Male Viera as a playable character! show your support

[zeylos]

Yes, the letter reivaxe is quoting from is precisely why the "probably the last races" statement is irrelevant in this context, because it is superseded by their comments that if they can justify the resource expenditure for it, they may add it. That is a different situation to adding races beyond the missing genders, where their status is entirely uncertain and not necessarily dependent on resource constraints. The letter qualifying their position came AFTER that statement was made during the FF, "functional equivalent" or otherwise.

So it is both disingenuous and pedantic to try invoke that statement as if it had any implications for the missing genders... when they have since given a far more qualified statement on the topic.

Not sure what is hard to grasp here.

Also, it's not the first time SE has made qualified statements like that "probably the last races". It's not set in stone and so isn't even definitive with respect to that.

I never understood that argument tbh.
We ain't aking for new races, we asking for the races we got to become fully-fleshed actual races

[Iscah]

I never understood that argument tbh.
We ain't aking for new races, we asking for the races we got to become fully-fleshed actual races

It's because from a functional, game-programming perspective, the male Hrothgar and female Viera have been implemented as "one race". They take up the same amount of programming space as one single race, and require the same amount of modelling work to adapt gear and emotes.

We know that "in reality" within the story, they are unrelated and have their own corresponding other-genders, but for programming purposes they are connected.

Adding the other genders in future would, again, be the programming equivalent of adding one new entirely original race (not counting recycling some aspects like ear shapes or fur patterns). There would be one more male and one more female model added. That's all that counts for their time, resources and the amount of gear that has to be adjusted and tested on yet another race, regardless of whether they're "new" or "completing a set".

[zeylos]

It's because from a functional, game-programming perspective, the male Hrothgar and female Viera have been implemented as "one race". They take up the same amount of programming space as one single race, and require the same amount of modelling work to adapt gear and emotes.

We know that "in reality" within the story, they are unrelated and have their own corresponding other-genders, but for programming purposes they are connected.

Adding the other genders in future would, again, be the programming equivalent of adding one new entirely original race. There will be one more male and one more female model added. That's all that counts for their time, resources and the amount of gear that has to be adjusted and tested on yet another race, regardless of whether they're "new" or "completing a set".

Still, Yoshida is known for liking to troll, and he repeated a lot that his would be likely the last races.
A dataminer shows they have left space on the code (prepared intentioanlly) for not only the missing genders, but another full race, so this could mean they'll likely make the missing genders, and then they'd considermakign another race. Also, ShB might be great or bad, but it's gonna sell a lot, meaning SE could have likely given a bigger budget to XIV, meaning they could do both of those things by hiring more ppl to their team.

Your are right that it's a lot of effort, but they can also likely reuse viera heads by altering them a lot, which is easier than to make a new one, and female viera are literally female miqot'e with elezen height, so the problem is likely animations and not the gear thing they've been saying. Male hrotgars do have a unique body so I believe it for them tho

[Lauront]

Again, there is little dispute over the fact that adding the missing genders would cost a fair amount of time and money to implement. The issue is with taking that already qualified ("probably") statement from the Fanfest and then trying to apply it to the missing genders, when they later gave a reply on the very topic stating they would consider their addition based on the resource cost and obviously the demand.

Had they considered them to be the same, they could have just referred to their prior statement at the Fanfest, rather than giving the answer they did in the letter. One obvious reason as to why they did not do that is because they may have objections to adding a new race over and above the missing genders which go beyond resource cost.

Either way, it's a moot point. They have given the answer they've given, so the statement at the Fanfest is irrelevant.

[zeylos]

Again, there is little dispute over the fact that adding the missing genders would cost a fair amount of time and money to implement. The issue is with taking that already qualified ("probably") statement from the Fanfest and then trying to apply it to the missing genders, when they later gave a reply on the very topic stating they would consider their addition based on the resource cost and obviously the demand.

Had they considered them to be the same, they could have just referred to their prior statement at the Fanfest, rather than giving the answer they did in the letter. One obvious reason as to why they did not do that is because they may have objections to adding a new race over and above the missing genders which go beyond resource cost.

Either way, it's a moot point. They have given the answer they've given, so the statement at the Fanfest is irrelevant.

I wish SE will give us a hard response on simply if we can see them on 6.0, mayeb after 5.0's launch. That would help with both hyping ppl if the awnser is a yes, and tempering expectations if the awnser is a no

[Senn]

What Yoshi P said sounds more like a "maybe in the future" to me. When the man wants to say no, he'll say no. Which he didn't do here in regards to adding male viera and female hrothgar in the future.

It's safe for him not to give a definite answer so people don't hang it over his head if it doesn't go through.

[Gwenorai]

I'm pretty sure they're more than happy to, but at the moment there's obviously an issue regarding resources - if they can overcome that with a successful launch of Shadow Bringers then it's a lot more likely that the missing genders will given if a) more resources b) more staff. The issue with Yoshida taking up another project is more than likely not an issue here if it were he would have said no right from the start if he was unable to do quality control over and the sorts.

I still wouldn't get your hopes up, as it's good to temper your wants. However, it's not hard pressed to jump to the assumption that Viera is the poster child race here rather than Hrothgar. Square is very much one-sided on who they've been showing of. An important Viera NPC? Multiple Viera in the launch trailers - and only one Hrothgar? Says a lot doesn't it? This isn't to crap on Hrothgar; this is just stating what is evident from what has been seen. It's rather sad really that they weren't on equal grounds.

Heck, Viera even gets their village - Hrothgar gets some random NPCs that may reveal information about themselves.

[zeylos]

I'm pretty sure they're more than happy to, but at the moment there's obviously an issue regarding resources - if they can overcome that with a successful launch of Shadow Bringers then it's a lot more likely that the missing genders will given if a) more resources b) more staff. The issue with Yoshida taking up another project is more than likely not an issue here if it were he would have said no right from the start if he was unable to do quality control over and the sorts.

I still wouldn't get your hopes up, as it's good to temper your wants. However, it's not hard pressed to jump to the assumption that Viera is the poster child race here rather than Hrothgar. Square is very much one-sided on who they've been showing of. An important Viera NPC? Multiple Viera in the launch trailers - and only one Hrothgar? Says a lot doesn't it? This isn't to crap on Hrothgar; this is just stating what is evident from what has been seen. It's rather sad really that they weren't on equal grounds.

Heck, Viera even gets their village - Hrothgar gets some random NPCs that may reveal information about themselves.

I think SE might have already given more resources, considering the huge amount of ads for shadowbringers and the fact that they're considering adding 4 new models. That might mean they finall have an actually decent budget

[Senn]

the missing genders will given if a) more resources b) more staff.

I'm still not so sure about this, as Yoshi P already said it wasn't a matter of throwing more money or staff at the issue. Although there are some who are skeptical and gave their reasons as to why.

[zeylos]

I'm still not so sure about this, as Yoshi P already said it wasn't a matter of throwing more money or staff at the issue. Although there are some who are skeptical and gave their reasons as to why.

their problem is resources. They're saying that getting resources isn't a solution to the problem. To me this is an obvious red flag