Wedding service in FFXIV

[quantumsaint]

After reading about Yoshida confirming that there will be female Rogeadyn, and male Mi'qote available on PS3 release, a thought occurred to me. When FFXIV gets its inevitable wedding service (once the game is brought up to par), will same sex marriage be allowed? And for that matter, will interracial marriages be allowed?

In FFXI, players could only marry players of the opposite sex, which is being seen more and more as a viewpoint from the last generation. With each of the races finally having their own respective mates of the opposite sex, will we be limited to marrying within our own species? Or will we allowed to marry outside of our species, as long as the person we are marrying is of the opposite gender?

These concerns may seem dumb to some, but I remember the issue being hotly contested more than once on FFXI forums, and there is still no same sex marriage allowed in game, much to the chagrin of many of the players.

I never did get married in FFXI, but I know there were people that wanted to marry their Mithras or whatnot and were unable to. I'd hate for something similar to happen in FFXIV and cause frustration for other FF lovers again.

Serious topic. Serious answers only, please.

[Malakhim]

Do you really know why same-sex marriage wasn't allowed in FFXI? It's probably the exact same thing holding it back from FFXIV, which is to say the Japanese aren't entirely cool with the idea(more like they find it outrageous), and being that FFXIV is a Japanese game, well there you go.

Not to mention that as much as it boggles the mind, same sex marriage is still a red button topic for a lot of societies, and game developers would rather avoid that kind of flak.

[quantumsaint]

Do you really know why same-sex marriage wasn't allowed in FFXI? It's probably the exact same thing holding it back from FFXIV, which is to say the Japanese aren't entirely cool with the idea(more like they find it outrageous), and being that FFXIV is a Japanese game, well there you go.

Not to mention that as much as it boggles the mind, same sex marriage is still a red button topic for a lot of societies, and game developers would rather avoid that kind of flak.

Very good point. Allow me to retort.

More games are allowing same sex relations (Fable, Fallout, Mass Effect) than there used to be. Yes, those are western games, but FFXIV is being designed to appeal to western sensibilities. Will FFXIV be one of those games that is opening up to same sex relations, or will it fall back on hetero marriages only in the name of "playing it safe"? I don't know. That's why I made this topic.

[Jennestia]

There's actually a pretty well known public speaker in Japan that's openly Lesbian and many don't have too HUGE of problems with her, least where I'm from. It's like the whole gambling situation -- while in the west there's tons of cities dedicated purely for it, but in Japan for the most part it's still pretty taboo but that didn't stop it from making it's way into XI -- Same sex marriages is awhole didn't game considering how touchy people are in the west.

While you bring up those games you also forgot to mention they were scrutinized for a different reason, so yeah they pushed the bar but they also got media and censorboards keeping a very keen eye on the video game market now.

[DeadRiser]

Who cares. If Humans can marry animals in this game, why can't they marry the same sex? I mean lore wise

[Verecund]

I thought the Japanese stopped getting married these days.

[quantumsaint]

There's actually a pretty well known public speaker in Japan that's openly Lesbian and many don't have too HUGE of problems with her, least where I'm from. It's like the whole gambling situation -- while in the west there's tons of cities dedicated purely for it, but in Japan for the most part it's still pretty taboo but that didn't stop it from making it's way into XI -- Same sex marriages is awhole didn't game considering how touchy people are in the west.

While you bring up those games you also forgot to mention they were scrutinized for a different reason, so yeah they pushed the bar but they also got media and censorboards keeping a very keen eye on the video game market now.

I thought Japan was all about gambling. (Pachinko?)

[Jennestia]

Who cares. If Humans can marry animals in this game, why can't they marry the same sex? I mean lore wise

I don't recall any human > beast couples in the game, but it's been a long time since I did the entire storyline. If you mean say Hyur and Miqote, that's not human and animal, as Miqotes are still very categorized as human. If it was a Hyur and his pet Billygoat, then yeah.

I thought Japan was all about gambling. (Pachinko?)

Not in all areas, just like out west every place may have a casino or two but there's always a hot spot for that kind of thing.

[Xeak]

Even if SE refuses to allow same sex marriages, that won't necessarily stop players from doing it. When it's possible to sign items players will hold their own unofficial wedding for same sexes and trade each other signed rings. That's how it was done in FFXI (I knew a lot of gays, bis, and lesbians).

[Synthesis]

Let Wedding be part of epic story quest.