Male Viera as a playable character! show your support

[Halivel]

(to avoid social issues and arguments lets just keep the tone positive and continue the exchange of ideas and feedback)

I've seen this being passed around in the JP forums, and I personally find it a very good visual representation, it has its feet in both camps and could be widely customized.


Scource
What do everyone think?

Too short, imo. Fran was taller than female elezens, and here we see a guy who is shorter than male miqo'te (they are shortest after lalafels). It will look just ridiculous (I'm not against of making them shorter, but not this difference, really). But I like main body line, he's slim but has muscles.

Though, if SE will make them like this I will not be really against but... c'mon. We have one "WTF IS THIS!?" race already.

[Xebric]

Well, like I said, I don't really care either way, as long as it's for lore reasons.

According to lore we currently have the male Viera tend to stick to the treetops in their woodland homes and are so good at sneaking around / hiding that even female Viera rarely see them. They show up to collect male Viera children to train them in their ways so they can then grow up to defend their homes as well. So they're numerous but not necessarily common enough that people would be tripping over them constantly, which could honestly be accomplished by having few (if any) male Viera NPCs. Canonically there is only one Warrior of Light and s/he always travels with his/her allies or other "adventurers", and there's only a handful of certain class characters (Azure Dragoon, Astrologian's, White Mages, Dark Knights, etc.) but yet if we bring players into it there are thousands of Warriors of Light, thousands of Azure Dragoons, etc.

As far as justifying a male Viera becoming the Warrior of Light... I think it's fully reasonable. If Hydaelyn convinces the male Viera to quest out because the world (including his home) is in danger if he does not aid Hydaelyn, then it's feasible that a male Viera might venture forth to answer this call to put the needs of his home ahead of his own desire to "stay Viera" (A Viera that leaves their home is no longer considered "Viera" in the eyes of their people.) This exiled Vieran male would be ostracized by his people and would not be allowed into his (the Viera's) home because he's "not Viera". It would even be easy to code in since the same interaction would likely happen with all race / gender combinations someone could pick for their Warrior of Light - including female Viera. "Leave! You're not Viera!"

I honestly don't see lore being an issue at all.

[Duskane]

(to avoid social issues and arguments lets just keep the tone positive and continue the exchange of ideas and feedback)

I've seen this being passed around in the JP forums, and I personally find it a very good visual representation, it has its feet in both camps and could be widely customized.


Scource
What do everyone think?

id be alright with it
between male miqote height or fran height preferably

[Theodric]

Viera men being as short as Miqo'te would be disappointing. As far as I see it, if the only difference is in the shape of the ears then it'd be a very bland addition to the game. Thankfully, there appears to be a lot of appetite for tall and well-built Viera men across all of the game's regions. I was very pleased to learn that Geralt of Rivia is very popular over in Japan. He isn't overly bulky, but he's rugged and muscular. If Viera men had a physique like his and classically handsome features then I wouldn't complain at all.

[Ceallach]

As far as justifying a male Viera becoming the Warrior of Light... I think it's fully reasonable. If Hydaelyn convinces the male Viera to quest out because the world (including his home) is in danger if he does not aid Hydaelyn, then it's feasible that a male Viera might venture forth to answer this call to put the needs of his home ahead of his own desire to "stay Viera" (A Viera that leaves their home is no longer considered "Viera" in the eyes of their people.) This exiled Vieran male would be ostracized by his people and would not be allowed into his (the Viera's) home because he's "not Viera". It would even be easy to code in since the same interaction would likely happen with all race / gender combinations someone could pick for their Warrior of Light - including female Viera. "Leave! You're not Viera!"

I honestly don't see lore being an issue at all.

I'd like to use this post as an example of what I really wanted all along.

At the end of the day, I don't care what your political beliefs are. I have mine, you have yours, and this is a game. I'm not the first person to bring politics into this thread. I probably won't be the last. But at the end of the day, this is a game with a fantasy setting, its own worlds, and its own continuities. It has to make sense within itself. Why do you think series like The Lord of the Rings are so compelling? Worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is key. This quoted post is a great answer as to why male Viera could be playable without disrupting or disrespecting the worldbuilding the devs have already gone through. This is an answer that works, and Xebric should be proud. But to claim not having male Viera or female Hrothgar be playable is somehow homophobic or something? That's disrespectful toward the devs. That completely ignores what it means to build a world, or even to tell a story. That's why I have no respect whatsoever for that point of view.

All I really ever wanted from this thread and the Hrothgar one is thoughts like this one and a civil debate as to why that could or could not work. The problem is too many people are either unable to do so or unwilling to do so, and often for very silly reasons.

[Emmanellain]

Too short, imo. Fran was taller than female elezens, and here we see a guy who is shorter than male miqo'te (they are shortest after lalafels). It will look just ridiculous (I'm not against of making them shorter, but not this difference, really). But I like main body line, he's slim but has muscles.

Though, if SE will make them like this I will not be really against but... c'mon. We have one "WTF IS THIS!?" race already.

