Au Ra physiology and other lore.

[Belhi]

I'm terrible at editing my posts and it would be a wall anyway if I tried so Im just going to number my responses to your points:

1. A valid point. I'll be honest, the Au Ra females don't look to be particularly well muscled. However there is a really noticeable difference between endurance and burst strength in bulk. The Au Ra males are actually probably pretty accurate I suspect in muscle definition.

2. From personal experience I can tell you outright that in muddy conditions being large makes movement far more difficult and risky than being smaller. Its simple physics really. I think my point though was that a smaller foe can use conditions and terrain to their own benefit. Smaller doesn't necessarily mean worse in combat unless the difference is huge. Smaller can also sometimes mean being a smaller target.

3. Are you talking about in modern times or historically. The average high of humans has been increasing steadily since the Agricultural revolution. Simple reality is more food means bigger people and not just fatter. The extra protein during youth substantially increases growth and size. We are also talking about a resource poor landscape. I cant speak for the Native Americans but if we look at Mongolians which lived in a terrain closer to what the Xeala are supposed to live in then we see a short group of people. In fact even their horses were short. The reality of Hunter Gatherer societies was they simply had far less food supply due to the effort it took to acquire it and burned far more energy in the process of acquiring it.

4. Im going to be honest here. It actually wouldn't bother me if the Au Ra females were bigger. We know that SE made them that way because they felt they would appeal to a larger audience. I just lept into the debate because I like arguing over technicalities in logic. :P

5. You clearly haven't known many farmers or labourers if you think the Raen wouldn't be buff. And this is a time prior to machines to help with the labour. I actually think it would be more fun to have the thin, waifish ones the bloodthirsty types but that's just me. :P

[Samcaesar]

Snip

I think this might work better for responses too :P

1. Oh there is very much so a difference, I agree with you there. I just wish the girls were more inline with muscle development as the guys are.

2. I've seen plenty of people in muddy environments, having lived in Florida near a marsh myself, and it's not easy for anyone. At least though, assuming the person is of proper muscular strength they can pull themselves out of the mud much easier. Plus, smaller folks just generally don't do so well in combat, there's a reason why Lalafell rule via intelligence and magic and not through physical strength :P Though thinking about it, didn't the duskwight Elezen live underground in caves? It must have been pretty awful for them at times!

3. In the 1800s, ie, the various plains natives were still pretty active in nomad traditions, the few bits sources I've read specifically in reference towards their nomadic lifestyles as well. The area the various plains tribe weren't the best in resources either, though the few bits of information I've gotten seems to indicate that the mongols were on the shorter side of things, perhaps seasonal climate played a big role in that? Looking at it, it might be a bit weird, as both the area that the various plains natives lived and the Mongolians were classified as Cold Steppes as opposed to Subtropic Steppes..

4. Oh no, I get you, it's a ton of fun! My biggest issue is I'm not a fan of SE making them like that for that reason >.>

5. That would be the case if all Domans were farmers, which I doubt :P. Chances are the Raen that worked in the fields were more muscular, while those who lived in cities were more lithe. Honestly the subject of machinery in FFXIV is also weird.. We've got airships, I'm sure there's some form of machine to help farming too, like little Mammets that pick the grains for you or something! I can see the appeal to that, maybe in the 3.x series character customization will receive a nice big overhaul and we can have our Au Ra better match our wants! (Pls SE ; ; )

[Cilia]

Sorry I couldn't get back sooner; I hadn't logged on for a couple weeks and so it wouldn't let me post. Sad face.

I'm sorry, are you saying that a magical ability from a people who have access to magic "doesn't count"? The stealth mechanics count just as much as any other because they work in the context of the setting we have. That means that the female Au Ra can do it just fine, being small and lithe and capable of hiding using their magical stealth abilities. The reason I say Male Roegadyn and Male Au Ra would have a hard time is that they're so bulky that it'd be hard to accept them pulling off the animations that a ninja performs.

Well it's partially a complaint about how shallow "stealth" is in this game; you just hit a button and you're magically invisible. I was a little disappointed in how easy that was after stuff like Deus Ex (yes, you get a stealth cloak, but it requires prudence in its use).

