Interview with YoshiP - PAX Aus 2024

[AnimaAnimus]

I was dragged into it when my niece was devastated, she had to leave the sport she hoped to become a professional at because she just couldn't outperform the two biological males who joined the team. There were also many more injuries than usual and safety issues for young girls on the opposing teams.

I found out that was where my line was. I want people to be happy, and be themselves, but not at the sake of another vulnerable group (women). Anyone sane knows that hormones and surgery can't undo the advantage of different skeletal structure, faster muscle twitch, and larger hearts/lungs.

This honestly is a tricky subject because it depends on how long they have been on hormones. If they go on blockers early this is a non issue since they will develop just like biological women and once they start hormones even after maturity, their bodies change drastically given enough time. The reason this is such a big deal now is because it seems like it has to be across the board or none at all.

And while I agree they were not concerned about being seen as actual women, in my experiences, that is how they referred to themselves and how they lived their lives. Even using the ladies room instead of the mens. They did not, however, have meltdowns if you accidently used their dead name or the wrong pronoun, esp if it was by accident. Hell we all used various pronouns for each other. Other gays were he or she, lesbians were she or he. No one cared, and still rarely do in the case of us older generations of gay, but only if they are not chronically online. My best friend growing up was not only trans, but also black, which just led to a lot more trans and black friends. While I do not know their struggles first hand, I have seen many of them from an outside, yet more personal perspective, so I do what I can with the knowledge I've gained while recognizing that it is an outside perspective.

A lot of ppl are cut off from reality is my main point though. Saying it's a problem in the trans community and making it sound only like a problem in the trans community is a big issue that needs to be addressed. It's a problem with ppl in all groups and we need to start learning how to sift through the bs, the pseudoscience, the false narratives that are everywhere online drowning out reality.

[Astronis]

This honestly is a tricky subject because it depends on how long they have been on hormones. If they go on blockers early this is a non issue since they will develop just like biological women ... .

If a biological male goes on puberty blockers early enough...they...don't develop just like biological women. They don't just magically grow ovaries, uteruses, and the attendant eggs, and then become sexually mature women. They can't. They become chemical castrati, and given castrati are historical, we already know what happens when they grow up.

[lucatracy]

In a lot of way you gotta feel bad for women in general because it feels like they're under attack on all side:

- The unequal treatment between male and female are well documented.

- And you have the trans women - who is biologically male - start to powercreep and think they deserve better and more special treatment while tremble on the right of biological female like the bathroom issue, competitive female sport, and of course in this case where transwomen is entitled to biological women job (in the name of diversity) but not the other way around.

- Than you have the feminist crowd that want to dismiss all the traditional value and strength of women because they believe that a strong and ideal woman is a woman who both look and act like men. Maybe I'm crazy or slow but ... isn't this like the biggest insult to women themselves?

So yeah, feel like no matter what direction the wings blow and where the needle move, women always seem to be the short end of the stick, it's sad. The saying "it's not easy to be a woman" feel even more true now than it was before.

Aaand just like that, the entire forum will now go off topic a second time, going from actually on topic about Wuk Lamat and her bad writing and what can be done about it, to her VA which is an unrelated issue, to whatever identity politics you're trying to stir here. It's like clockwork every single time a Wuk thread pops up, no wonder why the valid complaints made here aren't actually going anywhere.

[Alice_Rivers]

If only we had moderation that wasn't "this thread has crossed the line, delete it" and before the thread becomes irredeemable, like now. Then we could live in a world where criticism is not buried in ideological confrontations that have no place on these boards because someone mentioned something related to something else that professes a third.

[SieyaM]

And here I am dreading how much I'll have to tolerate Krile and her exposition diarrhea that they think following with some kind of smug grin makes bearable.

[Zarkovitch]

Brother they just say the same thing. About Wuk and picto op. FF14 is worse than WOW and WOW is getting better lmao.

[Teno]

Is this yet another worthless interview that only covers superficial stuff ? Is there no one willing to go forward and ask questions about the rotting underlying issues or are they just blocking/filtering those with bs pr and attempted demagogy ?

[ZodaSoda]

The more Yoshi talks these days the less interest i think im going to have in FFXIV, He's protecting bad choices of staff and trying to deflect them onto himself, but it doesnt fix the core of the problem of those choices being made, this is how so many other game companies decline in quality and enjoyment of for customers and they keep making the same mistakes, How you think about Wuk lamat writing comes off to people doesnt really change that people dont like her, Pushing her harder with more depth , might change the minds of some, but most people are just gunna be like "Oh shes back again.... ffs" This weird push by the staff and Yoshi until we accept her is offputting and cringe and a lil pattern recognition goes a long way to see why they might be doing it.

[AureliusIX]

"One additional thing, there were comments about how we are too accepting of diversity — some people seem to be disapproving of that. I’m afraid one of our staff members received very negative comments and it almost felt like a personal attack, which breaks my heart, because she worked really hard and these criticisms were not constructive at all. [Editor’s note: Yoshida is referring to the transphobic verbal abuse and death threats that Wuk Lamat’s voice actress, who is a trans woman, has reportedly received from some FFXIV users.] It doesn’t do anything except make the staff lose motivation, and in the end that could potentially damage the quality of our game and take away from what makes this game so interesting. So if there are any sort of criticisms, bring it to me, because I’m the one approving this material. I wanted to reiterate that, please refrain from personal attacks against our staff." - YoshiP

Where was this stalwart defence of Susan Calloway when she had a harrassment campaign set against her and removed from Distant Worlds and had her association with SE cut?

"It doesn’t do anything except make the staff lose motivation"
It is the player base who is losing motivation to play especially when they are gaslighted by a game Director who seems so out of touch.

[Raim]

Developers love doing this thing where if even ONE person harasses a voice actor or staff, they now insist that 'all' criticism of the character itself is unfounded. Nobody should harass staff or actors, but a small minority of people doing it doesn't mean we can't have a problem with Wuk Lamat.