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

[FutileMasquerade]

I'm not in to the bunny people concept. I don't really want a third "Hyur with animal parts glued on" kinda deal. Maybe if they were kinda bottom heavy like the Lalafell but a little bit less stubby. Like, narrow shoulders and broader hips with really strong looking legs. Maybe make it so they've got larger than average (but otherwise comparable in shape to the other races) feet too. Probably make them a bit shorter than the Miqo'te but still taller than the Lalafell. Give them almost Lalafell levels of sexual dimorphism, so the overall body shape is pretty much the same, and give both genders two fiercer and two cuter faces. You know what, if you put a Lalafell, a Hyur, and a rabbit in a blender and then reconstituted the mix into a playable race I'd actually find that pretty neat.

Huh. Just talked myself into wanting bunny people.

[Mature]

I support this idea once again. VIERA please!

Millions of pages in a no word of the mods as to if this is even considered :/

[Celef]

I support this idea once again. VIERA please!

Millions of pages in a no word of the mods as to if this is even considered :/

They already stated they won't add the Viera no matter how hard the players want it, Yoshida said it himself in an interview/LL/Fanfest (can't remember which one) :/

[Reinha]

snip

You mean the poll about beastman / demibeastman / mammalian / reptilian? First of all the poll lacked options outside of those like avian or aquatic. Secondly, mammalian demibeastman doesn't mean Viera. People who want werewolves that can transform, a more human looking Ronso, fox people, satyrs or any beastman with some human features also have to vote for that option. Which means you can't say Viera won the poll if Viera was never an option in it.

I agree about WoW's copy paste faces but you are forgetting that applies to every WoW race, not just the beastmen.

GW2 had a pretty good character creator for all races. Charr, Sylvari and Asura all look distinct from humans and their popularity is about half of that of humans. None are as rare as Roegadyn. It's hard to estimate what amount of players would migrate to a more distinct beastman race in this game, because we actually don't have one yet. Some lump beastmen into the same category as Roegadyn (big and not cute) and claim that it would be equally rare. And yet our demibeastmen are among the most popular races of the game, and there's no doubt some players play them for the exotic features and not just the pretty faces. Who says some Miqo'te and Au Ra players wouldn't be interested in some more beastly looking options (instead of a change of ears)? They don't exactly have a choice at the moment.

There are more things to consider when it comes to the addition of new races. Variety and new players. Would I have tried GW2 if they only had humans and big humans? It's a 100% no from me. I picked the plant and cat race for my character and the alternative would have been no characters at all. I can play human IRL. There are very likely people who never even try this game because there are no interesting races for them to try like Charr, Sylvari, Tauren, Worgen or Troll. In game they would be surrounded by cat girls, lizard girls and plain girls. This is not appealing to some people, but we never really hear from that side because they never entered the game. Rabbit girls would hardly make this game appealing to any new audience. A lot of people think it was a good idea to include female Roegadyn and male Miqo'te to ARR even though the former has always been among the least played combos in the game. It may not be the most popular but it adds variety and attracts new audiences. I probably wouldn't have started the game if it wasn't for femroe because no other race "clicked" for me. Right now my game+expansion purchases and sub fees would have paid for almost 50 fantasia potions. That's how valuable new players are compared to fantasia purchases. Food for thought. :P

[Vexander]

I'd love to see Viera added, but as a reversal of Au Ra with the females being these tall, hulking creatures and the males being the small, adorable ones. Au Ra were a disappointment in that regard. Alternatively if they do with Viera what they should have done with Au Ra, that'd also be acceptable; One tribe having tall hulking males and small cute females, and the other having tall hulking females and small cute males. Or One tribe having both males and females small and cute, and the other having them tall and hulking.

I don't feel that previous incarnations of Viera from other games need necessarily hold the addition of them to this game at the point of a knife. It's perfectly plausible to add certain characteristics, of course. Miqo'te Males are rare, something taken from their predecessors, the Mithra, from FFXIV. Rare males/females shouldn't prevent a race from being playable, or both gender options.

You mean the poll about beastman / demibeastman / mammalian / reptilian? First of all the poll lacked options outside of those like avian or aquatic. Secondly, mammalian demibeastman doesn't mean Viera. People who want werewolves that can transform, a more human looking Ronso, fox people, satyrs or any beastman with some human features also have to vote for that option. Which means you can't say Viera won the poll if Viera was never an option in it.

I agree about WoW's copy paste faces but you are forgetting that applies to every WoW race, not just the beastmen.

GW2 had a pretty good character creator for all races. Charr, Sylvari and Asura all look distinct from humans and their popularity is about half of that of humans. None are as rare as Roegadyn. It's hard to estimate what amount of players would migrate to a more distinct beastman race in this game, because we actually don't have one yet. Some lump beastmen into the same category as Roegadyn (big and not cute) and claim that it would be equally rare. And yet our demibeastmen are among the most popular races of the game, and there's no doubt some players play them for the exotic features and not just the pretty faces. Who says some Miqo'te and Au Ra players wouldn't be interested in some more beastly looking options (instead of a change of ears)? They don't exactly have a choice at the moment.

