A new race

[Blah]

It is about time we saw a new race in this game. Just about every other game has done it (yes I know, copying others isn't always good but still) I can't believe SE isn't even considering it. It could have been done when they added the Whitegate expansion and even sneaked in when they added the areas in the past. I really don't understand why it wasn't done with the Adoulin expansion. Come on guys 11 years I am sure SOMEone can come up with say, a bunny race (already have a template for that) or a canine race. Or to be completely different a peacock or fox race. At least think about it

[Blah]

Bump bump bump

[Tohihroyu]

I rather male mithra & female galka becoming playable (well male mithra would be more likely, female Galka would be like female roegadyn anyway just add a tail) but thats IMO

[Blah]

But that's kinda why I didn't suggest that, because I figured people would just complain about it being like FFXIV. Besides I was hoping for an all new race...Or at least one not already on FFXIV

[Vivivivi]

I'm not as interested in playing as an adventurer as a new race as much as I would be playing as a beastman and seeing an alternate storyline (perhaps monstrosity will integrate this when beastmen are available to play).

I'd love to do a short questline as a Qiqirn or Goblin, especially if it had monstrosity related rewards.

[bungiefanNA]

PS2 would require a new DAT for every peice of armor for every face for a new race. That's a lot more data to thurst into memory. Also, the storyline clearly states that there are 5 races because of the 5 tears of Altana. We know the layout of the world, even if we haven't been able to see it all yet, and we know where everyone comes from. Mithra are from the southern island continent. Orcs and some viking-type culture (probably Elvaan) are from the Northern continent. West and East are now mapped out, though far East is not accessible. There's no room in the lore for a new race, and no room in the design.

Monstrosity is going to be the closest we get, as monster appearance doesn't change with equipment/instincts.

[Xantavia]

If they did that, I think they would have to offer a 1-time race change for all current members. I'm happy with my mithra, but would a new race be something I would have picked 5 years ago when I started playing? They did it at the FF14 relaunch (which I was happy with), but I don't know if it would work with a game as old as this one.

[Blah]

PS2 would require a new DAT for ever2peice of armor for every face for a new race. That\\\\'s a lot more data to thurst into memory. Also, the storyline clearly states that there are 5 races because of the 5 tears of Altana. We know the layout of the world, even if we haven\\\\'t been able to see it all yet, and we know where everyone comes from. Mithra are from the southern island continent. Orcs and some viking-type culture (probably Elvaan) are from the Northern continent. West and East are now mapped out, though far East is not accessible. There\\\\'s no room in the lore for a new race, and no room in the design.

Monstrosity is going to be the closest we get, as monster appearance doesn\\\\'t change with equipment/instincts.
See that\\'s exactly the kind of thing I expect one of the developers to say, technical issues would prevent it and that a new race doesn\\'t "fit" into the geography of the storyline. BUT I say if they changed so much of the game already there\\'s certainly a way for them to squeeze in a new race. And trying to use the PS2 as a crutch is a cop out if it really holds the game back that much then the monthly updates should be making them all completely fritz out....and if your PS2s ARE fritzing out then it\\'s by far too late to try to stop the train now.

[Ravenmore]

See that\\'s exactly the kind of thing I expect one of the developers to say, technical issues would prevent it and that a new race doesn\\'t "fit" into the geography of the storyline. BUT I say if they changed so much of the game already there\\'s certainly a way for them to squeeze in a new race. And trying to use the PS2 as a crutch is a cop out if it really holds the game back that much then the monthly updates should be making them all completely fritz out....and if your PS2s ARE fritzing out then it\\'s by far too late to try to stop the train now.

We say that cause there is very limited funds for FFXI so people would rather have new content then another race. All the money spent on a new race would be better spent on fresh new content. Now it's not just the PS2 that they would have to go though and make new dats for each piece of of gear in the game but the 360 and PC, again to much dev time and money for a game short on both. The beastmen ideas mention up above would be a more interesting idea and would get me interested in monstrosity.

FFXI is still making money cause it's been payed off for so long but to keep getting new content with a smaller player base they have to keep cost down and a new race isn't something that would be worth the effort and to not have it blow up in their face would have to offer a race change which would add more cost to a risky gamble.

[Anjou]

I'd rather have a damn face change system....

[Kafrein]

It doesn't really make sense to add another race. You could play a beastman I suppose, but it wouldn't work in any of the storylines really because you are assumed to be one of the 5 enlightened races.

