Please remove Shark Fin Soup

[Kiroh]

There is so so much stupid in this thread, it's like a lodestone version of youtube comments.

[Gurpsmeister]

The tumblr social justice is strong with this one.

[TheRogueX]

snip

Is this a troll post? This has to be a troll post. This is a video game. Yeah, shark finning is bad in the real world, but this is Eorzea. Oh, and your claim that the Shark Fin Soup's description is a lie because there isn't a recipe in-game for what it describes? Hilarious assumption that the only foods in the entire game world are foods that the CUL class can make.

This is a troll post, right?

EDIT: In all seriousness, if we should remove shark fin soup from the game because of what it "represents" in the real world... we should just shut the whole game down. And do so with all games. Everywhere. Because there are representations of all sorts of other major issues and atrocities, but I don't see you calling for them to be removed. Does it not bother you that we have to SLAUGHTER sheep to get their wool? What about the fact that we kill animals like crazy, but then just leave their corpses to rot? What about Hunts? The A and S rank hunts are sometimes very similar to big game hunting, going out to take out that prize beast that is legendary and unique in the world. Other times it's killing some sentient creature, and thus flat-out sanctioned murder for sport. Hell, the non-elite hunt bills sometimes send you up against the Beast Tribes, when they're not actively attacking or at war. That's cold-blooded, sanctioned genocide. For sport. Should that be removed?

Ultimately, I respect your underlying thought about the sharks. I hate that the Japanese thumb their noses at international pressure to stop whaling, too. But a game is a game. They don't usually exist for the purpose of selling politics or morality.

[Nephera]

I've done work for a shark related charity event two years running now and i can say with confidence: what the hell is going on in this thread.

[Noutaja]

I learned a new word while reading all of this. Slacktivist. That is an awesome term. I love it.
Anyways Red_Wolf, stop thinking when your gaming. Start thinking when your doing something else. How about that? Could work better.

[Avenger]

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that in FFXIV my character eats – and, even worse, mercilessly slaughters, for no other reason than "experience," various forms of currency, or just for the "fun" of it – many creatures that I would never harm in real life (at least the ones that exist and are not extinct like Dodos.) Fortunately in FFXIV, unlike real life, this does not seem to affect their numbers or habitat...

[That being said, I think OP may have a point about the accuracy of the description. It's possible that sharks in Eorzea have tasty fins I guess, and probably the game shouldn't be considered a source of accurate information or a model for how you should conduct yourself in real life, but I could imagine that someone who cared about sharks in real life might not want to see shark fin soup in the game, particularly if the description ties into a well-known misunderstanding in real life which has led to a wasteful destruction of the shark population.]

[Noutaja]

I actually never knew about finning sharks for soup and that it is such a controversial matter. This is not a bad thread, you are making ppl think and aware.
Nevertheless, the only reason you find a political agenda in a game, is cause you are for some reason searching for one. You are using your smart head for something that is really stupid.
Not trying to be rude, just being blunt, sorry.

[Silkerin]

This whole situation reminds me of when some animal rights activists in some country were angry at pokemon because it promoted animal abuse...

also... in the ff14 game no shark is captured , have their fins cut and put back in the sea *due to the crafting process and flavor text*, the whole thing is captured and used *and they are most likely killed swiftly the moment they are pulled up*. So to being actually being relevant to be mentioned in comparison to ff14 would have to be the decreasing number of wild sharks, but that will never happen in this game, but if you really want to apply real world scenarios to this game.... the moment the expansion comes and new fishing spots and fish comes, there will be less people interested in fishing those sharks, meaning that the shark population will increase once again...

TL;DR dont mix reality and fantasy plz

[LineageRazor]

This whole situation reminds me of when some animal rights activists in some country were angry at pokemon because it promoted animal abuse...

Heh, funny you should mention that. While I played and enjoyed Pokemon (the first couple editions, at least, before the sequelitis burnt me out), I immediately recognized it as pretty much boiling down to glorified cock fighting. It's glossed over, and the implication is that the Pokemon are at least semi-intelligent and "want" to fight each other for their masters, but that's really what it is.

It's just a game, though, and I never really saw it as encouraging or justifying real-life animal pit fights. Anyone that plays it and thinks it's okay to force animals to fight each other is sick in the head, much like anyone who plays a FPS and thinks it's okay to shoot real people is sick in the head. There are many, MANY similarly morally dissonant things you do in FFXIV, even apart from Shark Fin Soup. Adventurers as a matter of course kill monsters for some specific item or ingredient, presumably leaving the rest of the carcass to rot, something which would be pretty deplorable in real life. And let's not even touch the issue of attacking and killing non-aggressive beastmen, for which there is no penalty whatsoever.

The original post does bring attention to the evils of shark finning, which I don't think is a bad thing. It is, however, very confrontational, and makes assumptions of SE's intent that I think were unjustified. A better tone might have been, "I'm uncomforable with Shark Fin Soup because real-life finning is horrible," rather than "SE is clearly promoting shark finning with this dish! Remove it at once!"

As for real-life finning, it's hard to believe that shark meat is THAT horrible as to make the carcass so unusable. People eat lutefisk, after all!

[Red_Wolf]

A better tone might have been, "I'm uncomforable with Shark Fin Soup because real-life finning is horrible," rather than "SE is clearly promoting shark finning with this dish! Remove it at once!"

That's not my argument though. I don't mind a food item in the game being named shark fin soup. I don't mind my character capturing and killing sharks. It's a game.

My issue is the political rhetoric in the description. It doesn't describe shark fin soup at all. It was obviously put in there on purpose for some reason. It's a common misconception encouraged by people profiteering from killing endangered sharks. I think it is to help defend a shameful practice that still exists in the world today. The fact that SE put a bold faced lie into the description of one of the most controversial food dishes in the world tells me all I need to know.

To the trolls, why reply with insults and garbage about global warming, confusing reality, and other ridiculous assumptions? Either read the original post and make an educated response or don't. Reading the first line and replying with random crap just makes you look dumb. You're just putting a bunch of nonsensical biased filler in between the real responses.