Highlander Eyebrows - 7.0 Graphics

Sadly it wouldn't surprise me they "don't know" people want eyebrows, since dadlanders are on the lower side of race popularity.

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Originally Posted by RavagerRox

Not all highlanders are from Ala Mhigo! they def should be given the chance to have real ones at this point...

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Even if they were all from Ala Mhigo it's still kind of nonsensical. Not everyone from the same region follows the same customs, and the idea that none of them have bigger things to worry about than keeping their eyebrow area smooth and shiny is a little bit goofy. Especially since it's not something permanent like scarification or tattoos, literally just facial hair that should grow back eventually, at least in part.

Ala Mhigo is free, let them have eyebrows.

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Originally Posted by Yencat

Ala Mhigo is free, let them have eyebrows.

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Hear, hear!

I am quite saddened to read this. I do not know why they have not added eyebrows for the Highlander men? It is really an oversight...no clue why they have not fixed this.

If anyone needs to complain it is the Highlander men!

Finally people understand the woe of male Highlanders since this update shaves other races eyebrows as well.
My cynical side is to tell them to rock the eyebrow facepaint. But while the iron is still hot, it is good time to give eyebrows for everyone!

While it is a funny thought to think about how many highlander men wake up in the morning to put on their drag eyebrows, I think we can all agree it's time we got the real thing.

Really takes away from the whole lore reason we supposedly pluck them if we're painting on makeup brows instead!

Also, while you're at it, give us more than 1 handsome face please?

a Roe here to support my Highlander Friends!
At this point there is no reason for highlanders to not have Eyebrows
Lore accurate was thrown out the window a long time ago when Lyse, a Highlander and leader of the Ala Mhigans was given a head that looks way more like a midlander

If the Devs don't care about being lore accurate for one of the most prominent Highlanders in the story, then why should Lore accuracy be forced onto the players?

Just here to support fellow Highlanders in our pursuit to reclaim lost eyebrows. I hoped we gonna get them with graphics update, but instead all i got was my character looking different. Maybe some eyebrows will help me find peace with my character's new face.

+1 for highlander eyebrows, the face paint is not enough with the graphical update...
Would be nice to get proper beards for all faces too...

This thread has good visual examples of what's changed and why it doesn't work:

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...threads/497024

Another vote for being given the option to have eyebrows. I get that lore-wise, Ala Mhigans choose to shave theirs off, but that doesn't mean my character has to.

I support the need for male highlanders to have eyebrows. I understand the lore, but time has passed and it should be a character choice at this point.

https://i.imgur.com/dOHbEl4.png

Just noticed this seam with the bald hairstyle on my Highlander :|

Still no mention of anything specifically eyebrow-related, but hopefully once they fix the benchmark, the placement of the eyebrow paint will at least be corrected.

I stand with the Highlanders. They deserve brows even if its just one option in the features tab.

I made an account specifically to add my voice for this! Please just give us eyebrows! It's pure non-sense to give certain NPCs eyebrows and not the players. Lore be damned, I just want eyebrows!

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Originally Posted by Ozziethedivine

I made an account specifically to add my voice for this! Please just give us eyebrows! It's pure non-sense to give certain NPCs eyebrows and not the players. Lore be damned, I just want eyebrows!

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you know they never explain why male highlanders in norvrandt shave their eyebrows

Is there an actual lore reason for male highlanders not have eyebrows...??? I mean female highlanders have eyebrows...
I feel like lore should only apply to NPC characters...The standard should be to have eyebrows and a feature/option to shave them off! Not the other way around. Eyebrows add alot of expression/character to a face.

Whenever I see anyone without eyebrows I can't help but think of Marilyn Manson.

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Originally Posted by Rueby

Is there an actual lore reason for male highlanders not have eyebrows...??? I mean female highlanders have eyebrows...
I feel like lore should only apply to NPC characters...The standard should be to have eyebrows and a feature/option to shave them off! Not the other way around. Eyebrows add alot of expression/character to a face.

Whenever I see anyone without eyebrows I can't help but think of Marilyn Manson.

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Supposedly it's to make them look more intimidating? But I can't find a source on that anywhere so I'm not sure if it was serious or more of a joke response, it may have been said in a Q&A or interview long ago and that stuff tends to get lost eventually.

Either way, if it's not something they will get around to adding before launch then hopefully they will consider adding it after. It's been long enough.

