Does anyone know when we will be getting the next Q&A-style live letter?

[DrWho2010]

if people can't temper their expectations then that's on them.

[ForteNightshade]

Never because they know damn well what questions they'll be bombarded with.

1. When are we getting more hairstyles and head gear for Viera and Hrothgar?
2. Are you planning to release male Viera and Female Hrothgar for the next expansion?
3. Healers are boring now. Are there any plans to fix them?

[Amnmaat]

Then they should tamper their fear.

[Jojoya]

Tell that to world of warcraft players and see the pushback you'd get with that statement.
I know white knighting is strong but let's be real, they're a company selling a product and a service, their statements have to be held into account.

They can be honorable and just be more precise and say "the missing genders won't happen in the next few expansions, that's what we can say for now." That would garner more respect than "if we can find a solution to the problem we'll add them."
Then all we get next expansion is 2 jobs and msq (and the same playground with new paint: FATES, etc) that's not going to end well for them. There were already rumblings about how underwhelming the Stormblood fanfests were.

They already told us they had no current plans to add the missing genders, though they can't say if that will change in the future.

What more is needed?

Assume it is not going to happen. If it does happen in the future, then it's a pleasant surprise.

Player expectations and speculation always blow up at some point because players want more than is realistic. It's normal in every game.

What tends to cause the harshest player backlash is changing systems and taking away things players already had access to, not the lack of something that was never in the game in the first place. A player base isn't unified in its opinions. What one part wants changed/removed, another part likes and wants to keep.

[linayar]

They can be honorable and just be more precise and say "the missing genders won't happen in the next few expansions, that's what we can say for now." That would garner more respect than "if we can find a solution to the problem we'll add them."

Both statements are equally valid, if true, and neither garners more respect or is more honorable unless they're lying.

[Amnmaat]

They already told us they had no current plans to add the missing genders, though they can't say if that will change in the future.

What more is needed?

Assume it is not going to happen. If it does happen in the future, then it's a pleasant surprise.

Player expectations and speculation always blow up at some point because players want more than is realistic. It's normal in every game.

What tends to cause the harshest player backlash is changing systems and taking away things players already had access to, not the lack of something that was never in the game in the first place. A player base isn't unified in its opinions. What one part wants changed/removed, another part likes and wants to keep.

1. That's not the statement Yoship gave, he stated that if they can find away around the problems that they might add them. That's very different from how you're interpreting it.
2. That's not true, the exclusion of Male Viera is the biggest backlash against XIV that I have seen since the mishandling in 1.0

Both statements are equally valid, if true, and neither garners more respect or is more honorable unless they're lying.

They're not the same
One says "we won't add them this upcoming expansion, yadda yadda"
The other one says "we might add if we find a solution, it could be this upcoming expansion, it could not."
Those are two very different statements.

[Vahlnir]

They already told us they had no current plans to add the missing genders, though they can't say if that will change in the future.

What more is needed?

Assume it is not going to happen. If it does happen in the future, then it's a pleasant surprise.

Player expectations and speculation always blow up at some point because players want more than is realistic. It's normal in every game.

What tends to cause the harshest player backlash is changing systems and taking away things players already had access to, not the lack of something that was never in the game in the first place. A player base isn't unified in its opinions. What one part wants changed/removed, another part likes and wants to keep.

It's basically them leaving it up in the air so they can't say yes, but also can't say no. Every company does this at some point or another. There is nothing more to say unless they come out and say "yes, it's happening" or "nope, sorry, no can do". Saying "well, maybe, or maybe not" is better from a PR perspective.

[linayar]

They're not the same
One says "we won't add them this upcoming expansion, yadda yadda"
The other one says "we might add if we find a solution, it could be this upcoming expansion, it could not."
Those are two very different statements.

They are indeed different statements. But one is saying for sure it won't be in the coming expansion without saying whether or not it will ever come later while the other is not sure either way, meaning it could happen in this coming expansion, or it could happen later in this very expansion, or it could never happen.

Regardless, that has nothing to do with honor or anything like that unless you think they're outright lying to you.

[Amnmaat]

They are indeed different statements. But one is saying for sure it won't be in the coming expansion without saying whether or not it will ever come later while the other is not sure either way, meaning it could happen in this coming expansion, or it could happen later in this very expansion, or it could never happen.

Regardless, that has nothing to do with honor or anything like that unless you think they're outright lying to you.

No, you're only viewing honor through the lense of truth/lie. Honor encompasses other aspects such as respect, integrity, and consideration in fairness.
As we both agree, both statements mean completely different things for the most part. The one that's honest has more honor to it, than the one that makes you hope for the possibility every 2 years.

It's basically them leaving it up in the air so they can't say yes, but also can't say no. Every company does this at some point or another. There is nothing more to say unless they come out and say "yes, it's happening" or "nope, sorry, no can do". Saying "well, maybe, or maybe not" is better from a PR perspective.

I'd like some examples.
From the industries I've worked in, most companies in the tech industry give an idea as to what features will appear in the next iteration and which will not. In interviews many of them are quick to say no to features which are not possible in the near future.

Even Square enix themselves do this when they talk about the possibility of things like butt slider and texture upgrades. That's the kind of honesty people respect.

[linayar]

No, you're only viewing honor through the lense of truth/lie. Honor encompasses other aspects such as respect, integrity, and consideration in fairness.
As we both agree, both statements mean completely different things for the most part. The one that's honest has more honor to it, than the one that makes you hope for the possibility every 2 years.

I'm confused. You start the post by saying no, but the part in bold seems like you do agree with what I said.

In other words, when Yoshida said he doesn't know, you think he's not being honest and that he actually knows but won't tell you, am I right?