Open Letter to the Devs Regarding Eden's Verse: Reflugence [Spoilers]

[heiligeharmonie]

At what point was Ryne's age stated? At what point was any characters specific age stated?
She may be "underdeveloped", but she could easily pass as 18 in asia, which just so happens to be where the game is developed, where the age of consent also happens to be on average, lower than countries in the west, not that its relevant. If she had the standard child model that made her look like 8 years old, you might have some basis for an argument, but as it is, she's just a fictional character with an unspecified age that just so happens to look "young"...If 1/3rd of her character model's volume was breasts, but she still otherwise looked the same, would we even be having this discussion?

I did say that I usually try to take potential cultural differences into account when I find something distasteful. And I am well aware that the general assumption is that the devs tend to care more about what the Japanese player base thinks than any others. My assumption here is that if this is something that's not viewed as inappropriate in Japan, then they likely didn't think about it being inappropriate elsewhere, which is probably why I'm not in here actually spewing fire and brimstone. But they actively market to a western audience , so they do actually need to be aware of what is and isn't acceptable. No, this isn't some game breaking conflict, but I don't see why that would mean I or anyone else shouldn't point it out.

Also, it's quite bold of you to assume no one would have thrown a fit about Ryne being 1/3rd breasts the minute she was introduced as a young character.

[Breezelyn]

Fiction =/= reality. Can people not grasp this? I get people have different opinions but Ryne is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. FICTIONAL.
It's a video game. It's not meant to be real.
If you truly care about "young people being portrayed sexually", go donate to local funds that actually HELP young people that are in trouble? It isn't going to change. The fight was developed and released the way it is. What I don't understand why you are so concerned about what she looks like instead of the fight itself, the voice acting, and mechanics. It might just be a you problem, OP.

[heiligeharmonie]

I’ve been progging E8S for a while now, and this thought literally never crossed my mind. This honestly sounds like it’s a personal problem/perception on your part, OP.

The fact that other people didn't notice a problem does not mean there isn't one. It just might mean you're not as well tuned to picking up these kinds of things.

I don't understand. When I was doing that fight, I just thought "oh wow they went all out" with the animations and Shiva's costume. Not to mention the voice acting surprised me, but a welcomed surprise! OP, are you sure you aren't the one with the dirty mind here?

You know, I probably shouldn't waste time typing an articulated response to a weak attempt against my own morality, but I see an opportunity to make a point.

Given the amount of crap on the internet and in media I've been exposed to over my life, I would have to say that in some aspects, I do have a dirty mind. I've seen and experienced things that result in stuff like this jumping out at me when I see it. I'm a woman who has grown up in a sea of commercialism, who was taught that I'm responsible for how others see by body, and that I shouldn't dress certain ways if I don't want people to look at me a certain way.

And before anyone says I just contradicted myself with that last statement, I will point out I was a teenager (and am now an adult) with agency and the ability to chose whether I want to deal with how other people react my appearance. Ryne, as a fictional character, does not have that, so it falls to her creators to consider those things.

[heiligeharmonie]

Well Ryne says at one point that Alisae and Alphinaud are around her age, so Ryne is 16 or 17. Though I doubt the twins haven't passed their birthday by now since ARR so maybe 17 - 18? Anyway point being, from that alone we know for a fact she is in her mid to late teens.

I think it would have been a bit strange to have Ysayle's face instead of Ryne given Ryne is the vessel for the summoning. Primal Shiva's face is quite similar to Ysayle's and possibly looks nothing like Shiva the elezen.

I suppose you could say the skimpy outfits are because that's what Ysayle's version of Shiva wore, but it wasn't really necessary to make them so skimpy in my opinion. SE could have opted to design outfits that covered more skin but still maintain the Shiva primal aesthetic. Especially the savage transformation. She doesn't need to be naked save for a dragon's body barely covering her to make a point about them being intertwined.

I would have so been down with the outfit designs being more modest. Only reason I didn't request that was, I thought redesigning her bodies might have involved more work than swapping heads.

[VenKitsune]

The fact that other people didn't notice a problem does not mean there isn't one. It just might mean you're not as well tuned to picking up these kinds of things.

No, this means that it's a "You" problem, not a problem anyone else needs to think about. Has ANYONE in this thread shared your opinion? No? Is anyone forcing to play the game against your will? No? Well, then deal with it, simple as that.
FF14 is a work of fiction, and its entirely up to you if you enjoy it, and you shouldn't need to look for sympathy for something that really isn't a problem to begin with. Deal with it, move on, play it or don't play it, you've seen the reaction people have to to this in this very thread, SE won't do anything about it, and neither will they listen because ultimately you're not in the majority in your opinion.

One more thing i wanted to add - I'm personally attracted to those of the fairer sex, and not once did i ever think any of the things you mentioned. Would it be a problem if it was a young male character with large biceps as a boss? It's a fight, we're literally trying to kill her, not to butter her up and take her out on a date and book a room in a hotel for her. you're the one at fault for even opening this avenue of thought in the first place, before coming to this thread i never even viewed there to be anything remotely wrong with E8 in this regard, i would stop while you're ahead, you're not going to get anything out of this other than ridicule and snarky remarks, its just something you have to deal with, because as i said before, this sounds more like a personal issue than anything and ultimately not something worth discussing, as you'll notice, people on this thread aren't discussing the issue you've presented, but rather your perception of the "issue".

