Gender locked race?

[Skos]

I think my biggest gripe with a potential male exclusive Hrothgar race would be that it's their very own original creation, and Square would be very actively choosing to genderlock it.

You want to cite "lore" or "past appearances/consistency" as a reason to genderlock Viera? Sure, fine.
But what reason could Square possibly have to genderlock their very own FF14 exclusive race? They, of all companies, should know what kind of shitstorm you bring about when you do something like that.

[redcurrant18]

I think my biggest gripe with a potential male exclusive Hrothgar race would be that it's their very own original creation, and Square would be very actively choosing to genderlock it.

You want to cite "lore" or "past appearances/consistency" as a reason to genderlock Viera? Sure, fine.
But what reason could Square possibly have to genderlock their very own FF14 exclusive race? They, of all companies, should know what kind of shitstorm you bring about when you do something like that.

No, there is no reason to genderlock either of them because FFXIV has already demonstrated that it is not 100% responsible for following the lore of other games. Do not buy Shadowbringers unless you feel satisfied in what you're getting.

[Theodric]

I think my biggest gripe with a potential male exclusive Hrothgar race would be that it's their very own original creation, and Square would be very actively choosing to genderlock it.

...and yet that's exactly what they did with the Viera. Across multiple games, no less.

[cicatriz313]

It's not far-fetched at all. They should be well aware of the fact that this art has been propagated multiple times in suggesting how Viera might look if added in the game, much like they should have been - and were - aware of the expectations on them if they introduced BLU. Managing expectations is on them. Secondly, let's see what the source you linked said:



Whether due to the writer of this getting something wrong, or not, it's pretty easy to see why people have been forming expectations based on this art, particularly since this addresses what was ultimately, to most players, an objection raised in a very obscure interview that I can assure you the vast majority are not aware of, couched in extremely tentative wording.

The article doesn't address that interview at all, it says the fans were objecting to Viera because of those reasons, not Yoshi. And again, I believe it is extremely ridiculous to think he has to comment on every player's fantasy when he never gave the impression that Viera was coming until now. So while you think it not far-fetched, I happen to disagree.

[cicatriz313]

i think the issue is they cascaded that male Viera concept art within the Heavensward art books. They have added Female Viera and their design is provocative to say the least, hell they could only be more so if they decided to not bother with clothes at all, and even then it doesn't leave much to the Imagination. To then make the race gender locked gives off an impression that in my view has no place in today's world.

Lore wise you can argue that there are so few male Viera's that they would never leave the jungle, but that doesn't sit right. There is Always someone who will decide to leave for a whatever reason.

If you add Male only Hrothgar - where is the lore to explain the females? What impression does that give? Are they all locked up by the males in a pen somewhere? Sorry it doesn't sit. Obviously this is conjecture at this point, but that impression is not good.

In terms of the number of Viera's in the field, well that's easy, canonically only the WOL you play is actually there and aside from the generic "You and Your friends" mentions, the WOL does everything alone at least from the Lore front and that means by extension there are no other "male Viera's" and even if there were, the numbers would be small compared to the population size. Lets not forget that the Lore we have isn't from a reliable source. Its from a NPC in world, who reiterates what he personally knows. That doesn't make it accurate or true and it could simply be that when he says "For us its as though the male viera Don't exist" what he means is, they don't exist where we would expect to find them.

Male Viera have been accorded a role of protector of the villages but are not part of the village. If we were to go there and not meet one, or worse we meet them as NPC's or enemy Mobs and they still don't add them as a playable race, then in my opinion, it brings the game down and i will be vastly disappointed in Yoshi-P.

It isn't that male viera would look odd, which is probably true, its about having the freedom to choose. After all that is said and done, the appetite for Viera is huge and its never been stated "we want female Viera" it was always Viera, e.g both half's of the race. To not deliver on that, would be foolish at best and there is no legitimate reason to not do so other an a personal choice which, i think in a game this big, should have no grounds.

It's weird that people both argue against lore reasons for something not existing/existing, yet also ask for lore reasons for something existing/not existing. Also it's funny that a lot of people read the lore to fit their own desires. We have no lore on any new race because if there is a new race, it's a big surprise. Or was supposed to be one.

[Lauront]

The article doesn't address that interview at all, it says the fans were objecting to Viera because of those reasons, not Yoshi. And again, I believe it is extremely ridiculous to think he has to comment on every player's fantasy when he never gave the impression that Viera was coming until now. So while you think it not far-fetched, I happen to disagree.

I'm aware but since it post-dates the interview, which contained exactly the same objection albeit worded even more loosely, it's clear to me why reliance has been placed on that art on what Viera might look like, especially given its source and that it was shelved at the time due to the inclusion of Au ra, only for Viera to now re-surface. Meanwhile, the 2013 interview is lost to obscurity, and for all intents and purposes, those aware of it would be justified in thinking that the Viera art teased could mean his objections on the matter were overcome given the commentary referenced in the dualshockers article.

He doesn't have to address "every player's fantasy", but it'd be a very good idea to address that specific concept art, since it is prolific material and from SE itself. They pretty much soft-confirmed Viera at the NA fanfest and speculation has been rife about their addition ever since ShB was first hinted at (putting a certain other source of information that surfaced to the side for now...)

Of course, that is assuming that the gender-lock holds true and is not just something we're assuming will occur.

[Tabbs]

...and yet that's exactly what they did with the Viera. Across multiple games, no less.

Gender-locks in single player games or games with preset characters are a non-issue. Virtually no one complains about them. At least, not relative to what you see in games like 14 where we create our own characters. Gender-locking Viera or "Hrothgar" in 14 is not equivalent to not getting a male Fran in 12.

[Theodric]

Gender-locks in single player games or games with preset characters are a non-issue. Virtually no one complains about them. At least, not relative to what you see in games like 14 where we create our own characters. Gender-locking Viera or "Hrothgar" in 14 is not equivalent to not getting a male Fran in 12.

I think gender locks are silly. I've said as much throughout this thread. Yet as long as there's an equivalent it's not nearly as damning as some are making it out to be.

[BillyKaplan]

I think gender locks are silly. I've said as much throughout this thread. Yet as long as there's an equivalent it's not nearly as damning as some are making it out to be.

It depends on how you look at it. As far as the gender equalness goes (not really a word but 'equality' felt a bit over the top here), you're right, we get one option for male characters and one option for female characters. And looking at Au Ra, it's not like all races even have comparable options. Male Au Ras look like an Elezen's cousin while fem Au Ras take more after Miqo'te or female Midlanders.
But I feel like that's just going into the same trap as they did with Au Ra - what if people wanted a particular gender but with the 'opposite' aesthetic? We already have this with Au Ra where people wish we'd have gotten the bestial, amazonian female designs, and maybe an option for smaller males. So in this scenario they pretend to have avoided it because they're two different races! ...but at the same time they actually doubled-down on it because now people can ask for both male Vieras and female Hroths.
And this happened before, and SE caved, and Miqo'te, Highlanders and Roegadyns are all playable in either gender. It just seems like that's the inevitable conclusion we'll reach, only SE is postponing the inevitable and incurring player ire in the process

EDIT: if a gender lock is truly going to happen

[GenericMagus]

Who knows, maybe Yoshi trolling with the fire and say "lol, fire killed most of them, they have to remain in the woods".