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Originally Posted by Yencat

Supposedly it's to make them look more intimidating? But I can't find a source on that anywhere so I'm not sure if it was serious or more of a joke response, it may have been said in a Q&A or interview long ago and that stuff tends to get lost eventually.

Either way, if it's not something they will get around to adding before launch then hopefully they will consider adding it after. It's been long enough.

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The only mention of it that I recall was in a Q&A, but even then it's tenuous. I don't think lore is the reason we are missing eyebrows. Instead, I think they designed it that way and haven't cared to change it. Highlander isn't one of the popular races, especially in the Japanese community. Additionally, facial hair features in general seem to have little to no consideration at all.

Hopefully this can gain some traction, as it's a pretty simple and reasonable request.

I was genuinely surprised when I downloaded the benchmark program and saw they still had not changed Highlander males to be able to have eyebrows.
So much for the grand graphical update.
The "lore" reason is really stupid and pigeon-holes characters into something that none of the other race-gender combos have to deal with.
Just...disappointing, honestly.

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Originally Posted by Rueby

Is there an actual lore reason for male highlanders not have eyebrows...??? I mean female highlanders have eyebrows...
I feel like lore should only apply to NPC characters...The standard should be to have eyebrows and a feature/option to shave them off! Not the other way around. Eyebrows add alot of expression/character to a face.

Whenever I see anyone without eyebrows I can't help but think of Marilyn Manson.

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Dunno if there is a serious deep lore reason (I've heard about the shaving), but there *is* a reason: they were designed that way. Highlander men have deep-set eyes and pronounced brow ridges, enough that they do not suffer in expressiveness for the lack of eyebrows. It seems to be a racial trait rather than a cultural one.

Hell, I didn't notice Raubhan's lack of eyebrows for months. One of my friends didn't notice mine until I pointed it out. I like it though, it's a little different but it works. I do hope they do something about the "got into the Black Mage's makeup drawer" eyebrow option so it looks less goofy so that people who want their Highlander men to have eyebrows don't have to paint them on with a mop, though.

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Originally Posted by Astronis

Dunno if there is a serious deep lore reason (I've heard about the shaving), but there *is* a reason: they were designed that way. Highlander men have deep-set eyes and pronounced brow ridges, enough that they do not suffer in expressiveness for the lack of eyebrows. It seems to be a racial trait rather than a cultural one.

Hell, I didn't notice Raubhan's lack of eyebrows for months. One of my friends didn't notice mine until I pointed it out. I like it though, it's a little different but it works. I do hope they do something about the "got into the Black Mage's makeup drawer" eyebrow option so it looks less goofy so that people who want their Highlander men to have eyebrows don't have to paint them on with a mop, though.

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The lack of eyebrows is not a natural racial trait. They aren't born that way. It's specifically stated that they just shave them to appear more intimidating. But there's no lore beyond that, which is why there's no reason to stick to it.

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Originally Posted by Darkstride

Thr lack of eyebrows is not a racial trait. It was specifically stated that they shave them to appear more intimidating. But there's no lore beyond that, which is why there's no reason to stick to it.

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I say it's probably a racial trait because male Highlander Humes don't have eyebrows either. If *they* are shaving their eyebrows to appear more intimidating, the cultural roots are Sundering-deep. Either way--there *is* a reason to stick to it, but there is *also* a reason to give people options.

If it were a toggle then people that like the way they look without them can still be without, and people that actually want eyebrows get that option as well. But they should probably start with fixing the face-paint option.

Also, since they're already a completely different model from Midlanders they don't need to worry about homogenizing or removing clan traits between the two either.

Hmmm, I guess if you really were to really reach for a lore reason, you can look into Ala Mhigo which is where most Hyur Highlanders are concentrated in is a war torn region. I can imagine the Autumn War, a conflict between Gridania and Ala Mhigo. And the civil war that later led to the Garlean invasion. Most highlanders seem highly concentrated in that region, specifically in Ala Mhigo, so it is to say the highlanders we see in other areas of the game have fled the city after it fell according to [1].

"The Autumn War was a military conflict between Gridania and Ala Mhigo in the years 1468-1469 of the Sixth Astral Era, over 100 years before the events of Final Fantasy XIV. Little is revealed about the conflict in-game, but it had important implications for the realm, as it led to the formation of the first Eorzean Alliance, the creation of a balance of power, and the adoption of gil as a universal currency."

