The upcoming icon in Final Fantasy XIV.

So, in Final Fantasy XIV, the upcoming icon is changing due to some community concerns that it causes a less well-known phobia: trypophobia. The phobia itself causes sufferers to feel “fear or aversion to tightly packed holes,” according to Healthline, which was part of the original icon in the design. In a letter to the community of producer Naoki Yoshida, the game developer began to assure users that the team is now working at the “upper limits” of its server’s bandwidth, since the FFXIV team manages a record number of players.

However, he quickly addressed the problems that many fans pointed out, in connection with the appearance of the Sage icon as part of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. Yoshida admits that the icon itself was not “particularly large”, but soon there were reviews about the icon of the Sage and how it can act on those who suffer from trypophobia.

“When we published new details for sage and reaper on a special website, we also included their icons, not thinking that they were particularly big revelations. However, we soon received feedback from players from all over the world who told us that the sage icon caused them discomfort or fear.This aversion is known as trypophobia, and those who have it experience disgust and fear when they see clusters of small holes or bumps. The severity of the reaction varies from person to person, and what causes it in some may not manifest itself in others.”

And as a result, the team thought about how they can redesign the icon to make it less provocative, especially since the company will be included not only in the game itself, but also in marketing materials and products. The new design does not change the philosophy too much, but the holes that caused concerns are now mostly filled. The new design, according to Yoshida, emphasizes “the concept of design.”The holes themselves initially looked like a cluster, but now there is only one hole in the icon, which reduces the probability of triggering an event.