Gender locked race?

[Theodric]

It's less to do with their intellect and more to do with having their own tongue, such that the Eorzean common tongue would be foreign to them. I realise there's limitations on what they can do with VA in the game, but I do wish such dialects extended beyond beast tribes... my biggest disappointment when arriving in Ishgard was that it sounded just about the same as everywhere else in the game.

Plus, some (and I do stress, some) of the beast tribes are fairly intelligent, anyway. They're just quirky.

Mm. It adds flavour to the game world. I don't want the only differences between the playable races to be their physical appearance. It's just boring - and if I'm honest, I'm already tired of how often the playable races feel interchangeable. If we ever get another Final Fantasy MMO then it is my hope that it will have distinct starter zones for each race to better play up the differences in their culture.

I hope not. Hell, I even like that they toned down the ye olde speaking in SB.

I don't. One of the reasons I invested in FFXIV over other MMO's was due to how it wasn't just another MMO using generic American English at every possible turn. Thankfully they switched to mostly British voice actors, at least...