The only thing they could do really is add male mithras or mixed race like Lilisette. I doubt they will do it really, this is not the sort of game where you make new characters frequently.

[Renaissance2K]

You're able to play as dozens of additional races. It's called Monstrosity.

[Blah]

Well it seems neither a race or face change are ever going to be considered, if technicality,
money and time are going to keep being thrown in our faces every time we ask for it. I'll be honest I asked for it a looooooong time ago and didn't even get an answer, I only asked this time because some1 spread the rumor around that developers are "listening" to us, seems a lie though or they're just going to hop on to say "too late should have asked sooner" and prattle off the same b.s....technically can't be done, financially can't be done, timewise it can't be done. Bah.

[Blah]

And what really didn't make sense to me is that a new race didn't come with the Adoulin expansion, new area fighting system and everything but not a new race, and don't start with the "it doesn't fit with the storyline because PLENTY of content in the game is kinda contradictory and I am sick of so many acting like they care about when at this stage in the game they really don't. Come on people.

[Anjou]

And what really didn't make sense to me is that a new race didn't come with the Adoulin expansion, new area fighting system and everything but not a new race, and don't start with the "it doesn't fit with the storyline because PLENTY of content in the game is kinda contradictory and I am sick of so many acting like they care about when at this stage in the game they really don't. Come on people.

Did RotZ bring in a new race to play with? No
Did CoP bring in a new race to play with? No
Did ToAU bring in a new race to play with? No
Did WotG bring in a new race to play with? No
Did the add ons bring in a new race to play with? No
Did Abyss- No.
Did SoA bring in a new race to play with? No

The only things these expansions did was offer new areas, some had new jobs, and they pretty much all had something added, like ROTZ brought us the Sahagin, the Tonberry, the Antica, not sure which of the beastmen got added in CoP, Mamool Ja, Trolls, Lamia, Qiqurn got added in ToAU. WoTG only gave us reskinned versions of the original beastmen. SoA gave us the Velkk, but even then I don't really see enough of them and haven't played the story yet, so idk what impact they have.

[bungiefanNA]

Each has added new Beastmen races, that's it. Zi Tonberries/Sahagin/Antican for Zilart, Promathia added Moblins, ToAU added Trolls/Galulja/Lamia/Qiqirn, WotG added Poroggo, and I guess you could say Abyssea added Caturae. Seekers has the Heartwings as far as I can tell.

That said, no new playable races. A new race would also break things like Promathia's race-specific attacks to trigger Terror status, and the Lights of Promyvion being tied to the 5 races.

The biggest thing though is making new DATs for every piece of equipment for every platform the game runs on. That's a huge amount of development time in assets. They already need to make about 8 DATs for every armor piece and more for head armor for every one of the 16 faces for each race/gender.

[Damane]

new races in FFXI are nearly impossible to do and would require a HUGE amount of work, they would need to recreate all DATs again for armor and weapons animations etc to fit the new race (each DAT has a different model for each race currently). Considering the amount of Armor Weapons etc. you prolly could do another expansion with that amount of work ¬.¬. The game is just too old to implement any new race feasable, just due to the fact how its structured.

[Afania]

It is about time we saw a new race in this game. Just about every other game has done it (yes I know, copying others isn't always good but still) I can't believe SE isn't even considering it. It could have been done when they added the Whitegate expansion and even sneaked in when they added the areas in the past. I really don't understand why it wasn't done with the Adoulin expansion. Come on guys 11 years I am sure SOMEone can come up with say, a bunny race (already have a template for that) or a canine race. Or to be completely different a peacock or fox race. At least think about it

I thought there are 5 races because it's related the lore. Unless they change the lore it's hard to add new race I think?

[Alhanelem]

system limitations and having to remodel/adjust the models for all gear in the game make this really unlikely, but I would love to see it. I could only really see them adding male mithra or the zilart though, since their body types are more or less identical to already existing races.

[Blah]

And there it is, not likely because if all the work involved not good for the storyline blah blah whatever. I ask you this then: will this be their same excuse in FFXIV, or in the DragonQuest game or the EverQuest game they have out? "Sorry folks we stupidly didn't consider that fans might want a new race and didn't account for it all while making the game so SCREW YOU YOU WON'T GET ANY EVER" Everyone else makes room in their mmo games why not you SE?

[Afania]

And there it is, not likely because if all the work involved not good for the storyline blah blah whatever. I ask you this then: will this be their same excuse in FFXIV, or in the DragonQuest game or the EverQuest game they have out? "Sorry folks we stupidly didn't consider that fans might want a new race and didn't account for it all while making the game so SCREW YOU YOU WON'T GET ANY EVER" Everyone else makes room in their mmo games why not you SE?