I don't recall "Hide" ("Stealth" is the DoL version) ever being described as magical. People can spot you if you're not careful in certain situations (it's automatically broken when you engage bosses, certain quests and mobs like Karasu's bat familiars, etc.) so it's not a magical invisibility cloak. Presumably it's just blending in with your surroundings, maybe a little magically enhanced as a NIN, but even with that it's still a very, very easy stealth mechanic.

And yes, the heavy musculature is why I don't think Roegadyn (of either sex) or male Au Ra would be very good NIN, because the fighting style emphasizes acrobatics and quick movements. Unless they ate a LOT they'd get tired very quickly moving all their body mass so frequently, and their bulk could be cumbersome and get in the way.

Here is mine. Didn't want her to be too cute, but it's kinda hard :/

Get a more "ethereal beauty" vibe from this one than cute. Not bad.

Different personalities from the last few pages (as I interpret them at a glance)

Eccentric who's probably some sort of wizard.

Ultra hip DJ chick.

Well the first one was just a joke to show people how easy it is to make Auri women moé moé. What makes the second look like a hipster DJ? Is it the highlights? Does taking them out help?

Seriously, I'm trying to get a serious look without resorting to "meanfase" (Face 4) and I don't like the horn structure on Face 2 or 3.

Anyway, with the way things have been doing I figured it'd be best to just cleanly state my opinions on the important topics at hand.

On Musculature
-More muscles != more combat capability. Aside from the above point of more muscles requiring more energy to maintain, there's also the fact that heavier musculature only provides more potential burst power. There's a reason bodybuilders are heavily muscled - they're typically in weightlifting competitions, which requires only burst strength. Athletes like cyclists tend to have more trim physiques, even their legs, since that activity emphasizes endurance over power. A more muscular build provides more power potential, but also tires quicker without energy input.

On Auri Social Roles
- We don't know anything yet. Trying to determine if their social roles influence(d) their physiology is tough. However my best conjecture is that the Xaela have a social structure similar to American Indians prior to the European colonization, with the men being warriors and the women being farmers. Since the Xaela inhabit steppes, it's not unthinkable that the women are the huntresses and gatherers while men are warriors. Hunting is better done with ranged armaments (since prey animals instinctively flee), explaining why Auri females are far lighter than males (who could exclusively be warriors). Hunting and gathering doesn't require heavy musculature, and since both tend to be endurance endeavors heavy musculature would actually be a weakness in that role.

(Also I'm going on my recent history classes for this information, which has made zero mention of the social roles of plains American Indians.)

Since the Raen are stated to be an offshoot of the Xaela (not the other way around), I think it's safe to assume from their lack of major physiological differences they haven't been separated for long enough for a significant genetic drift (hence the lack of non-cosmetic differences between the clans). Without knowing Xaela women's social roles (or without more information about Xaela society in general) we really can't determine why Auri women are so willowy in comparison to the men (besides the stated intentional moé / bishoujo designs).

On Changing Female Xaela Designs in the Future
-Not gonna happen, because people who made female Xaela would wake up one day with +15 ponzes of muscle and +1 fulm of height and be upset. If they wanted to do this they'd have to provide a free Fantasia to anyone who was already playing a female Xaela so they can readjust their appearance or race change if they dislike the new look, and then everyone else would whine about how that's not fair, so then they'd have to give out a free Fantasia to everybody. I don't see that happening.

On Female Au Ra Not Being What You Want
-Look at my signature.

Also, anyone not playing a female Highlander or Roegadyn is not helping with the case for sturdier female designs. Part of the reason they made Auri women short and willowy in comparison to the men is because we already have robust females, but not many people are playing them despite fan outcry for them in Legacy. *If you want a tougher female design for a future race, change to a female Highlander or Roegadyn and tell your friends to do the same!

*Results not guaranteed.

EDIT

Plus, smaller folks just generally don't do so well in combat, there's a reason why Lalafell rule via intelligence and magic and not through physical strength :P

That's racist! Have you seen mah boi Alka Zolka?! And what of Papashan?!

[Mahri]

Well the first one was just a joke to show people how easy it is to make Auri women moé moé. What makes the second look like a hipster DJ? Is it the highlights? Does taking them out help?

Seriously, I'm trying to get a serious look without resorting to "meanfase" (Face 4) and I don't like the horn structure on Face 2 or 3.

I meant it in a good way! And yeah, the highlights were kinda what did it. But she still looks like a cool scene chick. Before, you'd meet her at a club playing electronic/hip-hop type stuff. Now, you'd run into her at a hard rock concert just partying.