I mean, we gotta remember most heights are adjustable with a slider, say, if this was the minimum height for the male Viera and the tallest being in line with the females or a tad higher, would that be acceptable?
I don't see how that height puts the male viera in the "wtf" camp, it shows on the chart the height for the viera would be that of the smallest hyur male height, which is a good minimal height for a male imo, he wouldn't be out-of-place-short.

[Halivel]

I mean, we gotta remember most heights are adjustable with a slider, say, if this was the minimum height for the male Viera and the tallest being in line with the females or a tad higher, would that be acceptable?
I don't see how that height puts the male viera in the "wtf" camp, it shows on the chart the height for the viera would be that of the smallest hyur male height, which is a good minimal height for a male imo, he wouldn't be out-of-place-short.

Big slider would be acceptable, but usually there is only 10-12cm of difference and I think it will be same for males. So let's say that if Vieras are shorter than Miqote. Miqote height is 160-170 range. Then male would be, for example, 150-160. Females will be around 190-200 most likely, because they are taller than female elezens but a little bit shorter than male au ra (accoring to Fran). 40-60 cm difference. 40-60! Just NO, please. I'm really enough with this craziness on au ra.
If males will be 180-190 while females are 190-200 - then okay, it's reasonable.

[Emmanellain]

But to claim not having male Viera or female Hrothgar be playable is somehow homophobic or something? That's disrespectful toward the devs. That completely ignores what it means to build a world, or even to tell a story. That's why I have no respect whatsoever for that point of view.

All I really ever wanted from this thread and the Hrothgar one is thoughts like this one and a civil debate as to why that could or could not work. The problem is too many people are either unable to do so or unwilling to do so, and often for very silly reasons.

To be fair bud if you comb through this thread, you will find that there's extremely few that claim the exclusion of the fem Hroth and Male Viera is homophobic or sexist.
Mostly everyone agree that they'd like the genderlock lifted in the future as a baseline in this thread.
Yoshi said they'd review feedback.
and thus people are giving feedback and sharing art and ideas.

I see more people being outraged that people dare request stuff, than actual hostile claims towards the devs in this thread.

¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

[Emmanellain]

Big slider would be acceptable, but usually there is only 10-12cm of difference and I think it will be same for males. So let's say that if Vieras are shorter than Miqote. Miqote height is 160-170 range. Then male would be, for example, 150-160. Females will be around 190-200 most likely, because they are taller than female elezens but a little bit shorter than male au ra (accoring to Fran). 40-60 cm difference. 40-60! Just NO, please. I'm really enough with this craziness on au ra.
If males will be 180-190 while females are 190-200 - then okay, it's reasonable.

I'd be fine with that, that would visually be pretty adorable and not look too morphed. (would also give them more of a stealthy advantage over the females)
Kinda wish there was more range in the sliders on all the races, but I suppose that's due to limitations rather than preference in development.

[Anselmet]

Too short, imo. Fran was taller than female elezens, and here we see a guy who is shorter than male miqo'te (they are shortest after lalafels). It will look just ridiculous (I'm not against of making them shorter, but not this difference, really). But I like main body line, he's slim but has muscles.

Honestly I wouldn't mind if the male Vieras could be considerably shorter than the females. We sort of have that going on with midlander male hyurs at their minimum are much smaller than female highlanders. I think that would be nice if male vieras could work the same way.

The problem is not that people want things, it's why they want them.

While there is a vocal minority that has made this a gendered political issue it does not mean this thread nor the topic of having no gender locks is a gendered issue. Most I've seen is that people see NO point in make gendered locked races when it did not exist in ffxiv after ARR launched. Sure, there is those that do say 'in the year 2019 we should not have over sexualized females and overly masculine males', but that is not the main focus of the thread. It only becomes the focus of the thread when people make it. Many of which are those who are anti male viera who come in and tell us that we shouldn't get them bc of gendered politics etc.

then perhaps there should have been more empathy for Yotsuyu, more anger for Hien for being rather wishy-washy about the subject,

Hate to break it to ya but this outrage did exist. Not saying they were right but uh...?

The fact of the matter is that this is not your game. You're not a developer. You have no real power. None of us do. We pay SE rent to enjoy a world they created, and they can cancel anyone's services at any time for any reason.

Excuse me, but I invest in this game by buying things on the mogstation and paying a subscription and buying merchandise. If I want to give feedback, I very well can and I will especially when I really support something. This is also an MMO that is constantly updated which means that player feedback is very important. Which means I can request and wish for things however I see fit. It is not up to you to tell me, or anyone else, otherwise. Like I get it, you don't like that we are requesting male vieras for reasons. But what do YOU personally lose from this by us requesting for male vieras? Its up to the devs what they implement. Most of us understand that, so stop assuming we don't. It will also be up to them if they take our feedback. Hardly anyone is hostile towards the devs in this thread other than those who are saying we are. I'm not sure if you read the title of the thread but uh, it says 'Thread: Male Viera as a playable character! show your support'. And we can show support any way we want.