When Final Fantasy XIV relaunches as Final Fantasy XIV: Let's Pretend This Game Didn't Happen A Realm Reborn in the near future, the people behind it plan to add a whole bunch of new features.


One of those features, to be added in a future patch, is marriage. The traditional version, with men and women and paladins and cat-people. No same-sex marriage allowed, at least for the time being. Here's an explanation from the folks at Square Enix:

We previously released a screenshot of a sanctum in the woods. So when the era came to an end, something happened that led to the sanctum being rediscovered. So what is this place for? Well, in creating a world, we wanted put anything in it that is close to reality. Marriage is one of those things. That's why we built the sanctum—so that characters and players can get married. The system for weddings—proper services and such—might not be available right from the beginning. It'll most likely be added in a patch. However, we've already prepared a place for it. As for same-sex marriage, this is an extremely controversial topic that has been under discussion in the MMO world for the past few years. First we would like to start out with opposite-sex marriage, and then consider the feedback from our players in order to make a careful decision. I can't say whether or not it will be possible at this point in time. I'd like to keep dialog open with our players as we deliberate the matter.


I don't see what's so controversial about allowing people to get married, but hey, if you let men marry men, what's next? Men marrying moogles? Women mating with chocobos? Tradition is very important in the world of Hydaelyn.

Letter from the Producer LIVE Part IV & Q&A Summary [Square Enix via Siliconera]