Next interpretation:

Really nice and wholesome girl who wants to remind you to use your indoor voice, and you best listen and obey.

[Samcaesar]

Snip

Back to the fun~!

On the notion of energy expenditure and consuming food, considering that the PCs carry a buffet on them at all times and there's probably some sort of high calorie food that NPCs have (Like an MRE or those energy jelly packets that cyclists use on the road!), it's not too much of an issue I'd assume!

Gonna keep using numbers

1- No it doesn't, but muscular density and size plays a very important role in strength, after all, Raubahn isn't a toothpick is he? Cyclist come in very diverse body shapes as well, a mountain biker has a very different body shape than an on road cyclists, but still in either case, neither are that slim though, especially not to the size Au Ra women are. It's still not like a muscular person will always exhaust easily too, they just need a more stable caloric intake. It's not a question of "Why aren't the Xaela miniature demonic/draconic hulks" and more "Why don't the girls show any signs of muscle whatsoever?"

2- We don'tbut we can speculate, just as the Ishgardians resemble the Holy Roman Empire in a lot of ways, Xaela culture most likely has some basis in our world as well. Fantasy borrows elements from reality to make a more reasonable realm after all. And there is evidence of Native American women participating in war parties and actively participating in hunts. Again, endurance body shapes don't fit the girl Au Ra's body shape in the least. As someone else in the thread noted as well, farmers certainly aren't petite in the least, neither are hunter/gatherers.

The Raen lore tidbit we've got does state that they "long abandoned the nomadic lifestyle", which I doubt means recently, otherwise they wouldn't have made note of that.

3- It's not like they haven't done it before. Didn't they give out a Fantasia during the 1.0 -> 2.0 transition or for the first veteran bonus? Plus, I'd wager most people going Au Ra will be those who are already playing the game through use of Fantasia, they'd most likely just buy another one to change back to Miqo'te or Raen instead. Heck, chances are, SE made this race so that people would use a fantasia (After all, it's a race made to appeal to those who like the Miqo'te and Midlander), I doubt they're above just getting players to spend another fantasia to go again.

4- Junko was a genocidal maniac, not someone you want to take your views on the world from :P Plus, people have sway over their circumstances (Situatedness applied), and while I don't subscribe to "Great Man" theories of history, I will say some individuals did appeal and influence to the masses much more, but I digress.

We're not quite sure on why people don't play girl Highlander and Roegadyn, it could be that people actually don't have a more larger and tougher design that appeals to them. Nor to we really know the exact reasons on why they make the Au Ra girls "moe". Further, using "No one plays Highlander or Roegadyn" isn't much of a reason, as the male Au Ra resemble Elezen, another race with low PC population, except that they're taller and more muscular than the Elezen, so why is that the case? As a bunch of people have pointed out though, the Au Ra girls hardly look different than Miqo'te and Midlander, if anything it's just giving those people who prefer those body types another thing to fantasia too, as opposed to giving someone who wants a larger race, but isn't satisfied with current options, an option to choose. Plus, like you said, we don't actually know if SE would uphold their word on a statement like that, for all we know SE decided from the get go girl Au Ra will be "moe" guy Au Ra will be larger and more menacing.

That said, when does the addition of that body type stop? After the 2nd race waifish "moe" girls? The 3rd? Eventually you're going to experience an over-saturation of waifish "moe" girl options without addressing the actual problem of there only being 2 "larger tougher" looking options for girls. If we were to divide them into body shapes, you've got 3 that are "waifish and moe", Lalafell, Miqo'te, and Midlander, 2 that are "larger and tougher", Roegadyn (though the women Roes aren't nearly as large as the men are, just not as massive of a difference as the Au Ra have) and Highlander, and 1 race that is "Tall and lithe", the Elezen.


Alka Zolka is a huge nerd who probably gets his lunch money stolen by other Marauders and Papashan is a grandpa, hardly great warriors in battle!

[Cilia]

I meant it in a good way! And yeah, the highlights were kinda what did it. But she still looks like a cool scene chick. Before, you'd meet her at a club playing electronic/hip-hop type stuff. Now, you'd run into her at a hard rock concert just partying.

It's not moéblob or pretty princess, so I guess I can live with that.

Me-wow!

