Thoughtfulness - even in the virtual world

Originally Posted by Naoki_Yoshida Hello everyone,FFXIV Producer and Director Yoshida here. 
It's touching to see so many of you posting heartfelt comments in regards to the earthquake that occurred the other day in Kumamoto. The FFXIV development and operation teams would also like to extend our deepest condolences to all of those affected by the earthquake. While minor compared to the severity of the situation, Square Enix has announced a plan to support earthquake relief efforts.

• Support for 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake Relief Efforts (Japanese)

Some players have made thoughtful suggestions to help support relief efforts such as through the purchase of Crysta. We have heard your willingness to help and held a conference with each of our project teams, as well as the management divisions in our company, and we have decided to support the earthquake relief efforts as a group.
Additionally, taking the situation into account for FFXIV, we have decided to temporarily halt the automatic reclamation of housing. We anticipate those affected by this earthquake may not be able to contact our company, let alone log into the game; therefore, in the next scheduled maintenance, we'll temporarily halt the timer for the automatic reclamation for housing for approximately two weeks. However, since this change is being implemented with urgency, please note that the announcement in-game will most likely still show the days remaining until the house is automatically reclaimed.
We will stop the internally running timer and observe the situation for about two weeks to decide if we should continue to halt the timer, or to resume it. In the event that we decide to resume the timer, we will make an announcement in advance.
Lastly, I hope and pray that those in the affected areas are able to make a speedy recovery.

I am proud to be part of this community - community of people who spend time playing FF14, a MMORPG by Square Enix.

Even as I disagree that the Japanese are still killing whales mindlessly (not that there is a mindful way of doing it!), my heart goes out to all those who lost their homes to the earthquake.  While the more thick-headed continue with whaling, the earthquake hit everyone whether or not they were the people who deserved the hit.

Apparently a lot of FF14 gamers either live in that region or have families there.

It was very thoughtful of YoshiP and team to allow us, fellow gamers to contribute in our little way.

There are millions of us, across the globe, playing this nerve-wrecking grindy game, so if everyone gave a little, the total sum will be at least a useful pool.  And because gamers have lost their homes in real life, the Developers Team is making sure, they don't loose their virtual home in FF14.  That again, is a subtle but very thoughtful gesture.

Thank you Square Enix and all the Final Fantasy 14 Heavensward gamers for supporting the cause!