The issue is that new race may work better in other MMO, not FFXI. Are you going to start a new character just for new race? I won't. And personally I don't really care about new race, new job would be cool though. Sure they can offer their 1 time race change service or something, but it's not really game changing tbh.

[Blah]

The issue is that new race may work better in other MMO, not FFXI. Are you going to start a new character just for new race? I won\\'t. And personally I don\\'t really care about new race, new job would be cool though. Sure they can offer their 1 time race change service or something, but it\\'s not really game changing tbh.
That doesn't quite make sense, it's a game, adding new races along with the new expansions added is Suppose to be fun and exciting, and what I am trying to get SE to do is start considering it if not for this game then at least their others after all except for maybe EverQuest all their other mmos should be able to get at least one other race before the end of the game...unlike this one...eleven years and every proposal for one shot down.

[Blah]

Bc like I said before, I suggested it a loooong time ago when they actually could have done it and it would have been a great addition and people wouldn't have looked at is as more work to do but they instead well ignored and now here we are...arguing over the magnitude what it would take to do it.

[Alhanelem]

And there it is, not likely because if all the work involved not good for the storyline blah blah whatever. I ask you this then: will this be their same excuse in FFXIV, or in the DragonQuest game or the EverQuest game they have out? "Sorry folks we stupidly didn't consider that fans might want a new race and didn't account for it all while making the game so SCREW YOU YOU WON'T GET ANY EVER" Everyone else makes room in their mmo games why not you SE? I feel like you're taking my thoughts out of context. I am noting that I don't see it likely, but I WOULD be interested in seeing a new race.

It is fair to note though, that TONS of elements of the lore and storylines of the game are heavily centered around there being the 5 enlightened races. Even some entire areas of the game are designed around the fact that there are 5 playable races. This is something they could just explain away, sure. but it is something to think about.

[Blah]

Which begs the question why would they make an mmorpg that way? I can understand a single player game being made that way but a mmorpg? Any1 ever ask them that? I know this was their 1st but to make kind of a huge oversight like that is well stupid and I truly hope they don't keep.making it just because this game happened to be successful despite of it. Like if they were to come out with a ffxi-2 or ffxii-2. You guys do realize every game 10 and over got a sequel except those 2 right?

[Blah]

OMG I know this is completely off topic but what if they do it for Elder scrolls online as well? They've never added any new races to their game either, daaaang they might just not make any new ones at all...that would be messed up.

[Demonjustin]

Which begs the question why would they make an mmorpg that way? I can understand a single player game being made that way but a mmorpg? Any1 ever ask them that? I know this was their 1st but to make kind of a huge oversight like that is well stupid and I truly hope they don't keep.making it just because this game happened to be successful despite of it. Like if they were to come out with a ffxi-2 or ffxii-2. You guys do realize every game 10 and over got a sequel except those 2 right?FFXI got a sequel in the form of expansions and FFXIV in a way, FFXII had handheld sequels I believe.

[Tohihroyu]

Why so upset? this game is pretty old and there loads of f2p games that have a multitude of race options. I like this one cause it was not the usual choice of Elvish, Human & Dwarf 2 others got added though animal like and human traits they are still diffrent (Galka being large ursrane and sort of lizard like with the tail and mithra being feline)

Playing as a beastman would be interesting if it was a sort of branch off from Monstroity, I wonder if you play as a Tonberry would all the hate you gathered as a normal player count towards your "Everyone's Grudge" damage? and could you play as the further outland beastmen? (Yagudo from the far east and the far south in the mithra homeland for example)

Besides the hope for male mithra, I'd be happy if seekers added some male mithra npc's or let us see Lehkoh again which could maybe give us a chance to visit the mithran homeland along with other places that even after seekers are still not open (Far east, far south, present Graberg, present fort KN, present Vunkarl Inlet and so on-- I'd say far north but I get the feeling we might be able to go there soon enough) according to some flavor text the mithra homeland has deer like fauna so new monsters too. (maybe for MON too IF we ever go to the far south)

[Blah]

Alright alright alright I feel too many are pooping on the idea so how about instead we all post ideas on how it can be done without blowing up the storyline or the game. I'll go 1st....hmmmm how about maybe an "evil" race of our choosing, like an evil galka with the attributes of a tarutaru or maybe a mithra with the attributes of an Elvaan and just write a sad cast off story for them? Altana WAS going to have six but this race tried to kill the other fi- wait that isn't sad that's horrible but you get the idea.