1. It depends on how efficient their muscles are. You look at something tiny, like say, an ant, and it can lift 50x its own body mass. Smaller creatures typically have more efficient muscles, so despite the fact they're short and lithe there's no reason to suspect Auri women are pitifully weak. That's just the assumption that more muscle = more power, which isn't totally true (heavier musculature provides burst power, but is otherwise inefficient since all that body mass has to be moved).

2. I don't know what endurance body types are like, but if I recall correctly they're nowhere near as heavily muscled as the "warrior" types. See my above point on muscular efficiency.

Valid point on the Raen abandoning their nomadic lifestyles "long ago," but we don't know how long "long ago" was. Without knowing that it's impossible to determine whether or not there should be a significant genetic drift between the clans. There are differences, but they're largely cosmetic, so I'm guessing it wasn't that long ago.

3. I don't know about Legacy players getting one for free at the start of 2.0, but one of the first Veteran Rewards is a vial of Fantasia. You're still paying for it though (indirectly through your subscription).

There are reasons for Auri females to appeal to players beyond their moé / bishoujo designs. Personally I like them because they're a more interesting fantastic race than the other ones to me, not because they're cute or pretty (hence my efforts to make a female Au Ra who is neither without the "meanfase"). I wish they were a bit taller and more muscular, and don't like the male design because they're so tall and musclebound (meatheads, meatheads everywhere!), but... can't have everything.

4. Junko might not be the best person to take philosophy lessons from, but the point is it's a game you're not in control of. I want a taller, slightly more muscular look for Auri women too (and show it though my female Highlander avatar)... but that doesn't matter, because the reality is not a lot of other people do (as suggested by the lack of female Highlander and Roegadyn PCs). Why would SE put in another rough and tumble female design when people aren't even choosing the ones we already have?

As for why there aren't many female Highlander or Roegadyn PCs... don't know exactly. My best guess is that people tend towards cute / sexy female avatars, not realistic ones. Men because they find the cute / sexy image attractive, women because their avatar is an idealized version of themselves.

If people were playing the "tall and muscular" women, we might get more options for the same. Then again, we might not. They'll put in what people want, and since not a lot of people are playing the "tall and muscular" women, "short and waifish" it is.

Pandering? Maybe so. But you can't really argue against the artists wanting people to appreciate their work.

Alka Zolka might be a nerd, but there's no reason to suspect he's any less competent than the other Marauders (he is in th' Guild, y'know!); you personally witness his combat proficiency during the SCH quests. Papashan might be older, but he's a (not so) retired Sultansworn paladin, not some doddering geezer!

EDIT

Realized I didn't address this.

On Diets
-While Eorzean cuisine is rich and varied, there's no way to know if anyone is carrying around the kinds of foodstuffs we are. While it's not implausible for NPCs in urban areas to have the modern, calorie-dense foods, the tribal / nomadic people probably don't. If the U tribe of Southern Thanalan could just bake up Rolanberry Cheesecakes, I doubt they'd bother to hunt the sand worms of the Sagolii Desert.

It then becomes a matter of calories spent vs. calories gained, and as I've pointed out before a more heavily muscled build requires more calories just to maintain. Subsistence hunters can't afford lugging around inefficient body mass, leading to lighter but more efficient musculature (hence why all Miqo'te have slimmer physiques). Since the Raen are an offshoot of the Xaela, and the Xaela are nomadic hunters...

[Samcaesar]

Snip

Foodstuffs one first!
- As I've stated before though, nomadic diets are plenty fine enough to allow for normal growth, Plains Native Americans having roughly the same heights in most cases, in others an inch or so less under average. Keep in mind, most nomadic people migrate with food or to find more food, and when they've got food, they don't waste a bit of that food. The U Tribe isn't much of a good example, they live in one position (An oasis curiously enough) in a desert, and recently have become somewhat of a trading hub, hardly nomadic and they would have access to food such as rolanberry cheesecake, it's probably their choose not to do either of those. Honestly, considering the size of Sandworms, the nutritional value of insects/grubs/worms, and how many of them there are, they seem to be a perfect choice for a great supplement for nutrition.

