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

[MariaArvana]

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.

Hence why they adopt a PR neutral answer of 'maybe, maybe not' to almost any questions people ask unless its something they're like 80% done developing or have zero interest in doing, since this community likes to latch onto their statements as absolute 100% going to happen facts when Development is infinitely more complex than people realize and things get cut/shelved/etc all the time due to time constraints/budgets/technical limitations/etc, just as they might have to shelve something but then suddenly have the time to implement something from that shelf far earlier than they intended. Don't give the community hypotheticals and only talk about what is 100% going to be implemented is a valid strategy.

Honestly, going halfsies on Viera/Hrothgar was a mistake and they should have just gone all in on Fem/Male Hrothgar like they originally planned, but that's my opinion.

Also given the themes of the previous Q&A sessions they've had, its more likely you wouldn't be able to ask the questions you want anyway, since they're been more themeing them around certain aspects of the game like story, sound, etc.

[Amnmaat]

Hence why they adopt a PR neutral answer of 'maybe, maybe not' to almost any questions people ask unless its something they're like 80% done developing or have zero interest in doing, since this community likes to latch onto their statements as absolute 100% going to happen facts when Development is infinitely more complex than people realize and things get cut/shelved/etc all the time due to time constraints/budgets/technical limitations/etc, just as they might have to shelve something but then suddenly have the time to implement something from that shelf far earlier than they intended. Don't give the community hypotheticals and only talk about what is 100% going to be implemented is a valid strategy.

Honestly, going halfsies on Viera/Hrothgar was a mistake and they should have just gone all in on Fem/Male Hrothgar like they originally planned, but that's my opinion.

Also given the themes of the previous Q&A sessions they've had, its more likely you wouldn't be able to ask the questions you want anyway, since they're been more themeing them around certain aspects of the game like story, sound, etc.

You're talking about patches, not expansions. You don't all of a sudden include a project as big as a new race "if you have extra time." That's decided very early on when planning the next expansion. We saw how early they decided on adding new races (around 4.1)

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?

Good, we got to the meat of the meal.
Yes, when he says they "might" he's not being truthful. They plan expansions many years before, they know if the workload and QA will allow them to add the missing genders. A clear no goes a long way than a maybe when it comes to image, pr, honor.

To hold people every year to find out if they found the solution to a problem they themselves created is the height of dishonor. Remember, this is a problem they themselves created, let that not be missed.

[linayar]

Good, we got to the meat of the meal.
Yes, when he says they "might" he's not being truthful. They plan expansions many years before, they know if the workload and QA will allow them to add the missing genders. A clear no goes a long way than a maybe when it comes to image, pr, honor.

To hold people every year to find out if they found the solution to a problem they themselves created is the height of dishonor. Remember, this is a problem they themselves created, let that not be missed.

See, I think the reason why he said that is because it's not part of the plan. That's why they went ahead with adding two races because they don't know if they'll ever make the time to add the second race if they only added one now.

Also, regarding "holding people every year," they've only added races/genders with an expansion, so I don't think it's valid to wonder whether it's going to be this year. Usually you wait for Fan Fest to see if there is any new race (or gender in this case) being added.

[Amnmaat]

See, I think the reason why he said that is because it's not part of the plan. That's why they went ahead with adding two races because they don't know if they'll ever make the time to add the second race if they only added one now.

Also, regarding "holding people every year," they've only added races/genders with an expansion, so I don't think it's valid to wonder whether it's going to be this year. Usually you wait for Fan Fest to see if there is any new race (or gender in this case) being added.

I meant to say every 2 years (you've followed my conversation where I've been saying every 2 years).
Your stance was that "maybe add" means he doesn't know, now you're saying it means they won't add them?
How many ways can you flip flop?

You're basically saying siding with me, to be honest and say that they won't add them next expansion.

[linayar]

Your stance was that "maybe add" means he doesn't know, now you're saying it means they won't add them?
How many ways can you flip flop?

To clarify, my stance on this is this: I don't think it's in the plan to add them the last time he talked about this based on how they released the races, but that doesn't mean they can't be in the plan afterward.

You're basically saying siding with me, to be honest and say that they won't add them next expansion.

I think the reason why he won't say that is because things could change. So you'll have to wait for the next time he talks about it to see if there's any change in the plan.

But for now, there should be no expectation of adding the missing genders, certainly not before the next expansion.

[Vahlnir]

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.

They explained the inner workings a bit, while never actually giving an answer one way or the other. There you go, that's one example. Blizzard does this as well with WoW with certain things. I won't go searching for specifics, mainly because trying to sift through anything Ion Hazzikostas says is a chore. It's basically all he does every time he speaks. lol

[Amnmaat]

To clarify, my stance on this is this: I don't think it's in the plan to add them the last time he talked about this based on how they released the races, but that doesn't mean they can't be in the plan afterward.

I think the reason why he won't say that is because things could change. So you'll have to wait for the next time he talks about it to see if there's any change in the plan.

But for now, there should be no expectation of adding the missing genders, certainly not before the next expansion.

No one's expecting Male Viera before next expansion.
The issue is they'd save themselves backlash after fanfests end by coming out early (around 5.1 or 5.2) to state that they couldn't find the solution they were looking for-for adding the missing genders. Instead every fanfest will be surrounded by the missing genders cloud like it wast last time, followed by the subsequent backlash. I don't think Square enix understands how empty their statement on the missing genders was, it was too open, as such a lot will be looking for the missing genders announcement.

They explained the inner workings a bit, while never actually giving an answer one way or the other. There you go, that's one example. Blizzard does this as well with WoW with certain things. I won't go searching for specifics, mainly because trying to sift through anything Ion Hazzikostas says is a chore. It's basically all he does every time he speaks. lol

I've seen or read Yoshida say they can't implement butt slider and explaining why, specially never with a "...maybe we can implement them, bear with us."