Originally Posted by
Coszette
Hello everyone, I've been following this topic since the game's announcement and I'm glad to see this thread on the official forums. A big thank you to Midgard Zolom and all the people who have been vocal about this. I haven't posted in the past, but now that we know that the devs are reading I want to give my support. I can't believe how many people bring up FFXI's lore in every thread in defense of keeping the races gender restricted, even though the lore is completely different and it's right there for them to read. It would make more sense to have them in the game than to leave them out. I can't understand why some people are against having them added. If they were there to begin with, as most races have both a male and female (and the Miqo'te and Roegadyn certainly do), would you have not played the game? No one is forcing you to play one. This would only add more diversity to Eorzea and allow so many people to play the character that they want to play. I believe your character is the most important thing in any MMO, and being able to play the type of character that you want to is just as important as anything else. To quote Mr. Yoshida: "Our characters are us, complex collections of memories and emotions, and nobody has the right to take them away from us." It's one thing that they didn't add any new races from FFXI to FFXIV and another entirely for them to leave out the missing genders to races that already exist again, even though they've been highly requested since FFXI. Gender locking is bad, there will always be people who wished they could have played that missing gender. And even worse it's reinforcing stereotypes - strong, muscular women, effeminate males. There are actually people who want to play these characters.
I quit FFXIV a few months ago due to so many disappointments with the game, the main one being that these genders were not playable. I recently returned to the game to see what's changed and the improvements that have been made. The first thing I did was pick up a sidequest in Limsa Lominsa. A Miqo'te who asked me to gather ingredients for some sort of love potion, insisting that feeding her unrequited love this food would make him fall for her. Where is that lover? This game has so much life and so much potential. I'm currently playing RIFT and the world just doesn't have that special feel that Final Fantasy is known for. I want this game to succeed and grow and I want to see all that Eorzea has.
I've read every interview with SE over the last year or so where they were asked about this numerous times. Every bit of information we got gave me more hope that they were planning to add them but were keeping it a surprise for launch. They never gave a direct 'no', confirmed that the designs were done and that they were planning to implement them, but were unable to finish them in time for release. In the game there are numerous references to them, and they even went as far as to mention a Miqo'te's father in the official CG trailer. Why? All of it seems like a slap in the face to all of the people who wanted them playable. Unless they actually do have plans to add them. With SE now communicating more with their players and the change in the development team comes new hope for me and many others that they may finally be implemented. I think most people that want this would be more than willing to pay to recustomize their characters, as many other games have that option as well. I truly think this can only be a good thing, and would go a long way in showing the players that SE does care and is listening to their customers. I know they would have my full support once again if this happens. All we want are answers.