Animal fat is fairly plentiful in calories, plentiful enough to sustain several nomadic groups in their growth, why would the Xaela be different? Whenever you are spending your time hunting, gathering, and warring, you're going to get muscular, not to a hulked out body builder look, but they're going to be muscular. You can't stop the body from developing muscles, if the case is "Shoot, I'm not eating enough to substance my tribe's growth, guess we've got to go to war again!" then we've likely got our practical reason on why the Xaela fight so much. Even endurance body builds aren't lithe. Plus, we see plenty Miqo'te who aren't archers (In fact I think a good bit of the ones in the Forgotten springs are Lancers), really the only reason why Miqo'te aren't as muscular as ought to be are is they all have to use the lithe model.

Muscular efficiency
1- Ants aren't really a good example, being insects and any muscular growth is held back by the exoskeleton, but while smaller animals do tend to dense up their muscles better, generally you don't see that with human-ish figures. Look at people who do construction I'm not really sure if you could find someone without a muscular build in that field unless if they spent all day operating machinery. The body naturally builds muscles the more they're used, and as long as proper nutrition is supplied, there wouldn't be inefficient muscular growth, only muscular growth.

2- They're still fairly muscular, nothing ~bulging~. Heck, the Auri men look very much so "Endurance" build, the Auri women though look like they've got the metabolism of a tween and the body to match.

It's still strange that they mention it if it wasn't that long ago. Chances are, within a few centuries Raen would have slimmed down a good bit due to having kids with Domans and integrating into their society well enough.

3- You're paying for the subscription, the fantasia is a nice bonus, a "thanks for playing!" deal, it's basically free as the veteran reward could have been other things.

Most people seem to be designing their Auri ladies with two things in mind though, "Cute" or "Succubi". I think they are more interesting looking as well, but their body shape just makes me nearly loose interest in them completely. I wouldn't even call the dudes that musclebound, maybe a bit more wider than Elezen though, but they do look vastly more fit than the Auri girls do.

4- On the contrary, a company ought to listen to fans, all fans, least they result in "trimming fat" models which aren't sustainable long term. Likewise, I support the want for a more taller and muscular look for Auri woman by voicing the need for it (Despite my lack of Roe/Highlander avatar, a Miqo'te was my first race and I dislike the usage of fantasia). SE ought to do that because chances are "Flat faces purple skinned humans" and "regular humans but buffer" don't appeal to their tastes, yet a "draconic muscular human" might. Why would SE make another cute and "moe" woman in the game, whenever they're already people who are plenty content with choosing Midlander, Lalafell, or Miqo'te?

Chances are, you're not wrong with that, but I would wish SE would add some more diverse options when it comes to this. Whenever the choice is between "Lithe cute girl with horns" or "Lithe cute girl" or "lithe cute girl with cat ears" with hardly any difference between the three, then you're hardly giving the playerbase what it deserves. It's why SE ought to do a Highlander/Midlander split (Or at least make Xaela girls taller than 5'2 and Raen men under ~6'8) with the Au Ra, because it's best for everyone.

That's such a horrid excuse though, like I asked, when does it stop? When we've got 3 new races with the girls waifish and cute? 4 new ones? I mean, if that's what the fans want then that's what will happen. But SE ought not to rely strickly on what people want or else they just appeal to a niche. And like I said, it still doesn't answer why the Auri men are more inline to a gap between Roegadyn and Elezen, when they should be just as small as the girls are, using that logic.

Art ought not to be simply to please a target audience, or else you get the same old things, fans will eventually loose interest without pulling in new people looking for something else. You keep the base, but evolve past it. Even then, allowing myself to digress a bit, that sort of "appealing to one specific niche and only focusing on that because it gives you the most money" is kind of what lead to the "moeblob" and issues with little girls the anime industry is only focusing on. SE ought to be wary of that sort of logic, least our next race's addition isn't much different than the Elin from TERA.

Still a ~huge nerd~ Alka better spend less time in the books and more time swinging his axe! Papashan is past his prime! Maybe some new Lalafell could put up a bit of a fight, but with an equally trained Lalafell vs an equally trained Roegadyn, the Roegadyn is gonna with in battles of strength!

[Niwashi]

Personally though, I'd rather not wake up one day with +15 ponzes of muscle and +1 fulm of height as a Xaela woman and then have to pay to change it.

Nobody's character would change just because SE decided to add some more customization options. I don't think anyone has proposed making it mandatory for all female Auri to be tall, buff, and fierce looking, just that it would be nice if that were eventually possible. Those who at that point want to change to the new looks would need a fantasia. Those who like the moe look would simply keep what they already have.

