Male Viera as a playable character! show your support

[Valaine]

Although the upcoming expansion announced everything i was excited for i do have a friend who was very much looking forward to being able to create and play a Manbun. When gender locking was announced to be a thing of the past and would not be attempted my first reaction was to assume it now could be some kind of intentional tactic to drum up hype and be controversial before the big bait and switch reveal and for those wanting both new races to be both genders.
I fully understand and support this thread, while not something i would play myself, personally i would still love to see Male bunnies and lady lions running around. Lore is not enough of an excuse when exceptions have already been made and the only lore excuse i would really accept is if they were announced after a key part of the story.
I hope all of you here can get through to SE and your voices are heard.

[Roda]

If we're going down the "ancient" route, the interview is even older and less relevant, particularly since unlike the art, next to no one knew about it, and it predated it. The art, meanwhile, has been widely circulated. It is not unreasonable for people to base expectations on it when it was originally brought about when the race's introduction was first contemplated. Yes, it did not make it past the concept stage - at that point. Naturally, it would go through further iterations - again, something you would expect. What was not expected, for reasons articulated already, was that they would just drop the males, when they already had something in mind for them.

The concept art shown at the EU Fanfest would be consistent with the notion that they were saving the males as a surprise for JP Fanfest. Only after JP Fanfest did the decision to make them female only actually come out.

We're going in circles on this and I don't really see anything being brought to the table which is going to change my mind on the matter. Obscure interviews, unreliable leaks and allusions to lore that did not suffice to invoke gender-locks on other occasions is really not clear communication.

Not to mention that the art was in the official heavensward artbook...


Official male vieras used commercially.

[Alleo]

They've already stated what their official response is on it. I highly doubt they are going to say anything more that's concrete anytime soon. I think people also need to realize that just because the community wants something, it does not mean they are obligated to implement what the community wants.

Of course they are not forced to implement what the people want but as an ongoing game that needs the support of a big amount of players it would be bad business to not react to the huge outcries. Remember the shirogane housing desaster? They did not need to introduce more housing after that because Yoshida believed that housing should be rare. Yet after Shirogane (savage) and the huge backlash they got (and no not only from the forum) they suddenly were able to double the amount of wards in each region in a short time! Something they somehow were not able to do beforehand. But let the outcry be big enough and suddenly magic happens.

This is another huge outcry. This is the most liked thread in the history of the forum, with huge amount of pages and quite some people that only registered for the first time to post about this. And this is not only restricted to the forums too. In this age you cant just hide behind your name and hope forever that people will always support you. No in this age bad press can give you bad reputation and can lose the people that you need. And one of the big things that are important for quite some people is being truthful. To communicate to us. Not be quiet about male Viera even when asked directly and only drop the bomb on the last fanfest after preorders ended, use lore as reasons first and then later in some interview say the truth. (If its the truth)

Somethings just never make it past the concept stage. That's just how it goes.

Was the reversal of the genderlocks before or after the the 2013(?) interview when Yoshi essentially says if they added female viera they would add another race as the male counterpart instead of male viera? I honestly don't know, but even that far back, that's a pretty good reason to be a little skeptical. And the lore is ending up the same here, which was kinda my point; the male viera are nowhere to be seen -- literally.

I am honestly getting a bit tired about these interviews. When it was about housing (looks at signature) people argue that opinions can change thus its totally fine that they implemented a timer for housing even though they said that they would never do that. (And the years between the interview and the implementation are even less then these genderlocks interviews) The thing is, that this interview was nearly 6 years ago. And one year after the interview they gave us concept art of both genders. What is more logical to assume? That Yoshida will forever stick to his opinion that male Viera are weird (and of course because its weird for him they should never be implemented) or that the art hints at a change in this state and that we might get both? They could have easily changed the lore to say that female Viera produce like dragons thus dont need a partner and thus tell us that only one gender exists..but they gave us hints that they do exist but are just not seen...what a wonder that people then want the gender even more..

[AnnaRosa]

Of course they are not forced to implement what the people want but as an ongoing game that needs the support of a big amount of players it would be bad business to not react to the huge outcries. Remember the shirogane housing desaster? They did not need to introduce more housing after that because Yoshida believed that housing should be rare. Yet after Shirogane (savage) and the huge backlash they got (and no not only from the forum) they suddenly were able to double the amount of wards in each region in a short time! Something they somehow were not able to do beforehand. But let the outcry be big enough and suddenly magic happens.

This is another huge outcry. This is the most liked thread in the history of the forum, with huge amount of pages and quite some people that only registered for the first time to post about this. And this is not only restricted to the forums too. In this age you cant just hide behind your name and hope forever that people will always support you. No in this age bad press can give you bad reputation and can lose the people that you need. And one of the big things that are important for quite some people is being truthful. To communicate to us. Not be quiet about male Viera even when asked directly and only drop the bomb on the last fanfest after preorders ended, use lore as reasons first and then later in some interview say the truth. (If its the truth)

Only have to agree with you, even players like myself who won't be playing either Male Viera or Female Hrothgar took part on the request just because of the variety of races however even not agreeing with all Fan Art presented concept (even if I don't agree doesn't mean can not recognize it is well designed, and yes the presented fan art so far is made by talented persons) if the non existence of such genders clearly upset and affect other players my thoughts is that should be implemented because that literally implies also more profit to the company and it's shareholders.

