Patch 4.3- Open letter from an abuse victim

[popocco]

To whomever it may concern; writers, producers, storyboarders, etc;

I apologize if this manner of attempting contact or dialogue is incorrect, and hesitate to use it even with the relative anonymity of a userbase forum system, but I feel a duty to communicate on the topic that I have stemmed for some time and can no longer ignore. Forgive the general indiscretion that is to follow.

In preparation for the release of patch 4.4 within the next two days, I am at this moment in the midst of completing the main storyline Under The Moonlight. Watching the cutscenes up to those included within the quest The Fruits of Her Labors, I have felt a wide and visceral range of emotion. I have cried bitterly- but not from any appreciation of the fiction or the characters- rather from a mix of hopelessness, pain, frustration, indignation, deprivation, and exhausted stewing anger that I cannot help but conclusively feel none of the people responsible for the plot of this patch have ever come close to experiencing.

I, like one in every approximate eight or nine, based on general statistics, people subscribed to Final Fantasy XIV, am a "survivor" of sexual abuse. I hesitate to use the word, because while it can be empowering to others who have gone through similar trauma to my own, I feel that frankly speaking the person who I was before I was raped did not survive. But the purpose of this letter is not to provide the graphic details of the violence I've experienced. Nor is it to provoke pity from the random forumgoer- a quick glance at my stats is enough to make clear that I am virtually inactive on this website, and have no reason whatsoever to want any kind of emotional clout within its more vocal population. The only reason I have divulged this extremely personal information is that I hope it will enforce the seriousness of the issue I have chosen to finally speak upon.

Unlike the majority of its predecessors in the franchise, FFXIV is an ongoing relationship between the development crew and the players. Players who number internationally, from every age group and gender and sexual orientation, who choose to pay regularly in order to experience the wonder and entertainment of a world they have helped to expand and which, in some way or another, is precious to them. The relationship between the devs and the players is the heart of an MMO's growth. So it only goes to say that both of the participants in this relationship hope to receive a basic level of respect from each other.

When I say basic, I mean basic. I mean the right to be treated with human dignity, to be given the single courtesy of being simply seen as a human being with a right to fair and equal treatment to every other member of our species. A trend in the localization and writing of this game's story, made prevalent in patch 4.3 with the focus on Yotsuyu's past and person, does not satisfy this right. [contd.]

[popocco]

[contd.] At a low estimate, given the reported demographic of people who have in their lifetimes experienced sexual abuse, tens of thousands of FFXIV players fall within that group. Tens of thousands, at a low estimate. And the message that has been sent to these tens of thousands of players, is that our trauma, the events that have irreparably changed our lives and bestowed the kind of eternal lurking pain that marks us as invisible and broken and ultimately nothing more than an unpleasant warning to the rest of the world that awful things do happen for no reason, is that what's happened to us is compelling drama. It's an effective tool for engaging an audience, for making them feel uncomfortable and sad, about a person who isn't real from a world that isn't real. It's cheap drama that does nothing but hurt the people it plays at representing.

The way in which the story focuses, [I]intently[I], on Yotsuyu's life, is invasive and cruel to no acceptable end. We are shown explicit moments of violence against her as a child, subjected to jokes from sympathetic, kind characters about the idea of sexually exploiting her, and made to watch nothing short of misery porn, of her weeping and crying in pain at the sight of the people who condemned her to being raped for years on end, for the simple purpose of expressing a different character's unscrupulous malice or for begging some vague moral dilemma from the audience. It is pointlessly vicious and cruel, not of the fictional people participating in these things, but of the people responsible for conceiving these scenarios in the first place. It is vicious and cruel not only to a fictional woman, but to tens of thousands of real people.

I am not asking for a permanent veto on the mere subject of sexual abuse. It is a reality of our world, and in exploring it in a respectful manner fiction can provide closure or temporary comfort for the people who have lived through it, and teach those who haven't to be discerning and conscientious towards those who have.

It is a reality of our world which affects an unspeakable amount of people- it is not a literary tool, to be exploited in the place of employing actual character development. It is not an easy formula for provoking shock or sadness or disgust or any other emotion from an audience. It is not a subject to be invoked lightly or carelessly for any reason.

All I ask is that it, and everyone affected by it, are treated with decorum. That rather than showing it in action, to elicit shock, we talk about it with the sense of responsibility that it deserves.

All I ask is for responsibility, and kindness.

A story doesn't have any obligation to be kind, but don't real people, to each other?

[Zyneste]

The world goes on. Its an aberration that things like this happen, but censoring it in fact or fiction won't make your pain or anyone else's goes away.

This is something that's very difficult to respond to, but it really needs said. I hope that you writing this post helped you process your feelings, but in my equally opinionated belief, I feel the inclusion of these elements are not just pandering to empathetic emotion, but build on the sense that we aren't just this magic savior. They show the dark side of our world. Raw darkness in the face of the champion of light and it wrenches us to see someone who had the chance of being a good soul, corrupted by her circumstances. She's just out of our reach and we want to save her, but we can't. I think this has been a very cathartic arc in the series.

