Can we please get more cool looking outfits for male characters?

[Riardon]

Well, I just hope when 4.3 arrives we don't end up with another two feminine/androgynous hairstyles. With glamour being such a large part of the game it's starting to get a bit irritating to feel like I'm missing out. It never used to be that way, either. Yet there's been a notable shift away from embracing masculinity.

With WoW actively embracing things like Allied Races as a clever workaround for 'more options' for playable races and customisation options I have to admit I feel like FFXIV needs to do more. Even requests for simple things like more facial hair options seem to fall on deaf ears.

It's a Japanese game what do you expect? They don't give a crap about what NA/EU wants. Their taste on gear fashion designs is what you could expect from a JP dev. Weird looking feminine stuff and lots of designs made only with females in mind.

[Theodric]

It's a Japanese game what do you expect? They don't give a crap about what NA/EU wants. Their taste on gear fashion designs is what you could expect from a JP dev. Weird looking feminine stuff and lots of designs made only with females in mind.

It doesn't really matter if it's a Japanese game. That's just a defeatist attitude - other people may enjoy rolling over and offering themselves up to be screwed over, but I'm not one of them. So I will post about this day in, day out for as long as it takes to be heard. I urge others to do the same and to remain constructive whilst doing so. Only then will our voices be heard...even if it only results in a bone being thrown our way every now and then to shut us up.

[Lauront]

It's a Japanese game what do you expect? They don't give a crap about what NA/EU wants. Their taste on gear fashion designs is what you could expect from a JP dev. Weird looking feminine stuff and lots of designs made only with females in mind.

JP devs are perfectly able to design male outfits, as they do in other games and as they also do in anime, so this is a bizarre assertion. SE has consistently done so throughout many of its games. That being said, if they want some 50% of their income to evaporate, they can ignore their NA/EU audience, and the fact that the char demographics are split evenly more or less between males and females, with the predictable exceptions of au ra and miqo'te.

However, if they're ok with adding blatantly female outfits for males solely due to a tiny but vocal subset of the NA community, they can listen to those with more reasonable demands, too.

[Pomelo]

JP devs are perfectly able to design male outfits, as they do in other games

This is coming from the same company who made Wol from Mobius TOO sexy and had to butch him up a little >.<

[Iscah]

Well, I just hope when 4.3 arrives we don't end up with another two feminine/androgynous hairstyles. With glamour being such a large part of the game it's starting to get a bit irritating to feel like I'm missing out. It never used to be that way, either. Yet there's been a notable shift away from embracing masculinity.

Just wondering about the "extra hairstyles" since people keep bringing this up. I only started playing at about the time Stormblood was released, so I'm not sure how many hairstyles have been added to the original list, but I assume the last several on the list are 'late additions' (as they're unisex and available to all races) and it seems only the last couple have been really feminine.

From the previous patch, the twin-buns style is feminine but the spiky ponytail looks very 'male anime character'. The two before that also look like (more normal) male hairstyles, and several before it look unisex but not feminine.

Though interestingly, both the hairstyles from the recent patch got used on male characters....

(Personally I'd like more 'longer hair' options for male characters. Even the official character designs keep using that same one nice shoulder-length hairstyle on multiple characters, so clearly they need more options.)

I am having trouble trying to picture what [Nero's stubble] would look like on male Au Ra...

That could be the reason for them not releasing any male hairstyles with stubble! (And I do suspect it would have to be added as part of the hairstyle, because you don't seem to be able to get new options for other face elements.) Which in turn might be why they haven't released Hien or Nero's hairstyles.

[BillyKaplan]

Though interestingly, both the hairstyles from the recent patch got used on male characters....

And they're giving us the bunny outfit for male characters, does that make it masculine? (well depends on how you wear it I guess but you get my point). Look also at how they advertised it - on female characters, and you're going to be hard pressed to find too many male playable characters who actually use it. Not saying they don't exist, just not half as much as female charas. Also not the best connotation when both those male charas are antagonists at best, villains at worst.

That could be the reason for them not releasing any male hairstyles with stubble!

Then they could add it to at least selected races and leave it as one of those racial differences people seem to want to see more of. Hyurs, Lalafell, Elezen iirc, to name a few, all have existing facial hair slots. They could add those as new options to an already existing customization option, since we know they don't want to add new options altogether, but adding more options to an existing category should be easy enough - they do it all the time with the hairstyles.

Which in turn might be why they haven't released Hien or Nero's hairstyles.

Hien's hairstyle already exists in the game though? You mentioned it yourself, while not as exaggerated, it's basically the same style.

[Iscah]

And they're giving us the bunny outfit for male characters, does that make it masculine? (well depends on how you wear it I guess but you get my point). Look also at how they advertised it - on female characters, and you're going to be hard pressed to find too many male playable characters who actually use it. Not saying they don't exist, just not half as much as female charas. Also not the best connotation when both those male charas are antagonists at best, villains at worst.

Ah, I wasn't saying they're masculine - just that it is, as I said, interesting that they chose to give both those styles to male characters. Whether it's a "no really, they're unisex!" attempt or just showing their taste in character design.

Hyurs, Lalafell, Elezen iirc, to name a few, all have existing facial hair slots. They could add those as new options to an already existing customization option, since we know they don't want to add new options altogether, but adding more options to an existing category should be easy enough - they do it all the time with the hairstyles.

It seems like it should be easy enough to add extra options to an existing category, but they don't - whether they just won't do it or actually can't.

Some customisation options like hairstyles are "pick one thing out of this list" but others like facial features (including scars and the existing facial hair) are "here are five design elements, turn on the ones you want". And they don't seem to ever add new ones, plus there have been in-game opportunities to get new hairstyles but not anything else. That's why I'm saying that I suspect they may only be able to add new designs via hairstyles and not the other list.

Hien's hairstyle already exists in the game though? You mentioned it yourself, while not as exaggerated, it's basically the same style.

People are asking for his hair specifically. (Usually in conjunction with "why isn't his costume available on MogStation yet?") That's why I mentioned it.

[BillyKaplan]

It seems like it should be easy enough to add extra options to an existing category, but they don't - whether they just won't do it or actually can't.

I feel like it's won't, to get around a lot of complications with the existing system. Mind, it's not really complications, mostly hassles. Like you said, hairstyles are mutually exclusive to each other. You don't need to worry about how well they look with each other. Facial features, be it scars, marks, what hair options we do have, etc, they can stack, so they probably don't add to those to avoid clashes. Even the facial hair options we have now can come together, lord knows I use the 'goatee' option often enough. You can wear either separately, but they were obviously designed to come together and form a very specific whole. Suddenly, adding extra options to that would open up options they'll feel worried about how good they look... which is where they're going too far and I say to hell with it. First, it is more than possible to keep stubbles while certain areas are thicker. And if it looks bad...? To hell with that, it's on the player