Idea To Help Ukraine

[Kolaina]

I just made a donation to Red Cross

Does it mean as much if you have to announce it? I mean, are you trying to help people in crisis or get a pat in the back?

Also, it’s like people forget this is the general discussion of a video game forum. Not off-topic snd definitely not your social media account

[Juun]

How about Square Enix doesnt pick political sides and we can just keep playing the game without being reminded every 5 seconds about the horrible things going on in the world?

I play this game to get away from it all not to bombard myself in terrible world events.

[Iscah]

I mean, it's not "slacktivism" if it actually results in donating money to a real charity. The idea behind in-game rewards being tied to a charitable donation is it incentivizes more people to give, where perhaps they might not have. [...] Call it cynical, call it selfish, I don't care. It works.

I think it's a difficult thing because it sets a precedent. Create a minion to support one worthy cause or disaster and the next time one happens, they either have to do it again or look like they don't care about it as much as the other thing.

There's already a similar kind of issue going on with the housing timers spending more time paused than active as yet another regional disaster prompts them to halt the system again – but for them that's just a matter of hitting a switch and frustrating a few players looking for houses, not something they actively have to put work into.

If they were on the same kind of expectation with charity minions then that would be adding more unscheduled work for them every time something happens, and we'd get a pile-up of permanent minions for temporary disasters.

The best option if they ever did want to do a minion might be a single "all proceeds to Red Cross" minion that never stops directing funds to some aspect of the organisation's work, even if the specific cause ceases to require funds. But that still raises the question of how many charities are deserving of such representation, and which ones.

[Rilifane]

Natural disasters are very different to complex regional conflicts, however. Especially if a business chooses to weigh in on some and not others.

Exactly.
Floods, droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados... these are things that occur naturally and while civilization in general does affect some things in part, it's not something where you have an aggressor. There are no sides to take, there are no underlying complicatd geopolitical issues. They're natural disasters that occur from time to time.
Supporting charities that take care of the victims is simply helping innocents that were caught up in something nobody was responsible for.
Taking a side now means they will eventually get pressured into taking a side on similiar issues and they are never black and white. What if it's a case where it's extremely difficult to know which side to support? SE will get pressured into chosing one regardless. Being for one side means being against another and I completely understand if a gaming company, that primarily aims to entertain and offer people a place to escape reality for a bit, wants to remain neutral.
FFXIV has players from all across the world and while civilians are not their country nor responsible for the decisions of their leaders, it's also understandable if they're uncomfortable if SE is openly against "their" country. SE is still a business and that means trying to avoid stepping on too many toes by bringing geopolitics into their game.

That's not to say a gaming company isn't able to donate to charities like Red Cross to help victims that got injured, lost their homes etc. but announcing they're taking a side like that isn't something I can see them do. Everyone is still free to donate to reputable charities if they want to offer some support, with or without SE.

[Padudu]

"Hmm, maybe I could donate some money to help, maybe I'll do it later, not sure how much, or how to do it... meh, I'll figure it out later," and then never do. But you show them a fancy minion that tells them directly "Here, this is the way. Pay for this thing, we will donate the money for you and you get a fun prize as well as pat yourself on the back for doing the thing. Easy peasy." Call it cynical, call it selfish, I don't care. It works.

so you want SE to basically make a minion that not only trivializes the tragedy going on but also enable people to keep turning a blind eye to it for a virtual item? sounds great!

btw it doesn't work, if anything it just makes people only donate if there's something in it for them -- you know an idea against the notion of charity

yelling at a game company to make an item so you have a "reason" to donate is just about as effective as slapping the flag colors on your character in the name of support. just donate to a charity directly, or even if you don't want to send yourself to the front lines I'm sure there's local organizations you can spend your time in to volunteer - such as packaging first aid ect.

[SweetestLily]

Why do these real world issues always seep into the forums? Is it because people think it's easy upvotes and attention? There are so many ways you can genuinely help and I know on most of these post the op has not donated to a single charity for the tradegy they are using for clout.

[Illmaeran]

I remember back when Japan had that big earthquake in 2011, World of Warcraft had a minion you could buy and 100% of the proceeds went to the Red Cross's Japanese relief efforts. So, this type of thing is not unheard of.

That was an awesome thing for them to do, no doubt. The decision to do something like this is a lot easier when it's in response to an event not related to governmental actions such as we're seeing in Ukraine. If I were SE, as much as I may want to help, getting involved in something that's so closely tied to sensitive politics is touchy.

[Lauront]

S/E is not going to be involve with politics, especially when Japan still having dispute with all of its neighbors, including Russia.

Nor do I want to see it do that. It's bad enough that there has already been some in prior instances - the less of it, the better.

Exactly.
Floods, droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados... these are things that occur naturally and while civilization in general does affect some things in part, it's not something where you have an aggressor. There are no sides to take, there are no underlying complicatd geopolitical issues. They're natural disasters that occur from time to time.
Supporting charities that take care of the victims is simply helping innocents that were caught up in something nobody was responsible for.
Taking a side now means they will eventually get pressured into taking a side on similiar issues and they are never black and white. What if it's a case where it's extremely difficult to know which side to support? SE will get pressured into chosing one regardless. Being for one side means being against another and I completely understand if a gaming company, that primarily aims to entertain and offer people a place to escape reality for a bit, wants to remain neutral.
FFXIV has players from all across the world and while civilians are not their country nor responsible for the decisions of their leaders, it's also understandable if they're uncomfortable if SE is openly against "their" country. SE is still a business and that means trying to avoid stepping on too many toes by bringing geopolitics into their game.

That's not to say a gaming company isn't able to donate to charities like Red Cross to help victims that got injured, lost their homes etc. but announcing they're taking a side like that isn't something I can see them do. Everyone is still free to donate to reputable charities if they want to offer some support, with or without SE.

It hasn't always stopped them in the past, but at the same time these issues are complex, not all their customers will agree on them and in some cases they may just be acting on very surface level understandings of the topic that turn out later on to be much murkier. It's why generally speaking I wish they'd just stick to what I pay them for and not feel the need to inform me about their "official" position on every conceivable thing.

[Ronduwil]

A cosmetic in the shop isn't going to help Ukraine. If you really want to help them, urge the politicians in your country to lend their support, and send angry letters to media outlets that spread anti-Ukranian propaganda. We don't need Ukraine in Eorzea any more than Ukraine needs Russia in their country.

[ZedxKayn]

A company like SE would have absolutely no business "taking a side" in that kind of conflict.