In an interview, Naoki Yoshida, who is the Director and Producer of Final Fantasy XIV, spoke about the community’s feedback on the current expansion Dawntrail. The criticism of a voice actress hit him hard.
What criticism is Naoki Yoshida referring to? After the launch of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, MeinMMO reported that the English voice of the female Hrothgar Wuk Lamat was sharply criticized by parts of the community.
The Producer of Final Fantasy XIV explained in an interview on checkpointgaming.net that the reactions from some players affected him deeply.
There were comments about us accepting diversity too much – some people seem to disapprove of that. I fear that one of our staff received very negative comments, and it felt like a personal attack, which breaks my heart because she has really worked hard and this criticism was not constructive at all.
“Not constructive at all” means that Sena Bryer, the English voice actress of Wuk Lamat, received transphobic abuse and death threats. Such feedback, according to Naoki Yoshida, will never lead to a better gaming experience and also targets the completely wrong person.
It leads to nothing but the employees losing motivation, and that could ultimately affect the quality of our game and distract from what makes this game so interesting.
If there is any kind of criticism, bring it to me, because I am the one who approves this material. I want to reiterate that we should distance ourselves from personal attacks against our staff.
The launch trailer for Final Fantasy XIV – Dawntrail:
Patch 7.1 benefits from the criticism of Dawntrail
What else does Naoki Yoshida say? With the upcoming Patch 7.1, they want to apply some of the lessons learned from player feedback on Dawntrail, according to the chief developer of the MMORPG.
The authors want the next story chapters to better highlight what makes the character of Wuk Lamat so great. Additionally, you can expect the full range of features you are accustomed to with a major content patch for Final Fantasy XIV.
The developers are delivering, for example, the first part of the alliance raid Echoes from Vana’diel, the dungeon Research Station Yuweyawata, the trial Gok Tajaal – Eternal Queen, Fatal Raids (A Second Future), the Cloud of Darkness in the chaotic alliance raid version, a new dream trial, and much more.
The first content pack for the current expansion Dawntrail is called Crossroads and is expected to land on the live servers in mid-November 2024. A complete overview of the contents of Update 7.1 of the Square MMORPG can be found here: The first content patch of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail will be huge, and it’s coming soon
