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

[KanaNetwork]

I'm not against Viera only because I'd really love to see some more bishounen-esque males. I believe, due to what we know of the race their males would take good care of their looks. I also believe they would have to do a bit of design based on their shoes as most Viera wore open-toed shoes and include a few longer, more "wild" type of hairstyles.

I'm also quite game for a more androgynous type of character (ex D from Vampire Hunter D for instance). I think that's where a big gap is right now. A lot of this has to do with what clothes certain genders can wear as well.

Sadly, what I feel will happen is they'll make a beastly race (or even a humorous one) and no one will really change over for the long term.

[birdy_reene]

Judging on how Yoshi-P said they were pretty much a Miqo'te with rabbit ears and heels... unlikely. Heck, he didn't even want to show off the Viera concept art :T






.

So are the Au Ra, they are just a hyur with bone spurs and a tail and a bad case of scalie eczema. oh and eye rings. pfttt there goes that argument. Also if the bunny ears didn't have a lame tiera and look like cheap cloth, you might have a valid argument.

[Cakekizyy]

Does no one care about Ivalice lore? Do people just want Viera because of the "oooh! new! shiny" aspect of it just like the maid outfit and Bennu's? Keep them where they belong in the world of Ivalice, I love FFXIV for its fan service and their takes on various things but let it be its own thing or have a new race entirely or do what I said before in either this thread or the other Viera thread, make a viera like race but make it so it is its own thing at the same time just like how Tarutaru and Lalafells are distinguishable from each other.

I would assume they would make new lore since different setting.

[FoxyAreku]

I don't understand why these threads go on for so long.

You can literally race change to an elezan female, put on the bunny ears from gold saucer, and it would give you the exact same experience as playing a viera would.

Shouldn't we ask for a race that is actually, you know, unique? And can't be simulated already with immense ease?

Like, seriously, I'm happy for you if you like them, but you have to be incredibly blinded by bias to not see that Viera is pretty much the most generic race out there, can you think of anything else more generic than humans with bunny ears? Because I honestly can't.

[ErikMynhier]

I'm not being mean here I really mean what I'm about to ask. Don't read into it, take it at face value....


Why Viera? They are weird shaped and lanky making gear-fits of all gear knightmarish. They are basically another rehash of a mammal animal-human which the miqo'te cover already. I honestly don't get it. Please exlpain it to me. I'm not making fun, I'm serious.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

I'm not being mean here I really mean what I'm about to ask. Don't read into it, take it at face value....


Why Viera? They are weird shaped and lanky making gear-fits of all gear knightmarish. They are basically another rehash of a mammal animal-human which the miqo'te cover already. I honestly don't get it. Please exlpain it to me. I'm not making fun, I'm serious.

Heck if I know. Same reason why people love the cat race to death.

[Khaoticsuccubus]

I don't understand why these threads go on for so long.

You can literally race change to an elezan female, put on the bunny ears from gold saucer, and it would give you the exact same experience as playing a viera would.

Shouldn't we ask for a race that is actually, you know, unique? And can't be simulated already with immense ease?

Like, seriously, I'm happy for you if you like them, but you have to be incredibly blinded by bias to not see that Viera is pretty much the most generic race out there, can you think of anything else more generic than humans with bunny ears? Because I honestly can't.

Same reason I can't understand why close minded posts like this (not just you) are made. ;P

Obviously race changing and slapping bunny ears on wouldn't cut it. There's no way anyone who says that can possibly seriously think as such. Ya just don't like the idea of it so ya don't want it put in instead of (insert random player desire).

The fact that threads like these go on so long should show just how much the playerbase wants this to happen. Whether or not it will, well, can't say I'm holding out any hope.

That aside we already got our "unique" race in the form of Au'ra. Not to mention even IF the new race turns out to be more akin the naysayers accuse it of being, it STILL would provide new things other races don't have. Character creation options the likes of new faces, a different bone structure, new animations, and hairstyles (au'ra got a bunch of unique hairstyles). Details the likes that some might love to have that the current races don't offer. Without going too far from standard humanoid we currently have.

Personally, I'm hoping to see Viera with a facial structure similar to 12's at the very least. Feet too but, that's pushing it and not likely lol.

This is something the cries for a furrier, more beastly race (the alternative) just can't offer. None. and I mean NONE. of the modern generation of mmo's have ever offered a beast race with character customization that wasn't just a mild palette swap.

And, to be quite frank, SE just will not expand on char creation of current races. Maybe I'm pessimistic but, ya I just don't see them ever doing so. According to them it just takes to much memory to do so.

Hmm, may have gotten lost somewhere in all that. Apologies for the rambling ;P

I'm not being mean here I really mean what I'm about to ask. Don't read into it, take it at face value....


Why Viera? They are weird shaped and lanky making gear-fits of all gear knightmarish. They are basically another rehash of a mammal animal-human which the miqo'te cover already. I honestly don't get it. Please exlpain it to me. I'm not making fun, I'm serious.

