A PoC Scion please? There is so much untapped potential here.

[MilitaryVet123]

The Bozjan questline was a refreshing breath of scintillating fresh air because of the beautiful plot twist, a highlight of the inequities of revolutions and class divide, and also because of the inclusion of Lilja.



When I saw Lilja at first, I thought she's simply going to be left to the wayside and be an extremely minor character. But nope, she was one of the core characters in the Bozjan storyline, serving as Garlond Ironworks' liason in Bozja and offering critical engineering insight. She helped with the assault on Castrum Lacus Litore and helped us confirm that that was indeed where Mikoto was held. In sum, she was a major character in the Bozjan story. She is part of the "Bozjan Scions".

And she also happens to be black, with a dope as hell sense of fashion.

So when are we going to see the same in the main scenario quest?

Now let's look at the scions. See if you can spot any commonality?



Not only are they all white, they also have white/blond hair. The WoL is the only exception, and canonically (according to promotional videos) he's also white. I didn't think much of this at first, but after witnessing Lilja, I realized that I had become complacent when it came to the MSQ. The majority of the protagonists in every single expansion for the MSQ has been white or white-skinned. There are a few secondary characters who are PoC, like Raubahn, but they are few and far in between and none of them are primary characters. Is it not weird that, despite having the Scion headquarters being set up in the Waking Sands, an arid desert with scorching sun rays, all primary Scions are not even tan? This boils down to the colorism that stealthily encompasses East Asian and Western culture. Without even realizing it, we design characters to be white or light skinned by default. That's why when there's no pushback, we end up with a cast that is entirely white or light skinned. But it doesn't have to be this way. Lilja shows that if we are conscious about how we design characters we can make the cast of a game inclusive and more realistic.

With the upcoming 6.0 expansion all but certain to take place in Garlemald, I have a suggestion for Square Enix. Let Gaius Baelsar become a Scion. This not only completes his redemptive arc, but it also adds, finally, a main scion that is a PoC. If you look at the picture of the Scions it just does not look like a group of diverse origins even though it should be, as it is a supranational organization. Instead, what we have now looks incredibly bland and homogeneous. This is not diversity for diversity's sake. This is diversity for better story telling, better immersion, and better inclusivity.

[Nekaru_Infitima]

Not only are they all white, they also have white/blond hair.

Despite this probably being marked as a troll thread by the others. I still have to answer.
Asian, you mean Asian. This is a game made by a Japanese company. It's going to follow the Asians that look white anime rule.
As for blonde and white hair. Think color theory in stories. White equals mystical or unknown. Blondes are usually the side of good, or pure (can be evil pure too). But usually count for purity, holy, etc. White is mysterious.

It's just anime cliche's.

[Rongway]

It's just anime cliche's.

So let's break some of the clichés.

People of color can be powerful and mystical too. Many BIPOC cultures even have mystic castes and traditions that they might be happy to share as long as they're included in a respectful manner.

[Nekaru_Infitima]

So let's break some of the clichés.

People of color can be powerful and mystical too. Many BIPOC cultures even have mystic castes and traditions that they might be happy to share as long as they're included in a respectful manner.

I wasn't saying they couldn't be. I was saying COLORS have a meaning in fiction.
When we use blue it usually conveys mood, possibly reserved.
Pink is normally bubbly, happy go lucky, innocent, childish.
Then you have different shades of those colors that also hold meanings.

White as said above is normally associated with purity, holiness, mystical, mysterious, unnatural.

THEN we also have to remember the Scions are originally from Sharlaya. The white/blondes hair could be a racial trait from that land. Maybe it's a cold climate and less sun so they're paler in skin too. There could be many reasons.

As an artist though, I gotta say to me, Lilja's colors clash terribly. I don't know if it's that shade of brown with that bright yellow, or the lighting, or the blue. But her colors could have still been the same, but different shades and worked together so much better. Maybe lighten the hair to be less vibrant, or make brown less warm and more in the cool colors to not jump out so much with the hair. That's kinda off topic though...

[Kranel_San]

So let's break some of the clichés.

People of color can be powerful and mystical too. Many BIPOC cultures even have mystic castes and traditions that they might be happy to share as long as they're included in a respectful manner.

Those are western values you're trying to insert in a Japanese game MADE by Japanese devs INSIDE a Japanese community.
Inserting a black character or with certain sexualities to represent a group of people that lack confidence and are in dire need of representation in every single corner IS NOT something the Japanese care or believe in.