If there are players literally waiting years to live that game experience not sure why there shouldn't be that possible option, as long as they match both gender physical appearance and age per race (adults for Viera since the females are clearly adults.)

[Alleo]

Only have to agree with you, even players like myself who won't be playing either Male Viera or Female Hrothgar took part on the request just because of the variety of races however even not agreeing with all Fan Art presented concept (even if I don't agree doesn't mean can not recognize it is well designed, and yes the presented fan art so far is made by talented persons) if the non existence of such genders clearly upset and affect other players my thoughts is that should be implemented because that literally implies also more profit to the company and it's shareholders.

I honestly would be fine too with any male viera or female Hrothgar we get as long as they are similar to their existing gender. (So I would be angry if suddenly the female Hrothgar are just humans with animal parts because they dont want to create a beastial female..) Even if I dont like the end look of it and would then not play it, I would still be quite happy because we at least got them.

[BillyKaplan]

(So I would be angry if suddenly the female Hrothgar are just humans with animal parts because they dont want to create a beastial female..)

This worries me, I won't lie. Look at their reasoning for adding male Hroths - they wanted to diversify the races, right? But what did the females get? Tol waifus with bunny ears. Elezen + Bunny ears. That doesn't do much for diversity, now does it?

So, did they decide that giving female Viera was more important than the aesthetic diversity among the females? If so, why not give us bunny boys instead of male Hroths for the same reason, seeing how chances are that they'd be much more played than male Hroths going by existing numbers (specifically male Roes)? And if that's not it and they truly did think female Viera brought something new to the table... 1. why wouldn't bunny boys? 2. ....really? Really?!

[Lihtleita]

This worries me, I won't lie. Look at their reasoning for adding male Hroths - they wanted to diversify the races, right? But what did the females get? Tol waifus with bunny ears. Elezen + Bunny ears. That doesn't do much for diversity, now does it?

So, did they decide that giving female Viera was more important than the aesthetic diversity among the females? If so, why not give us bunny boys instead of male Hroths for the same reason, seeing how chances are that they'd be much more played than male Hroths going by existing numbers (specifically male Roes)? And if that's not it and they truly did think female Viera brought something new to the table... 1. why wouldn't bunny boys? 2. ....really? Really?!

finally someone sees the root of the "outrage".

[BillyKaplan]

finally someone sees the root of the "outrage".

I keep finding more things that bother me about this situation the more I think about it and it is by and large very bad for my health and peace of mind!

[Lauront]

This worries me, I won't lie. Look at their reasoning for adding male Hroths - they wanted to diversify the races, right? But what did the females get? Tol waifus with bunny ears. Elezen + Bunny ears. That doesn't do much for diversity, now does it?

So, did they decide that giving female Viera was more important than the aesthetic diversity among the females? If so, why not give us bunny boys instead of male Hroths for the same reason, seeing how chances are that they'd be much more played than male Hroths going by existing numbers (specifically male Roes)? And if that's not it and they truly did think female Viera brought something new to the table... 1. why wouldn't bunny boys? 2. ....really? Really?!

I think cutting through the fluff, what they're really trying to do is capture refugees from other games or new players who feel put off by the lack of a bestial race, probably because an analyst in the company suggested this is a demographic the game is currently not capitalising on. It's an uncertain gamble, though, and existing stats on these races both in XIV (closest proxy being Roegadyn) and in other games don't exactly inspire confidence - even if you just look at the raw numbers and ignore the reasons as to why some bestial races enjoy a degree of popularity, there is nothing at all to suggest male Viera would not end up being the more highly played of the two.

Now, I don't exactly favour diversity for its own sake, but I'm struggling to see 1) how the Viera females fit the "fierce warrior" archetype and 2) what they're adding exactly. I agree that the rationale for not adding male Viera on either of these points is paper thin. If they failed to make Viera males look adequately different or fierce that'd be a failure of imagination on their part and nothing inherent to the race as an option.

For female Hrothgar, there should be enough ways to avoid making them look like tanks but still retaining a bestial look, like this art:

[BillyKaplan]

For female Hrothgar, there should be enough ways to avoid making them look like tanks but still retaining a bestial look, like this art:

Now here's a question, why NOT let them look like a tank? I mean by and far that's one aesthetic that's sorely lacking for the females (because filling aesthetics niches is important, isn't it, SE?), especially when you compare them to their male counterparts. Female Roes are maybe half the males of their races. There are races where the two genders are comparable in all but height but never in this way. It'll be Miqo'te and Elezen and frigging Lalafells.