[Damane]

Alright alright alright I feel too many are pooping on the idea so how about instead we all post ideas on how it can be done without blowing up the storyline or the game. I'll go 1st....hmmmm how about maybe an "evil" race of our choosing, like an evil galka with the attributes of a tarutaru or maybe a mithra with the attributes of an Elvaan and just write a sad cast off story for them? Altana WAS going to have six but this race tried to kill the other fi- wait that isn't sad that's horrible but you get the idea.

how about just "no" and let the Devs put their efforts rather into the SoA expansion and content, I dont care for new races, I'd rather have new content then waste Dev time on that ¬.¬. As said, FFXI is a really old game and putting a new race into it is not as easy as in other MMOs, just by the fact how its built (just from the armor and weapon point of view etc).

[Shay]

Alright alright alright I feel too many are pooping on the idea so how about instead we all post ideas on how it can be done without blowing up the storyline or the game. I'll go 1st....hmmmm how about maybe an "evil" race of our choosing, like an evil galka with the attributes of a tarutaru or maybe a mithra with the attributes of an Elvaan and just write a sad cast off story for them? Altana WAS going to have six but this race tried to kill the other fi- wait that isn't sad that's horrible but you get the idea.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rdAv2t0oJxs/TqGiXhWTRfI/AAAAAAAAFpQ/2uzHBFBWkPw/s1600/Not_Sure_if_Serious_meme.jpeg

[Blah]

how about just "no" and let the Devs put their efforts rather into the SoA expansion and content, I dont care for new races, I'd rather have new content then waste Dev time on that ¬.¬. As said, FFXI is a really old game and putting a new race into it is not as easy as in other MMOs, just by the fact how its built (just from the armor and weapon point of view etc).
And as I've said if all you're going to do is shoot it down there's no need to post, plenty of other people have done it already there's no need for more. I'd like positive posts and if you have none then by all means feel free to start an anti-race post if you want to go that far to step on the idea.

[Renaissance2K]

Adding new races makes sense in games whose characters are designed to be disposable, i.e. you roll pick one race and one class/job/profession/specialty/talent, level it to cap, get some gear and kill some squishies, and then repeat with a new character. The new race is a way to get overchurned players to pick the game up again when a new expansion is released. "See? We have PANDAS now! Don't you want to play the whole game again as a PANDA?"

With very few exceptions, your choice of race is only going to drastically affect how you play at very low levels, which itself has become a less and less relevant period of growth. Once you hit Level 99, all races accumulate stats from the same pieces of gear at the same rates. It wasn't even that big an issue in the pre-2010 capped era. If you change your race, the transformation is going to be mostly aesthetic.

Plus, as has been mentioned many times before in other threads, there are plenty of players - usually those that see FFXI as "just another MMO" - that simply don't give a hoot about the lore, and that's fine. There are also plenty of players that started playing this game specifically because it's a Final Fantasy title, and the lore is generally what makes gamers a fan of that particular franchise. When players suggest that developers should start disrespecting the lore, it's a bit like walking into Taco Bell and suggesting that they start serving burgers.

[L0IRE]

that lizard race from ffxii

[Demonjustin]

I wouldn't actually mind some form of crossover of the Bangaa (http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Bangaa) from FFXII, assuming these are what you were talking about...
http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060828202245/finalfantasy/images/2/2d/Bangaa_races.JPG
As for story reasoning, well, we have had crossovers from FFXIV and DQX I believe, its not entirely impossible for them to come up with some story to explain it, I mean, what if they said that a bunch of Bangaa came through a Void like monsters in VW or something to that extent? I think SE could make it work, the only question is is it viable and is it worth dev time and the answer is simply no, since the 5 races as they are now are hardly different from one another outside of aesthetics, especially with how high our stats are now that the gaps between most things besides HP are easily overlooked in the long run.

Besides that it would literally mean them redoing every piece of armor in the game with a .dat that would fit the new race, in this case, Bangaa, and they are very different than our current races with the most similar being Galka due to the large tail. I mean, I really do like the idea in theory, but it just wouldn't be good for the game with how much work would be involved and how little a difference it would make in the long run.

[Behemothx]

And as I've said if all you're going to do is shoot it down there's no need to post, plenty of other people have done it already there's no need for more. I'd like positive posts and if you have none then by all means feel free to start an anti-race post if you want to go that far to step on the idea.

