>This divine beast is present in multiple cultures in east and southeast Asia, originating in China (qilin) before being shared across Korea (girin), Japan (kirin), Thailand (gilen), Vietnam (ky lân), and beyond. Our team pulled their initial references from several different depictions of the girin over time and cultures, including depictions of these mythical beasts with draconic features.
>When we were close to the initial release date, the finalized designs were brought to the wider team. Concerns were raised regarding established player feedback on Wind and harmful stereotypes. Questions were asked, answers were given, and then we sought out cultural consultation on both the design and the lore.
To be more specific, staff cited that Wind flight has suffered from the "far east trope" in the past, combining a bunch of elements and themes from different cultures with no regard for what they mean or where they're from (which, if you're still confused, it's disrespectful to act like all asian cultures are interchangeable). So the solution they chose was to reference one specific myth in the dragon design.
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Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-15 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-15 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)>This divine beast is present in multiple cultures in east and southeast Asia, originating in China (qilin) before being shared across Korea (girin), Japan (kirin), Thailand (gilen), Vietnam (ky lân), and beyond. Our team pulled their initial references from several different depictions of the girin over time and cultures, including depictions of these mythical beasts with draconic features.
>When we were close to the initial release date, the finalized designs were brought to the wider team. Concerns were raised regarding established player feedback on Wind and harmful stereotypes. Questions were asked, answers were given, and then we sought out cultural consultation on both the design and the lore.
Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-16 12:36 am (UTC)(link)