The New Sage Icon, Thoughts?

[Goji1639]

I think the point, from SE’s perspective was that a group of their players was having an extremely adverse reaction to a class logo due to a phobia they have no control over and that it was something SE themselves could easily fix. Sometimes people have this thing called empathy which allows them to think about what it would feel like to be in someone else’s place which helps them react to those people’s feelings accordingly.

I hope that clears things up for you.

Right, and plenty of people have extremely averse reactions to spiders, colors, math, balloons, mirrors, belly-buttons. Literally close your eyes and think of a thing or concept that exists and there's a phobia tied to it.

I understand having empathy, but you have to know where to draw the line. From SE's perspective, I don't see the point in creating the impression that they'll action their content based on extremely obscure sensibilities from individuals or small groups.

It was a trivial change for a (to you) trivial request.

They're still free to ignore any and all feedback they don't deem worth the time or effort, and I'm sure they will.

Right, and based on peoples expectations they'll receive criticism for what they do/don't deem is worth their time and effort. By creating this impression that they'll bend to rare and individual sensibilities they're just opening themselves up for future criticism when they inevitably don't live up to that.

[Stackbabber]

I literally have to play parts of Sastasha and Shisui my eyes closed because of this. Can we have some sort of option in game to turn those elements off too?

[EorzeaHero69]

I think the new one looks a bit better.

[Remish]

I literally have to play parts of Sastasha and Shisui my eyes closed because of this. Can we have some sort of option in game to turn those elements off too?

You're not the first person to make mention of this in the thread and I gave some thought on it. I believe the difference between the Sage Icon and those dungeons is the fact that the Sage icon is going to be on merchandise products. Not just official merch but also Esty stuff and fan projects and other various things. The stuff found in those dungeons doesn't have the same weight in that regard. When this stuff is on merch, it basically represents the identity of the game as a whole. So I think a phobia on a job icon is much more significant than stuff found in dungeons. Because the spread of the merchandise and fan projects will also increase the spread of the phobia being see. It's no longer condensed to a single part of the game but is instead spread by both consumers and content creators alike. And when this stuff spreads, then it begins to be considered "normalized". Which attempting to normalize something that in turn is found disgusting by a part of the community, is not a good outlook for their brand. This is further amplified by the fact that when people who don't play the game also see the Job icon on merch, it may turn them off from trying the game or triggering those that don't even know the origin of the icon. It's actually a very huge deal when you think about it in a big picture.

[Lunalepsy]

So, they just announced a redesign of the Sage Icon, as seen in this post here,

Sage Icon Changes

What are peoples thoughts. I can see the reason for the change but feel they could of went with a better alternative. Like why not mimic the wing shape the make along the players back. I'm sure the new icon will grow on us, similar to how Gunbreaker's did, but what do people think?

The absurdities of civilization.

[Stackbabber]

Right, and plenty of people have extremely adverse reactions to spiders, colors, math, balloons, mirrors, belly-buttons. Literally close your eyes and think of a thing or concept that exists and there's a phobia tied to it.

I understand having empathy, but you have to know where to draw the line. From SE's perspective, I don't see the point in creating the impression that they'll action their content based on extremely obscure sensibilities from individuals or small groups.

They did this because it is the job icon and people have the icons in their actionbars or party frames constantly visible. I know it's hard to understand when you don't have it, but I'm very grateful for the change and that they actually listen to players on these things.

I literally have to play parts of Sastasha and Shisui my eyes closed or the camera zoomed all the way in because of some of the assets in these dungeons. I wish they had an option to turn these things off too.

[Goji1639]

They did this because it is the job icon and people have the icons in their actionbars or party frames constantly visible. I know it's hard to understand when you don't have it, but I'm very grateful for the change and that they actually listen to players on these things.

I literally have to play parts of Sastasha and Shisui my eyes closed or the camera zoomed all the way in because of some of the assets in these dungeons. I wish they had an option to turn these things off too.

Don't get me wrong, if it helps you then I'm happy for you. I'm not outraged and demanding SE change it back or anything.

I still don't believe doing this actually benefits SE overall, though.

[Big_Bap]

But this one's okay? Give me a break.

[Vahlnir]

Don't get me wrong, if it helps you then I'm happy for you. I'm not outraged and demanding SE change it back or anything.

I still don't believe doing this actually benefits SE overall, though.

Transparency and wanting to look good as a result of it. That's likely all there is to it from a business perspective. It's probably no coincidence that they've been laying it on extra thick lately considering recent events with another game studio. So yeah, it probably does benefit SE, at least in the short term. The dev team has seemed overall to genuinely care about the game and its players, but something about this particular change seems like strategic PR to me. Either way though it's definitely harmless enough in the grand scheme of things.

[Trobon]

Don't get me wrong, if it helps you then I'm happy for you. I'm not outraged and demanding SE change it back or anything.

I still don't believe doing this actually benefits SE overall, though.

See there you go again. It benefits SE because they were able to help other human beings with little effort. The fact that you think there needs to be value in this decision beyond that flabbergasts me.