And I guess the Civil War turned Imperial invasion

"Twenty years prior to the start of Final Fantasy XIV, Ala Mhigo was embroiled in a civil war against the tyranny of Theodoric, the King of Ruin. The resulting instability led to invasion by Gaius van Baelsar and the XIVth Imperial Legion of Garlemald. Weakened by civil war, the largely Hyuran population of the city was defeated by Garlean invaders. Those who would not submit to imperial rule fled west and south, while those who remained either submitted to Garlean rule or formed the Ala Mhigan Resistance."

With a note

"The fall of Ala Mhigo took place 15 years before the beginning of 1.0, as per quest dialogue (information via an NPC named, Sundhimal, during the quest "Winds of Change"). This information, coupled with the separation of 5 years between 1.0 and Realm Reborn, would imply that Ala Mhigo had fallen 20 years prior the beginning of A Realm Reborn."

I guess it's plausible to say that the men of such an unstable region have decided to shave their eyebrows to look more....intimidating to their enemies???? I hope at least they can make the facepaint look convincing...

The only explanation I'm aware we've officially gotten is a quote that allegedly came from a 2014 lore panel:

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Originally Posted by 2014 Lore Panel

Q: Why don't male Highlanders have eyebrows?

MCKF: There is a reason. Highlanders are a very violent group of people. Their clan is always warring amongst each other and against the Midlanders as well back in their homelands. They like battle. They fight and the women fight and their children fight, because that's their culture. When you have this culture of everybody being able to fight, it's all about getting the one-up on your opponent. Everyone's good with a sword or a club or whatever, so you need something extra. Everyone expects their opponent to have eyebrows. So if someone goes into battle and your opponent doesn't have eyebrows, it psychs you out and your head gets chopped off. Different tribes have their different rituals but one of those rituals is shaving off the eyebrows to put fear into your opponent.

Q: So they do have eyebrows, they just shave them off?

MCKF: Yeah, it's not a genetic thing. They shave them off or they give themselves scars or pull out their teeth. Things like that to make them look more imposing.

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I say allegedly because I have often found this quote cited but I've yet to see any footage of Koji Fox saying this himself. I pulled the quote from this thread on the official lore forums. I've also found the post where the question may have originally been posed but was unable to find it in the recording of the lore panel linked at the end of the thread. I also didn't hear it in the subsequent lorecast interview with MCKF linked later in the thread. If anyone can find footage of this quote I'd be interested to see it.

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Originally Posted by Astronis

I say it's probably a racial trait because male Highlander Humes don't have eyebrows either. If *they* are shaving their eyebrows to appear more intimidating, the cultural roots are Sundering-deep. Either way--there *is* a reason to stick to it, but there is *also* a reason to give people options.

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The practice can't be sundering deep because the two most prominent highlander men in the last two expansions both had eyebrows. When writing a story I'd expect the writers to use the characters from a given clan or race players will spend the most time looking at to represent that group. The humes of the first not having eyebrows comes off to me as the developers being constrained by the character creator when making NPCs.

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Originally Posted by Risough

The humes of the first not having eyebrows comes off to me as the developers being constrained by the character creator when making NPCs.

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Yeah I feel like the Humes not having eyebrows isn't necessarily related to anything with lore or race. It's seem more like a convenience or restriction to just have them match pre-existing model guidelines.

I can understand that some highlanders may like the current, shaved eyebrow look. But I don't see how it would hurt anyone to have an extra option to add eyebrows. It could just be something as simple as when you choose to add your beard or facial scars, just also have visible eyebrows as an option. This way everyone is happy, no major overhaul needs to me made to a massive amount of NPC Highlander's appearance.

This sounds like the 'lore' was made up to cover up for a design choice. I don't even think the lack of eyebrows strikes any fear in anyone- considering they already have prominent brow ridges that simulate 'eyebrows'. It's no excuse to NOT have an option for the player.

The design wasn't made for the lore, because if so- if some thought was given to it, then the player would have eyebrows and then have a 'feature' option to shave it. Then they can make all the NPCs using the CC feature of 'no eyebrows'. That's what imo should have happened. Now I think if they alter the player models or add an option to have eyebrows, they might break alot of NPCs and have to go and 'fix' them as well....something something technical limitation...something something noodle code somthing..something something small indie company something.

