Famitsu interview with Yoshi

[Kosmos992k]

I'd e(v)en go as far as saying that the underestimation (people not progressing on any level for the entire scan duration) is beaten by the overestimation (people can come in and out in the span of 2 month, and may not be active anymore when the numbers are compiled)

That's a good point, I wonder whether the two 'sides' of underestimation and overestimation may simply balance each other out?

Either way, 650K active players (as mentioned in your previous post) translates to a pretty decent regular income for SE and the FFXIV 'franchise'. If it is 650K active players that averages out to about 10K per server doesn't it?

Very well written, I thank you for it. This is exactly what I feel about Haurchefant as well.

People express themselves differently in each culture. In Japanese culture it is normal to love people around you in a pure friendly way, but here in western culture you are labeled a perv, lesbian or gay very quickly.

People should stop overly using the word " perv" already and be open for more kindness. People should stop judging others so quickly.

Indeed, and thanks.

I was thinking about this and India came to mind. In India (and other nations/cultures), it's perfectly acceptable (and normal) for men to hold hands, hug, or walk with their arm around their friend's shoulder. If we had a couple of male characters in FFXIV doing that I wonder what the typical reaction would be in the western player-base? To use your quote (about Japan) "it is normal love people around you in a pure friendly way". In India (for example) two men holding hands is an act of friendship, another word for friendship is love. If someone does not in fact love their friends, then why are they 'friends' and not merely acquaintances.

Actually, now that I think about this, I would rather the localization team did not make such changes as they made with Haurchefant for a very simple, and important reason. By leaving in such things, they expose people to aspects of other cultures, something that brings more understanding and tolerance for others. I'm not saying it should be the role of this game (or any other game) to educate society. But instead of giving in to the parochial fears and intolerance of some players who need to open their eyes and minds to the world, I think that they should leave these things in the game. Instead of trying to hide it, or change it, perhaps it would be better to add a bit more context so that people can understand the character type better.

My God, can you imagine if people actually learned to celebrate their differences in culture and belief, rather than criticize and belittle each other over those differences?