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

[KisaiTenshi]

A great many people seem to be regarding the request for more exotic features as wanting something ugly. I for one don't want an ugly bestial character. I want a beautifully feral and exotic one.

(Not meaning to pick on you in particular Kisai, just picked a convienient example from all the references to "ugly" characters.)

None taken. TESO players want dark, ugly and gritty. WoW players worlds are more colorful, but I've never played it. Screenshots/video from it always gave me the impression that there was nothing cute about it. I can level this same comment at quite a few Western games, hence all the screenshots in my earlier post.

No they don't require completely custom gear, because we're not asking for a change in anatomy. Of course, all gear would have to be proportioned to fit, but that's just as true of every race, regardless of how human or otherworldly it looks. Beyond that, most suggestions don't need anything else, and those that do would be the sort of adjustments SE is already doing anyway to accommodate ears, tails, and horns.

There would be absolutely no difference whatsoever between gear on a current Miqo'te and gear on a Miqo'te that had fur, claws, and a catlike face. Nor would Au Ra need any more gear adjustments if they had actual scales. We aren't asking to play quadrupeds, just to make the sort of features SE is already giving us look like part of our character and not like cosplay accessories. The tough part, as far as the gear is concerned, is the part they're already doing anyway.

Let me say this again, because people are ignoring things just to repeat the same argument again:

1) A non(human)-biped race can not be done - This requires more than just making unique gear, it requires having entirely new animation and physics programming. That is why even in games like Mass Effect, the playable aliens are little more than "rubber forehead aliens"
2) More "beast" like races have legs, arms and feet that are not "human biped" compatible. Many animals are digitigrade, which means they would have a different gait, thus requiring entirely new animation sets.
3) A "more furry/scaley" race can not be done without an entirely new gear system.
a. Scales on an animal in real life are a form of armor. Fur on an animal in real life is a form of camouflage and insulation. Neither of these apply to "playable characters" that can wear clothes and armor. The existing gear system can make exceptions for ears and horns because the ears and horns placement doesn't change between races or faces (they're on/off switches) and "are removed" when wearing certain hats/helmets. That's why you don't get to customize these features. This is why games "race differences" tend to be limited to just one gear part that has less frequent variation (eg hats, helmets, masks and crowns.) That way they can use the "human" base and make the same alterations for every gear. Every variation of horns or ears requires a different placement, hence a new model.
b. The tails on animals are a form of body language. Unlike the helmet slot, tails involve both the upper body and the lower body gear. A point made during beta was that Miqo'te 's butts were made smaller so that they could wear the same gear everyone else can wear. The result of this is that some of the legacy gear has the "tail" space, while all the ARR gear does not. Fan's weren't too happy about this. The fact that the tail clips through just about everything is repeatedly pointed out over time on the forum.

From:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...done-about-it!

Hello,
Lead designer Takeo Suzuki here.

We understand that you all care deeply for the detail and shape of your characters, and while the development team is really happy about this, we would like to keep the specifications for character’s butts as they are.

I’d like to explain a bit about why we changed the shape of character model’s butts. It all began when Yoshi-P and the character team sat down and reconsidered what should be prioritized for players when we moved from 1.0 to A Realm Reborn.

Based on this discussion it was decided to place emphasis on the below:
• New races (male Miqo’te, female Highlanders, and female Roegadyn.)
• Increase the amount of content and the amount of reward items (equipment and weapons)
(We want to make a team that can create more than four times the amount of rewards compared to what there was originally.)

As a result of thinking about what could be done to fulfill the above objectives all while converting everything over and optimizing all the data by completely remaking the graphics engine, we decided to reduce the cost by simplifying items that were too complex when making them. One aspect of this was the graphical display of waist equipment.

I deeply apologize for those of you who were really partial to what Miqo’tes looked like in 1.0, but this decision was made so we could relaunch with new races and a lot of new equipment. We will be implementing a wide variety of really cool looking equipment moving forward, and we appreciate your understanding on this.

So right from the Dev's mouth, they reduced complexity of the waist gear so that we can have more gear overall. The expense of that was that everyone has the same butt and by extension tails are little more than "cosplay tails" except during emotes.

A consequence of trying to make "more furry" or "more scaley" races would be race-locking more gear, greatly diminishing the amount of gear available.