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Chatting with the iconic Naoki Yoshida on the design and reception of Dawntrail
(checkpointgaming.net)
The other factor was Wuk Lamat. She’s a very complex character, and she even has a bit of a complex about herself. Unfortunately, we didn’t delve very far into the background of why she had those feelings, so it appeared as if she left a negative impression. We accept that feedback. I feel a little sorry that we weren’t able to properly depict her.
This is so absurd because Wuk Lamat is on-screen more than any other character except maybe the Warrior of Light. "Weren't able to properly depict her"... Maybe if they'd done anything other than having her repeat how much she loves peace and happiness every ten minutes? What happened to the fear she showed when fighting that giant colibri in 6.55? Why is she suddenly sea-sick all the time when that wasn't a thing when she got off the boat in Sharlayan?
One additional thing, there were comments about how we are too accepting of diversity — some people seem to be disapproving of that. I’m afraid one of our staff members received very negative comments and it almost felt like a personal attack, which breaks my heart, because she worked really hard and these criticisms were not constructive at all. [Editor’s note: Yoshida is referring to the transphobic verbal abuse and death threats that Wuk Lamat’s voice actress, who is a trans woman, has reportedly received from some FFXIV users.] It doesn’t do anything except make the staff lose motivation, and in the end that could potentially damage the quality of our game and take away from what makes this game so interesting. So if there are any sort of criticisms, bring it to me, because I’m the one approving this material. I wanted to reiterate that, please refrain from personal attacks against our staff.
I'm glad to hear they're not taking the anti-wOkE brigade seriously. But fuck everyone who decided to gang up on a voice actor, even if they don't like the character. (This started before Dawntrail ever launched so there's no way any of it had anything to do with Wuk Lamat's portrayal in 7.0, and even if it did, that doesn't excuse the transphobic BS Sena Bryer has been getting.)