[AziraSyuren]

Those are western values you're trying to insert in a Japanese game MADE by Japanese devs INSIDE a Japanese community.
Inserting a black character or with certain sexualities to represent a group of people that lack confidence and are in dire need of representation in every single corner IS NOT something the Japanese care or believe in.

Not entirely true. It's just that, when Japanese writers write PoC, you end up getting characters like Superalloy Darkshine.

And you'd have to be purposefully obtuse or dense to not see how horrendously racist that character is.

[Kranel_San]

Also labeling folks that may want this as people who "lack confidence and are in dire need of representation" is very narrowminded. People aren't just black n white with these things.

Are these western values? Yes. Is it a Japanese game? Yes. But is I'm made for a global audience? Sure is. So imo that isn't out of line at all. The devs have already shown they care about that sort of thing with making things like dresses unisex

Narrowminded? I don't see any other honest terms to describe them by. If you want more of your "global audience" values then other games are for you. I don't want to see this game drifting away to appeal to Europe and USA gaming communities' values more than the Japanese values. Every other MMO is already doing that and it's more than enough. People should understand and be fine if X number of characters aren't the same as your colorskin. Aren't the same as your hairstyle. If you're not fine with that then you have a serious confidence issue that instead of solving it you're trying to demand of others sympathy and representation of you.
And no, unisex dresses are only a thing because of profit.

Not entirely true. It's just that, when Japanese writers write PoC, you end up getting characters like Superalloy Darkshine.

And you'd have to be purposefully obtuse or dense to not see how horrendously racist that character is.

Maybe you have figured out why but that's because the devs live in a Japanese society where they barely get to interact with other skin-colors people. Especially if they live away from where tourists are usually seen. Instead of asking the devs to change, why not accept their culture? If someone has the right to demand a X colorskin character in a game developed in the otherside of the world. Then a japanese person has the right to demand a japanese character or anything to their fancies in western games. It also means everyone get the right to demand a character or more up to whatever their mind fancies without someone saying No.
You see how horrible that is? No? Wait until everyone moves on to the next level when everyone start doing that. Instead of accepting others and their work and culture as they're, we're trying to change it to whatever we fancies and not what them or others fancies.

[Iscah]

Asian, you mean Asian. This is a game made by a Japanese company. It's going to follow the Asians that look white anime rule.

No, they are not automatically Asian (or the fantasy equivalent thereof) just because the game makers are Asian. The world map and cultural influences indicate that Eorzea is Europe-inspired while Othard is clearly eastern Asia. The "anime characters look white raceless" thing simply means you can't tell the difference between races without some kind of additional cultural markers like names or clothing - and that well may include giving the European characters blonde hair.

[reivaxe]

No, they are not automatically Asian (or the fantasy equivalent thereof) just because the game makers are Asian. The world map and cultural influences indicate that Eorzea is Europe-inspired while Othard is clearly eastern Asia. The "anime characters look white raceless" thing simply means you can't tell the difference between races without some kind of additional cultural markers like names or clothing - and that well may include giving the European characters blonde hair.

This.

The "ThIs Is AnImE rACe!" doesn't apply here. They legit have a whole race devoted to depicting East Asian themes and people (the Draggos). Much of this game is European fantasy in nature and the human race in this game is clearly meant to be "human" as a whole and not just "Asians".

As for the OP, this is prob a troll thread but I have also found the running theme of the Scions being white skinned to be lame af.

Wish there was also in-game race diversity as well. Most are Human/ Elezen and 2 cats ... I get that they want to tighten up the cast to tell better stories but could we maybe get Red or Dark skinned Draggo or a Viera or Hrothgar or Roe in the Scions?

Prob wont happen without the death of one so poo.

[Iscah]

Wish there was also in-game race diversity as well. Most are Human/ Elezen and 2 cats ... I get that they want to tighten up the cast to tell better stories but could we maybe get Red or Dark skinned Draggo or a Viera or Hrothgar or Roe in the Scions.

Someone a while ago suggested that Hien should have been an Au Ra, and I think that would have been a great move. Too many of the "poster characters" are human or very close to it in a story-world with a lot more potential for variety. Even when there are other races, customisation tends towards more human than the character creator can make them - like giving Roegadyn more human skin tones than either clan can reach.