Quote Originally Posted by Samcaesar View Post
Angry cat noises!
Not going to get further into the interbreeding things, because Lalafell x Roegadyn just makes no sense and there's no word on whether or not Au Ra can interbreed with other races (yes they're a "race of man" but they're radically different from any other race), so as far as I'm concerned it could go either way.

In regards to the sexual dimorphism, you're still running on the assumption they should practice eugenics like the Seekers of the Sun clans. We don't know that. Does it make sense for the Xaela to breed for stronger, fitter specimens (male and female alike)? Yeah, it does. But since when has every decision people made in regards to mates made sense?

... especially since what I interpret from their lore snippet (their "fiery wills") the Xaela are more emotional than the Raen.

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Not underestimating the value of size and strength, but they're not all it takes to win a fight. Balancing speed and power isn't always the right option, either, because if you can't compensate for your shortcomings (or, the opponent's superior fields are too much to compensate for) you'll lose.

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1. We don't know what Xaela culture is like yet. Still. So saying real-world nomadic cultures don't match up with their lifestyle is jumping the gun, and they don't have to match up to a real-world nomadic culture anyway.

The best fantasy is one grounded in reality, but there are always going to be things that don't have to make sense or it's not fantasy. How are there floating islands in Ishgard? How do Dragoons jump so high? How do dragons fly with those tiny wings and huge body mass? Why doesn't Raubahn go into shock when his arm gets lopped off? Why doesn't he bleed out fighting Ilberd (with the increased heart rate and massive open wound)? Etc etc. Physiology is another thing, but... it doesn't have to make sense.

Titan was originally what I had in mind, but there's also the rock golems. And no matter how you want to justify it, stabbing a rock monster with daggers should be ineffective.

2. It's a bad excuse, that it is. I don't deny it. But it's an excuse all the same, and if they have to (or want to) use it, they can and will. I can tell them it's a cheap excuse, but I highly doubt it'll change anything.

3. Possible but I assume negative unless we have official conformation. Either way, I did point out that genetic hybrids are infertile or become infertile by the second generation, so Raen physiology being altered by the introduction of Hyuran genes is still improbable. (Yes it's a fantasy world so this might not be the case, but if you want to apply real-world logic to it that's not something you can ignore. Even fantasy worlds sometimes apply this, as is the case with D&D half-dragons.)

5. I'm not saying the devs don't or aren't listening to the international audience (why do you think the Auri males are ruggedly handsome when the Japanese don't consider that... well, all that masculine?). A poll might help, but it could also be inviting trouble as it's flooded with troll answers like "doughy walrus midget men" and end up not being worth the effort. Remember "Dub the Dew."

(Though seriously, I'd love to see a playable doughy walrus midget man, just for lulz. I will name him Mr. Hamhands.)

SE caters to the people who don't put a lot of thought and effort into their characters because it takes a lot less effort. Instead of putting out a poll (which not everyone will pay attention to), screening out troll answers, and hoping they get an accurate reflection of the popular consensus, they can just draft up a design matching the most popular tastes by numbers. Or, just go with whatever the artists feel like doing, or the writer feels like introducing.

While getting "the best of both worlds" is ideal, it's rarely an option in reality. You have to give something up to get something; in this case, some people would not like having Xaela women be more like Highlanders, and the artists probably would not feel like making another tough female model people are going to mostly ignore. It'd also push back the release date when it was already pushed back from Spring 2015, so the fans would be upset over the release date being pushed back again for a model a lot of people aren't going to use.

There's no easy answers in the real world.

Anyway, since we've had pages upon pages of female Au Ra, figured I'd post what I'll go with if I decide to change to a male instead of a female, shake things up, y'know...