[NotOliverB]

Oh not this again

[popocco]

Like I said, a veto isn't what I'm asking for. It's not a question of censorship. I didn't posit this issue just to vent- there are a million other outlets for that. What I want to do is make people aware that this "raw" approach to "darkness in the face of a champion" is not worth using when it capitalizes on the pain of real people- people who don't define themselves as "champions" or their abuse as "darkness" or whatever other flowery poetic literary things people could say to describe it.

"Ignoring it doesn't make it go away" is something that people like me are told every single time, without fail, we try to ask for a little consideration. As if ignoring it was even an option in the first place. The fact that I am not able to ignore it, nor ever will be, is the reason I felt the need to speak about it in the first place. We are told to just avoid the things that hurt us, victims, if they're that upsetting, advising the very thing you've just told me not to ask of other people: just don't acknowledge it if it's that horrible.

It's horrible, and it's not being properly acknowledged. It's being used.

[Zyneste]

Like I said, a veto isn't what I'm asking for. It's not a question of censorship. I didn't posit this issue just to vent- there are a million other outlets for that. What I want to do is make people aware that this "raw" approach to "darkness in the face of a champion" is not worth using when it capitalizes on the pain of real people- people who don't define themselves as "champions" or their abuse as "darkness" or whatever other flowery poetic literary things people could say to describe it.

"Ignoring it doesn't make it go away" is something that people like me are told every single time, without fail, we try to ask for a little consideration. As if ignoring it was even an option in the first place. The fact that I am not able to ignore it, nor ever will be, is the reason I felt the need to speak about it in the first place. We are told to just avoid the things that hurt us, victims, if they're that upsetting, advising the very thing you've just told me not to ask of other people: just don't acknowledge it if it's that horrible.

It's horrible, and it's not being properly acknowledged. It's being used.

People could have been sexually abused and still be against what you're describing. Calling yourself "We" encompassing everyone who has ever been sexually abused as supporting your view point is very dangerous.

I didn't advise you to avoid it and you should speak up for what you believe in, but accept that not everyone who has been sexually abused is going to have an issue with this narrative.

[Anselmet]

Why do I have a feeling op is mad because even though Yutsuyu was a sexual abuse victim, she is still a villain in this franchise. Also someone please explain to me why the op is fighting for the rights of a fictional woman. Newsflash, she doesn't exist, so her feelings do not need to be considered. And nowhere in her story did Square do a crap job in describing her abuse.

Like, I am sorry your an abuse victim, but if I let my baggage dictate what I can handle in fiction, I'd be really miserable. And I am more than certain you are just in the minority of abuse victims to take offense to Yutsuyu. Are we really going to fault the devs for touching a touchy subject matter to try and bring meat to their barebone villains? If anything we should be singing their praises because we are able to sympathize with Yutsuyu while still being able to judge her for her terrible deeds. Like did we even play the same 4.3 msq?

[KaitoAsaha]

Personally hope the devs do not budge on this. Once you cave to the demand of something like this then you will be expected to cave to all of the offended, no matter what the trigger may be. For buffs or nerfs to the game, sure, but let them tell their story as uncensored as possible.

[Risvertasashi]

Like I said, a veto isn't what I'm asking for.

Which makes this better than some posts along the same lines. Nonetheless - there are many evils on the game visited on many different characters. I think it's important that the game doesn't shy from exploring and addressing them. Even if it causes some pain - for which I am sorry for and I don't think that is the intent of the devs either - I think it's better to have the topics not be taboo.

It's horrible, and it's not being properly acknowledged. It's being used.

And this is where we differ in our thoughts. Any time anything appears in a story, it's being "used". Anything in a story is there to advance a narrative.

Everything I said above still applies. It should not be a taboo topic. If it is, others will never really understand, and you won't get the acknowledgement you seek, and callous responses like "Just get over it/avoid it" will continue to happen.

Building understanding and empathy isn't a magic bullet, but it does help prevent stuff like that.

[Hestzhyen]

"Rape as Drama" is an old trope and the tactfulness of it's usage varies greatly depending on the work in context and the individual consuming it. I found the use of it in Yotsuyu's backstory to be absolute tripe, mostly because her parents were so cartoonishly evil for no justifiable reason other than to manufacture more drama. It definitely could have been used better. That said, putting a moratorium on using painful and tragic circumstances because it dredges up bad memories for some is not a workable solution. Without those kinds of events you don't have much story to tell. Asking for some more respect on the topic is totally valid (and in this case I will agree it's warranted, Yotsuyu's backstory was horribly told) but you can't expect to avoid the situation everywhere.

To OP, I used to be afraid of encountering what I went through in various forms of media. I went out of my way to avoid it. Then I gradually realized that sometimes, when told well, the character's experiences could be cathartic. And that in turn helped me begin processing what happened and I sought out more works dealing with the topic. Not all versions of events were sympathetic or an accurate portrayal of my state and circumstances, but I appreciated that authors were willing to go there and address the topic seriously. XIV could have done it better for sure but just by putting it out there and treating it as the terrible thing it is, it might start that self-reflection process for someone else.

(For the record I did not go through what OP did, but I have circumstances of my own that lead me to be sympathetic.)