fact that they just jumped into a political issue and took any sort of stance. If they do it, it's going to hit the media in some form or fashion. The spot-light is going to be on them and they'll have to make statements.

I'm sure that the company wants to be as non-involved as it can be when it comes to things because they have to consider their financial impact as well. As I said earlier, it's not as simple as popping in a few lines of code. There are multiple things to consider with this entire situation. Personally, I have no issues with same-sex marriage in the slightest, but SE isn't in a predicament to take a political stance on this and it's likely coming from the top of the ladder, down.


It's not that they don't support it, it's that they have to consider any and all financial repercussions that would come with taking a hard stance. You have to consider the business aspect of this. If you're just thinking that they're doing it because they want to be unfair, then I'd wager you're very much mistaken in that aspect. Consider their position as a business, their country of origin, the values in that country, as well as their financial situations as of recently, then you would likely consider "why" they're trying to be as hands off as possible.

As a Japanese software company, the last thing they want to do is to throw a wrench into their finances because they are leading a charge on a topic hotly debated in politics. They just want to make software and distribute it to as many consumers as possible. I'm sure they're not trying to be a trailblazer on anything aside from that.

Which, again, is why I am for scrapping the whole thing. Or, they could do as some others have said here, just implement the pieces and let the players do as they will. On that, I can agree is the safest. Again, I don't believe it's that they don't support anything, it's that they can't get involved for fear of jeopardizing their income as a company.

[KBdeni]

If they want something more functional. why not make a bonding system with no romantic connotations at all? It can be completely platonic, unless the players decide they want it to mean something more.

2 People can receive rings or something, and it'll give them stat boosts when they're both on at the same time. They can also teleport to each other or get additional boosts when in the same party.

But instead of calling it marriage, it can just be sort of like a partner system. That way, people can still play with their spouses and significant others, no matter the gender. And it won't offend anyone as much due to the fact that friends can be using the system as well.

Not sure if that makes sense... just an idea. Ideally, I would like a marriage system that allows same-sex, but I can understand why they wouldn't want to implement it due to political reasons.

[Tahldon]

If they want something more functional. why not make a bonding system with no romantic connotations at all? It can be completely platonic, unless the players decide they want it to mean something more.

2 People can receive rings or something, and it'll give them stat boosts when they're both on at the same time. They can also teleport to each other or get additional boosts when in the same party.

But instead of calling it marriage, it can just be sort of like a partner system. That way, people can still play with their spouses and significant others, no matter the gender. And it won't offend anyone as much due to the fact that friends can be using the system as well.

Not sure if that makes sense... just an idea. Ideally, I would like a marriage system that allows same-sex, but I can understand why they wouldn't want to implement it due to political reasons.

Actually this would be a great opportunity to re-introduce the concept of "Path Companions".

[shadowrell_d-_-b]

Sooo you been playing this long without any marriage system at all and you mean to tell me that if they do put one in and it happens to not allow two fictional same sex kat ppl, elf ppl, miget ppl, or hulking ppl to get married you will stop playing? foolishness! its almost like you people are crying for attention, this is such a stupid issue!

I personally hope they do allow marriage for same sex and I am hetero, but only because I think it would be more interesting then regular hetero only marriage not because of equality BS this is a Game if your life is soo screwed up that you bring real life social issues into a game to escape some jaded reality you shouldn't be playing games, you should be seeking some mental help.

[Nikita]

Oh the controversy!

Why add Leviathan? People will just complain about lag and how it's not x-role friendly.

Why add more turns to coil? People will just complain about vertical progression.

Why add more minions? People will just complain about how they serve no purpose.

Big or small no matter the topic someone will always find something to complain about, and yet this really seems to be the only one people are suggesting they simply not add at all. You're focusing so much on the negativity that you're losing sight of what this was intended for and how much fun some people could have with it.

I'm all for equality and I want them to add this. I don't care if they call it something other than marriage or how they work around ill-conceived social stigmas. I don't even mind if they start out m/f and ease into gay marriage. To suggest that they not add it at all however is just pathetic. It's truely sad that anyone would consider giving into the negativity surrounding the topic when the feature would only serve to add greater depth to the world.

[Penguinmayhem]

I really cannot see a significant number of people that will be outraged or quit over them not implementing marriage...

Not implementing it at all is by far the "safest" decision that will anger the least number of people. Seriously.

Not really. Not implementing it at all frustrates everyone who wanted it in the first place, gay or otherwise, alienates both sides all the more for the perceived failure for the company to take a side, and comes off as an executive refusal to give players a service they ask for simply because the company is too afraid to offend anyone.

[Penguinmayhem]

blah blah blah etc etc

While you do have a point, I also feel like Square have already opened this can of worms with the Valentione's Day event. If they back out on it now, it's only going to make people angry.

Besides which, this is a topic that more people, corporation or otherwise, should be taking a stand on.

[Sheer]

This is the epitome of a "darned if you do, darned if you don't" situation. Add marriage and everyone's who's against it for whatever reason will come out; don't add it, and everyone who wants it will continue to push for it.

[Duelle]

Why arcanist?
With the marine tradition a Musketeer would fit better (maybe the Admiral herself if one of the two have a high GC rank). Arcanists are only customs officials.

The assessors of Maelvaan's Gate seem to have a good amount of authority behind them. At least the ACN quesline has given me that impression.

Musketeers would most likely be rank and file military, and I highly doubt their quesline would involve a rise through the ranks to where they wield any real sort of authority. The admiral wouldn't be an option since I push for non-involvement.

[Naunet]

If not-inclusive, the LGBT community will cry foul. If inclusive, the other side will cry foul. Seems like too much of a headache.

I really, really, really think ya'll are inflating the latter side well beyond what would happen.

But we all know that there would be multiple articles published about it -- to agree or disagree with the decision.

Where are the multiple articles published about Trion's marriage system? Oh, that's right, they're all focusing on the record breaking online marriage-a-thon, with maybe a passing mention that it has no gender restrictions. >_> I highly doubt the media reaction to FFXIV would be any different, and the only reason it might be is because SE has decided to make it an issue. If they would just release it without fanfare save for "Yay, now player characters can get married!" I can almost guarantee you it would go over like water over glass. Hell, maybe even distract everyone by trying to one-up Rift's world record.