Gender locked race?

[Theodric]

If there's one thing I can say about this game with certainty, it's that it isn't difficult to make feminine looking men. What some people are asking for is the ability to create men that either very child-like or are nearly indistinguishable from women. I'm not sure why Viera have to fit either aesthetic, especially when it isn't at all in alignment with how they're described or the sort of lifestyle they live.

[artyport]

If there's one thing I can say about this game with certainty, it's that it isn't difficult to make feminine looking men. What some people are asking for is the ability to create men that either very child-like or are nearly indistinguishable from women. I'm not sure why Viera have to fit either aesthetic, especially when it isn't at all in alignment with how they're described or the sort of lifestyle they live.

In many fantasy games elves are beautiful and stunning not only in physical looks but in prowess on the battlefield. This is how I imagine the viera. Gorgeous and wise and also dangerous. Beautiful men is very common in Japanese anime and ffxiv. Omega m is stunning but he will kill you. He is also very androgynous but leans toward male.

[Lacan]

I mean, I don't think it's old fashioned though. It seems like a lot of the people so vocal about male Viera are gay men. So I guess to some it's desired BECAUSE of that link maybe? What's interesting to me is that in googling "bara cat" I found out that bara is actually made sometimes specifically for gay men. Learn something new every day.

Well, either male viera or hrothgar would to appeal to the gays, but I would say the hrothgar even more so if they're a male only race. :v Look at what happened with the galka in FF 11. They're still making doujins about them doing all sorts of things, if you know what I mean.

I want male viera just because I think the lore/culture of the race is cool. Doesn't have to do with gayness, though I can see to an extent why it is associated with that. It seems like straight guys play girl characters more than anything now, which leaves the girls and the gays as the majority who actually care what the males of a race look like.

[Theodric]

would to appeal to the gays,

We're not a hive mind.

[artyport]

We're not a hive mind. There are many gay and bisexual men who do not conform to what is pushed as 'gay culture' and 'gay beliefs'.

This isn’t about being a hive mind it’s about the game having options for all people. Currently pretty lean yet adult looking male is missing from the line up of characters... more so than anything else.

Other than beast dudes with tons of fur which doesn’t seem to fit the aesthetics for playable races

[Alesone]

This line in particular stood out to me. He prefaces with "Until recently-" meaning that the lines after that statement is history/background lore and may not actually apply to current/future events. This could potentially also apply to the lore stated about male Viera. The dev's are obviously being vague on purpose to stir up the community and build hype for the next fan-fest, and it's working.

I think you're skipping over the whole "a Viera living outside her homeland was unheard of." There is little reason to specify female viera if it applies to both of them.

[Theodric]

Currently pretty lean yet adult looking male is missing from the line up of characters... more so than anything else.

I assume by 'lean' you mean slim and lightly muscled?

It isn't an aesthetic that's missing, though. Hyur and Miqo'te can be designed to fit that look very well. Especially in regards to Hyur, given that they have a muscle tone slider and can be tweaked to be very short.

[Sehrina]

I think you're skipping over the whole "a Viera living outside her homeland was unheard of." There is little reason to specify female viera if it applies to both of them.

Oh, you are right. I did miss that. My brain replaced "her" with "their" by default. This muddies some of my hopes from the "lore" given to us as it is even more vague than I originally thought.

[artyport]

Hyur makes come pretty close and I played one for a while. But being hyurr is frankly boring and again the faces are just not it. I play miqote now because I’ve settled with cute.

But none of these give you beautiful male model style vibes.

This is what I see.

Midlander- average to very handsome young male with a average body type
Highlander -hot muscle dudes who will keep your butt
Roe- big burly bear men.
Aura- beastly dragon men
Miqo- mostly cute but also possible to be very masculine looking .
Eleven- tall nerdy to rude looking men with very sharp jaws

There simply isn’t a race that is designed to be beautiful modelesque creatures for any races.

Now the viera come and the women have beautiful runway model looks.
I want men to have that high fashion male model look. And that simply isn’t available in game

[Sehrina]

I assume by 'lean' you mean slim and lightly muscled?

It isn't an aesthetic that's missing, though. Hyur and Miqo'te can be designed to fit that look very well. Especially in regards to Hyur, given that they have a muscle tone slider and can be tweaked to be very short.

While the choices given appear to fit the "aesthetic" for you, they do not for some of us. It's a matter of differentiating opinions on it and what each of us deem to be "lean" or "pretty" enough. Each race seems to have a particular look that no matter how hard you try, is hard to deviate from. This is because of the limited face and body options for each race. TBH the devs just need to give us more customization options outside of hair, like for the body and face, but we aren't really seeing/getting that. So our hopes are put into a new race that fits the look that each of us want. While I have no issues with and even encourage a diversity of character types, I'm going to put most of my support into something that I'd rather play as, especially if that preference has, in my opinion, little representation in game.