Counterpoint to all the Debbie Downers lately...

[Kickwars]

Male character design and mannerisms are another issue entirely. G'raha Tia will forever look like an annoying school girl to me with the way he looks and behaves. Doesn't seem like that will be remedied anytime soon either.

The fujoshi yaoi has won. Down with bara!

[Leifei]

[Kickwars]

At any rate, I don't think it's 'misogyny' at play so much as comments made in the heat of the moment in response to his personal tastes constantly being denigrated.

Well one can easily imagine what he thinks of feminine gay men. Although we don't need to get into the debate on whether natural preferences are misogyny.

As for variety, I don't think it's just an issue of gender. The entire Scion cast is bland now and the best character of EW was a man: Urianger, who is a perfect and touching portrayal of an introverted, nerdy guy. If Zero was a man I'd similarly feel that they would be one of the most boring characters. If anything it would be even cringier to see a man tipping his fedora all the time.

I think the issue is a distinct shift of focus from a more gritty, grounded style of story (ARR, HW, SB) to now, a story of the interior, feelings more or less (SHB, EW). But the writers seem only interested in dissecting complex interiors: that of Emet-Selch, Elidibus, and Hermes. These two expansions were a story about them and neglected the interior lives of the Scions, other than maybe Urianger or a little bit from Thancred. The Scions have been there just to make sure Duty Support can fill for a while now. Man or woman all of them are boring and they're all used just for fanservice.

[Kickwars]

Well one can easily imagine what he thinks of feminine gay men. Although we don't need to get into the debate on whether natural preferences are misogyny.

As for variety, I don't think it's just an issue of gender. The entire Scion cast is bland now and the best character of EW was a man: Urianger, who is a perfect and touching portrayal of an introverted, nerdy guy. If Zero was a man I'd similarly feel that they would be one of the most boring characters. If anything it would be even cringier to see a man tipping his fedora all the time.

I think the issue is a distinct shift of focus from a more gritty, grounded style of story (ARR, HW, SB) to now, a story of the interior, feelings more or less (SHB, EW). But the writers seem only interested in dissecting complex interiors: that of Emet-Selch, Elidibus, and Hermes. These two expansions were a story about them and neglected the interior lives of the Scions, other than maybe Urianger or a little bit from Thancred. The Scions have been there just to make sure Duty Support can fill for a while now. Man or woman all of them are boring and they're all used just for fanservice.

Oh and Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Yshtola are basically there to spit out what your morals and ethics should be at any given moment. Not that I ever really disagreed with them but it's getting really cringe now.

[Theodric]

Well one can easily imagine what he thinks of feminine gay men. Although we don't need to get into the debate on whether natural preferences are misogyny.

As for variety, I don't think it's just an issue of gender. The entire Scion cast is bland now and the best character of EW was a man: Urianger, who is a perfect and touching portrayal of an introverted, nerdy guy. If Zero was a man I'd similarly feel that they would be one of the most boring characters. If anything it would be even cringier to see a man tipping his fedora all the time.

I think the issue is a distinct shift of focus from a more gritty, grounded style of story (ARR, HW, SB) to now, a story of the interior, feelings more or less (SHB, EW). But the writers seem only interested in dissecting complex interiors: that of Emet-Selch, Elidibus, and Hermes. These two expansions were a story about them and neglected the interior lives of the Scions, other than maybe Urianger or a little bit from Thancred. The Scions have been there just to make sure Duty Support can fill for a while now. Man or woman all of them are boring and they're all used just for fanservice.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. It's unfortunate that FFXVI is a thing because I guarantee that the game and cast would be very different if certain members of the FFXIV team were not moved over to that particular project. I'm hoping it'll be good - especially since the men in it are much more to my own personal liking - but given that it's a single player game I'd have preferred FFXIV to have gotten the bulk of time, attention and resources.

Yoshi-P used to market himself as a big fan of the Ivalice games so that was what I was expecting in terms of 'vibes' when coming over to FFXIV. For a while, we got something similar but that has since fallen to the side of the road.