Eh, everyone has different perceptions on what looks good or interesting is basically all it boils down to. You say lanky, I say graceful. And gear would be no more problematic than it is for male au'ra or elezen (now those are lanky imo ;P). As much as I like cats, any game that offers rabbit humanoids will have me race changing to them within a heartbeat.

[Nestama]

snip

My point is still valid. I've made a few new points in this thread and have changed my stance a little. I compared the Au Ra to the Viera and then compared the two to Miqo'te. Out of the two, Au Ra were more unique (by a tiny bit), mostly by what they could keep. The males are the more unique, of course, since they have more scale options and a different face and look nothing like Miqo'te. It's only the female Au Ra's who can be compared to Miqo'te (and I've made this comparison back when Au Ra's were revealed and more so when the Benchmark was released).

The Viera, if they came into FFXIV with nothing changed and gear redesigned just for them, then sure. They could be a potential race and be different from the Miqo'te. However, given that SE does not redesign gear to make sense of tails and the horns for Au Ra, anything interesting and unique about Viera is tossed out the window. Their hands and feet will be changed to be more Hyur/Miqo'te-like, which leaves them with ears being the only thing that's unique about them (which is less than what a Miqo'te has), which will either clip through head gear like Au Ra horns, or be given ear socks like the Lalafell, Elezen and Miqo'te.

I would love a race that's more like a Beastman, but that's not gonna happen. So I'd personally prefer it if SE make third clans for the current races, as well as give us more options. A third clan for Miqo'te could even be similar to Viera: longer ears and a stubby tail.

[Laerune]

I would love to see a Beastman race, but I can understand why we wont get one. Aside from changing the armours, we need to remember, while Beastman races are fun for some, majority does not like playing as one. Almost all mmorpgs with Beastman race have shown via developer/player made polls that they are the least played race. Lets look at WoW and GW, two popular mmorpgs, both games have Beastman race and in both games those races are least played. The Tauren and Worgen are less played then the Blood Elves, Night Elves and Humans. The Charr (my favourite race) is on the bottom of the list of most played races, majority play the Nord (Giant human) and Human. This shows one thing, majority of gamers want to play something that resembles them and something that is pleasing to the eye, for majority a Beastman race does not fit this.

Now lets look at our own game, FFXIV. In FFXIV the most played races in 2.0 were the Hyur and Miqote, notice how both are just humans who resemble us. For 3.0 the developers wanted to make a demonic/draconic race and the early pictures have shown that the early concept of Au Ra, that they looked very different from our current ones. The females have the same body like those demonic girls in Hauke Manor and their faces looked more emo then cute. The males were a mix of bishounen and parts of their faces full of scales, they looked more scary and demonic. We all know the story, the developers looked at the data and saw that majority of this playerbase are playing as a Hyur or Miqote. So the developers changed their minds and took the Hyur/Elezen body and added scales. While I dislike this decision, the FF developers did the right thing for the company, because right now female Au Ra is the second most played female + race combo in the NA/EU data centers. So we might not like it, but we can not deny, that it worked out for them.

I love the Viera, its probably one of my favourite races of the FF universe, but we should remember that:

1. The developers do not want to spend time changed gloves and boots. This means that if there is a Viera, they will have Hyur hands and feets.
2. The race will reflect what the playerbase wants to play the most. Right now this is Hyur, Miqote and Au Ra.

The developers want to make a race that majority wants play as, this means the race has to look similiar to a Hyur, Miqote and Au Ra. I do not think we will see Ivalice Viera and if we are going to get a Viera, it will not be a Ivalice Viera. This race will be alot cuter to reflect the current most played race and what the Japanese community likes the best and for now this is (atleats for females) CUTENESS. Honestly, with how SE is playing very safe right now, I would not be suprised if we saw a Hyur + bunny ears for females and a Au Ra male + bunny ears for the males.

With the whole gear redesigning and the lack of players playing the less pretty races, the odds of seeing a Beastman race is slim to nonexistent. The developers want to make sure that this new race will be played by alot of players. History has shown us that Beastman have failed doing this.

[Lewtskie]

The fact that threads like these go on so long should show just how much the playerbase wants this to happen. Whether or not it will, well, can't say I'm holding out any hope.

You can't actually think that every page equates to a complete agreement of the topic, yeah? Most of these pages are filled with the same points merely rehashed by the same people, or tangents that carry on for a few pages. And the \community of a forum is always a small margin of the entire playerbase, so that's inaccurate as well.

This is something the cries for a furrier, more beastly race (the alternative) just can't offer. None. and I mean NONE. of the modern generation of mmo's have ever offered a beast race with character customization that wasn't just a mild palette swap.

Guild Wars 2 has the Charr, which have a very distinct design and plenty of alterations to armor were made. And while one may debate the "modern-ness" of WoW, it's existence can't be brushed aside with the Worgen, who as well had alterations to hands and legs.

And, to be quite frank, SE just will not expand on char creation of current races. Maybe I'm pessimistic but, ya I just don't see them ever doing so. According to them it just takes to much memory to do so.

Just as making completely different models for one equipment piece or another would as well. While they feel honor-bound to support the ps3's hardware neither concept will see the light of day. But as they've said, that support is no longer ensured once 4.0 hits.