Same Sex Marriage

[Reika]

I agree it's a very delicate situation from a business standpoint. Just look at all the backlash Chic-fil-a got because their CEO expressed his views (which I don't agree with).

Square Enix isn't in the business to promote this kind of thing; they make video games. And if they tread into the wrong shit, the negative impact from homophobes and religious fanatics crying over same-sex marriage in a game could cost a lot of people at SE their jobs, and further bury XIV in the negativity shit hole it's been trying to shed for the past 2 years.

I support the implementation of same-sex marriage all the way, but I also support the company's decision to treat this carefully. Here's to hoping we will see it added in the future.

I don't think allowing it is the same as promoting it. Putting "We encourage gay marriage" on their game box or websites would be promoting it. They simply need to add in the possibility without a word.

[Vilhem]

I don't think allowing it is the same as promoting it. Putting "We encourage gay marriage" on their game box or websites would be promoting it. They simply need to add in the possibility without a word.

Right they're not the same, but you know what happens when the media catches wind of a "scandalous" story. It gets blown way out of proportion and then it leads up to all this press etc.

People who don't play video games find it easy to scape goat them: oh my child is violent because he plays shooting games etc, even though shooter games don't necessarily promote violence. They would be quick to assume all kinds of insane crap with this too.

Basically I'm talking about the soccer moms and the politicians that would use this kind of stuff as ammo for their own agendas.

And then there's the other countries with different religious beliefs (the Middle East and even in Japan). I'm not an expert in their culture, but I'd assume it's not readily accepted either.

[Mihana]

I don't think allowing it is the same as promoting it. Putting "We encourage gay marriage" on their game box or websites would be promoting it. They simply need to add in the possibility without a word.

It doesn't matter, allowing it would be condoning it in the eyes of someone who's against it. Players will most likely be free to use the chapel for their own personal uses, they can't really control what players do in that sense. But offering it as an option for GM-held weddings (Which most MMOs do, offer official support for a marriage ceremony for a fee.) would be the same as condoning it and could lead them into serious trouble. Saying "We'll let you craft variations of these garments and let you hold your own little party at xyz location." is different. That's how it worked in FFXI after all, you could craft garments that resembled the marriage attire and hold your own little ceremony but it wasn't officially recognized by SE unless you held plans for it and only for opposite-sex marriages.

EDIT: I've been up well past the time I should have been sleeping now reflecting on different stuff and the idea that 1.0 is actually over so I'm going to bow out of the thread here and get some rest. To those who really want this feature please do read up on my suggestion I made a few posts back and I wish you luck!

[Reika]

It doesn't matter, allowing it would be condoning it in the eyes of someone who's against it. Players will most likely be free to use the chapel for their own personal uses, they can't really control what players do in that sense. But offering it as an option for GM-held weddings (Which most MMOs do, offer official support for a marriage ceremony for a fee.) would be the same as condoning it and could lead them into serious trouble. Saying "We'll let you craft variations of these garments and let you hold your own little party at xyz location." is different. That's how it worked in FFXI after all, you could craft garments that resembled the marriage attire and hold your own little ceremony but it wasn't officially recognized by SE unless you held plans for it and only for opposite-sex marriages.

EDIT: I've been up well past the time I should have been sleeping now reflecting on different stuff and the idea that 1.0 is actually over so I'm going to bow out of the thread here and get some rest. To those who really want this feature please do read up on my suggestion I made a few posts back and I wish you luck!

That could very well work too. New crafting recipes for wedding related items, including rings, tuxes, and dresses of various style (with the addition of player added signatures could include wedding vows on them) would be a great alternative to GM sponsered weddings. All the recipes and gear should be lvl 1 too. No one could put it on SE if a male or female crafted an engagement ring and gave it to another of the same sex now can they..