SE Please Stop. Dialogue that Presumes My Sexual Orientation Breaks Immersion.

[Chasely]

2/3 of the leaders (4/5 if you count Nanamo) 3 of the scions, and Yugiri are female.
The only males in the main story of any real importance are Urianger, Thancred, Papalymo, Cid, and Raubahn on the heroes' side. The twins too but they cancel each other out thanks to being opposite genders. Hell Thancred was "in distress" longer than Minfilia was! Also, Minfilia is a bureaucrat, not a combatant. Like Nanamo, who is an aristocrat. You don't have to be a combatant to be a strong woman.

The gender balance in FFXIV is better than the games that preceded it AND succeeded it in the franchise.

And I explained why all of those women were placed there simply as pretty figureheads who contribute nothing to the overall story. You could remove every single one of them and all we'd lose are a few 'well-placed' camera shots. Even when Thancred was in distress, he was still in a position of power. He was chosen because he was strong. He was given depth and vulnerability. His recovery also made him a better character. Minfilia got tied up and tortured, all of her comrades were brutally murdered, and she came out of it exactly the same as before she went in. Her resolve wasn't strengthened, she didn't join in the fight. She doesn't even interact with foreign dignitaries. She sends other people out to do all of that for her. I dread every single time I have to go talk to her, because I know exactly how it will go down, "Oh, gee... I-- I just don't know what to do! Someone please decide for me!"

And Raubahn does what exactly? Or Thancred except for being mind controlled? They don't make decisions or jack either. Cid, Biggs, and Wedge all join the peanut gallery and leave you to deal with the dragon and ultima, etc. and only show up when they are dead like Garuda. You are the main actor of the story, the rest are props to help move the story along.

I think some people are deliberately misinterpreting it as "forced lesbian interactions between female PCs and NPCs". If that floats your boat fine. Other wise there is nothing going on and it is only your imagination at work.

Raubahn runs the entire country from the shadows. He set up transportation for us, helped us get information on enemy locations, helped us with supplies, and he protects the poor, weak Nanamo from the big, bad syndicate. Thancred joins us on intelligence gathering missions, he fights with us early on, he has the best fight scenes in the game, and when Minfilia finally decided to almost do something of value, he went along to protect her. Cid created the devices we needed in order to access new parts of the game. Biggs and Wedge taught us lore and helped us track down some bad guys. jsut becuase they didn't join us for raids does not mean they weren't presented as strong, capable characters.

[NyarukoW]

...
Raubahn runs the entire country from the shadows. He set up transportation for us, helped us get information on enemy locations, helped us with supplies, and he protects the poor, weak Nanamo from the big, bad syndicate. ...

Sounds like an administrator/bureaucrat to me like Minfilia. Minfilia does the same sort of thing and is leading the effort to protect all of Eorzea. You choose to look at that things from a limited perspective and then falsely represent what you see. If anything SE has been very even in treatment of all its storyline characters as well as the part-time extras they fit here and there. This discussion here and the so-called outrage is really nothing more than a storm in a teacup. Let SE have the freedom and benefit of the doubt to tell the story as they like. Do NOT go off on possible misinterpretation and then get all mad get all holier-than-thou with everyone.

[LunaHoshino]

Even when Thancred was in distress, he was still in a position of power. He was chosen because he was strong.

What? You're absolutely wrong. He was chosen because he ran himself ragged to the point it made him weak and therefore vulnerable to influence.

If you actually pay attention to his character at all, he spends a lot of time worrying that he's not up to par compared with the other Scions-- in other words, that he isn't strong.