If you wanna start a thread and can't handle criticism, then just don't do it. There are countless more important things to work on before wasting precious dev. time on something as trivial as a new race... It would bring nothing new to the game dynamics, it's simply aesthetics and like others have pointed out, it makes no sense in FFXI's story line. I don't know if you've played any other Final Fantasy titles, but story has always been the key element.

[Blah]

No, it's not that I can't handle criticism it's just that you all are so set and prepared to prattle off all the downsides ( it's too late, it'll be a waste of time, it's not part of the storyline) yet not one of you have yet to answer why they didn't account for it in the first place. And before ya jump on to say it doesn't matter think: Every other mmo that involves races ACCOUNT for either race change/ face change of some sort or a new race every once in a while. That way if fans ask for it they get it. If they all started not doing it you all would get mad as hell don't say you wouldn't. But in the ENTIRE ELEVEN YEARS we never get either a race, a race change or face change. That is the main reason I suggest one or at least a race change, because THEY decided way beforehand not to ACCOUNT for it and to fob us off with the old "it's not technically possible" if it ever actually did come up. Don't you all find that strange? To actually make it so technically hard to simply put one, ONE race in the game? To make it so technically hard to change your race? To even make it so hard to change your freaking hairstyles and hair color??? If they aren't accounting for something this simple then what else are they not accounting for? Wait I know, they aren't accounting for a LOT of the mistakes they've made with the jobs, yes? /cry

[Twille]

I think it's rather obvious at this point that the majority of the player base is fine without a new race being added to the game.
Assuming they did add a new race I'd assume there would be both genders available which would in turn mean that EVERY SINGLE piece of gear wearable would need to have a new .dat file created to accommodate said new race (TWICE, one for each gender).
That is a massive undertaking, MASSIVE. All for the sake of cosmetics, nothing more. Stat difference at max level is meaningless, and races get no inherent abilities, they simply look different.

That being said, I do believe SE should allow for face changes for characters that really want them. I'm fine without race/gender changes as I see how it can be an issue with RSE gear and even the gender specific gear in the 30's.

[Imakun]

They didn't account for it in the first place because they didn't want to do it when they lunched the game, they haven't done it in the past 11 years and they sure as hell will not do it in the future.
As far as we know, adding new races to XI has never ever been in the plans of the developers. Be it for logistic reasons, technical difficulties, game design, overall game world consistency, someone from the future coming back to the past to warn SE not to add new races to XI to avoid facing world destruction, whatever.

A race change/ character re-customization service is a completely different matter, and I guess they could pull it off if they really wanted to. But I think the dev's time would be better spent on other things.

[L0IRE]

I wouldn't actually mind some form of crossover of the Bangaa (http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Bangaa) from FFXII, assuming these are what you were talking about...
http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060828202245/finalfantasy/images/2/2d/Bangaa_races.JPG
As for story reasoning, well, we have had crossovers from FFXIV and DQX I believe, its not entirely impossible for them to come up with some story to explain it, I mean, what if they said that a bunch of Bangaa came through a Void like monsters in VW or something to that extent? I think SE could make it work, the only question is is it viable and is it worth dev time and the answer is simply no, since the 5 races as they are now are hardly different from one another outside of aesthetics, especially with how high our stats are now that the gaps between most things besides HP are easily overlooked in the long run.

Besides that it would literally mean them redoing every piece of armor in the game with a .dat that would fit the new race, in this case, Bangaa, and they are very different than our current races with the most similar being Galka due to the large tail. I mean, I really do like the idea in theory, but it just wouldn't be good for the game with how much work would be involved and how little a difference it would make in the long run.

yeah that was what i was talking about, and as far as a new race goes and dev time, how hard is it to change a few skins really? countless games have done it, Lineage 2, WoW, no reason square cant do it. As for story goes, they find no problem sneaking in new classes here and there that never existed, and just saying they are from this far off land just newly discovered, so to say developing a new race would hurt the story and take up too much time, I don't see how.

[Blah]

Ah and let's think about this: why would they rather "break" the game by putting in all this item-level gear with the Adoulin expansion than just find a way to add a new race to the expansion? They had to do (still have to) so much work before and after they might have actually had less trouble in the long run. Think about it.

[Blah]

Ugh and yes I know at 99 it shouldn't matter stat wise but most still prefer a 99 galka tank over a 99 tarutaru tank and stuff like that, wrong but it still happens.

