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Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida has spoken out again about the reception of Dawntrail and the abuse suffered by Wuk Lamat voice actress Sena Bryer.
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Yoshida claims that he and his team have accepted criticism of the character, but will include it in future patches to “show more of what makes Wuk Lamat so great”.
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He also claims that the abuse Bryer suffered “broke [his] heart”, but that fans should get used to “more opinions flying”.
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail has been and gone, and now that the dust has settled – and we're eagerly awaiting Patch 7.1 – we can look back at a frankly decent expansion that got a lot more hate than it probably deserved. This hatred came from many aspects, but a large part of what drove it was a reaction to Wuk Lamat, arguably the true protagonist of the expansion and a character that still divides opinion today.
While there were legitimate reasons not to really vibe with Wuk Lamat, the abuse and death threats sent to voice actress Sene Bryer very quickly turned any conversation around the character into a toxic nightmare. It became such a problem that even Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshia (Yoshi-P) asked fans to stop personal attacks on the game's actors and localizers.
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Almost two months after that statement, Yoshi-P opened up a bit more about the negative reception of Wuk Lamat and spoke again about the abuse Bryer experienced. In a new interview with Checkpoint Gaming, Yoshi-P was asked about his thoughts on the adoption of Dawntrail as an expansion, given that it's quite divisive among fans.
Final Fantasy 14 Director Says Wuk Lamat's Voice Actor Abuse Was 'Heartbreaking'
He began by explaining that he “knew from the beginning” that opinions would be mixed, thanks to our Warriors of Light taking more of a back seat this time around, before quickly getting to the character of Wuk Lamat. Yoshi-P says his team has taken feedback on the character and apologized for not being able to “render her properly” in Dawntrail, promising that future patches will “show more of what makes Wuk Lamat so great.”
He then goes on to address the abuse Bryer received, rejecting claims that his team was “too accepting of diversity” and that the negative comments hurled at Bryer “broke”. [his] heart” because of how hard she worked during development.
I'm afraid one of our staff received very negative comments and it almost felt like a personal attack, which breaks my heart because she worked really hard and the criticism was not constructive at all.
He then goes on to stress that these kinds of attacks “demotivate staff” and potentially damage the quality of the game as a result, and urges anyone experiencing issues to [him]Yoshi-P then states that as Final Fantasy 14 grows, the game will have “more people, which means more opinions”, so he wants to try to reduce the amount of “useless attacks” his staff are dealing with. I think I can speak for most fans when I say we couldn't agree more.
Dawntrail is the fifth full expansion for Square Enix's MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV and marks the beginning of a brand new story arc. It will take the Warrior of Light across the ocean to the continent of Tural, add new Viper and Pictomancer quests, and host additional dungeons, raids, and more.