[Cilia]

Nobody's character would change just because SE decided to add some more customization options. I don't think anyone has proposed making it mandatory for all female Auri to be tall, buff, and fierce looking, just that it would be nice if that were eventually possible. Those who at that point want to change to the new looks would need a fantasia. Those who like the moe look would simply keep what they already have.

Sam's suggestion is that they made the Raen / Xaela clans split like the Midlander / Highlander split, so... if they decided to do that, it's very possible yes you'd just wake up one day with more body mass and have to pay for a Fantasia to change to something else if you don't like the new look.

Of course I don't think they'd do that, but I don't think they'd further split Au Ra into Raen, Xaela, and Xaela (Highlander) either.

[Samcaesar]

Hiya!

If you're strictly looking within Western culture I suppose, and that's excluding the fact that plenty of women soldiers have been unwritten out of history for reasons. A variety cultures such as the Native Americans, Mongolians, and Africans cultures had plenty of women participating is both hunting activities and war parties (And they certainly weren't sneaky rogues!). And as a minor tangent, the push for gender equality is about as old as the values the United states supports in its Constitution (ie freedom, liberty, the pursuit of happiness or property if you asked the french!) within the West, there were other, much less reasonable factors keeping women from combat.
Except the Xaela have been engaging in war with each other for a long time, it's as their ancestors did after all. They'd want their women to be as strong because strength means basically everything in combat, so chances are they'd reproduce with women that were strong so that their children would continue to be strong. If they liked their women petite and waifish.. Well, it's a wonder why their kids (boy and girl) aren't also small. Genetics and evolution aren't magic, it's just what happens. Once a species expresses a will for a certain trait (Or has that will for a certain trait forced upon them, ie Dogs), that trait begins to show up more and more.

Yes, and evolution whenever a species is sentient enough to want their kids to be a certain way (Or dogs) things tend to go that way. Example; "I'm strong and I want strong babies, I'm going to have babies with the strongest woman possible so that our babies will be also strong" or "I want a dog that has thicker fur and short legs so I'm going to breed a dog with short legs with one with thick fur til I get what I'm looking for, then keep breeding that."

Yet it only takes a few generations for something like height or eye color to become dominant in some people. The Au Ra would want the strongest children possible so naturally they'd look out for traits that show strength and power, aka intimidating sizes, larger muscles. It's not too alien for an Au Ra to want a strong woman to protect their kids and probably participate in war as well. Unless literally /every/ Auri girl was petite and waifish and /every/ male was the way they are (Which wouldn't happen for so many reasons), a warring nomadic race would naturally look to make the strongest children possible.

Also humans have a massive amount of variation, not to the degree that dogs do, but considering all the various phenotypes within people (Heck even people within Europe look massively different dependent on where they're from, ie Swedish body types as opposed to English as opposed to Southern Slavic) we're pretty darn diverse visually.

References and screeing!

They're still moving their entire body though, it means they're much more likely to slip up, which is something even a glass cannon can't afford! While lithe builds work better endurance (Looking at long distance runners as opposed to sprinters is a great example here) to claim a more muscular build won't last long doesn't ad up. Repeated muscular exercises, such as what's required in melee combat, build endurance and muscular, swing a sword a thousand times it ceases to become burst strength and is just what the body is capable of doing. Otherwise Rauhbahn wouldn't be as muscular as he is, and I'm pretty sure Rauhabhn would decimate most people with one arm tied behind his back (heh) despite his muscularity for even the longest of fights.

Giantdad was great because the large combo'd swings meant folks only had limited options to do til their stamina was depleted either through shielding or dodging, and then the sword combos kept coming til your health was the next thing depleted. The various Souls games have pretty realistic combat, note how large weapons such as the halberd and claymore are more popular than dagger for example, the only build two builds I can think of that fall under "dex" builds that are also fairly effective involve the Chaos blade or the broken shortsword.

And yet Broly is a thing in DBZ and very threatening. It's only "realism" because it suits your argument :P Power levels in DBZ never made much sense, they can't "suddenly make sense" for one fight, whenever in the canon of the universe, Broly kicks the idea that buff = slow out the door. Trunks failed because Toriyama wanted him to fail.