[L0IRE]

regardless, if you've ever worked on development for a game...a race is nothing big, and the art team needs something to do regardless, manthra to me seems easy and plausible, development team could still work on further developing the game, they wouldn't lose any resources on putting out a race.

[Blah]

Oh and before I forget yes the lizard race looks awesome man, heck they should've put them in instead of the Galka, sorry Galkans but they look waaay cooler.

[L0IRE]

haha yeah i agree, that would have been cool, seems like a race outa aht urgan

[Damane]

regardless, if you've ever worked on development for a game...a race is nothing big, and the art team needs something to do regardless, manthra to me seems easy and plausible, development team could still work on further developing the game, they wouldn't lose any resources on putting out a race.

I think you have no idea how the current armor and weapon DATs are handled in FFXI, each Armor consists of 5 different models (in some cases more when the female version is different from the male) for just 1 piece of armor (thats accounted for 1 model for each different race) and thats only for 1 SLOT, not for all 5 equipment slots. you cant compare inclusion of new races in FFXI to other games like WoW, the games are built totally differently from the grounds up. I say it again, for a new FFXI race you would need to add a new armor model for EACH allready existing Armor and weapon (this is allready huge and a bigger time restrain in FFXI then compared to WoW or so), then you have to add animation for normal attacks followed for EACH weaponskills (since there are differences between races too in some WSs), Magic Casting, Ability, Emotes. The biggest time restraint is again, the remodeling of existing Armors and Weapons. This is wasted Dev time that could go to something that is more fun, like new events.

The undertakeing of somethign like this, would be like creating a new expansion from the grounds up. and would take 2 years or more to be done in FFXI. You would need to change everything from graphics, to options where Race/gender is an option or variable in cutscenes/texts etc to everything else. its NOT worth it.

[Demonjustin]

Oh and before I forget yes the lizard race looks awesome man, heck they should've put them in instead of the Galka, sorry Galkans but they look waaay cooler.Well in all honesty thats what they are statistically, they have bad magic capabilities compared to other races, though this is due to their speech being weird and making it hard to pronounce cantations properly, but besides that they are physically the best at taking hits and one of, if not the strongest races in FFXII. That basically fits Galkas who suck at magic, are the second strongest in STR, but have the best VIT and HP.

[Demonjustin]

I think you have no idea how the current armor and weapon DATs are handled in FFXI, each Armor consists of 5 different models (in some cases more when the female version is different from the male) for just 1 piece of armor (thats accounted for 1 model for each different race) and thats only for 1 SLOT, not for all 5 equipment slots.This is why to do it they would have to make armor for just that race, it would be less time taking than changing all of the armor in the game. At the same time, it would also be very bad for many things since it would be harder to get a piece of gear for just your race and you end up more likely to get the wrong drop from fights, so on. I mean it sounds cool when you don't know what would have to be done to make it work, the more you know and the more you think about it the more you see it just can, but will not, and should not happen to this game.

[L0IRE]

I think you have no idea how the current armor and weapon DATs are handled in FFXI, each Armor consists of 5 different models (in some cases more when the female version is different from the male) for just 1 piece of armor (thats accounted for 1 model for each different race) and thats only for 1 SLOT, not for all 5 equipment slots. you cant compare inclusion of new races in FFXI to other games like WoW, the games are built totally differently from the grounds up. I say it again, for a new FFXI race you would need to add a new armor model for EACH allready existing Armor and weapon (this is allready huge and a bigger time restrain in FFXI then compared to WoW or so), then you have to add animation for normal attacks followed for EACH weaponskills (since there are differences between races too in some WSs), Magic Casting, Ability, Emotes. The biggest time restraint is again, the remodeling of existing Armors and Weapons. This is wasted Dev time that could go to something that is more fun, like new events.

The undertakeing of somethign like this, would be like creating a new expansion from the grounds up. and would take 2 years or more to be done in FFXI. You would need to change everything from graphics, to options where Race/gender is an option or variable in cutscenes/texts etc to everything else. its NOT worth it.

hmm no i have no idea what a dat. file is this is 2014 please educate me, I'm quite aware of what it takes, and how many dat. files there are for 1 piece, still dosnt change my standing on the difficulty of putting in a new race, didnt say it was worth doing, cause theyre lazy as far as other developments go with theyre updates so a race is way overhead, if you read, i said it "could" be done, not that they would.

