I'm 100% not a fan of gender or race locked content in mmos - and while it's been a dealbreaker for me in the past with other games, if Viera are female only, well, whatever I guess. I had no intention of swapping to a male Viera myself, but I find it unfortunate for those who had intended on changing to a Male Viera (if the assumpptions are even true).

Even with the leaks aside, during the live letter on Sunday the following Q/A is more telling than anything else to me:

Q - "Fans are very excited that Viera is a new race but I think that fans are hoping that we’ll also get the male Viera as a playable character. Can you comment on that? Or even if they’re going to be NPCs if not, or if we have to wait until Tokyo Fan Fest?"

A - "That’s true we do still have the Tokyo Fan Fest ahead of us. zips mouth"

If there were playable Male Viera, he could very easily have just said, "Yeah, but you'll see them in Tokyo," or "We're still polishing them," or something.

Plus, having just watched the Au Ra reveal video - there were male and female models there. I have a very strong feeling anyone looking forward to playable male Viera are going to be disappointed.