Gender locked race?

[Rokke]

Some people already make their own ideas how they look, a few even seem pretty much spot on here.

artist's twitter for those who'd want to follow them

and yeah thats exactly what I want for manbuns.

[Kupocoubo]

Absolutely love this design

Damn he looks glorious

[Jaywalker]

This is the reason that I, when giving critique or outright criticism as I've done here, feel the need to add that I'm not a sjw. I don't want people to think I'd accuse them of horrible things just because they want hot babes in their games/movies etc. If I were to show them my female character in Blade and Soul there would be no doubt though. Lol! She's got assets if ya know what I mean. *hint hint nudge nudge*
What I dislike is when there is clear favoritism, and that goes both ways. And I don't want my creativity or personal choice to be stifled in a mmorpg.

Honestly I think that's pretty reasonable. For what it's worth, when I saw your previous posts I thought you seemed very frustrated and worried but not threatening the way things get in other fandoms. There have been maybe one or two posts on lodestone by other people that got me a little nervous but the fact that most people reacted along the lines of "what the hell" to them and then just moved on was very reassuring.

I am pretty confident SE will be fine on the male viera front given their track record and how they've been playing coy on the subject. Worst case scenario if they did the two race thing where male-only race is beastlike while female-only is sexy, I'm positive it would wind up as a repeat of the Roegadyn/Miqo'te situation after a little because there's money there for them. I hope some of this can help you feel less worried!

And as a last bit from something you mentioned earlier, I actually don't think boycotting would be very effective at influencing game direction since we fall under the "nice and also" category of customers. Celebrating fan ideas about male viera where devs can see as enthusiastically as possible might help though. It basically acts to signal that there is a fan desire for them in a positive way that might spark some inspiration at the same time. There's no obligation, no threats, just letting them know that if they choose to go in that direction it would make people happy and might be a business opportunity for them. Since FFXIV is one of the limited healthy fandoms still around, it's worth treasuring I think.

Also, a more bishie interpretation I saw of male Viera!

[Anyan]

a more bishie interpretation I saw of male Viera!

Oh, God damnit! I had just gotten redressed and back comfortably in my chair!

[stormygabe]

Since people are chatting about stuff they've seen on speculative male viera from fans, this is one I saw a while ago that really impressed me. I'd still like tall, slim bishie male viera because it would be dramatically different (elezen have super broad shoulders) but still think this is a very cool design.

Oh god this looks so good.

BuT MaLe ViErA wOuLD lOoK tOo FeMiNiNe aNd NoT ToUgH eNoUgH tO sUrViVe In ThE wILdErNeSs

Edit: I looked into the post a bit more and it seems like that image was of a modded Au Ra character. Still looks amazing though! Personally I would also like a more bishie looking viera, but I'd ALSO like him to look somewhat tough. (Just in a bishie way.)

[Fredco191]

a more bishie interpretation I saw of male Viera!

I’m going to be upset if the males aren’t playable. All of these look so good.

[Karl0217]

In regards to this rumored lion race may I just point something out? There are rabbit breeds with catlike ears:


This particular breed is called the Lionhead and I think you can guess why. Then you have the fact that we have already seen mane-like hairstyles for the Viera and the fact that Yoshida cut off Ayumi Namae when she was about to talk about another ear customization option in addition to the two they had showcased. It is something to think about.

Also, we are heading into the Rak'tika Greatwood next expansion and they have all but stated that this is the Viera's homeland. A homeland to an xenophobic race that every male member, no exceptions, has formed the border patrol of said land for centuries with a "trespassers will be shot" policy, also with no exceptions. Odds of us not having to deal with hostile male Viera NPCs while questing in this area based on everything they have said lore wise are slim to none.

[Gwenorai]

I always imagined the males being tall, taller than Highlander at least - perhaps between Elezen and Au'ra - with the females being slightly taller. Due to how Viera are, being the result of the 'creme of the crop' due to how only the strongest of males only pass on their genes and the fact all males are taken at a young age and put through a rigorous training regime that kills a few of them. Well, I suspect them to be very lean, muscular but not overly bulky. I just imagine them being developed yet elegant enough to run and leap from tree to tree. While I wouldn't mind 'cute small Viera', I would be upset if that was the only option, and if I had to pick for these silent one man armies, then I'm going for the ectomorph body type.
Personally; I can't imagine them being cute small Viera due to the nature of them. If someone can show me the information on how the males look like 'Elezen children', then I'd appreciate it. Something about that irks me a little.