1. But there will be a basis, and from that basis we can assume other things. It has to be plentiful enough to support life, otherwise the Xaela couldn't live there, and unless if a the Xaela fight just to fight (Which.. Isn't the smartest idea for a species and probably wouldn't last long!), chances are they're fighting for more resources. I've put up other examples of nomadic cultures, namely the various plains natives.

There might be a reason, but if that reason doesn't make sense, then people not only are justified in complaining, SE ought to fix it. They can't just do things on a whim unless it involved Hildebrand (Because Hildebrand isn't suppose to make sense in the least, it's absurd comedic relief!). There's a reason why reputable story makers make a canon and keep that canon to logical sense. So far, FFXIV has been fairly reasonable, why kill the streak with a flimsy justification for something as dumb as massive sexual dimorphism

Lack of resources, their biggest airship was destroyed by Midgardsormr, their most intelligent man in the field (Cid) is with the Eorzeans, Darnus wanted to decimate Eorzea (Project Meteor) but that failed and Darnus is dead (kinda), and Gaius didn't want to conquer ruins so he doesn't want to carpet bomb Eorzea and is now dead (Maybe). So Garlean is out resources, their best man is gone, and the Eorzean invasion force failed twice, it makes a lot of sense for why they don't want to carpet bomb their enemies' urban centers or military fortifications.

2. The biology within a single species doesn't work like that, if the girls have that super efficient skin muscular body, odds are the guys would too, this is not the case.

You're grasping at straws there Cilia :P

3. While adoption is a possibility, http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...l=1#post490835 confirms that interbreeding between races of man is possible, normally not occurring due to culturally differences, but seeing as how the Raen are heavily associated with Doman culture then there isn't much of a reason.

4. "Yeah, well, y'know, that's just, like, uh, your opinion, man." SE is responsible for its mistakes, its their duty to fix them, if that requires giving every Xaela that wants to change a fantasia for free, then that's apart of their responsibility.

5 If SE isn't willing to go through a survey like that, then they shouldn't make assumptions. For all SE knows is people go with Miqo'te because they're settling and want Ronso, but they don't know the actual reason, they're just assuming.

Changing to Highlander or Roegadyn won't help though, heck if anything it's just putting a massive amount of money into SE's pockets from fantasia, and whenever we don't get what we want and change back to the original races, SE again won't care because more fantasia money. It's drops of water in an ocean for one person to change. While you choose to be a highlander to "voice your opinion" (For all SE knows, people like Highlander because they like "meanfase"), I choose to voice my opinions other ways that don't result in giving SE even more of my money (ie outside my subscription via fantasia).

I'm quite "chill", I don't get how I'm not, it's proper debate what we're doing. I've been trying to reason through why the Xaela girls being so short, but it doesn't make any sense for a nomadic warring culture to not focus on their women becoming as strong and as big as the males are (or assuming lack resources are why the girls are so moe then why aren't the men as well?), outside of "~Loljustcause~" which isn't something a company ought to be doing if they want to actually make a good game.

"If you're not helping, you are part of the problem", if you aren't participating in telling SE "The Au Ra are bunk" you're saying you're quite fine with the next race being the same. SE stated their reason was "We made the new race like this because the fanbase seems to like the cuter races", there isn't a reason for them to make a race that actually makes sense. There is also statements along the lines of "If we add another new race, we'll design it depending on reactions on the Au Ra", seeing as how the most people seem to either be complacent or supportive of the Au Ra, they again, have no reason to change.

I ask you along with everyone, what will you do if the next race is moeblob with the girls and excessively sexually dimorphic? If it's "Continue to be a highlander/Roegadyn" then you're certainly not helping.
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Melee combat favors accuracy with strength, to which speed doesn't equal accuracy. Who cares how fast you are whenever your attacks don't hurt? All it takes is one hit, and you're far more likely to make a mistake or get caught off guard. Plus, all this talk is forgetting that "Burst" strength. A sudden "burst" of speed to match the opponent and the fight it over because all it takes is one hit.

Snip

While I wouldn't be opposed (Seriously SE >_> ), to that, Cilia ain't lying, I wish the Xaela would be more highlander-esque with their model (Though the Raen are fine!). The game ought to make sense to the lore and logic, when the company in charge of lore makes such a mistake, they've got to fix it, it's their responsibility. They did it with the addition of girl Roegadyn and guy Miqo'te, they ought to do the same here assuming they change.