Yeah, I'm not sure it's actually as hard as they say since there are people out there that have shown it could work with what we have now. Not even to mention they added a whole new face for male middies, showing they have the ability to add new pieces. (otherwise, how would they make an entirely new race with entirely new options, it's obviously not some hard coded limit)

The real end game fight. Ultimate are nothing compare to the male highlander eyebrows struggle.

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Originally Posted by Risough

The only explanation I'm aware we've officially gotten is a quote that allegedly came from a 2014 lore panel:

I say allegedly because I have often found this quote cited but I've yet to see any footage of Koji Fox saying this himself. I pulled the quote from this thread on the official lore forums. I've also found the post where the question may have originally been posed but was unable to find it in the recording of the lore panel linked at the end of the thread. I also didn't hear it in the subsequent lorecast interview with MCKF linked later in the thread. If anyone can find footage of this quote I'd be interested to see it.

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Thanks for digging that up! Sometimes these things enter a sort of community consciousness but no one really remembers where it was originally said so it's nice to see the source, even if 'incomplete'.

It's a little interesting that apparently the men, the women, and the children all fight and try to one up each other and freak each other out, but for some reason only the men go so far as to shave their eyebrows? :confused:

Not having eyebrows is a somewhat of a trope to indicate someone being a bit brutish so I guess I can see what they were going for, but compared to 2014 the game has changed quite a lot in terms of freedom of character expression and not every male highlander wants to be a violent brute.

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Originally Posted by Zarkovitch

The real end game fight. Ultimate are nothing compare to the male highlander eyebrows struggle.

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for real for real, preach

I feel like any lore explanation can be kind of handwaved since the WOL isn't a typical example of any race. They're an outsider who has no family or ties to their cultural heritage. They would absolutely grow out their eyebrows if they felt like it.

Yeah. I don’t see lore being the end all be all here. Please can we just use eyebrows as an option?

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Originally Posted by Yencat

Thanks for digging that up! Sometimes these things enter a sort of community consciousness but no one really remembers where it was originally said so it's nice to see the source, even if 'incomplete'.

It's a little interesting that apparently the men, the women, and the children all fight and try to one up each other and freak each other out, but for some reason only the men go so far as to shave their eyebrows? :confused:

Not having eyebrows is a somewhat of a trope to indicate someone being a bit brutish so I guess I can see what they were going for, but compared to 2014 the game has changed quite a lot in terms of freedom of character expression and not every male highlander wants to be a violent brute.

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That's why I thought it'd be worth digging up; the lack of eyebrows has been around since 1.0 if I remember right but this is the first time we got an explanation for it. Like Rueby mentioned, it feels like they had the design held over from the character creator in 1.0 and needed an explanation in lieu of having to adjust the customization options.

I like what you mentioned about the men being the only ones that had their brows yoinked for intimidation purposes. The way the tactic is described sounds like the practices are specific to each tribe too, so its odd for players to be locked to a specific tribe's traditions. We aren't forced to have scars or remove teeth. This also has to be a Gyr Abanian thing. I have a hard time imagining Dickon at The Last Stand trying to scare away all of his customers, for example. It really does feel like playing into the brute trope you described and that just doesn't fit every highlander guy.

Just a reminder that in the 2020 Valentione event they gave Bert eyebrows in the promotional material because they knew exactly how he'd look without them.

https://i.imgur.com/dmRIawk.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...785a2cc4_b.jpg

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Originally Posted by Risough

That's why I thought it'd be worth digging up; the lack of eyebrows has been around since 1.0 if I remember right but this is the first time we got an explanation for it. Like Rueby mentioned, it feels like they had the design held over from the character creator in 1.0 and needed an explanation in lieu of having to adjust the customization options.

I like what you mentioned about the men being the only ones that had their brows yoinked for intimidation purposes. The way the tactic is described sounds like the practices are specific to each tribe too, so its odd for players to be locked to a specific tribe's traditions. We aren't forced to have scars or remove teeth. This also has to be a Gyr Abanian thing. I have a hard time imagining Dickon at The Last Stand trying to scare away all of his customers, for example. It really does feel like playing into the brute trope you described and that just doesn't fit every highlander guy.

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It definitely feels like the flimsy lore was introduced to "explain" the odd design choice.

Coming back here to hope for eyebrows in the updated character creator. Maybe they’ll slip it into the Benchmark.