Oh and Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Yshtola are basically there to spit out what your morals and ethics should be at any given moment. Not that I ever really disagreed with them but it's getting really cringe now.

I think the main problem with that is the game's decision to cast aside their morality when it's convenient. If they were genuinely horrified by what Venat had done, for example, rather than seeing it as a 'grim necessity' because it happened to benefit them then I don't think I'd be quite as soured on them as I am at present.

Ultimately the Sundered exist at the expense of the Ancients and so the latter was never under any obligation to bend over and allow themselves to be deliberately wiped out and replaced. Equally, the Sundered aren't under any obligation to allow themselves to be wiped out either.

I liked how Shadowbringers handled all that, though Endwalker was a step back on many fronts.

I've always found this game to be oddly preachy, though, so I was at least hoping it'd be consistent about it but...alas.

[Tehmon]

I actually agree that there is something to be said about more traditionally masculine looking (and acting) men not being that present in our closest circle of friends throughout the entirety of ARR-EW. And moreso throughout the entire game, they seem to be more eager to kill of those particular men as well, or make them unavailable for future adventures or a closer relationship. I'm still completely butthurt about them killing Ahewann for NOTHING. FOR NOTHING. And Arenvald's legs sacrificed FOR WHAT?! An annoying repeating flashback for Alphinaud? No please. I should count my blessings that Raubahn isn't dead after ARR and still in fighting condition.

It's clear to me that whenever I find some guy attractive, they gonna die or become irrelevant. Such luck... Thankfully this game does pretty good with beautiful, pretty men (like Estinien) who are still very masculine (like Estinien) so I'm not completely devoid of man candy in my stories.

But also I think that regarding this topic, it's less to do with the quality of the product overall and more about what you find attractive. So it's not really a thing I'm trying to passionately advocate for, because it's a pretty shallow point of view. Though it's neat if a game can give everyone something to gawk at.

[Kickwars]

I actually agree that there is something to be said about more traditionally masculine looking (and acting) men not being that present in our closest circle of friends throughout the entirety of ARR-EW. And moreso throughout the entire game, they seem to be more eager to kill of those particular men as well, or make them unavailable for future adventures or a closer relationship. I'm still completely butthurt about them killing Ahewann for NOTHING. FOR NOTHING. And Arenvald's legs sacrificed FOR WHAT?! An annoying repeating flashback for Alphinaud? No please. I should count my blessings that Raubahn isn't dead after ARR and still in fighting condition.

It's clear to me that whenever I find some guy attractive, they gonna die or become irrelevant. Such luck... Thankfully this game does pretty good with beautiful, pretty men (like Estinien) who are still very masculine (like Estinien) so I'm not completely devoid of man candy in my stories.

But also I think that regarding this topic, it's less to do with the quality of the product overall and more about what you find attractive. So it's not really a thing I'm trying to passionately advocate for, because it's a pretty shallow point of view. Though it's neat if a game can give everyone something to gawk at.

lol it's Japan, they don't like it there.

[Ardeth]

What ability do you think they will take away next?

Positionals.

[Absurdity]

What ability do you think they will take away next?

Bard DoTs, they have been continuously reduced in importance since Shadowbringers to the point where your basic spam attack fulfills the same purpose now.

[Kazhar]

Yoshi-P used to market himself as a big fan of the Ivalice games so that was what I was expecting in terms of 'vibes' when coming over to FFXIV. For a while, we got something similar but that has since fallen to the side of the road.

Maybe he's a big fan of Ivalice but he's a salesman and a producer and ultimately he's going to make the game which sells the most subs.
There's no doubt that the more anime-esque, character focused style of Ishikawa's writing has been more popular than their previous attempts, so yes, this is probably the new look of FFXIV going forward. Same for the more "lifestyle" and "single player" focus, because this is the game the community wants, apparently.
But the game as it is now is so far removed from his original 2.0 vision in almost every possible way that I'm not sure he enjoys its current state as a player? It's hard to know what he truly think, since he's always gonna say whatever is needed to hype the game anyway.