[Twille]

hmm no i have no idea what a dat. file is this is 2014 please educate me, I'm quite aware of what it takes, and how many dat. files there are for 1 piece, still dosnt change my standing on the difficulty of putting in a new race, didnt say it was worth doing, cause theyre lazy as far as other developments go with theyre updates so a race is way overhead, if you read, i said it "could" be done, not that they would.

every single piece of armor comes from a .dat file in the FFXI folder of your PC. seperate .dat files are needed for each race, since their body build is cosmetically different. So, the lvl 17 lizard armor body piece actually has 5 .dat files somewhere, one for each race. Sometimes, the armor looks differently on men than women, meaning there are actually 8 .dat files for that one piece of armor. This is not limited to armor either, weapons require different .dats per race, since a Taru and Elvaan visually would't be using the same size sword/club whatever.

Now, as far as adding a new race to the game...every single piece of equipment in the entire game would need to have a new .dat file created to accommodate the new race. Let that sink in for a second....EVERY piece. Go look at the AH for a second and realize just how much work that would be. Now double it, since this new race would more than likely have a male and female. That is FAR too much work for the FFXI Dev team when there is already so much on their plate.

[Damane]

every single piece of armor comes from a .dat file in the FFXI folder of your PC. seperate .dat files are needed for each race, since their body build is cosmetically different. So, the lvl 17 lizard armor body piece actually has 5 .dat files somewhere, one for each race. Sometimes, the armor looks differently on men than women, meaning there are actually 8 .dat files for that one piece of armor. This is not limited to armor either, weapons require different .dats per race, since a Taru and Elvaan visually would't be using the same size sword/club whatever.

Now, as far as adding a new race to the game...every single piece of equipment in the entire game would need to have a new .dat file created to accommodate the new race. Let that sink in for a second....EVERY piece. Go look at the AH for a second and realize just how much work that would be. Now double it, since this new race would more than likely have a male and female. That is FAR too much work for the FFXI Dev team when there is already so much on their plate.

you forgot to mention the rare/ex gear: the 60 different armors for all the artifact/relic/empyrean gear, oh wait there are 2 new jobs so 66. Sky abjurations/gear, Nyzul isle gear, salvage gear, Legion gear, Limubs gear, Dynamis gear.... well yeah the list goes on ._.

[L0IRE]

every single piece of armor comes from a .dat file in the FFXI folder of your PC. seperate .dat files are needed for each race, since their body build is cosmetically different. So, the lvl 17 lizard armor body piece actually has 5 .dat files somewhere, one for each race. Sometimes, the armor looks differently on men than women, meaning there are actually 8 .dat files for that one piece of armor. This is not limited to armor either, weapons require different .dats per race, since a Taru and Elvaan visually would't be using the same size sword/club whatever.

Now, as far as adding a new race to the game...every single piece of equipment in the entire game would need to have a new .dat file created to accommodate the new race. Let that sink in for a second....EVERY piece. Go look at the AH for a second and realize just how much work that would be. Now double it, since this new race would more than likely have a male and female. That is FAR too much work for the FFXI Dev team when there is already so much on their plate.

sorry bud I was being sarcastic, I clearly know what dat. files are, and I know what your saying about every piece, but it could still be done, regardless of how hard it sounds, and the whole "theres too much on the dev teams plate" is there? they need stuff to do, all I was saying is it could be done, the dev team isn't just a group of a couple dudes working on one thing at a time, theres different departmens working on different things, they don't just all sit down and work on expansions and mediocre updates.

[Kafrein]

In regards to story limitations, I am a believer that you can overcome any barriers in a story if you really, really want to. Just gotta think outside the box.

We do know other races exist outside of the enlightened 5 and the beastmen; the zilart and the kuluu. Yes, they are extinct, but it is entirely plausible that Square could introduce a new facet to the lore that makes the introduction of new races 'fit'. It would be very difficult though, and not everyone would accept it.

In truth, Square has no reason to do this, so they won't. FFXI doesn't 'need' new playable races, and I understand it's not a matter of need, but as I said in my previous post this is not a game where you create new characters frequently. You create one and even if you play for years you will never accomplish everything, and any character CAN accomplish everything. There is no need to create a new character.

[Renaissance2K]

sorry bud I was being sarcastic, I clearly know what dat. files are, and I know what your saying about every piece, but it could still be done, regardless of how hard it sounds, and the whole "theres too much on the dev teams plate" is there? they need stuff to do, all I was saying is it could be done, the dev team isn't just a group of a couple dudes working on one thing at a time, theres different departmens working on different things, they don't just all sit down and work on expansions and mediocre updates.
I don't think anybody is arguing that it can't be done. I think they're arguing that, given the amount of time and manpower it'd take to retroactively add a race to all existing pieces of gear, the team's time is better spent on content that is more than just aesthetic in nature.

