Gender locked race?

[Rokke]

Wracking my head trying to figure out how on earth they could possibly justify having no male Viera being visible. I doubt a single forest fire would be enough to kill them off, regardless of whether or not it was caused by Garleans. They couldn't be killed by Black Rose either, since if that were the case it would not only kill them but the entire female Viera village and the Nu Mou as well. I feel that in addition to them being playable, they will probably be present in the forest as potential enemies to fight or wandering npcs in far reaches of the zone. Also, what would their interactions with the Nu Mou be like? Would they help the warrior of light in taking them and their primal down since they are a threat to the forest?

Lore wise it wouldn’t make sense to kill them off completely, or even significantly, as that would cause the overall population of viera to go down the toilet in time.

Even if we don't get to play as one, I'd like to believe that we'd at least see an NPC at one point or another after they beat us over the head with THEY'RE DANGEROUS AND SHOOT OUTSIDERS ON SIGHT and yet we're set to wander through the woods at some point.

[Lauront]

Lore wise it wouldn’t make sense to kill them off completely, or even significantly, as that would cause the overall population of viera to go down the toilet in time.

The only way they could get around that one is by having only the young boys in the villages survive. It'd be a pretty awful way to handle it, though. And it'd still cripple the Viera population until they matured.

[Rokke]

The only way they could get around that one is by having only the young boys in the villages survive. It'd be a pretty awful way to handle it, though. And it'd still cripple the Viera population until they matured.

Would the even be able to bounce back? It's unlikely that theres a whole lot of boys in the village to start out with considering the with the 1/5 birthrate, and then they'd have to deal with the 1/5 chance at having a son per birth once they did mature :o

But why make the Veria males so extreme, the lore they have given makes the the male Viera sound very feral and given there extreme and murderous xenophobia I'm guess them coming out will end pretty badly for everyone

They are trained to fiercely defend the woods. Its not like they're cabalistic or line pikes with heads.

[Lauront]

Would the even be able to bounce back? It's unlikely that theres a whole lot of boys in the village to start out with considering the with the 1/5 birthrate, and then they'd have to deal with the 1/5 chance at having a son per birth once they did mature :o

Probably not for generations, no.

[wereotter]

Probably not for generations, no.

Actually considering how this type of reproduction works, and the extended lifespan of the viera, it would have an impact, but not a large one, and here's why:

While one female in mammalian species can only have offspring with one male at a time, one male can father offspring with several females at once. This is why the 80-20 sex split in the viera isn't an issue. One male could mate with four females and the population would remain stable or grow whereas if the roles were reversed and there were four males to every one female, the population would die off.

Add to that the viera have very long lifespans, and it's safe to assume that females remain able to carry children for many more years of their lives than humans do, and this makes it less of an issue. You'd potentially have males in the village ranging from embryo to the verge of sexual maturity, so the real difference where would be the ratios. The males coming of age in the village would no longer have to compete with mature males in the wild for partners, and the male to female ratio for a time would change, but it would mean that each male would likely increase the number of females he has children with rather than have some females go without having children.

The real impact here would be cultural. With no males in the while to teach young males the skills they need to survive, you might see a change where males stay in the villages with the females rather than venture off on their own. That would in turn have other impacts on viera society that might leave them more open to explorers from other races coming across their settlements and either forcing them to open up to the outside, or the outside influences would overrun the viera, potentially wiping most of them out.

[Lauront]

Actually considering how this type of reproduction works, and the extended lifespan of the viera, it would have an impact, but not a large one, and here's why:

While one female in mammalian species can only have offspring with one male at a time, one male can father offspring with several females at once. This is why the 80-20 sex split in the viera isn't an issue. One male could mate with four females and the population would remain stable or grow whereas if the roles were reversed and there were four males to every one female, the population would die off.

Add to that the viera have very long lifespans, and it's safe to assume that females remain able to carry children for many more years of their lives than humans do, and this makes it less of an issue. You'd potentially have males in the village ranging from embryo to the verge of sexual maturity, so the real difference where would be the ratios. The males coming of age in the village would no longer have to compete with mature males in the wild for partners, and the male to female ratio for a time would change, but it would mean that each male would likely increase the number of females he has children with rather than have some females go without having children.

The real impact here would be cultural. With no males in the while to teach young males the skills they need to survive, you might see a change where males stay in the villages with the females rather than venture off on their own. That would in turn have other impacts on viera society that might leave them more open to explorers from other races coming across their settlements and either forcing them to open up to the outside, or the outside influences would overrun the viera, potentially wiping most of them out.

That's all true, however given their longer lifespans it will also take longer to reach their former population of mature adults, and as you say, there's some considerable risks as well as changes it could force upon them. Still, it's one avenue SE could take, without consigning the race to oblivion. I hope they avoid this.

[jameseoakes]

They are trained to fiercely defend the woods. Its not like they're cabalistic or line pikes with heads.

The text says they kill anyone that enters the woods that isn't viera that goes way beyond fierce, the whole veria race is made out to be violently isolationist.

[Rokke]

The text says they kill anyone that enters the woods that isn't viera that goes way beyond fierce, the whole veria race is made out to be violently isolationist.

It is the literal definition of the word fierce.

The theme from 2.0 on has been us assembling a force strong enough to attempt war with a comically overpowered nation, if we had a means to have some of their famed warriors batting for us all the better.

One might even question if the recent changes to the Terms of Service are intended to mitigate the disappointment and backlash that would arise from a gender lock...

At least from what I quickly skimmed, the bulk of (if not all?) the updated rules are for player/player interactions in-game. They wouldn’t really change people’s interactions here, on reddit, twitter, conventions, etc. Excluding people arguing in area chat, I don't really see the overlap...

[Lauront]

At least from what I quickly skimmed, the bulk of (if not all?) the updated rules are for player/player interactions in-game. They wouldn’t really change people’s interactions here, on reddit, twitter, conventions, etc. Excluding people arguing in area chat, I don't really see the overlap...

I thought these apply to the official forum too? Still, a lot of discussions take place in-game regardless.

[Rokke]

I thought these apply to the official forum too? Still, a lot of discussions take place in-game regardless.

iirc we have a separate GM team watching over the forums. As it is we can suggest but not feasibly enforce gameplay here, we can't RMT or plan wintradeing, we aren't allowed to swear at each other, comments with slurs are deleted, personal insults can get you temp'd, etc. Its same old same old here.

In-game there will likely some folks arguing in busier hubs, but thats already a thing on our server- as long as you aren't going off the rails I wouldn't be concerned. FC/LS chat would require your own circles to be reporting each other so if you're in good company go ham. Or just use Discord.