All too often these days, a game will make a big mistake or change something that didn't need changing, and outrage will ensue. It'll start out constructive, but there will always be a handful of gamers that take things way too far, throwing personal insults as the people that make the games they love, and even threaten their lives in the most extreme cases. It's happened before, and will happen again.

Final Fantasy 14 is one of many games that have seen their fair share of controversies over the years, especially more recently, thanks to the rather tepid reception to the game's latest expansion - Dawntrail - and the recent shutdown of a popular mod called Mare Synchronos. That means director Naoki Yoshida (lovingly referred to as Yoshi-P by fans) is well-experienced when it comes to receiving negative feedback.

Final Fantasy 14's Yoshi-P Urges Gamers To Stop Posting "Demoralizing" Abuse

This was a topic that the director recently discussed during a panel at PAX West last week, during which Yoshi-P was asked how he deals with feedback from fans of his work, whether it be positive or negative. In response, Yoshi-P says that he likes to try and look at the feedback objectively, take his personal feelings out of the equation, and use it to try and improve his current or future work.

However, there is one form of criticism that Yoshi-P doesn't take on board at all, and that's non-constructive. Yoshi-P explains that while there are time that "harsh criticism" feels necessary, he wants people to remember that developers are people too

"There's a person behind the games you enjoy," says Yoshi-P. "If you have that sort of harsh criticism, we would want to have it be constructive. I know you want to express your frustrations, but very harsh words sometimes will hurt developers very deeply, and I think this applies to any creator in the video game industry. Some of the harsh words that were thrown at them could potentially demoralize them so much that they don't want to make video games anymore."

He goes on to say that developers just want to be friends with gamers and for them to enjoy what they're producing, urging people to read their potentially harsh posts back to themselves and "reconsider" if it does sound too nasty.

While not explicitly stated, it sounds like an opinion formed from personal experiences, and Yoshi-P has even defended people he's worked with from these kinds of comments. Wuk Lamat voice actor Sena Bryer was sent death threats following the release of Dawntrail, prompting Yoshi-P to condemn comments made about her and the game's localizers.

As nice as Yoshi-P's sentiment is, it's an unfortunate reality of life that the more hostile gamers out there will continue to be just as hostile towards the game they both enjoy and don't. Still, it's nice to have someone as big in the industry as Yoshi-P speak out against online toxicity in such a way, and if one or two people rethink their attitudes online, then it will be worth it.

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Final Fantasy 14

MMORPG Systems 10.0/10 Released August 27, 2013 ESRB T for Teen - Language, Mild Blood, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence Developer(s) Square Enix Publisher(s) Square Enix Engine Originally the Crystal Tools engine, but currently it's a custom engine using parts of the Luminous Engine. Multiplayer Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer Franchise Final Fantasy
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