Au Ra physiology and other lore.

[Samcaesar]

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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.

[Seiko769]

I realize as a long time player that racial bonuses are negligible by end game but wonder what Au Ra's Racial Bonuses are o,o

[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!

[AmalahRose]

I thought I had decided how I want my character to look but I've since changed it to this.
Fortunately small and shy suits my personality quite well.

[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...

[Hivernica]

Princess but wears wolf pelts instead of ermine.

Funny you'd say that, I kept the Scylla robes in mind while creating her. I also can't wait to make her wear the mage twin adders robe in Ishgard. If I remember correctly it has some sort of pelt on it

[Samcaesar]

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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!

[Kaiser-Ace]

My two Gil worth since finishing the ninja quest line is that Doma is based off of China rather than Japan. (This could add some credence to the Dawn Farther and Dusk Mother parallelling with Vietnam's Creation Mythos)

So if it is indeed China then even after the Raen settled into one area the Mountains and River Valleys within them still make for a fairly harsh climate. So the Raen likely would still have the physical builds of the Xaela more from the environment than the life style.

As for their war based system, the Xaela seem to have specialization in their muscle builds. Males are taller and seem to be more naturally built for strength where as the females seem more naturally built towards speed. Both Exhibiting muscle builds that are primarily geared towards endurance. (A big thing for cultures that form in and around mountain ranges)

So larger bodies could be an accommodation to allow males to still have power with out risking endurance considering higher elevations have less oxygen. So the larger build with similar muscle mass would allow for larger lungs and a stronger heart to provide oxygen to the larger frame. The smaller Build with less hard muscle mass could allow the females a great deal more speed than their larger male kin for similar reasons, less muscle would make it easier to move quickly in lower oxygen environments without compromising the small stature that would be more preferable to a speed based fighter.

Lets keep using Roes and Lalas as examples. The Big Sea Wolf Pirate could easily crush a small Lalafell so underfoot uses the superior speed and smaller stature to aid his Rouge training and out maneuver the Pirate for the win.

It's the classic Muhammad Ali vs Spike Lee paradox, it'll only take one hit but you actually have to land it first.