You mean sexed up bunny women with clawed heels, who look especially cute in the tactics games and arguably cute in FF12 (Round faces, fairly pouty faces and rabbit traits are "cute")?
The issue is it's very possible to make a "cute" Roegadyn and Midlander, they've both got at least one face dedicated to look "cute" and if you'd set them to a neutral standing position and have the muscle slider to a 0, you've just got a gentle big girl or whatever. Now, making a Au Ra, Miqo'te, Midlander, or Lalafell tough and fierce looking? Next to impossible unless if you shove them in armor. The faces of the girls for those races are all high in neotony and other "cute" features. Besides, this isn't 12, people need to stop trying to hard to make it 12 by literally slapping the Viera into the world (And expecting 0 changes to them lol)
Not really? They have round pouty faces and wear next to nothing, hardly "fierce" in my book. I mean, it's like saying Tifa is an example of "fierce" because she fights, but nothing about her shows off fierce like traits. We're focusing on outer characteristics here though, the Viera don't look "fierce" in any way, especially not in the concept art shown. I feel that a lot of people are going to have their opinions colored over a "fierce"/"badass" look because a character (In this case Fran and the Viera race) act "fierce", but that's not the issue here, because in FFXIV, anyone has the capabilities to act "fierce". However, only Highlander women and Roegadyn women look fierce, and that's if you don't compare them to the men of their race or don't try to make a cute looking one.
Well, I mean.. That was a major complaint by a lot of people, that the Auri girls look incredibly similar to the Midlander and Miqo'te (And I still end up mistaking them for Miqo'te all the time >_> ). They're tall races, with arguably similar mental aesthetics ( stoic, proud, and elegant), and honestly if they put in a more realistic looking "bunny ear" headpiece, I'd think you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an Elezen and a Viera unless if you stared at the face for a while.
I dunno dude, the girls look plenty cutesy, guys seem kinda unique, but dear lord their foreheads and neck look just as weird as Elezen necks do.
I'd debate the male Au Ra, especially because nothing about them is distinctly Japanese aesthetically and within the lore of the race, they originate from Eorzea Mongolia if anywhere, while a section of them split off going into Eorzea Japan while retaining basically all of their original features. Highlander is also arguably debatable as I'm pretty sure we've seen a few Doman highlanders, and there was a few highlanders among the dev teams in game representations (Not just their characters, but like who they're suppose to look like. Roegadyn are again arguable as well as I can't really think of any specific society that they're suppose to mirror outside of naming conventions sounding similar to the nonsensical language that is welsh, they're the "big" race. I do agree on Elezen though, elves have always had a massive connection to Europe (Specifically Britain and the Nordic countries) since their modern version was conceived by Tolkien.
I wouldn't mind that, just give the women bigger shoulders and a height boost please <3 I'd kill for race that's just low in sexual dimorphism but on the more "masculine" side of things.