Gender locked race?

[Alacran]

I can't help but see much of the controversy as willful ignorance on a grand scale... While i'll not repute established facts in game, (indeed, i see it as validation) i do not see how, with what SE has already given us, we can continue to pretend that the impossibility of male Viera leaving/ relocating from the wood en-mass is such a mental leap...

Collection of Wandering Dramaturge Viera lore


Rak'tika Greatwoods on fire.


Rak'tika Greatwoods aftermath


From what has been established thus far: The male Viera are the guardians of the Greatwoods, any attack on them on such a scale would and should prompt a response. Hence their mobilization from their home, to face the threat of the Garlean Empire.

[Nestama]

I can't help but see much of the controversy as willful ignorance on a grand scale... While i'll not repute established facts in game, (indeed, i see it as validation) i do not see how, with what SE has already given us, we can continue to pretend that the impossibility of male Viera leaving/ relocating from the wood en-mass is such a mental leap...

From what has been established thus far: The male Viera are the guardians of the Greatwoods, any attack on them on such a scale would and should prompt a response. Hence their mobilization from their home, to face the threat of the Garlean Empire.

I imagine that if a male Viera were to try to leave the forest, they'd likely be attacked/killed by other male Viera. I also feel that if the forest were attacked at all, then they would have even more reason NOT to leave, as leaving means there are less on the front lines keeping the invaders away from the forest and the female Viera's home. If Garleans attacked once and were met with resistance, there's a high chance they'll attack again and with more force.

Also, regarding your final sentence... that doesn't apply to playable characters at all (we're a blank slate at the beginning. You could say your character is from the forest to fight the Garlean threat, but that's your personal lore. The story at the start of ARR clearly has your character as a brand new adventurer who knows nothing about anything). Why would a male Viera (with years of brutal training in the forest), travel to Eorzea and for some reason have no knowledge on how to do anything?

[Gwenorai]

Also, regarding your final sentence... that doesn't apply to playable characters at all (we're a blank slate at the beginning. You could say your character is from the forest to fight the Garlean threat, but that's your personal lore. The story at the start of ARR clearly has your character as a brand new adventurer who knows nothing about anything). Why would a male Viera (with years of brutal training in the forest), travel to Eorzea and for some reason have no knowledge on how to do anything?

Remember that WoL literally got smacked with the amnesia stick. They don't remember anything due to time travel shenanigans and no one remembers them. This includes all of their skills/memories/etc

All WoL remembers is their name and the basics - to fit with the game mechanic.
Basically;
'I don't know who I am, I don't know where I am. All I know is I must kill."

A male Viera isn't going to know poop about other Viera unless you, the creator of that character deems it so before they actually come to contact with them and the lore in the story. Well, barring their 'race' name and ofc 'Oh look I have bunny ears' I mean come on, this is the same for Au'ra Xaela or Raen -, especially Xaela.

[Serenno]

-snip-

Agreed, especially considering the fact that Xaela in general are supposed to be raised as these ruthless warriors, yet we're able to start the game -- as a fledgling adventurer -- as one. I think the general lore behind a race (either gender) is the least of it, tbh. It does cause some awkward interactions (i.e. Yugiri telling an Au Ra player about how her appearance is going to alarm people) but obviously that hasn't stopped them before.

[Shippuu]

Agreed, especially considering the fact that Xaela in general are supposed to be raised as these ruthless warriors, yet we're able to start the game -- as a fledgling adventurer -- as one. I think the general lore behind a race (either gender) is the least of it, tbh. It does cause some awkward interactions (i.e. Yugiri telling an Au Ra player about how her appearance is going to alarm people) but obviously that hasn't stopped them before.

I always see the Yugiri thing brought up as if it's some kind of big lore inconsistency if you're playing an Au Ra. But it's really not, the player character au ra starts their adventure as a nobody, coming in and doing grunt adventurer work, where people are less likely to question the individual if they just complete the task at hand.

When Yugiri comes over, she's leading a huge group of refugees that have been declined everywhere else and are dangerously low on supplies. Given we know some au ra have had bad encounters with eorzeans (what happened to Sidurgu's clan for example) she has plenty of reason to potentially keep her appearance hidden when she's trying to request significant aid. It also doesnt help she landed within Ul'dah's juristiction which has stricter rules regarding beastmen. Even if she sees another Au ra walking around, it's far too much of a risk given she is probably aware of how past au ra were treated at the hands of ishgardians and couldn't take the gamble that she would be refused on appearance alone when her people were in such a dire situation.