So yes, some of these examples are spot on for me. I need me a lean/tall/muscular male toon. Au'ra was tall and lean but they weren't muscular in the midsection and didn't have the correct proportions. Highlander has an excellent muscular scale - I wouldn't mind seeing that on them. As long as we get a wide range of the scale. A muscular Elezen type body would honestly make a lot of sense to me. Or just the Elezen type body with a muscle scale that is like Highlander.

Regardless, as long as it makes sense. They're woodland folk, they fight from the trees and fiercely. They need to be light on their feet, fast and capable of delivering strong blows.

In regards to this rumored lion race may I just point something out? There are rabbit breeds with catlike ears:


This particular breed is called the Lionhead and I think you can guess why. Then you have the fact that we have already seen mane-like hairstyles for the Viera and the fact that Yoshida cut off Ayumi Namae when she was about to talk about another ear customization option in addition to the two they had showcased. It is something to think about.

Also, we are heading into the Rak'tika Greatwood next expansion and they have all but stated that this is the Viera's homeland. A homeland to an xenophobic race that every male member, no exceptions, has formed the border patrol of said land for centuries with a "trespassers will be shot" policy, also with no exceptions. Odds of us not having to deal with hostile male Viera NPCs while questing in this area based on everything they have said lore wise are slim to none.

I was thinking about this. If you were out in the woods all day surviving only by yourself; would it not make sense for your ears to be 'smaller' than the females to avoid getting caught on everything? That or the males tend to keep their ears flat on their heads while they're running from tree to tree? I can certainly see them having long hair as well that is mane like, simply for warmth and the fact - well, they keep to themselves if they're masters - only the unproven jacks who haven't completed their training stay in groups with one master. Anyway, can't imagine that grooming of the hair is first on their agenda and they just grow them out and trim when it gets way too irritating. Of course, it could be completely the opposite due to the climate. Ah, over speculation.

And yes, I stated this myself. With all the wars going on in Ivalice with the Empire. It's actually laughable and shoddy writing if the WoL and crew just manage to stroll up and not come face to face with a male Viera who will take offence to them being there. They're not going to trust them straight away. It will take a lot of intervention by either the forest spirits, the matriarch, a combination of all these things - and of course the WoL proving themselves. And even then! With all the side quests, can someone tell me they can't imagine some outsider getting their bottom smacked by a male Viera? If the resistance is bunkered down in the Viera home then the males will certainly be there playing bouncer and snarling at them. Love me those angry bois.

As for that rumoured race; from what I saw they never directly mentioned that race. But wasn't there also another clan in FF12 which showed only males and of course in the early days folks thought they were the male equivalent of the Viera? The Garif? http://prntscr.com/mg9akb I would have thought these guys would have been more likely than 'Ronso'

[KaijinRhada]

I rather have the male version that they depicted in the ivalice alliance story snippet: Survivors from the wilderness of the forest, where only the strong come through and go back to the villages.

Some people already make their own ideas how they look, a few even seem pretty much spot on here.

artist's twitter for those who'd want to follow them

and yeah thats exactly what I want for manbuns.

And their Tumblr (not updated as often). I may have to consider retracting a previous statement about not using a fantasia if male Viera look like that, because damn that is some fine aesthetic. =3=

[Senn]

Personally; I can't imagine them being cute small Viera due to the nature of them. If someone can show me the information on how the males look like 'Elezen children', then I'd appreciate it. Something about that irks me a little.

There's no confirmation on how the males will look, if there will be males at all.
If you take a look at this video, you will see that there will be a "variation that look like young elezen": https://clips.twitch.tv/KindMoldyVelociraptorOSsloth

After listening to the full section on viera from this stream, I've interpreted this in multiple ways
1. The female viera we saw in the trailer are all one sub-group. There will be another viera sub-group that look like "young elezen".
2. The female viera we saw in the trailer are from two different sub-groups. The difference between Rava and Veena viera are their skin tones, and in the trailer, we saw light skin and dark skin viera. The two in the front being dark, and the two in the back being light.
If this is the case, we can assume the other variant of viera they were speaking of that look like "young elezen" are the male viera.
3. These interpretations could be wrong and the video clip was only referring to a hairstyle or something else that look like "young elezen"?

Watch the full section on viera here at time 2:10:21 https://www.twitch.tv/videos/373886703