New gearsets preview is a disappointment

[hydralus]

I for one am just glad they're not taco-themed.

[MinamotoRin]

Hello, I'm also here to bump! I'm from South America and can't help but feel a tad upset with this aesthetic being brought especifically to Dawntrail.

Maybe if they could change the Juan Ponce de Leon hat and the crosses aesthetic in the light blue outfit? That'd be so great already!

[Khalithar]

snip

You don’t get to decide who does or doesn’t “count” in this conversation based on how “connected” they are to their roots by your standards.

Not a monolith? Ok but you don’t speak for all Indigenous people either. The absurd idea that only those who can trace a pure ancestral line or practice a certain kind of cultural engagement are allowed to speak on these topics? Seriously? It erases the reality that colonization affected Indigenous identity in a thousand complex and uneven ways.

Not everyone agrees with you but hey you know what? That doesn’t make them traitors or tools of colonialism. It just means there’s a diversity of thought in our communities and pretending otherwise is the same kind of erasure you’re whinging about.

If your position genuinely requires excluding and questioning the legitimacy of other Latinos (like myself) or Indigenous-descended people just to hold groun? Then hey maybe it’s time to re-examine who that really serves yeah?

[MinamotoRin]

What's with all the <5 post accounts jumping on this thread? Smells highly supsect.

I don't like engaging with the forums, being quite honest.
At the same time I must feel I should at least help SE to have a bit more of awareness when creating their outfits. If we don't speak, they're never gonna know!

[petalpearls]

I went into Dawntrail and was happy to see South/Mesoamerican culture be represented, even relating to it as a West Indian too. The new gearsets for 7.3 is not only disappointing but offensive to all colonized by the Spanish. The devs may be on a strict schedule but at least put a placeholder on the gear until fixed, it's very disappointing to see colonization at the forefront. Do better.

[sylphlands]

op, i'm so sorry that your thread has devolved into this. many people are upset about this gear and its clear influences and you were right to bring it up.

also, all the accusations in this thread about "being offended on behalf of others" are hysterical. you should in fact care about things even if they don't affect you personally. every single one of my latam and native acquaintances have been shouted down for voicing concerns with dawntrail's painful writing and racist imagery.

i'm sure some edgelord pick-me will reply to this calling me a cuck or some other 4chan lingo. don't bother.

[Underscore]

I'm more frustrated that they're going to be role-locked and most likely non-dyeable.

If none of them look like any particular job, then why can only certain jobs wear them?

[galadae]

Others have said it better but I had to add my reply to boost. Thank you OP for voicing this. There are so many other things this set could have been but this is SO tone deaf. Where did the sensitivity consultants go for this? Where is the research? This really isn't it, SE

[Khalithar]

every single one of my latam and native acquaintances have been shouted down for voicing concerns with dawntrail's painful writing and racist imagery.

Oh? And how about us Latinos that aren’t offended nor think it’s racist? Do we not count?

I actually do agree with them the xpac’s bad writing though. Not because it’s offensive or racist or anything like that but because the DT MSQ was pretty bad for the majority of the xpac.

[Spiritcrests]

I find it genuinely sad how the developers of final fantasy 14 promise to listen to the players and be "culturally sensitive" then come out with several outfits for 7.3 themed around the concept of a conquistador. It is no mystery that Dawntrail takes place in South America, and that its peoples represent indigenous populations of that region. It is evident that a lot of research went into the planning, aesthetics, and storytelling of Dawntrail. Thus, it is absolutely ridiculous for the developers to release a gearset themed around the very people who conquered and slaughtered the people this expansion bases itself around.

Now, you could say "it's not a big deal. It's just clothes." I completely disagree, and I think suggesting that it's "not a big deal" is blatant gaslighting and obfuscation. People from this region have every right to feel offended and upset, and Square Enix should know better. There is nothing cute or fashionable about colonization. There is nothing "aesthetic" about donning the very same clothes worn by the monsters who slaughtered countless indigenous peoples for land and resources.

I would say I am disappointed, but I am honestly, at this point, not surprised. FFXIV has a history of being culturally insensitive, and they proved that they still are with the release of this gearset for 7.3. The only thing they can do to resolve this is to redesign the gearset to remove the conquistador imagery and issue an apology. I don't care if the patch release has to be delayed. They owe their fans (who pay at the very minimum $15 a month to stay subscribed to this game) better cultural representation and, again, an apology for this careless and insensitive decision. This nonsense has to stop.