A request to those who are unhappy with gender lock

[Efrye]

What would happen if a big number of players would unsub and SE doesn't make profit with ff14 because of the Vieragate? SE would NOT spend extra resources to implement male Viera. They would simply shut down the servers, shrug and move to another game.

It's almost funny how often this argument crops up. This is not how large publishers operate, especially not Square Enix. They completely recreated this game from scratch to keep it from failing, remember? Do you really think adding two genders is where they'd draw the line and stop investing? SE is a huge company. No matter how many would decide to drop their sub, it would not be nearly enough to affect their day to day operations. Here's what can happen:

Option A) The lost revenue from the dropped subs is higher than the cost of adding two more genders, and thus they add them to increase profits.
Option B) Adding two more genders is more expensive than what they would gain from the lost subs, and so they shrug it off.
Option C) Adding two more genders is more expensive than what they would gain from the lost subs, but they add them anyway because they don't want to damage their brand.

[Anvaire]

It's almost funny how often this argument crops up. This is not how large publishers operate, especially not Square Enix. They completely recreated this game from scratch to keep it from failing, remember? Do you really think adding two genders is where they'd draw the line and stop investing? SE is a huge company. No matter how many would decide to drop their sub, it would not be nearly enough to affect their day to day operations. Here's what can happen:

Option A) The lost revenue from the dropped subs is higher than the cost of adding two more genders, and thus they add them to increase profits.
Option B) Adding two more genders is more expensive than what they would gain from the lost subs, and so they shrug it off.
Option C) Adding two more genders is more expensive than what they would gain from the lost subs, but they add them anyway because they don't want to damage their brand.

Out of all of these, I would think option C is the most likely in this case. But what is most important right now, is that as a community we raise our concerns with the Devs. I think given the noise so far, they should give a fair account / explanation. To not do so will only give rise to the impression that they do not care for the player base. That however is something i do not feel is the case. I think this situation has arisen from trying to cater to camps, but in doing so have caused double the backlash and disappointment, i'm not sure this is something they would want to do intentionally.

[Efrye]

Out of all of these, I would think option C is the most likely in this case. But what is most important right now, is that as a community we raise our concerns with the Devs. I think given the noise so far, they should give a fair account / explanation. To not do so will only give rise to the impression that they do not care for the player base. That however is something i do not feel is the case. I think this situation has arisen from trying to cater to camps, but in doing so have caused double the backlash and disappointment, i'm not sure this is something they would want to do intentionally.

I would like to think so as well, but I'm having a hard time believing that they didn't know how the community feels about this. This has been a topic of discussion long in advance, so even if there wasn't enough time to create both genders for the launch of Shadowbringers, they could at least have announced that they will be added at a later date. I think they're just hoping that it will be forgotten in time.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

What would happen if a big number of players would unsub and SE doesn't make profit with ff14 because of the Vieragate? SE would NOT spend extra resources to implement male Viera. They would simply shut down the servers, shrug and move to another game.

Anyone who believes and follows this movement is expecting most the Playerbase to be Westerners that put all the value on a Gender of a videogame...
This protest is just childish, learn to take disappointment people and move on with your lives
Better off....please unsub and quit, so the rest of us who want a fun videogame and don't care about gender politics can have a good time. And continue to help new players looking for a fun time.

[Ilan]

It's almost funny how often this argument crops up. This is not how large publishers operate, especially not Square Enix. They completely recreated this game from scratch to keep it from failing, remember? Do you really think adding two genders is where they'd draw the line and stop investing? SE is a huge company. No matter how many would decide to drop their sub, it would not be nearly enough to affect their day to day operations. Here's what can happen:

Option A) The lost revenue from the dropped subs is higher than the cost of adding two more genders, and thus they add them to increase profits.
Option B) Adding two more genders is more expensive than what they would gain from the lost subs, and so they shrug it off.
Option C) Adding two more genders is more expensive than what they would gain from the lost subs, but they add them anyway because they don't want to damage their brand.

That is what a company does if a product is not profitable anymore and that would happen if suddenly a gigantic amount of players would quit, what they are obviously not. Recreating this game was one thing but that doesn't mean they gonna safe it over and over again.

@Zanarkand-Ronso why the heck are you quoting me when you write this? I didn't complain a single bit about the genderlocked races, i just gave an example for the people who want to unsub because of it. So better read properly before writing.

[Anvaire]

Though i am loathe to admit it as i always try to sit on the optimistic side, i fully agree with you.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

It's almost funny how often this argument crops up. This is not how large publishers operate, especially not Square Enix. They completely recreated this game from scratch to keep it from failing, remember? Do you really think adding two genders is where they'd draw the line and stop investing? SE is a huge company. No matter how many would decide to drop their sub, it would not be nearly enough to affect their day to day operations. Here's what can happen:

Option A) The lost revenue from the dropped subs is higher than the cost of adding two more genders, and thus they add them to increase profits.
Option B) Adding two more genders is more expensive than what they would gain from the lost subs, and so they shrug it off.
Option C) Adding two more genders is more expensive than what they would gain from the lost subs, but they add them anyway because they don't want to damage their brand.

Option C is a little over the top.
The brand is fine and will remain intact, caving in and changing their mind for something so trivia would instead damage the brand; because they caved and bent the knee. I think the developers should make their own decisions, the playerbase; while they support the developers, shouldn't have so much power. Especially if that power is just from the very loud Minority.

Im hoping for Option B, because this issue will blow over

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

@Zanarkand-Ronso why the heck are you quoting me when you write this? I didn't complain a single bit about the genderlocked races, i just gave an example for the people who want to unsub because of it. So better read properly before writing.

I was replying to what you said, and needlessly added a General reply to others that might read it.
Sounds like that wasn't understood

[Jinxie]

unsubbing is absolutely going to get the message across. It's not going to cause them to fire developers, it's going to cause them to look over what they've done that could have caused the drop. A lot of people just assume unsub numbers IMMEDIATELY impact the bottom line. They don't. They are simply a player's way of voicing their concern in a way that is trackable and places a dollar value on exactly whatever the issue is. Blizzard has had this happen several times in the past. When it did, they'd reassess their stance, and often times either bow to what the players wanted, or at LEAST compromise leaving both parties happy. It does NOT have to be SE's way or the highway.

If they invested the money to revamp a dying game, they obviously place value on this title. They will invest to fix issues that players have, if they have the numbers to show both financially AND on the forums that 'yo, boss, this isn't good'. It's a simple business. Gaming companies LOVE numbers man.

[Efrye]

That is what a company does if a product is not profitable anymore and that would happen if suddenly a gigantic amount of players would quit, what they are obviously not. Recreating this game was one thing but that doesn't mean they gonna safe it over and over again.

Like mentioned many times before, it's not about "a gigantic amount of players" quitting. That's not going to happen. It's about enough players dropping their sub renewal to make them notice and potentially rethink their decision to create gender locked races.