Final Fantasy 14is now in some hot water with its fan base, and a significant number of fans are threatening to boycott the game over the designs of the upcoming gear being added in the 7.3 update. Update 7.3, titledThe Promise of Tomorrow, is scheduled to be released in early August and will add a significant amount of new content, but now, a lot of fans are seemingly more concerned about the potential insensitivity to Latin American culture and history.
In a post to the officialFF14forums onSquare Enix, several fans are voicing their distaste at the 7.3 armor sets being added to the game,with many saying they are “offensive” due to their close resemblance to historical Spanish conquistador outfits.Dawntrail, the game’s latest expansion, takes a lot of inspiration for its lore and setting from Latin America, such as the main city of Tuliyollal being influenced by real-life Mexico City.
FFXIV Fans Aren’t Happy With 7.3 Gear Seemingly Inspired By Colonizers
Dawntrail Is Heavily Influenced By Latin American Culture
Theresponse from fans over the gear designs hasbeen predominantly negative, with several fans harshly criticizing the decision to make gear sets seemingly inspired by colonizers as disrespectful. Jadehorror found them to be not only offensive but also at risk of hurting the player base, writing:“It’s extremely tone deaf and insulting to players.“They continued, saying:”… there’s nothing good to come from alienating and hurting your player base.”
The new gear set has a lot of fans in an uproar, and with game director Naoki Yoshida, also known as Yoshi-P, encouraging players who feel burned out or let down by the game’s current offerings togo play other great gamesinstead, it certainly seems like several fans will take him up on that offer. New gear sets come with almost every update to the game, but this one iscausing some of the most controversythe MMO has seen in years.
Some Fans Say They’re Letting Their FFXIV Subscriptions Run Out
The Popular MMO Has Reached A Period Of Scrutiny
Somemembers of the FFXIV communityare suggesting they will not renew their subscriptions because of these offensive designs, with elysiontower having a personal issue with the designs, writing:“I’m frankly just letting my sub run out and not coming back at this point. I’m latino…We hardly get to see our cultures represented in any good faith without egregious stereotyping"Square Enix has not yet made an official statement regarding the design decisions or the community feedback.
With a lot of fans hurt by these new gear designs, it remains to be seen if Square Enix will address the controversy during the upcomingLetter from the Producer on July 24. Either way, a lot of fans are disappointed that the developers would even consider creating designs like these, and in a time in whichFinal Fantasy 14is being criticized for being too same-y every expansion and ignoring bigger game issues, the game is now in trouble with even more fans.
