Devs Please Be Careful Not To Disrespect Real Native Cultures In The New World

[DamianFatale]

Dawntrail is more Central / South America

Its North,Central, and South America. With hints of other Native cultures. There is a risk of negative stereotypes, much more than in other expansions. Though the India/Sri Lankan vibe in Ratz-At-Han was handled fine, so I do think they will be on top of things, but again.. the Native American headdress is STILL in the game with ties to the New World in its lore. That isn't such a good start already. They will have to address how they culturally depict a version of these cultures. Even if they are made up, they can still offend, and cause people to feel disrespected. Remember that Natives were here in the Americas first, and they do get a say in how they are represented.

[DamianFatale]

... there have been? Like what?

The Sage icon got changed because it triggered a phobia for example.

[hydralus]

The Sage icon got changed because it triggered a phobia for example.

Doesn't seem relevant to anything cultural or to do with race. Anything regarding that?

[DamianFatale]

Doesn't seem relevant to anything cultural or to do with race. Anything regarding that?

Its perfectly relevant. Also yes, I believe they toned down certain characters due to feminism.

[Alleluia]

There is no issue giving an under represented culture a moment via high fantasy, but if you all remember the in game Native American headdress controversy, which actually did upset people of specific communities, this expansion has to tread carefully.

I remember no such controversy, but it sounds dumb.

I did catch Yoshida making sure to specifically say there was "diversity" in the new hub city, so he seems cognizant of these concerns. Not that the type of people who usually end up making a thing out of these concerns will likely care or give CBU 3 credit for the effort.

[DamianFatale]

I remember no such controversy, but it sounds dumb.

I did catch Yoshida making sure to specifically say there was "diversity" in the new hub city, so he seems cognizant of these concerns. Not that the type of people who usually end up making a thing out of these concerns will likely care or give CBU 3 credit for the effort.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...page5?langid=7 Then why was this such a big deal on the forums at one point.

[Renathras]

Its North,Central, and South America. With hints of other Native cultures. There is a risk of negative stereotypes, much more than in other expansions. Though the India/Sri Lankan vibe in Ratz-At-Han was handled fine, so I do think they will be on top of things, but again.. the Native American headdress is STILL in the game with ties to the New World in its lore. That isn't such a good start already. They will have to address how they culturally depict a version of these cultures. Even if they are made up, they can still offend, and cause people to feel disrespected. Remember that Natives were here in the Americas first, and they do get a say in how they are represented.

It's central and south. The architecture and cultures seem more like Inca (mostly South) and maybe a bit of Mayan/Aztec (Central). You're talking about Native American cultures but then seem not to know the differences between them. I don't mean to be hurtful or anything, but maybe you need to educate yourself a bit more on the distinctions between them before leading a conversation like this?

Who had problems with the headdress item? Where there any Tribal Governments (the official national governments of the various Native American tribes) that issued a complaint? What was their complaint? Do you have a link to their statements?

...or was it a lot of non-Native people virtue signaling using Native culture as a vehicle for their own virtue signals?

"can still offend" WHO? Actual Native peoples, or people looking to be offended? And I'm sorry, but that's life. You WILL be offended by things in life. There is no possible way to NOT offend someone, even by just going about your regular life. This goes back to what I said before, and what people had right a few decades ago (and in most of the non-Western world today) - If someone isn't intending to insult you, don't take offense. I genuinely do mean it, there is no way to NOT offend people. The accommodations you are talking about some people genuinely find offensive (I more find them dangerous/impossible/judgemental), so if they comport with what you ask, it will offend some people, too.

Life isn't about searching for offense. If you do that, you'll always be offended because life is full of things to be offended about if you WANT to be offended - and if you're seeking out offenses, you do.

Live is about realizing people aren't that bad, and most don't intend harm.

"Never assume malice when ignorance is a likely explanation. People are far more often stupid than they are evil." -Supposedly Gandhi, though I suspect it was someone else.

EDIT:

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...page5?langid=7 Then why was this such a big deal on the forums at one point.

Did you read the actual comments?

Including the top comment on page 7 to which you linked?

There were people saying it was not something to be upset about, that there are different cultures that use such clothing, and even one NATIVE AMERICAN upset that people who WERE NOT NATIVE AMERICAN were trying to restrict the item and she was excited to be able to wear it and represent her culture in-game.

[hydralus]

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...page5?langid=7 Then why was this such a big deal on the forums at one point.

Because people engage with negative stuff that's easy to poke holes in to. Like if someone goes "1+1=2" nobody will care. If someone goes "1+1=grape" people will swarm to call the person an idiot.

[Alleluia]

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...page5?langid=7 Then why was this such a big deal on the forums at one point.

One, define "big deal". I do not recall anyone talking about this.

Two, you can't really think dumb controversies can't be made into a big deal. Lots of threads here get multiple pages of chatter or arguments that aren't really important. A topic about unnecessary political correctness/identity silliness would be ripe for that.

Third, I have now read the OP of that topic, as well as the post on top of page 5 that your link led to which made some interesting counters to the OP, and I reiterate that the "controversy" seems dumb.

[Koros]

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...page5?langid=7 Then why was this such a big deal on the forums at one point.

LMAO this is the best troll of the month. I had to spend a minute figuring out how to turn my forum interface back to English.