I understand why they kept them and I kinda like the idea honestly. For me, having gotten fed up with the lashing FFXI was giving be years ago, I think there will be a strong home-coming feeling when I start FFXIV. It's really a win-win for them. Old players will get to wash themselves in nostalgia and new players won't notice much difference so it won't matter. The third option are those that play FFXI right up until the release and somehow feel no attachment to their races and rue the idea... but honestly, SE will get their money either from them sticking steadfast to FFXI or switching regardless of their distaste of the "unoriginality" that SE is using.

I'm happy about it... but I'm pretty torn on the name thing and leaning towards wishing they would keep the same names. Like my wife has said, "I don't care what they rename Mithras... I'm still going to call them Mithras."

It's an interesting double-edged sword. Not only did the races seep into our being and make us feel connection to them (a large part of why SE is keeping them), but the labels (names) of these races did the same. To keep the races and change the names will probably result in some mild unsettling.


Either way... it's out of my hands. Tanaka has already commented on it (though depending on community feedback this type of thing is always subject to change this early in dev).

"However, while they look similar on the surface, they will be given somewhat of a makeover, which Tanaka says will include new names for the races."
~Hiromichi Tanaka | Source