Gender locked race?

[Riardon]

It'd be ideal for them to release 2 races, however Hrothgar remain an enigma and there's an awful lot of body types which either race could fit.

I would not be disappointed if they enabled Hrothgar to feature faces like Byakko's, maybe with a body type similar to an au ra's or highlander's. I don't believe they will make them too similar to roegadyn, both because of that race's % of characters played but also because they'd probably want to distinguish it physically.

For Viera, I do like the official concept art they have put forward, but something like this would work (albeit I think it's consistent with the concept art):



They do need to eventually re-visit the older races and broaden the customization options, since some of the issues appear to arise due to limited customization options for them, or design flaws, like the awkwardness in elezen models.

If only the game wasn't built around a crappy spaghetti coded base. It makes me wonder what kind of game XIV could be without all these restrictions.
If Yoshi had developed this game from the start without the rush on limited budget to make it work and attract only few thousand subscribers to make it just viable enough to erase the costs of the 1.0 failure, it would be a truly way better game than it is.
Unfortunately the game engine and base code is almost a mess and combined with the lack of extra developer staff and extra budget it ties Yoshi's hands behind his back.
Adding extra customization options in character selection screen is a much requested feature yet they can't do it.
Same with other QoL features people ask.

[WhiteArchmage]

A little thing is that, we don't really know what the Hrothgar will look like besides "majestic manes", I think it was even the less trustworthy leaks were the ones pointing towards bulky. It would just tickle me pink it if turns out the race everyone's thinking of "big, bulky, masculine, omg bara cats" turns out to be...miqo'te with manes

the thing about viera specifically that i loved was that it was the first fantasty race that was featured as beautiful with darker skin tones. Even if they are now selling the very white washed version of them.

Dear gods, that irked me as well, not to open a can of worms but if those were the "dark skinned" viera then I'm black, and I'm a white-passing hispanic <.<

[artyport]

They're not going to get "fixed", because that'll affect the people who are already playing as those characters and happy with them - and an awful lot of important NPCs that rely on the same data.

And I still think it's worth another play around with the face settings. I'd actually made this comparison of a few characters and their data a while back - if you maybe start with the settings for Artoirel and play around from there?

Surely it's worth a shot if the alternative is not being happy with any of the designs.

literally all those characters at the top are what elezen are designed to be. They have a i'm a Arrogant proud race look but they are also too severe.
this is also a discussion involving the inclusion or exclusion of a new race. So while i'm happy with my miqo. The thing i'm looking for is still not yet present in this game.
My first character was an elezen. I have played with it on many occasions. the fantasia money i've spent is through the roof.

[Gwenorai]

literally all those characters at the top are what elezen are designed to be. They have a i'm a Arrogant proud race look but they are also too severe.
this is also a discussion involving the inclusion or exclusion of a new race. So while i'm happy with my miqo. The thing i'm looking for is still not yet present in this game.
My first character was an elezen. I have played with it on many occasions. the fantasia money i've spent is through the roof.

The issue with this is if you're thinking elezen are designed to be arrogant and proud then what do you think male Viera would be like? Their lore literally has them down as cold-blooded murderers that are hostile. They'll kill you for being in their wood - it's down in black and white that they'll kill you and not even bother to ask you why you're there most of the time, and even if they do ask you they'll kill you anyway. That's how the males are. They're cold/detached and vicious.

Even if they're beautiful there's no stepping away from that lore that male Viera are 'dark as heck' in regards to their lore and in some regards, tragic. Whatever 'humanity' and 'warmth' they have is stomped out of them as soon as they're dragged away from their mothers.


Edit; Fran is an example of the female type personality. Fran is also cold and tends to keep her emotions neutral. Viera are very proud people, to the point that they too are somewhat arrogant.

--

<.< I think most of Omega M's attractiveness comes from how well designed that armour looks on his model. It does, however, look like the body is that of a Hyur/Elezen. I don't think the face is that all far off to achieve.

[JamiaHaab]

The ONLY acceptable elezen in the game are Ramuh, Shiva, and Aymeric. I want tall, lean, conventionally attractive, with no horns.

[Iscah]

literally all those characters at the top are what elezen are designed to be. They have a i'm a Arrogant proud race look but they are also too severe.

I realise it might be “what they’re designed to be”, but I feel like Omega is as well - possibly more so. His face structure looks very similar to me, and (unlike some of those example characters) he really does have the arrogant “superior” personality that goes with it.

Still, personal taste and all that...

[username1234]

Gross. Let's keep the furries on WoW ok? As if the playerbase of this game wasn't cancerous enough.

[artyport]

I realise it might be “what they’re designed to be”, but I feel like Omega is as well - possibly more so. His face structure looks very similar to me, and (unlike some of those example characters) he really does have the arrogant “superior” personality that goes with it.

Still, personal taste and all that...

Idk omega has larger eyes. A softer chin/jaw. A less crooked nose. Nah not seeing it

[cicatriz313]

Gross. Let's keep the furries on WoW ok? As if the playerbase of this game wasn't cancerous enough.

Comments like this really degrade any actual conversation being made. I mean, they're both animal based races...

[Sehrina]

Y'all gotta remember that this discussion is centered around personal preference. Different stuff looks/feels different to different folks. Elezen can be made to look good as previously stated, but it still comes with a little challenge, and even then it still may not satisfy what one is looking for. (Elezen features are all very angular. where as from what we've seen from the female Viera there's a potential for more rounder softer features in the males, and I think that's what some people are hoping for face wise anyways.) I have an Elezen alt that I love to bits,(1, 2, 3 I find going for the charcoal skin helps hide some of the sharp contours of the face... by making it harder to see.) but I do wish I had different and more interesting options for my main.

If this gender lock goes through( heck even if it doesn't) we need more options. FFXIV is kinda behind on this point with most new mmos having the option to straight up morph features to your liking(even some older ones did too). While I understand that this game's engine is kinda old and hard for the devs to work with,( and i won't even pretend to know how it works) it doesn't seem to be stopping them from adding new hairstyles every major patch. What is really stopping them from giving us more options for face, eyes, nose, body, etc. too?

It all seems to boil down to options and what we as players are given in what is, essentially, a theme-park mmo. We already got BLU because the players wanted it, and now we are getting Viera because the players wanted it. I'm worried why they would then potentially limit our options by gender locking and limiting races after going through all this trouble to please the players in the first place. This is the only thing that allows me to hold on to hope for the FanFest announcements next week.