This is just speculation, but I think the art and design team in particular is a bit over capacity. Considering we get new zones every two or three updates, and that the new items and battlefields are re-using existing assets, I don't think Square-Enix is able to produce new art at the rate they could originally.

You could argue that Square-Enix should hire more designers, but at this stage in a game's lifecycle, an investment like that isn't going to happen unless it's practically guaranteed to make them more money in the long run. And, I'm sorry, but no matter how badly you want it, a new race is not going to increase subscription numbers. Nobody's going to reactivate their subscription so they can play as a Flemmywank or a Potzwokker.

[Blah]

I don't think anybody is arguing that it can't be done. I think they're arguing that, given the amount of time and manpower it'd take to retroactively add a race to all existing pieces of gear, the team's time is better spent on content that is more than just aesthetic in nature.

This is just speculation, but I think the art and design team in particular is a bit over capacity. Considering we get new zones every two or three updates, and that the new items and battlefields are re-using existing assets, I don't think Square-Enix is able to produce new art at the rate they could originally.

You could argue that Square-Enix should hire more designers, but at this stage in a game's lifecycle, an investment like that isn't going to happen unless it's practically guaranteed to make them more money in the long run. And, I'm sorry, but no matter how badly you want it, a new race is not going to increase subscription numbers. Nobody's going to reactivate their subscription so they can play as a Flemmywank or a Potzwokker.

Well it's easy to shoot down the idea now, so much time has gone by they got other stuff to "fix" race stats don't matter now that they put in all 100+ gear (again I disagree, I still see a lot of discrimination). But when all is said and done the same could be said about just about every idea on this forum. Even the job tweaks that people are asking them to fix, they've left them broken all this time why waste time fixing it now that it looks like the game is going to end? Why do any work at all? People are quitting and not coming back. Finally fixing what they should isn't going to bring any1 back. >_> <_< Do it because even though yes it MIGHT be a waste of time if people see that you still have SOME imagination and creativity and can do the "impossible" people MIGHT MAYBE POSSIBLY come back. P.S. Wooooooohooooo some1 from my server I'm going to stalk you now...ok no I'm not...really I'm not...

[L0IRE]

I don't think anybody is arguing that it can't be done. I think they're arguing that, given the amount of time and manpower it'd take to retroactively add a race to all existing pieces of gear, the team's time is better spent on content that is more than just aesthetic in nature.

This is just speculation, but I think the art and design team in particular is a bit over capacity. Considering we get new zones every two or three updates, and that the new items and battlefields are re-using existing assets, I don't think Square-Enix is able to produce new art at the rate they could originally.

You could argue that Square-Enix should hire more designers, but at this stage in a game's lifecycle, an investment like that isn't going to happen unless it's practically guaranteed to make them more money in the long run. And, I'm sorry, but no matter how badly you want it, a new race is not going to increase subscription numbers. Nobody's going to reactivate their subscription so they can play as a Flemmywank or a Potzwokker.

I agree with you minus one thing...the bringing back subscribers...I disagree, rune and geo brought and influx to my server of over 1000+ on any given day, just to play two new jobs, ive played other games like L2, where as soon as kamael came out the servers hit max capacity at 5k, where shortly before hitting record lows, so I'm sorry but I fully disagree that a new race wouldn't bring back subscribers.

[Blah]

Besides how many times have they surprised us so far eh? How many times have we all thought "Ah SE isn't going to do that they're too lazy da bums" and surprise! They do it. So...maybe...maybe maybe maybe....

[L0IRE]

Besides how many times have they surprised us so far eh? How many times have we all thought "Ah SE isn't going to do that they're too lazy da bums" and surprise! They do it. So...maybe...maybe maybe maybe....

maybe, I know it won't as of the cost and time everyone is cramming down my throat, but maybe.

[Dragomair]

I'd like a new race as long as they're humanoid.
(Maybe Tritons, Gorgons, or Adlets?)

[Anjou]

I don't think there should be one, though a system to change our face/race would be much more welcomed...

[L0IRE]

I don't think there should be one, though a system to change our face/race would be much more welcomed...

see to me this seems more plausible, even if it was a payable service, 10 years with the same dude gets kind of boring, even if they only let you change hair and not race, that to me would take far less effort than a new race, would be nice to see.