"Doma" should not be "Pan-Asia"

[AutumnHarvestwind]

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(( Really? Do you have screenshots/item names you can PM me? As I do not want to veer the main topic too off course, and made that comment in passing mention ! It would make sense if it were "South Sea", as the Philippines are apart of Maritime South East Asia.))

[TinyRedLeaf]

I'm Chinese by ethnicity. By nationality, I belong in Southeast Asia. I don't find anything offensive or insulting about the presentation of East Asian inspired items in the game.

It seems to me that this is a problem only if one wants to make it a problem. For one thing, none of us have seen what Othard is actually like, and the Doman refugees just happen to be the only Othardian culture we have had contact with so far. How then can anyone jump to the conclusion that all of Othard must be like Doma? I would suggest that we reserve judgment until we have more evidence.

If anything, we have at least one substantial clue about the geo-cultural differences across Othard, and that's from what we know about Xaela and Raen. The Xaela are a nomadic people who roam the vast steppes of western Othard, and are clearly inspired by the Mongols. I'm sure we can easily agree that this counts as a distinctive Asian culture, unique and separate from the Japanese-inspired culture that informs Raen lore?

And as for maritime Southeast Asian inspirations, as pointed out by FJerome, it's already partly in the game. I visited a few of the islands of Okinawa in 2015, and I am struck by how much the far-flung island chain reminded me of Limsa Lominsa's geography. Vylbrand, the home island of Limsa Lominsa, is largely sub-tropical. You can see vestiges of Malay-style village huts in the more tropical east coast, while the west coast has a more temperate climate. And then there are clothing/glamour items that purportedly come from the "South Seas".

So, from my point of view, there is diversity. But I certainly can't help it if players choose not to see it even when it's there for all to see.

[Shebah]

I mean... I don't want to detract from the original point of this thread but if we're going to complain about misrepresentation of cultures I'd like to point out that the only representation of my own culture in this game is through half-naked dancing girls, turban-clad salesmen, and a selfish and greedy city-state.

But back on topic, It's not like WoW's MoP that was rife with Chinese cultural stereotypes. We've barely scratched the surface of what Othard and Doma are. For all we know, Doma itself could be Japan, with other areas of Othard representing different east Asian cultures.

Every region of Aldenard is vastly different from the next. Whether it be island, desert, forest or tundra, each zone not only has a different climate and scenery but also a different culture and racial distribution altogether. Even the HW zones vary a bit. I sincerely doubt the entirety of Othard would just be one big cluster of the same Asian-culture stereotype stew in every region.

[Alleluia]

((This is a pretty unrelated noted, but I would love for there to be Philippine visual cues in Othard, as a half pilipina lol. ))
ETA: Think of it guys. THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES.

Those images actually remind me a lot of different parts of La Noscea. The first three remind me of Raincatcher Gully on Eastern LN and the last one looks like a shot of O'Ghomoro in the background.

[Mysterysword]

Like TinyRedLeaf before me, I'm of immigrant Chinese descent, born and raised in South East Asia. So far, absolutely nothing of the depictions of Chinese culture, and Asian cultures in general, have come off as offensive or ignorant to me. In fact, there have been very few examples of things that I can conclusively name as coming from Chinese culture, as opposed to Japanese.

The point being, so far, everything we've seen from Doma has been clearly Japanese in origin. You're assuming, based off one Mogstation item, that the dev team is suddenly going to start randomly mashing up cultures with no rhyme or reason, when nothing in the game's depiction of cultures so far has come off as truly lazy or stereotyped to me.

No, the qipao doesn't count when it's not even been released yet.

What I do find far more offensive is white Americans telling me I'm not allowed to make jokes about my own culture and heritage online, all because "someone else might get offended". I've been threatened with expulsion from an FC for doing this, and unsurprisingly, I'm no longer a member of that FC. It's amusingly ironic how, in their efforts to avoid racism and be all politically correct, people wind up being way more racist and offensive to me. I don't mind racist jokes, as long as they're clearly made in good humour. I don't mind ignorance of my culture, as long as the ignorant are interested and willing to learn about it. I do, however, mind active censorship of expressions of my culture.

But on the topic of cultures, I would find it interesting if the devs found a way to show off the effects that colonisation by the Garleans have had, on the places conquered. We've already had a few mentions of this, with the latest generation of Ala Mhigans all growing up under Garlean rule. With my own country being a former British colony, I would love to see something like this being shown in a fictional world.

[Zohar_Lahar]

Those images actually remind me a lot of different parts of La Noscea. The first three remind me of Raincatcher Gully on Eastern LN and the last one looks like a shot of O'Ghomoro in the background.

Makes me wonder if the geography in Eorzea's regions were inspired by particular real world places.