Character Creation Has A Race Problem

[Anarnee]

The afro is something you have to unlock, you don't get it right off the bat.

As a PoC, I disagree with you. The character creator 100% caters to Japanese players, and more specifically the FF aesthetic, a lot of the pieces in the creator look like FF things. It's not a white thing at all. Races in Eorzea are NOT the same as races in the real world, so while I think it would be nice to see some different types of ethnic traits, those things don't exist in Eorzea, so I don't think it's fair that you try you push it was a race thing.

There are no African Roegadyn, there are no African Hyur, there are no African miqote.

There are Hellsguard and Seawolf Roegadyn, there are Midlander and Highlander hyur, etc etc.

I would love more curly hair and face options, but please stop being in YOUR feeling and making it a race thing. Eorzea is not the real world, so stop bringing those real world problems here. It's really embarrassing to me as a black person to see people be manipulative like this and use a serious issue like this for a not serious thing. We have plenty to worry about without the false narratives.

[Magic-Mal]

[-Being technical-]There are no African Roegadyn, there are no African Hyur, there are no African miqote.

[Ghastly]

Because the only ideas that matter are yours and we must make sure things that don't matter to you must not be discussed. That's not how forums and communities work.

[wondergroove]

There is absolutely an issue with the lack of diverse racial feature options in the character creator, and it's surprising to me that this is the first time I've seen it brought up on the forums.

Sure, there are a handful of differing face/hair options and a... we'll call it a "decent" range of skin tones, but the lack of options for anything that isn't small/dainty/straight is honestly concerning and always disappointing.

I'd think people would be happy to advocate for more customization options and the chance to ease the rampant same-face syndrome the game has been suffering from for years.

But of course if you talk about it as a race issue and not as an aesthetic one, you'll have a bunch of intentionally misguided people come out of the woodwork muttering "how DARE you talk about things that I PERSONALLY don't have a problem with!??? this is what's wrong with the world today and tbh YOU'RE the REAL racist for talking about racism!!!1"

Yes this is a fantasy game that has fantasy races in it. If one group of people can exist in this fantasy world with no one questioning their presence, then there is literally no reason to exclude anyone else.

"It's just fantasy!" should be used to explain why a dragon swooped in to steal the magic sword at the last second, NOT to excuse a lack of diversity in media.

[QueenSophie]

Race Problem???? In a video game????? 1st world problems, yo. Grow up.

[wondergroove]

Race Problem???? In a video game????? 1st world problems, yo. Grow up.

I'm sorry that there are issues in the world that don't personally affect you, and that being made aware of them Offends you so. I wish you luck with the growing up, and hope you feel better once you've had some time alone to yourself in your safe space.

[Melichoir]

I'm sorry that there are issues in the world that don't personally affect you, and that being made aware of them Offends you so. I wish you luck with the growing up, and hope you feel better once you've had some time alone to yourself in your safe space.

Except a peculiar issue:

No one had mentioned much about this till 'now'. Something you stated. Which likely means : People didnt care about it till people were made to care about it.

That is no one cared about this and gave it no thought because they didnt see it as an issue that affected them, until someone said "Oh hey, not enough racial features I want to see!" Then it became an issue. And its not like we dont have black, or white, or hispanic, or asian, or etc people playing this game. So obviously someone shouldve mentioned it well before now. But I half expect someone to deflect by saying "They werent being given the chance cause...reasons."

But hey, if you think the game has an issue, go ahead and bring it up. But if you really are a person of principle, then I say this: Say something, and when the devs dont do anything, unsub. Afterall, why pay for a game that doesnt represent you to the T.

[Enla]

There is absolutely an issue with the lack of diverse racial feature options in the character creator, and it's surprising to me that this is the first time I've seen it brought up on the forums.

Sure, there are a handful of differing face/hair options and a... we'll call it a "decent" range of skin tones, but the lack of options for anything that isn't small/dainty/straight is honestly concerning and always disappointing.

I'd think people would be happy to advocate for more customization options and the chance to ease the rampant same-face syndrome the game has been suffering from for years.

But of course if you talk about it as a race issue and not as an aesthetic one, you'll have a bunch of intentionally misguided people come out of the woodwork muttering "how DARE you talk about things that I PERSONALLY don't have a problem with!??? this is what's wrong with the world today and tbh YOU'RE the REAL racist for talking about racism!!!1"

Yes this is a fantasy game that has fantasy races in it. If one group of people can exist in this fantasy world with no one questioning their presence, then there is literally no reason to exclude anyone else.

"It's just fantasy!" should be used to explain why a dragon swooped in to steal the magic sword at the last second, NOT to excuse a lack of diversity in media.

I think the problem with making this a race issue sadly coincides with why it likely happened in the first place, Japan's lack of understanding towards inclusion and race issues in the broader world. I very much don't believe it was a malicious thing, but a good percentage really don't even recognize racial differences within their own native culture. Nor are they themselves ethnically diverse with an overwhelming majority of 98.5% of the population being of broader Japanese ethnic descent.

Does that mean we shouldn't push for more inclusion? Not at all. I'd like to see more variety and believe people have a right to desire more representation. I also believe that viewing the choices of a Japanese business company through a Western lens is only going to cause headaches in the long run. That's not me excusing them, or saying that it couldn't be better, but I think we shouldn't ignore the reasons behind /why/ the lack of representation likely exists. This is the same culture that spawned the ganguro girl fashion trend, not with malicious intention mind you, which if it had happened in the US would have caused a /huge/ scene.

[wondergroove]

I think the problem with making this a race issue sadly coincides with why it likely happened in the first place, Japan's lack of understanding towards inclusion and race issues in the broader world. I very much don't believe it was a malicious thing, but they really don't even recognize racial differences within their own native culture. Nor are they themselves ethnically diverse with an overwhelming majority of 98.5% of the population being of broader Japanese ethnic descent.

Does that mean we shouldn't push for more inclusion? Not at all. I'd like to see more variety and believe people have a right to desire more representation. I also believe that viewing the choices of a Japanese business company through a Western lens is only going to cause headaches in the long run. That's not me excusing them, or saying that it couldn't be better, but I think we shouldn't ignore the reasons behind /why/ the lack of representation likely exists.

I never said it was malicious or even intentional. It doesn't have to be either to be wrong or worth criticizing, though, tbh.

I'm already aware of that this is a Japanese game and of the... uh, difficulties that Japan has with representation. Anime is already a great example of that. I'm not examining this through a "Western" lens; I'm looking through the lens of "human beings are extremely diverse and maybe art should be representative of that."

I understand the "reasoning" behind it. It doesn't make it any less of an issue, worth talking about, or something people should just blow over because everything else is just as bad. Ignorance isn't a good excuse for putting barely any effort into being respectfully diverse.

So yeah, I am going to ignore the reasons behind this particular lack of representation. I was aware of them before, I know them again now, and they're still not "good" enough to justify it.

[Enla]

.

Except I never tried to justify it nor say people should ignore it? However I very firmly believe that sweeping aside the reasons why a Japanese company might not have their fingers on the pulse of cultural inclusion is culturally insensitive in and of itself. Wanting more inclusion and acknowledging/respecting why a culture might not immediately try to be that way are not mutually exclusive.