The 7.3 Armour preview is offensive

[Maya75012]

Adding my voice to bump this. And agreeing for having a previous gear in dyeable version as a quick solution instead. Because this need to be addressed!

[captainrodimus]

Bumping and essentially repeating what I said in the general forum, but: It’s very disappointing to see from a company who constantly claims that they’re going to be “doing better” going forward. Square’s history with sets like the New World and the unauthorized Sámi gear is bad enough, and I hate to see them repeating it.

[ritualgoth]

Giving my two cents here, I am one of the many latinos upset by the newest gear presented for patch 7.3. The inspiration of Spanish and French armor used by people who perpetrated violent colonization against North and South American peoples is incredibly disappointing.

It is correct that it is not an exact 1:1 of either Spanish or French armor, and more a blend of the two, but the fact that this many people can look at it and immediately know where the inspiration comes from is enough.

As stated in one of the Encyclopaedia Eorzeas:

"Secondly, we can’t use anything that has real-world religious or cultural connotations. If we want to make something that draws from religious imagery, ethnic clothing, and so on, it needs to be significantly altered. FINAL FANTASY XIV is played all around the world, and just because something is allowed in Japan doesn’t necessarily mean it can be used in other countries, so we pay close attention to this."

Why, then, does this gear include a clear inspiration to armor used during a period of violent colonization towards those native to the Americas?

The FFXIV team had the wherewithal to be so immensely careful about the visual portrayal of the Garleans; knowing where to take influence without being offensive. Realizing which military uniforms to not use as a stepping point for the portrayal of an oppressive imperial force. How did we go from that careful nature to this blatant disregard for the history of the Americas?

This is incredibly disappointing to me, who has been playing this game since 1.0. I urge the dev team to rethink their inclusion of materials like this and to return to your own design mission statement.

[mejokohzei]

I commented in the earlier thread, bumping this thread up and adding my comment from that thread to this new one in the gear section. "In an expansion that was told to have a cultural consultant, it's a very bad choice to make gear that, to this day, resembles a known symbol of hate and eradication of the Mesoamerican peoples of real life. Dawntrail is inspired by what these cultures have created, for the game to take from these people and then celebrate the symbols of their oppression is very disappointing. Even if it is done because of ignorance, it sends a hostile image to people from marginalized groups. I do not want the money that I have payed from my sub to go to fund a message of hostility. Please alter the gearsets to resemble the conquistador aesthetic less; if it's impossible for 7.3, patch it in."

[cooking_da_meatball]

given the historical context of the inspiration for this gear set and what that history means for the regions that directly inspired dawntrail, i believe the 7.3 dungeon gear set is inappropriate and should not be released. i agree with the suggestion to replace the 7.3 gear set with a dyeable version of the yuweyawata gear set instead.

[Meoshi]

In a vacuum these sets wouldn't be a problem, but because this expansion is explicitly about the Americas and South East Asia they are horrifyingly offensive. I don't believe the design team did it maliciously but it shows serious lack of care to add sets of the literal colonisers and imperial oppressors of the lands represented in Dawntrail. It would have been much better to have either more FF9 themed sets or native inspired ones. Save the Spanish/Portuguese conquistador stuff for back in Limsa, maybe a PVP set.

[aethervox]

bumping this~
+ repeating what i have said in the other thread: tone-deaf, ignorant, and tasteless!

[CosmicGuitars]

Just a really bad idea. These sets could be easily salvaged with different hats, but evoking the imagery of conquistadors in a latam expansion just feels kind of ghoulish.

[Aeviria]

The "Mystical Native" stereotype being front and centered paired with very questionable armor is a bad choice. All alone the armor isn't bad but in the context of DT's story it's a lot of bad.

[IronSparrow]

(Registered my account finally JUST to post this.)

Like others have said, the armor sets showcased for 7.3 are extremely questionable and also disrespectful to the cultures which inspired much of Dawntrail. Hypocritical of SE to claim they had hired experts to ensure the expansion was handled respectfully and then pull this. FFIX didn't look like this, so you can't say it's inspired by IX as an excuse! Is this really the direction you are going in, SE?