FFXIV 2nd expansion: Viera-like race still a possibility?

[Roegadyn_Bear]

That is problematic because of a Catch-22.

People want fierce races, but many will not play females unless they are cute.
A race with cute females is not a fierce race.

This is how we ended up with the Au'Ra fierce male/cute female sexual dimorphism.

That is quite the dilemma, isn't it? People talk a big game but back down when it comes to putting their money where there mouth is.

Why do females have to be cute? If all females of all new races are exclusively cute, then... people are going to get very bored/annoyed with this VERY fast.

Human nature is to blame for this, not to mention the current standards of beauty.

Let's face it, humans are generally very shallow creatures.

If I put up two flyers, one to donate money for kittens and plaster it with pictures of adorable kittens with sad faces... while the other asks for donations for a creature that's not nearly as attractive to the eyes or even ugly to most people but is highly important to the survival of our world's ecosystem, along with information stating why such a creature's survival is crucial to our world... which one do you think is going to generate the most revenue?

We don't have to have many people playing the race. Just enough to make the game world actually feel diverse sometimes. A diverse game world will attract players more, which means more money for SE, regardless of whether or not they choose to play a fierce race themselves.

I find the homogeneity of the game's races to be an unattractive quality. I'm not sure if I'd play a fierce race myself (they're usually hit or miss for me depending on design), but I'd still love to see them in game, even if only occasionally. I like diversity, it spices the game up. I'm sure others feel the same, even if they wouldn't play fierce races themselves.

Then you find yourself with the "Troll" quandary World of Warcraft had for the longest time. They were a fierce, exotic race everyone talked highly about and were considered quite awesome within their community... but no one would play due to many issues people had with their appearance. Their toes especially.

If designed well, it can still be popular.

There are plenty of WoW players playing female undead and female tauren. They're not "cute" but they are very well animated and have a lot of personality. But... the vast majority of players get hungup over this and only play 'cute' choices.

Female Forsaken characters had some of the best animations by far, and back in the early days of World of Warcraft they were plentiful due to an overpowered racial. Female Tauren are not exactly popular, their male counterpart making up over 80% of their population due to the gay and furry community. I'm not joking either. They're the Roegadyn of the Horde.

Found that concept art I was talkin about

I'm not going to lie, I would play that race despite the fact it would most likely bring in a large influx of furries.

Not exactly a bad business move either, as seen by the popularity of Worgen in World of Warcraft and the sudden faction and race changes that briefly followed with their implementation.

But people still play as them. If SE only make what is popular, every single female is going to be obnoxiously cute/adorable, while males will be given special treatment (new unique look).

Doesn't that sound, I dunno... a little sexist?

It's not sexist. It's called business.

I'm trying to explain the problem that SE is caught in. When around only 2%* (and likely less) of PCs are using a character model creating options for that percentage of the player base has less priority than pleasing the larger groups of the total population.

This is the unfortunate truth.