IGN: Why FF14 Fans Are Looking Forward to the Next 10 Years Starting With DawnTrail

[Theodric]

I mean it makes sense that not everyone talks like this. Some people have never had the opportunity to learn about those things, and some wouldn't be interested even if they did. Different strokes for different folks.

But it also makes perfect sense that some people do. It's the stuff of literary analysis and sociology, and some people dig that sort of thing. A conversation like that isn't in any way exceptional among the folks I tend to enjoy FF14 with.

I think that it's largely a grift at this point - especially when the concerns over cultural portrayals are often very one sided. The company benefits immensely from giving lip service to these people to keep them off of their backs and gets to tap into ESG funds for good measure.

It matters not how well or how badly 'exotic' cultures are portrayed. Pleasing their ilk is exceptionally hard because the goalposts will inevitably be moved.

It's also the sort of agenda that really strips away a lot of what makes fantasy settings interesting. It's not the real world and I think it's absolutely fine if the game touches on darker aspects of humanity - fictional or otherwise. Sanitising a setting to strip it of anything morally dubious or unpleasant simply serves to make very boring. I quite liked the grit present in the days of ARR when all the city states were selfish and flawed in their own unique ways and the main cast weren't spewing talking points that happen to align with students speaking at a modern day university.

[Clover_Blake]

It's also the sort of agenda that really strips away a lot of what makes fantasy settings interesting. It's not the real world and I think it's absolutely fine if the game touches on darker aspects of humanity - fictional or otherwise. Sanitising a setting to strip it of anything morally dubious or unpleasant simply serves to make very boring. I quite liked the grit present in the days of ARR when all the city states were selfish and flawed in their own unique ways and the main cast weren't spewing talking points that happen to align with students speaking at a modern day university.

I agree.
I also don't know how to "respectfully" represent ancient cultures that offered human sacrifices to the gods and ate each other. And I doubt any of those things will be seen ingame anyway, as it is not the real life culture the game will represent; it just takes some inspiration from it, that's it.

Regardless, I'm sure people will be offended the very moment that any "evil" character appears, or if any of these beast tribes have any sort of questionable custom. Not sure what kind of super happy story people want to see, but it's sad to see SE's creative hands tied down.

[Iscah]

I also don't know how to "respectfully" represent ancient cultures that offered human sacrifices to the gods and ate each other. And I doubt any of those things will be seen ingame anyway, as it is not the real life culture the game will represent; it just takes some inspiration from it, that's it.

I would say that it begins with not treating one gory ancient custom as the only fact that exists about an entire culture, or all of us are probably equally guilty of something our ancestors did.