Gender locked race?

[RikkCavalier]

That's a myth. There's been significant demand for a more bestial playable race for quite some time. Many rival MMO's also have multiple playable races that can be described as bestial on offer. WoW and ESO are two of the most worthy of note, as they're FFXIV's current main rivals. I know GW2 has at least one bestial race too.

The aesthetics that most people desire for Viera men are already readily available. They offer nothing unique compared to Hrothgar as the only real distinct feature would be that they have bunny ears rather than human, cat or elf ears.

It is an accurate assessment and fair request to want a distinctive, different-looking race. However, if it is distinction the devs were truly striving for, don't you agree that a Wolfman race or Lizardman race--or any other animal race--would be more distinctive than adding ANOTHER cat race? In regards to Viera aesthetics, I think I speak for many people who have devoted years to this game (myself included) when I say we were really just utterly shocked when they excluded racial genders again! Even after they admitted they made a mistake in 1.0. they've made the mistake again. It has nothing to do with being entitled, making demands, or being unappreciative. It's just baffling that they've made this decision again.

[Beki_Bayaqad]

Let's host our own Viera man, Hrothgar woman, design contest here on the forums. If it is popular enough like the other related threads I'm sure it will be noticed and considered at the very least.

Yoshi P already has an idea for what Male Veira might look like, and he knows if the fans design something *other fans* will be upset their design wasn't chosen.

It is an accurate assessment and fair request to want a distinctive, different-looking race. However, if it is distinction the devs were truly striving for, don't you agree that a Wolfman race or Lizardman race--or any other animal race--would be more distinctive than adding ANOTHER cat race? In regards to Viera aesthetics, I think I speak for many people who have devoted years to this game (myself included) when I say we were really just utterly shocked when they excluded racial genders again! Even after they admitted they made a mistake in 1.0. they've made the mistake again. It has nothing to do with being entitled, making demands, or being unappreciative. It's just baffling that they've made this decision again.

Lizards - Au Ra, even if their lore states they're descended fro Void sent, they are very clearly dragons because Ha ha Ishgard hates scailies.

and there is a lupine head option for Hrothgar, so wolf race is covered too.

[Senn]

Yoshi P already has an idea for what Male Veira might look like, and he knows if the fans design something *other fans* will be upset their design wasn't chosen.

This is true. If male viera does get implemented into the game, I want it the way Yoshi P described them. Too many people want different things. At the end of the day, the design should be left up to the devs. I'll be happy if we get them at all.

[Eoko]

I don't know if you invented this, but it's amazing.

I'm honestly not sure if I did or not. I hadn't read it before and just threw it in. If I did, I'm very happy with it too.

[Eoko]

This is true. If male viera does get implemented into the game, I want it the way Yoshi P described them. Too many people want different things. At the end of the day, the design should be left up to the devs. I'll be happy if we get them at all.

At the end of the day a design contest would be finalized by the dev team, meaning they could hand pick the ones they most wanted to do anyway, and the finalists would be voted on, meaning the majority of the community that cares about the addition would be the ones deciding which one is most desired. Who cares if people cry that their version didn't get picked? We do the exact same thing for hair, and armor. Why should it be different for a race? Having the majority of people's voted winner be what goes into game results in an actual, factual number of how many people will undoubtedly be happy.

Do I think they could screw up the Viera males? Not really. Do I think they would screw up the Hrothgals? Pretty sure they would. If Yoshi P is worried that the fans will not like their idea of Viera males, or is concerned with how people would feel about the other gender in general, majority rules is the way to do it. Employ some democracy and show the fanbase how seriously you take their feedback and their commitment to a cause.

One of the major problems people are bringing up is that these decisions have gone against player feedback, and their own statements in the past. The development team is pulling away from player input, and people are seeing it in a very negative light. A design contest, which already has precedent, over a feature that is clearly very important to people, is not something to be tossed aside because someone's feelings is going to get hurt. You could have the contest have zero other "prizes" and people would still contribute because this is an important cause.