[HyoMinPark]

The fact that other people didn't notice a problem does not mean there isn't one. It just might mean you're not as well tuned to picking up these kinds of things.

So, basically what you’re saying is that I’m not as “well-tuned” at instantly sexualizing a virtual character for literally no reason and with very little provocation to do so?

As I said, a personal perception problem on your part.

[heiligeharmonie]

Fiction =/= reality. Can people not grasp this? I get people have different opinions but Ryne is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. FICTIONAL.
It's a video game. It's not meant to be real.
If you truly care about "young people being portrayed sexually", go donate to local funds that actually HELP young people that are in trouble? It isn't going to change. The fight was developed and released the way it is. What I don't understand why you are so concerned about what she looks like instead of the fight itself, the voice acting, and mechanics. It might just be a you problem, OP.

I'm honestly already getting tired of the "it's just a you problem." The fact that some of the first responses to this thread were, "ugh, another post about this?" is proof that on this forum alone, I'm not the only one with the problem. I can just as easily say that the fact that you see nothing wrong with the design is a you problem.

I apparently wasn't clear enough when I said that a fictional portrayal of a child is still a portrayal of a child. Something being fictional doesn't outright excuse problematic things. It's one thing if a point is trying to be made about that problematic thing, but that's not the case here.

Not saying that you are one, but 'It's just a cartoon, it's not real,' is exactly what an actual pedophile would say in his defense for getting off on cartoon porn of children. That's kind of why we shouldn't consider the sexualization of fictitious children to be "fine"; it provides actual pedophiles to with a safe grey area. No, I am not deluded enough to think that FFXIV is going to effect that perception on a grand scale, but doesn't it hurt to want them to not be part of the problem, does it?

I also said that I did find the fight itself to be a great design, but that the thought of Ryne being portrayed as she is distracted me from it. I can't help but wonder if you actually read the letter, or just saw a general opinion that you don't agree with and decided to voice your dissent.

I also shouldn't be expected to list my qualifications for holding a certain opinion. You don't know what I do or don't do to help exploited children. That doesn't matter.

[heiligeharmonie]

No, this means that it's a "You" problem, not a problem anyone else needs to think about. Has ANYONE in this thread shared your opinion? No? Is anyone forcing to play the game against your will? No? Well, then deal with it, simple as that.
FF14 is a work of fiction, and its entirely up to you if you enjoy it, and you shouldn't need to look for sympathy for something that really isn't a problem to begin with. Deal with it, move on, play it or don't play it, you've seen the reaction people have to to this in this very thread, SE won't do anything about it, and neither will they listen because ultimately you're not in the majority in your opinion.

One more thing i wanted to add - I'm personally attracted to those of the fairer sex, and not once did i ever think any of the things you mentioned. Would it be a problem if it was a young male character with large biceps as a boss? It's a fight, we're literally trying to kill her, not to butter her up and take her out on a date and book a room in a hotel for her. you're the one at fault for even opening this avenue of thought in the first place, before coming to this thread i never even viewed there to be anything remotely wrong with E8 in this regard, i would stop while you're ahead, you're not going to get anything out of this other than ridicule and snarky remarks, its just something you have to deal with, because as i said before, this sounds more like a personal issue than anything and ultimately not something worth discussing, as you'll notice, people on this thread aren't discussing the issue you've presented, but rather your perception of the "issue".

No one coming in to show support here does not mean they don't exist. Being a minority doesn't mean I'm wrong, nor does it guarantee the devs won't see my point, if they do end up seeing my letter.

I didn't post here looking for support from the community, nor did I expect it here, given what I've been told about the forum and what I've seen myself in the past. I posted here because it was the best way I knew to attempt to get something in front of the devs. I considered it a long shot.

[Mesarthim]

I'm honestly already getting tired of the "it's just a you problem." The fact that some of the first responses to this thread were, "ugh, another post about this?" is proof that on this forum alone, I'm not the only one with the problem.

You misread. They're tired of complaint threads from people like you. They did not post saying this was a problem.

[VenKitsune]

No one coming in to show support here does not mean they don't exist. Being a minority doesn't mean I'm wrong, nor does it guarantee the devs won't see my point, if they do end up seeing my letter.

I didn't post here looking for support from the community, nor did I expect it here, given what I've been told about the forum and what I've seen myself in the past. I posted here because it was the best way I knew to attempt to get something in front of the devs. I considered it a long shot.

And you know what the devs see when they see this? The long line of posts from dozens of people disagreeing with you, and thus the devs will also think its a "you" problem because at the end of the day, if its not something that's got people in outrage, or something that people are requesting DAILY, they're not going to bother at all, because the amount of people that have had similar opinions to you and have been "offended" enough to publicly complain, i would likely be able to count on one hand. The only thing they'd think about in regards to this is if it affects the age rating of the game, which it wont, because again, her age is never stated and could easily pass as a young adult of short stature - Hell, OUR age is never stated and you can literally play as someone who looks like a toddler and run around a busy city in nothing but your underwear, did that affect the age rating? Did that get people in outrage? No, it didn't, so why would this do it?