There are more things to consider when it comes to the addition of new races. Variety and new players. Would I have tried GW2 if they only had humans and big humans? It's a 100% no from me. I picked the plant and cat race for my character and the alternative would have been no characters at all. I can play human IRL. There are very likely people who never even try this game because there are no interesting races for them to try like Charr, Sylvari, Tauren, Worgen or Troll. In game they would be surrounded by cat girls, lizard girls and plain girls. This is not appealing to some people, but we never really hear from that side because they never entered the game. Rabbit girls would hardly make this game appealing to any new audience. A lot of people think it was a good idea to include female Roegadyn and male Miqo'te to ARR even though the former has always been among the least played combos in the game. It may not be the most popular but it adds variety and attracts new audiences. I probably wouldn't have started the game if it wasn't for femroe because no other race "clicked" for me. Right now my game+expansion purchases and sub fees would have paid for almost 50 fantasia potions. That's how valuable new players are compared to fantasia purchases. Food for thought. :P

While I see your point, I don't think the game should sacrifice it's tone/thematic for the sake of variety. If people join a game just for the models, and not for the gameplay, chances are they'll get bored and leave anyways. While variety in races certainly opens up a wider possible audience in attracting new players, it just isn't enough if they don't enjoy the game itself. Buy the game, play a few months, get bored, and leave. That'd be... what? $100? Meanwhile a new race which sticks out like a sore thumb from every other race will be in various places in the game as NPCs or the rare few players who just like that race, altering the atmosphere existing players have enjoyed for so long.

I, personally, enjoy the race selection FFXIV has, and the thematic they share of being more human than beastly. I also enjoyed GW2's wider variety and selection of races, because that worked for that game. WoW's race selection leaves much to be desired to me because it's a bi-factional game with strict racial divides. However, I don't think you'll see anyone bashing LOTRO for not having playable Orcs and instead just, "Humans, Pointy-eared Humans, Short-Bearded Humans, and Barefoot Humans." It should be the same for FFXIV.

[Pomelo]

SE could just end this debate by doing a race poll again.
You know? For the people who actually still play the game rather than catering to 1.0/2.0 players which may have since left the game entirely.

I do want Viera added. I like the concept art for both the male and female, although I always envisioned the Male as a bit more graceful but oh well.
I'd also love them to do a Hyur Midlander/Highlander where the tribes are different.....I mean the concept art for those lil baby viera is so cute too...

[LineageRazor]

They already stated they won't add the Viera no matter how hard the players want it, Yoshida said it himself in an interview/LL/Fanfest (can't remember which one) :/

Yoshi P has said many things in the past that turned out to not be true. And it's nonsense to say that something won't happen "no matter how hard the players want it". If the players want it badly enough that the game is losing a significant number of subscriptions without it, then it will be added. That's not the case here. I don't think there are many people seriously entertaining the idea of quitting the game just because they can't be a bunny person.

That said, of the many suggestions in this thread and others for a new race, I think Viera is among the stronger possibilities for a new addition to the game. It's obviously a popular choice among the fanbase, and it would be easy to make a watered-down, humanlike version of it, just as Miqo'te and Rogadyn were watered-down, humanlike versions of Mithra and Galka. Making them Hyur with bunny ears and tails would make adjusting existing gear to fit them so much easier and more economically viable. Personally, if Viera were added, I'd prefer them to be Lalafellike, rather than Hyurlike - it'd be nice to have a second "diminutive" race option.

Truly inhuman races, though, I just don't see as a possibility in this game. In addition to the difficulty of refitting equipment for them, there's the issue that a lot of the plot of this game centers around the conflict between humans and beastmen. If one of the "human" races looks even less human than, say, the Amal'jaa, why are they considered to be one of the human races, rather than just another Beast tribe?

[Laerune]

I think one of the issues that we are facing right now is the unwillingness of the developers to redesign armour for races that have non-human features. This alone will make the odds of having unique race or the Ivalice Viera slim to non. I realy want the Viera to be released, but I fear which version of the Viera they will release in this game. I just do not want another Hyur + animal parts.

Aslong as Yoshida and the developers are sticking to the whole: no redesigning of armour, I fear this game will have only Hyur lookalikes.

[Nestama]

"Humans, Pointy-eared Humans, Short-Bearded Humans, and Barefoot Humans." It should be the same for FFXIV.

You know, a Dwarf race would be a pretty neat addition to this game (sure, it's another "human" race, but at least it's not something cute, nor an Elezen/Hyur with rabbit ears). They'd definitely stand out more than a Viera would and I'm sure players who enjoy playing as a short race, but aren't fans of Lalafells would be happy with them. Short, stocky people.

I know I would give Dwarfs a go, especially if they have amazing facial hair options.

[DeadRiser]

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 ....

Coming from a cat boy, even MORE generic than a "bunny girl".

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Viera

Instead of hating on a race simply because they are half-humanoid, you should read up on their lore. They are super interesting. Having played the Ivalice games, I would say they would be a welcome race with their lore. Their lore is pretty fascinating.

And no, Elezen with bunny ears does not make anyone a Viera. Much like that spriggan cap doesn't make you anymore of a spriggan. Re-using the XI races and just renaming them is pretty generic too. Or having an elf race and human race like any MMO. See where I'm going with this?

The reason there aren't any beastly races is because the development time and ps3 limitations for the armor designs.