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The Sage job is one of the new ones coming to Final Fantasy 14 as part of the upcoming Endwalker expansion. This is a healer class that can fight with four floating blades called nouliths. The icon for the Sage depicts these four weapons, but the original design came with one unexpected side-effect.
Apparently the original icon for the Sage was making some players feel "uncomfortable or fearful." The reason for this is because it was triggering some players' trypophobia. Trypophobia is said to be an "aversion to the sight of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps." The prevailing theory is that trypophobia stems from humans' built-in fears for things like holes made by insects and decaying flesh. These sorts of patterns occur every so often in nature, but a lot of people experience trypophobia when looking at photoshopped images where people place holes and patterns on human skin. This term was first coined in 2005 but it is not currently an officially recognized mental disorder.
It seems as though this phobia was a big enough problem for those playing Final Fantasy 14 that the development team at Square Enix has decided to make a small change to the Sage icon. Discussions about the original Sage icon spanned more than 24 pages on the Japanese FF14 forums. The devs definitely took notice of the discussion and have since made the decision to change the icon.
You can see the updated icon below. Below that, hidden away in the spoiler tag, is a look at the original design. If you do not suffer from trypophobia, you may not see what the big deal is, but for others the change has been a welcome one. Producer and director Naoki Yoshida shared some words about the design change.
When we released new details for sage and reaper on the special site, we also included their icons, not thinking that they were particularly big reveals. However, we soon received feedback from players all over the world, who told us that the sage icon made them uncomfortable or fearful.
This aversion is known as trypophobia, and those who have it feel disgust and fear when they see clusters of small holes or bumps. The severity of the reaction varies between people, and what triggers it in some may not do so in others.
But regardless of such differences, you have given us your earnest feedback, and there's still time to change things. Considering also the fact that job icons are prominently visible in the game, and that they also appear on merchandise, we've made the decision to redesign the sage icon.
Design Concept
The design concept is unchanged, with the icon being based on the four nouliths which form the sage's armament. The holes in the original design were added for detail, but they ended up appearing as a cluster. To address the problem, the new icon reduces the holes while accentuating the design concept. Now, comparisons will inevitably be made, and some of you may prefer the original. But we believe that designs like this are things that grow on you as you play the job, and ask for your understanding as we head into Endwalker.
This aversion is known as trypophobia, and those who have it feel disgust and fear when they see clusters of small holes or bumps. The severity of the reaction varies between people, and what triggers it in some may not do so in others.
But regardless of such differences, you have given us your earnest feedback, and there's still time to change things. Considering also the fact that job icons are prominently visible in the game, and that they also appear on merchandise, we've made the decision to redesign the sage icon.
Design Concept
The design concept is unchanged, with the icon being based on the four nouliths which form the sage's armament. The holes in the original design were added for detail, but they ended up appearing as a cluster. To address the problem, the new icon reduces the holes while accentuating the design concept. Now, comparisons will inevitably be made, and some of you may prefer the original. But we believe that designs like this are things that grow on you as you play the job, and ask for your understanding as we head into Endwalker.
Click here for a look at the original Sage icon, TW: Trypophobia
Spoiler:
