[REQUEST] Can we have a more original race next time?

[Ultimatecalibur]

I
But as I pointed out, things like cat ears and horns, which clearly are within the range of what SE is willing to adjust for, need adjustments to nearly all hoods, hats, and helmets. A snout, on the other hand, would need adjustments to closed-faced helmets and that mask, but not to most helmets, nor to any hats or hoods. (The only other types of headgear in the game are things like circlets and glasses which wouldn't need adjustments in either case.) So overall, a snout would require far less adjusting than what SE agrees is reasonable.

I'm afraid you just do not get how many there are and pretty much every one would need adjustment.

Here are just 5 head pieces that would need to be modified to handle a snout/muzzle which would require substantial reshaping of the gear:






And as for what I mean by a substantial tail, look at the Amalj'aa and Mamool Ja. Their tails are not an add on to the human form, but a major part of their bodies.

[IndieVarro]

My post is going to be a bit off topic. I've been playing around on Korea's Black Desert and my ranger is a sort of elf/humanoid. This game makes me so excited for the future of character customization.
I'm just going to leave these here....


and yes, that effect is from the rain/weather system in the game.

[Reinha]

You're ignoring the faction break. If you just look at it by faction I'd say the uglier the race the less played with the Pandaren being an exception, of course they are the "fat" race so perhaps that's it. I don't think dwarves or gnomes come off as particularly pretty or cute in wow art not like say Lalas.

Lets look at it with faction in mind then. Both factions have at least one pretty race to choose from.
Horde: 71% of characters are of an "ugly" or bestial race
Alliance: 48% of characters "ugly" or bestial (including dwarfs and gnomes) or 32% (excluding dwarfs and gnomes)

What you are ignoring is that the number of western players who would happily play as an ugly/beast race is not negligible. When split into separate races it may seem that the non-pretty are less popular, but that's because there's 8-10 of them to choose from and only 3-5 human like.

One of the reasons why people pick the monstrous races on Horde side is because they are given the misfit role:
"Misunderstood and cast aside, these diverse and powerful races strive to overcome their differences and unite as one in order to win freedom for their people and prosper in a land that has come to hate them. In the Horde, action and strength are valued above diplomacy, and its leaders earn respect by the blade, wasting no time with politics. The brutality of the Horde's champions is focused, giving a voice to those who fight for survival."

Even earlier in this thread someone didn't find it believable that a monster could successfully serve the grand companies and meddle in politics. No matter their culture, advancements or heroic deeds, non-pretty races would be lumped together with beastmen by both player and NPC. But that kind of hardship is precisely what attracts some people to choose those races. I think that if a playable beast race was ever introduced in FFXIV, the story team would have the skill to consider all of this and make it believable.

I would like to emphasize that my criticism for FFXIV races is mainly towards the female designs. With males they did an excellent job. Miqo'te and Au Ra males look borderline beast races already and the rest are very distinct from one another.

[Onikimaru]

How can you not see it? Aside from mentioned minor features, they look exactly like humans.

Yep, a girl's face and body.

Umm, huh...what?. The way these characters look fits in directly with the lore...i don't see a problem. They also look nothing like hyur..

[kyuven]

Even earlier in this thread someone didn't find it believable that a monster could successfully serve the grand companies and meddle in politics. No matter their culture, advancements or heroic deeds, non-pretty races would be lumped together with beastmen by both player and NPC. But that kind of hardship is precisely what attracts some people to choose those races. I think that if a playable beast race was ever introduced in FFXIV, the story team would have the skill to consider all of this and make it believable.

See, that's the problem. They'd have their own story. In games like WoW, the EverQuests, and the like, it's perfectly fine for races to have their own stories.
However, this game already has its own story, and it's not about a beastman overcoming adversity to become recognized by the people of Ul'Dah...only to be branded a criminal again and have that all be for nothing.
Which creates another issue: We are the enemy of the Monetarists/Syndicate. They want reasons to kill us. "Being a beastman" is precedence enough for them to give the WoL the boot for...being a beastman. However, since we're not a beastman, they can't use that as a pretext.
In short, the story of this special beastman would overwrite the story of the Warrior of Light. You'd basically be required to rewrite several DOZEN quests as well as create new ones wholecloth just to justify this character's existence.
In addition, you'd need to alter several SIDEquests, such as the Moogle Mail quests.
Basically, they would need to introduce an all-new scenario for this race...
A new scenario in a game that rewards you for putting all your focus into one character.
Rather than a playable race, it would be MORE interesting if these beastmen were your Adventuring Fellow/Path Companion and you got to play through their story through their perspective as side missions on your main character.
But as a full on playable race? It's simply not practical from a lore, design, and monetary perspective.

Also something just started bothering me: All the suggestions for new "original" races are using games that already have a variation as precedent.
I mean, at least ones like Nu Mou has only technically been done in another final fantasy game...but asking for an original idea and then pointing out something that already has it strikes me as odd.

[Alacran]

Lets look at it with faction in mind then. Both factions have at least one pretty race to choose from.
Horde: 71% of characters are of an "ugly" or bestial race
Alliance: 48% of characters "ugly" or bestial (including dwarfs and gnomes) or 32% (excluding dwarfs and gnomes)

What you are ignoring is that the number of western players who would happily play as an ugly/beast race is not negligible. When split into separate races it may seem that the non-pretty are less popular, but that's because there's 8-10 of them to choose from and only 3-5 human like.

One of the reasons why people pick the monstrous races on Horde side is because they are given the misfit role:
"Misunderstood and cast aside, these diverse and powerful races strive to overcome their differences and unite as one in order to win freedom for their people and prosper in a land that has come to hate them. In the Horde, action and strength are valued above diplomacy, and its leaders earn respect by the blade, wasting no time with politics. The brutality of the Horde's champions is focused, giving a voice to those who fight for survival."

Even earlier in this thread someone didn't find it believable that a monster could successfully serve the grand companies and meddle in politics. No matter their culture, advancements or heroic deeds, non-pretty races would be lumped together with beastmen by both player and NPC. But that kind of hardship is precisely what attracts some people to choose those races. I think that if a playable beast race was ever introduced in FFXIV, the story team would have the skill to consider all of this and make it believable.

I would like to emphasize that my criticism for FFXIV races is mainly towards the female designs. With males they did an excellent job. Miqo'te and Au Ra males look borderline beast races already and the rest are very distinct from one another.

My issue with this is simply that is not what Erozea is about. Your example firstly sets the stage of a two sided faction one of which are "misfits cast aside" this was to aggravate a state in the mind set of a player base in to a world of war(craft)...

Reading the WoW forums I get the impression that some of the players who are currently quitting would play FFXIV if everything wasn't so cute and teenage looking. Race options are directly affecting their decision of buying the game. Would it really be that bad to see "ugly" characters running around, especially if it was only one of the clans of a hypothetical new race?

Erozea is not that place, open world pvp is not encouraged, barely is it even insinuated. The example given calls for a group to be ostracized in order to band together. As it stands all city states are calling for peace and unity in order to defend themselves from Garlean occupation. The introduction of a race specifically made to be "hated because they are ugly" sounds like very lazy writing to me.

I honestly hate people who tell others to go "Play something else, this obviously is not the game for you". It is small minded, rude and plays into a sense of entitlement they honestly have no right to. By this example you seem to be telling me the game I enjoy as is, with the direction it has been going, needs to change... I dislike that very much.

Your emphasize i will not fault you in, I truly feel an opportunity was missed with the Au Ra females, if the Xaela, followers of the Dusk Mother had their gender heights reversed (females larger more feral in appearance than their male counter parts) I feel it would have struck an amazing balance between the two tribes.

I have made many post on this thread, the subject of which stressing the technical aspects that would go in to what many can safely argue would be service for a minority, who even then may very well not bother actually using the race but only want it as a background option for others (they are far to attached to their pretty race and would not change)... I'll not claim I am an expert in any way shape or form, or that I know of the vast amount that goes in to creating all that is necessary to introduce a new race. I will say as a long time fan of both FF series and WoW, they are not the same. They only share the fact that they are mmo's set in a fantasy setting. Comparing them is like comparing gasoline and water, you don't use water in a gas tank, you don't put fire out with gasoline. Their player base is different as vastly different as their country of origin, this does not mean one person can not enjoy both, only that fundamentally that same person will enjoy them for different reasons.

[Nestama]

Umm, huh...what?. The way these characters look fits in directly with the lore...i don't see a problem. They also look nothing like hyur..

Y'sure about that?


Now imagine them wearing the exact same clothes.

[Chiramu]

Y'sure about that?


Now imagine them wearing the exact same clothes.

Why would you play Midlander Hyur when you could be Highlander? Highlander girls do look nothing like Au Ra on the other hand.

[Nestama]

If I were to switch genders, I'd probably switch to a female Roegadyn.


Created in the Heavensward benchmark (that has dropped my 11k score to 6k. Weird).

[Nadirah]

Not Au Ra gatortail looks the way it does so they don't have to alter armor(already tiny hole for miqo til) and yet look like thicker tail.

The heads look like Barbie. The hair reinforces it. That's the biggest turnoff for me. Can't even give them sharper features, they're all soft and sweet. The tribal difference is color palette.