(04-15-2015, 10:19 PM)Faye Wrote: I don't think the OP's real life comparisons meant--let's take the samurai one for example--that only Japanese people can be samurai and no other races are allowed, or that Japanese people make for better samurai, etc. Rather, when people first come up with their character, they start with the idea of an archetype. Well, I guess I can't speak for others--that's how it usually works for me, at least. So when the idea "samurai!" pops into someone's head for a character, it seems a little... counter-intuitive, I guess is the best way to put it, to then make said samurai character a white guy, at least if it's for no reason more than "I prefer to play a white guy." In fact, I'd argue that where real life races are concerned, that can be seem just as (if not more) racist--to change the respective race of a member of some discipline that belongs to another culture, especially when whitewashing or changing from a minority to a majority--than to say "all samurai should be Japanese."
What you've described is essentially cultural appropriation, and yes, I would agree it is quite wrong.
However, the issue I take with the OP is that the comparisons in game are not accurate to begin with. Ala Mhigo is not all Highlander, as I detailed in this earlier post quite extensively. Nor are all Ishgardians Elezen/Midlander. Nor are all Domans Midlander. Nor are all Ul'dahns Lalafellin despite a significant population of these majority races being presented to us in game. There are native Roegadyn NPCs in Gridania. There are multiple Elezen hailing from Limsa Lominsa. YET, the egregious misconception that there are race locks persists despite evidence presented to the contrary. One Doman Lalafell is labeled an "exception" whereas one Doman Au Ra is taken as part of the norm. Why? One Ishgardian Miqo'te is the "exception" but the Temple Knight's second-in-command is Garlean. No one bats an eye, why?
A more accurate RL comparison is to look at Hollywood Films that are set in 1800s England, and when the director is asked why there are no PoC in the film, they reply with something along the lines of "We're trying to keep it true to the time period." As if blacks, asians, or other non-white minorities did not exist in England at the time - which is outrageous.
What the OP has said, essentially, is that because my character's race (Miqo'te) is not apart of the Ala Mhigan majority race, that makes her "inauthentic." She is not "true to the setting/time period." Despite one of Ala Mhigo's greatest heroines in lore being... Miqo'te.