This is a difficult question, but not one that was unexpected, seeing as diversity in entertainment media has become a much-discussed topic as of late. The answer I have, however, may end up being disappointing to some depending on individual expectations.<\/p>\n
Our design concept from the earliest stages of development has always heavily featured medieval Europe, incorporating historical, cultural, political, and anthropological standards that were prevalent at the time. When deciding on a setting that was best suited to the story we wanted to tell \u2014 the story of a land beset by the Blight \u2014 we felt that rather than create something on a global scale, it was necessary to limit the scope to a single landmass \u2014 one geographically and culturally isolated from the rest of the world in an age without airplanes, television, or telephones.<\/p>\n
Due to the underlying geographical, technological, and geopolitical constraints of this setting, Valisthea was never going to realistically be as diverse as say a modern-day Earth…or even Final Fantasy XIV that has an entire planet (and moon) worth of nations, races, and cultures at its disposal. The isolated nature of this realm, however, does end up playing a large part in the story and is one of the reasons Valisthea\u2019s fate is tied to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, we felt that while incorporating ethnic diversity into Valisthea was important, an over-incorporation into this single corner of a much larger world could end up causing a violation of those narrative boundaries we originally set for ourselves. The story we are telling is fantasy, yes, but it is also rooted in reality.<\/p>\n
Conversely, the Final Fantasy series of games have always inherently dealt with conflict and struggle, especially between the empowered and those used and\/or exploited by those privileged few \u2014 a prominent trend in human history. In a game that, by design, allows players to experience that conflict and struggle first- hand through dynamic, realistic battles, it can be challenging to assign distinctive ethnicities to either antagonist or protagonist without triggering audience preconceptions, inviting unwarranted speculation, and ultimately stoking flames of controversy. The best part of pulling inspiration directly from history, however, is that it allows us to revisit and re-examine our own pasts, while also allowing us to create something new.<\/p>\n
In the end, we simply want the focus to be less on the outward appearance of our characters and more on who they are as people \u2014 people who are complex and diverse in their natures, backgrounds, beliefs, personalities, and motivations. People whose stories we can resonate with. There is diversity in Valisthea. Diversity that, while not all-encompassing, is synergistic with the setting we\u2019ve created and is true to the inspirations from which we are drawing. Naoki Yoshida<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a new interview with IGN, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida said the sequel won’t have many Black characters or people of color because it takes place in a geographically isolated realm inspired by medieval Europe, and it wouldn’t be realistic to have an „ethnically diverse“ cast. (via) Diversit\u00e4t in modernen Medien ist aktuell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10647,"featured_media":90638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[10798,12524,3632,4227],"class_list":["post-96822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","tag-diversitaet","tag-final-fantasy-16","tag-rpg","tag-square-enix"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
FF16 verzichtet auf eine ethnisch vielseitige Gruppe an Charakteren - Stevinho.de - Ein ausgezeichneter Blog!<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n