"Doma" should not be "Pan-Asia"

[AutumnHarvestwind]

((This is a pretty unrelated noted, but I would love for there to be Philippine visual cues in Othard, as a half pilipina lol. ))
ETA: Think of it guys. THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES.

[Iromi]

Personally not really a fan of doma and the lore. I wish they did something more original.

[DamianFatale]

This is the Ghost In The Shell political correctness type crap all over again. Let me enlighten you, the Japanese people don't feel bad about anime characters being played by white people, and they don't care if asian culture gets lumped into one game, which I doubt it will. Ala Mhigo is more monk oriented like Tibet, Doma is more like mainland Japan, and from the clothing styles we've seen, Ratz A Han is like the middle east, which is technically asia. So no, they will not lump all of asia in one game. Doma and Ala Mhigo have a chance at being together, as well as the Xaela homeland, but there's still Ratz A Han which probably won't.

[Fenral]

If we get this qipao as a distribution—which was originally a Chinese-only item—I think it would be a bit insulting to the Chinese culture it was meant to celebrate to squash it into the game’s “Japanese culture” Doma. They already have a culture which takes cues from China—Ala Mhigo. Why not attend to your own lore?

If I'm reading this right, you're trying to get preemptively mad over something that will probably never happen in the way you envision it.

FFXIV is developed in Japan, by Japanese nationals, and the English localization is handled by a dude with the surname Koji-Fox. I'm pretty sure it's safe to trust them on something like this.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

To elaborate on my own earlier thoughts a bit...

Not to mention there is an extreme amount of racism between the various Asian cultures so calling it out is still legit.

You're not entirely wrong; there's seldom much love lost between the big East Asian nations, something which frequently results in all kinds of nasty prejudice, ignorance, and outright racism towards each other. The things is, the issue being discussed here - pan-asianism - is pretty much never how that manifests. Pan-Asianism is a very specifically Western thing, born of the fetishization of "the Orient" from colonial times and general human ignorance of cultures and places not right in our back yards. As difficult as things can get between Japan, Korea, and China, they tend to be pretty good about recognizing and acknowledging artefacts born of the other cultures as such.

So this brings us back to "harmless fantasy amalgam VS careless ignorance."

I'll be honest - I fully expect Doma (or at least its region) to be the in-game representation of East Asia as a whole, rather than Japan exclusively. Othard seems to be more or less Fantasy Asia thus far, true, but Real Asia is enormous and, as has been pointed out, encompasses a hugely diverse subset of nations and cultures. Southeast Asia has of course been mentioned, but it also encompasses the middle-east, Russia, India, and many others. If Othard is indeed meant to collectively represent a fantasy version of Asia, then it wouldn't be too much a stretch to expect it to work in regions, rather than specific nations, and that's gonna result in some broad strokes and fusing.

So is that problematic? Eeeh. Given the above, and given that it's a fantasy world anyways I think we'll be fine so long as it doesn't start infusing obvious real-world East Asian politics and prejudices into the proceedings (and frankly, an amalgamated Fantasy East Asia is much less likely to be problematic than one where there are distinct expies). Honestly, I think the only reason this has come up at all is the Doman/Raen naming conventions being explicitly Japanese; I have to wonder if this post would have been made if the nation with ninja had a more fantastic/original flavour to their names. I do hope that Othard as a whole will be more distinct from real-world Asia than not, but it's impossible to make that call when we know so little about them. I'll toss the dev team the benefit of the doubt for now, given how much leg work has clearly gone into making Hydaelyn a distinct world thus far.

(And that's assuming that much traditional culture still exists there at all, considering that the whole place was colonized by Garlemald after a brutal and costly war. I'm sure it will, since Othard will need to be distinct from Garlemald proper somehow if both places are explored in-depth, but still).

[DamianFatale]

Before making comments about asian appropriation, I would advise that you watch this. At first I was really upset about the Ghost In The Shell Movie thing, but then when I realized they actually encourage us to make the movie, it opened my mind. Now, I'm sure that actual asian appropriation exists. If I were to put on a yukata, and host a Japanese ceremony with no thorough research, I would be a moron. If I did it with class, and actually learned the right way of doing it, no one would probably say anything. I also wouldn't go around saying I'm Japanese when I'm not. That's downright annoying, and disrespectful. However, Japan actually seems to like it when Americans learn about their culture. I think its great, and also important to remember that MMOS, and the anime subculure are a NATIONAL thing on a global scale. It's not just about Japan. Anyway, watch it. It will probably open your eyes a little, like it did for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DhoBuU1Dtc

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

Before making comments about asian appropriation, I would advise that you watch this. At first I was really upset about the Ghost In The Shell Movie thing, but then when I realized they actually encourage us to make the movie, it opened my mind. Now, I'm sure that actual asian appropriation exists. If I were to put on a yukata, and host a Japanese ceremony with no thorough research, I would be a moron. If I did it with class, and actually learned the right way of doing it, no one would probably say anything. I also wouldn't go around saying I'm Japanese when I'm not. That's downright annoying, and disrespectful. However, Japan actually seems to like it when Americans learn about their culture. I think its great, and also important to remember that MMOS, and the anime subculure are a NATIONAL thing on a global scale. It's not just about Japan. Anyway, watch it. It will probably open your eyes a little, like it did for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DhoBuU1Dtc

It's a bit off topic (the GitS casting is completely unrelated on a number of levels) so spoiler tags, but...

It's true that, by and large, Japan doesn't care about the GiTS casting, but of course Japan doesn't care; Hollywood is effectively foreign cinema to them, and them caring would be like us caring who they cast as Spider-man or who Bollywood cast as Super-man, or something. They have no dog in the fight because it doesn't effect them, their film industry, or their population. No, the plight is that of the Asian-American community. Hollywood has huge issues with representation and stereotyping racial minorities into supporting roles, and here, we have a character with a Japanese name played by one of the highest-profile white actresses out there. Can ScarJo pull off the look? Sure. Does the work itself support the idea that the Major could be white? Arguably! All else equal, it's not a bad choice. But all else is demonstrably NOT equal and, at the end of the day, a good chance to throw a bone to an under-represented American demographic was ignored for possibly the laziest casting choice possible.

So while the GiTS film has the blessing of the makers and whatnot, I'm not positive that actually addresses the real issue behind the casting choice in the first place. Even if the movie is good - and that's a huge IF - and ScarJo is brilliant, a chance for an Asian-American actor to take center stage in a culturally-Asian story was passed over because it could be. THAT'S why people are upset, and I think they have every reason to be.

[FJerome]

((This is a pretty unrelated noted, but I would love for there to be Philippine visual cues in Othard, as a half pilipina lol. ))
ETA: Think of it guys. THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES.

I think this is aesthetic is already there, in a scattershot sort of way, in the South Sea items (specifically the talisman and the furniture). My lot's from Mindanao, mind, so I'd also like to see more items with a Malay aesthetic too.

[Fenral]

snip

If you really want to go there...

A number of Japanese fans said they would be offended if the part was given to a non-Japanese Asian woman. Don't use the term "Asian-American" if you mean specifically people of Japanese descent. If you're using it to mean "any Asian would be fine, just not white," then you're actually touting an extremely narrow-minded opinion that only masquerades as acceptance. The GiTS movie is using a number of Japanese actors in major roles, actually, just not as the Major.

But this is getting pretty far from FFXIV.

[Jackald]

I don't really see the problem, I mean Ishgard is clearly an analogue for a sort of victorian super-europe, what with all the ultra gothic architecture and steam powered contraptions, especially now that Ishgard has the exact same governance system as the UK: A house of Lords and House of Commons.