Now, that doesn't mean there aren't other inconsistencies, but I always felt the Yugiri one is a weak example. She had plenty of motivations to keep her identity hidden, even if she sees an Au Ra warrior of light who has earned a reputation through many feats.

tbh this is the main reason I think we're getting Viera men. As a gamer himself, I cannot believe that Yoshi would not forsee the potential shitstorm of pairing an incredibly popular request with something absolutely no one asked for without any hype buildup for said thing no one asked for.

I'm sure he has weighed the blowback it could cause and if he's prepared to take it he will. He's shown he's not afraid to do something that would for sure ruffle a lot of feathers when he released Blue Mage as a limited job which was a bigger risk than a potential unique to ffxiv male only race.

As for no hype or build up? When he stated he doesn't always want to give out hints and wants to keep some things a surprise just last week during interviews? He specifically said he didn't want to go into each fanfest with people knowing everything that's coming. Announcing a separate unique race without having a breadcrumb trail of hints would be exactly such a thing.

[Iscah]

Even if she sees another Au ra walking around, it's far too much of a risk given she is probably aware of how past au ra were treated at the hands of ishgardians and couldn't take the gamble that she would be refused on appearance alone when her people were in such a dire situation.

While I agree with a lot of what you wrote (though Yugiri's "excuse" about her mask still bugs me, especially since she makes no effort to hide her tail) I would be surprised if a Raen living in Doma is aware of what happened to one Xaela tribe of many, who left the Steppe and came to a grim fate two continents away. Even for other Xaela, they probably just never knew what happened to them, unless Sid sent them word of it.

(Then again, Adkiragh got found by his tribesmen because somehow word got all the way back to Reunion that there was someone by that name working in Idyllshire. I don't think the writers pay much attention to distances on the map. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story...?)

[Crushnight]

I just got figured out Yoshi P's NA shirt its really obvious now in hindsight XD Bugs bunny + motorcycle = Male Bunny Race. He could've gotten a Jessica Rabbit or Lola Bunny shirt instead. The most obtuse he ever got with his shirts is the spiderman one :P
FYI ik i am just grabbing anything i can to want the male bunbois in i gotta hope dagnabbit

[BillyKaplan]

(Then again, Adkiragh got found by his tribesmen because somehow word got all the way back to Reunion that there was someone by that name working in Idyllshire. I don't think the writers pay much attention to distances on the map. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story...?)

They did lampshade it by including adventurers in the narrative, mind. And wherever civilized the WoL goes, they make sure we know other adventurers can reach as well. They also used Reunion, which was established as an information hub both among the tribes of the steppe, as well as in and out of the steppe. Story wise, it's solid, if a bit overwhelming. I'm more concerned with how little time it seems to take to make the trip...
That said, Ishgard's been at war with the dragons for a literal millennium. That's the sort of stereotype that gets itself to the other end of the world. People might not know a damn thing about Eorzea, let alone Ishgard specifically, other than "oh they hate dragons".

[Liale]

While I agree with a lot of what you wrote (though Yugiri's "excuse" about her mask still bugs me, especially since she makes no effort to hide her tail) I would be surprised if a Raen living in Doma is aware of what happened to one Xaela tribe of many, who left the Steppe and came to a grim fate two continents away. Even for other Xaela, they probably just never knew what happened to them, unless Sid sent them word of it.

(Then again, Adkiragh got found by his tribesmen because somehow word got all the way back to Reunion that there was someone by that name working in Idyllshire. I don't think the writers pay much attention to distances on the map. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story...?)

I don't know how it is shown as in game now, but back before the big reveal Yugiri's tail was hidden in cloth and her horns were also not shaped like au ra horns at all when covered in cloth.

[Shippuu]

While I agree with a lot of what you wrote (though Yugiri's "excuse" about her mask still bugs me, especially since she makes no effort to hide her tail) I would be surprised if a Raen living in Doma is aware of what happened to one Xaela tribe of many, who left the Steppe and came to a grim fate two continents away. Even for other Xaela, they probably just never knew what happened to them, unless Sid sent them word of it.

(Then again, Adkiragh got found by his tribesmen because somehow word got all the way back to Reunion that there was someone by that name working in Idyllshire. I don't think the writers pay much attention to distances on the map. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story...?)

I think you're forgetting that Yugiri is a ninja. She's connected to the other ninja's who have a gigantic spy network across the realms. She has made many statements about having her shinobi bring her information or sow unrest elsewhere. She isn't just some random Au Ra, she's essentially Doma's spymaster. If anyone would know detailed information about the goings on around the world, it'd be her.