Trans Representation in Final Fantasy XIV: The Importance of Inclusivity in Gaming

[MirielleLavandre]

I would like people to keep their political, social, sexual and racial issues out of video games.

Is that really too much to ask for?

We are here to have fun, in an alternate world that DOES NOT NEED real life issues being dragged into it.

Good luck with that ;/ Sadly, we live in a world where for some, 'silence equals violence', 'impact matters more than intent', and 'everything is political'. In a world where some people base their lives on being perpetual victims, or make finding offense in the most mundane or harmless thing they can find, is it any wonder such things have spilled over into what was once a refuge from the real world, namely gaming? [Just look at the whole Hogwart's thing - suddenly anyone just buying the game is suddenly a transphobic bigot].

[RitsukoSonoda]

Good luck with that ;/ Sadly, we live in a world where for some, 'silence equals violence', 'impact matters more than intent', and 'everything is political'. In a world where some people base their lives on being perpetual victims, or make finding offense in the most mundane or harmless thing they can find, is it any wonder such things have spilled over into what was once a refuge from the real world, namely gaming. [Just look at the whole Hogwart's thing - suddenly anyone just buying the game is suddenly a transphobic bigot].

Basically. You're seeing the world that resulted from people not getting the sense knocked back into them when they needed it.

[Hurlstone]

I would like people to keep their political, social, sexual and racial issues out of video games.

Is that really too much to ask for?

We are here to have fun, in an alternate world that DOES NOT NEED real life issues being dragged into it.

I mean, the game already deals with political, social and racial issues... I agree it does not NEED any of these issues (Though an apolitical story game does not exist) and I do not think anyone outside of obvious trolls is even demanding as such. I just fail to see the harm if a quest or two tackels things like a trans character/situation.

[Kolaina]

Basically. You're seeing the world that resulted from people not getting the sense knocked back into them when they needed it.

A rolled up news paper and a Swift smack on the nose; “No!” would have done a lot of people some good for the betterment of society

[RitsukoSonoda]

I mean, the game already deals with political, social and racial issues... I agree it does not NEED any of these issues (Though an apolitical story game does not exist) but I fail to see the harm if a quest or two tackels things like a trans character/situation.

Given the nature of this game however I feel it's not really the place to make it an in game issue. Maybe a random NPC admitting they used to be something else before acquiring and drinking a fantasia? Given the presence of magic it essentially rewrites your DNA so that it's like you were always whatever you chose to be after drinking it. Sure mentally you're still the same person just in a different body but wouldn't it be more akin to shape shifting than being trans? The topic of trans representation IMO would fit better in other settings like Fallout, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, etc that would rely more on technology or surgical practices to reassign gender as opposed to FFXIV where if you feel you are a woman trapped in a man's body, you can just drink a potion and now be a woman in a woman's body.

Though I suppose some decent humor could be had from a story where Thancred pushes Yshtola's buttons a little too much so she turns him into a petite busty girl as punishment...

[DPZ2]

I mean, the game already deals with political, social and racial issues... I agree it does not NEED any of these issues (Though an apolitical story game does not exist) and I do not think anyone outside of obvious trolls is even demanding as such. I just fail to see the harm if a quest or two tackels things like a trans character/situation.

So, should the story be about the problems experienced politically in such a situation? Which of the City States is going to be the oppressor? Which side the Hero? Or is the villain going to be trans, but changes their ways through the power of Acceptance? Who is going to provide the gender-affirming healthcare in this story? Will it require surgery?

There is so much more time spent on the trans character in The Last of Us part 2 than can be put into an MMORPG. Side-quests or MSQ quests involve a lot of other things, and I don't look forward to any story that just goes "This character is trans" and drops the ball immediately.

It can be done so badly it becomes offensive. Companies do not want to present as "offensive".

[Hurlstone]

Given the nature of this game however I feel it's not really the place to make it an in game issue. Maybe a random NPC admitting they used to be something else before acquiring and drinking a fantasia? Given the presence of magic it essentially rewrites your DNA so that it's like you were always whatever you chose to be after drinking it. Sure mentally you're still the same person just in a different body but wouldn't it be more akin to shape shifting than being trans? The topic of trans representation IMO would fit better in other settings like Fallout, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, etc that would rely more on technology or surgical practices to reassign gender as opposed to FFXIV where if you feel you are a woman trapped in a man's body, you can just drink a potion and now be a woman in a woman's body.

Though I suppose some decent humor could be had from a story where Thancred pushes Yshtola's buttons a little too much so she turns him into a petite busty girl as punishment...

You raise a good point about if such a ‘magic to trans’ story would count, but other fantasy MMOs have done it to varying degrees. If memory serves Guild Wars II had it in the form of a simple quest NPC you save, whom you meat again later on as a different gender. Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset has a quest involving the trans character of Alchemy, that was fantastically written, gave an interesting insight to the lore and was well received (It won the first GLAAD video game award). I think even WoW had a trans questline a while back, but I stopped playing that long ago so cannot say for sure.

I also think you are giving Fantasy too much discredit as a storytelling genre there. One of the reasons it is my favourite genre is because almost no type of story cannot be told. Look at all the topics the game already has told, from classical ‘rags to hero’ plotlines, tales of revenge, fights that look like they come directly from a mecha anime (Yes, I have just played the Sorrow of Werlyt quests…) ect. The only rules a fantasy world needs to abide by are the ones its individual lore sets up, and I personally fail to see how anything in FFXIV bars a possible trans story/character. In the same way it has never bared us having characters that deal with race, poverty, sexisim, sexuality ect.

[Hurlstone]

So, should the story be about the problems experienced politically in such a situation? Which of the City States is going to be the oppressor? Which side the Hero? Or is the villain going to be trans, but changes their ways through the power of Acceptance? Who is going to provide the gender-affirming healthcare in this story? Will it require surgery?

Well that would be up to the writer of said quest and if they wanted to make that apart of said story? I am afraid to say I am not a writer for the game, so anything I could say would just be fan-fiction fluff (Though SE/Yoshi, if you need a writer then call me! I had a horror short story pubished once! Go on...) but it could be as simple as a way for a trans character to show they have empathy with someone experiencing bigotry. You do not need to be told the ins and outs of what they have in their pants to justify such a character.

There is so much more time spent on the trans character in The Last of Us part 2 than can be put into an MMORPG. Side-quests or MSQ quests involve a lot of other things, and I don't look forward to any story that just goes "This character is trans" and drops the ball immediately.

There is a risk sure, but its about the same as if a sidequest deals with the racism against Wildwood Elezen, or showing a gay couple like the The Wanderer's Palace Unlock quest, or even the Valantines quest which deals with being comfortable in ones own cloths despite outward appearance. The topic rarely decides quality, the writing does.

It can be done so badly it becomes offensive. Companies do not want to present as "offensive".

Very true, even with the best of intentions these things can come off offencive (Looking at you, Assassin Creed "We will not force anyone into a hetro relationship- opps yes we did in the DLC sorry!" Odyssey) and it can be done simply as a hollow way to virtual signal from companies that would easily throw the LGBTQ+ community under the bus if they though it would give them more money. Does not mean its something that should not be avoided or attempted. Again, no one outside of obvious trolls are demanding such a thing. Just it should not perhaps be seen as an impossiblity in the next decade of storytelling we have ahead of us.

[george357]

we here to play the game and talk about the game not start a war of words the last time a player did this it turned into a dumpsterfire and finely died after many necrobumps

[Lunalepsy]

Characterization>representation.