I know I would certainly enter it on the Hrothgal side. Would I be miserable if we got some miqo'te clone with an animal head because that's what most people wanted? No. Because that's literally what most people wanted. The people that cared enough to vote for it. The development team messed up, because they wanted to appease two massive player requests and didn't have the resources to pull them off in full. These sorts of threads are the consequence of that decision. Every time they are asked why they did it, or when they are adding the other genders, is a consequence of the decision they made. It doesn't matter how many times they answer anything other than "we are going to" or "we are never going to". Until they commit to a decision about implementing the other genders, they will never escape the questions. People still ask about the egi glamour. And this is far, far more important than egi glamour.

If he's concerned about how people will take a decision, then he needs to ask the people. It's that simple.

[Beki_Bayaqad]

Snip

There are always complainers, and the western audience are really really vocal whiners. Why else is our fourm the one with multiple race lock threads blu complaining threads, insane/silly class update threads, and general moaning and complaining threads opposed to other language boards. Not pointing any fingers honestly.

[Theodric]

It is an accurate assessment and fair request to want a distinctive, different-looking race. However, if it is distinction the devs were truly striving for, don't you agree that a Wolfman race or Lizardman race--or any other animal race--would be more distinctive than adding ANOTHER cat race? In regards to Viera aesthetics, I think I speak for many people who have devoted years to this game (myself included) when I say we were really just utterly shocked when they excluded racial genders again! Even after they admitted they made a mistake in 1.0. they've made the mistake again. It has nothing to do with being entitled, making demands, or being unappreciative. It's just baffling that they've made this decision again.

Even accounting for the fact that Hrothgar are 'another' cat race, they're still exceptionally unique compared to every other playable race by virtue of being completely bestial. Miqo'te, by comparison, are just Hyur with cat ears and a cat tail tacked on. I don't dislike them, though they're much too short for my tastes.

Furthermore, cats are just incredibly popular in general. Which is well deserved, given how awesome they are. Multiple MMO's also have bestial cat races as options, including ESO and Bless. I'm fairly certain that there's others too.

[Senn]

...

Yoshi P already has a vision for male viera. I think we should respect that design decision should male viera ever be added to the game. That's all.

[Eoko]

Furthermore, cats are just incredibly popular in general. Which is well deserved, given how awesome they are. Multiple MMO's also have bestial cat races as options, including ESO and Bless. I'm fairly certain that there's others too.

And if the other tribe/clan's heads are wolves then they also cover the whole Alpha-Omegaverse that is incredibly popular as well. And with the Hrothgar frames, I see them getting a lot of "alpha" attention. That's a whole new level of injection into the RP community that has a major source outside the game.

[Eoko]

There are always complainers, and the western audience are really really vocal whiners.

Yes, Westerners are complainers and vocal. But it's a lot harder to complain that you don't like something when you have nothing to back it up. In an arbitrary world you can imagine and assume that many others are backing your opinion. You have this conceived strength in your conviction. If we put 5 final designs to a vote, it doesn't matter where your personal vote falls. You end up knowing exactly how popular it was compared to the others. There is no more imagined majority lending strength to "your personal rightness".

If miqo bodies with animal heads get 70% of the votes it's impossible to argue that people didn't want that. If 60% of votes go to a muscular, ferocious Hrothgal, sure, it's a bit less of a majority, but it's still the majority. And the development team would still reserve all rights to make changes needed to assist with gear modeling. If someone makes something with amazing digitigrade legs and it gets the most votes, we know we wouldn't get that because the whole issue with Viera was their rabbit feet.

But just because people are going to dislike the result doesn't mean it's worth tossing aside. Many people would be impressed with the desire to take player input into such a major decision, and it would show the fanbase that they are really open to going outside their design box, if that's what people want. Yes, our society is incredibly vocal, whiny, and at times, very entitled. But at the end of the day, having indisputable proof that a majority of players is behind a decision is a solid counter attack to those that don't like the decision.