LGBT Guild holds Pride parade in celebration of announcement.
It was announced at E3 that Square Enix’s MMO Final Fantasy XIV would be receiving a new patch with some big changes. One of these changes was that any two player characters would be able to marry in-game, regardless of race or gender. To celebrate this progressive step forward by the developers one guild organised a Pride parade in-game, called ‘Pixel Pride’, to celebrate this new approach to diversity and acceptance.
The guild ‘Rough Trade Gaming’, who advertise themselves as ‘The World’s Largest LGBT Guild’, also partly held the event in memory of one of their members Lawrence ‘Erotes’ Hong. He was one of the victims who tragically lost their life in the stabbings in Calgary, Canada in April of this year. The guild video of the parade can be found below.
Square Enix were initially only going to have same-sex marriages in their MMO but eventually decided to capitulate to the idea of same-sex marriages if the desire of consumers was great enough. Subsequently at E3 2014 it was announced that Patch 2.4 would bring same-sex marriages to Final Fantasy XIV. Player appreciation for this decision can be seen in Rough Trade Gaming’s video, which starts with thanks to developer Naoki Yoshida for implementing this change. This marks another triumph for equality in the world of video games. Square Enix are sure to be grateful for the positive press surrounding this decision. Japanese developers have traditionally taken a glib view to equality within their games and for Square Enix to listen to their player base so intently is a refreshing change from past developer – fan interactions.
Patch 2.4 will also include a new class, the Rogue. This will in turn unlock the Ninja job. It is expected that the Rogue class will operate in the traditional fantasy sense, with dual wielding and emphasis on sneaking.
