Final Fantasy XIV redesigns Sage icon to comfort trypophobic players

Final Fantasy XIV redesigns Sage icon to condolement trypophobic players

(Image credit: Foursquare Enix)

The Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker expansion is almost here, so is the new Sage class. Like many FFXIV expansions, Endwalker will introduce a new playable job: the Sage, who can heal and buff teammates with powerful shielding spells. At that place was only 1 issue: the course icon for the sage had three tightly packed circular openings in it.

This presented a severe problem for players who have trypophobia: a fear of modest clusters of holes. Trypophobic players can now balance easy, nevertheless, as FFXIV's managing director has revealed a much more neutral redesign.

Information comes from the official Final Fantasy Fourteen website, in a post entitled "Sage Job Icon Design Modify." FFXIV's producer and manager Naoki Yoshida penned the update himself. For those who haven't played Foursquare Enix'due south popular MMORPG, yous can choose from a variety of classes, called "jobs," when creating or refining your grapheme. Each 1 of these jobs has a different icon associated with it, then that players can hands identify other characters — and their own, as they switch among classes.

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"When we released the new details for sage and reaper on the [Endwalker] site, we also included their icons, non thinking that they were particularly big reveals," Yoshida wrote. "However, we presently received feedback from players all over the globe, who told us that the sage icon fabricated them uncomfortable and fearful."

For those who didn't meet the old sage icon blueprint, it portrayed a cluster of iv small sticks, each one with a diamond-shaped nub at the cease. The center of each diamond was a colorless pigsty. This proved to be an uncomfortable design for many trypophobic players, whose reactions ranged from discomfort to fright.

The new design simply eliminates the holes, leaving the rest of the shapes unchanged. As Yoshida discussed:

"The pattern concept is unchanged, with the icon being based on the four nouliths [weapons] which form the sage's ammunition … To address the trouble, the new icon reduces the holes while accentuating the design concept. At present, comparison will inevitably be made, and some of yous may prefer the original. Simply we believe that designs like this are things that abound on you equally yous play the job, and ask for your understanding every bit we head into Endwalker."

In other words: FFXIV's latest expansion incorporated a design chemical element that made some players experience uncomfortable. The managing director took their concerns to eye and issued a small, just significant, change to the design. This should hopefully make trypophobic players feel a bit more at ease while preserving the Sage task'south distinctive icon appearance.

As for the Endwalker expansion itself, it will come out on November 23 on the PC, Mac, PS4 and PS5, and cost $40. The game expects that you'll have completed all the previous expansions, so if you haven't played FFXIV, at present is probably a good fourth dimension to outset. You can play the base game and the Heavensward expansion for free; after that, yous'll have to pay up.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site'southward coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you lot can discover him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.