Male Viera as a playable character! show your support

[zeylos]

Snip.

My bet currently is, on 6.0 not only do we recive the missing genders but we go to both the viera and hrotgar homelands, which are packed with them (female hrotgar should be extemely abundant here going by lore, and male viera could also just be friendly to us if the spirit accepts us, theyll likely do it mostly to sell fantasias just like theyve tried their best to stuff female viera down our throats this expac) and we will learn about why they were genderlock, why they arent now and I think tis likely a male viera will play a rather important role in the storyline, while the hrotgar queen will likely be the main character of her zone.

I think we will also find out about why the spirit of the woods wants/wanted them to live like that, and I'm rather possitive that female hrotgar will be like, ok either we move out from here or garlemand destroys our butts, so they'll leave their homeland

[SturmChurro]

My bet currently is, on 6.0 not only do we recive the missing genders but we go to both the viera and hrotgar homelands, which are packed with them (female hrotgar should be extemely abundant here going by lore, and male viera could also just be friendly to us if the spirit accepts us, theyll likely do it mostly to sell fantasias just like theyve tried their best to stuff female viera down our throats this expac) and we will learn about why they were genderlock, why they arent now and I think tis likely a male viera will play a rather important role in the storyline, while the hrotgar queen will likely be the main character of her zone.

I think we will also find out about why the spirit of the woods wants/wanted them to live like that, and I'm rather possitive that female hrotgar will be like, ok either we move out from here or garlemand destroys our butts, so they'll leave their homeland

I have a sneaking suspicion that they were gender locked due to time constraints and resources. I might be wrong though, but maybe you are right and there is actually a lore reason behind it all! I predict the entire next expansion will be about male viera, and why they are 5'1.

[zeylos]

I have a sneaking suspicion that they were gender locked due to time constraints and resources. I might be wrong though, but maybe you are right and there is actually a lore reason behind it all! I predict the entire next expansion will be about male viera, and why they are 5'1.

?????? I know that its because of resources, but they changed the lore so itd make sense theyre genderlock??? No one asked about 5,1 male viera, I wanted them to be at maximum 6 cm shorter/taller than females? Lore isnt the reason at all, and the entire next expansion wont be about male viera? Just how much must u really love drama to take that from my statement lol

[Gwenorai]

?????? I know that its because of resources, but they changed the lore so itd make sense theyre genderlock??? No one asked about 5,1 male viera, I wanted them to be at maximum 6 cm shorter/taller than females? Lore isnt the reason at all, and the entire next expansion wont be about male viera? Just how much must u really love drama to take that from my statement lol

They're just having a laugh, Zeylos. Haha. I think it's probably because you can be poked into confusion/rage with little effort. Just want to ruffle your hair.

Anyway, yeah, it's definitely resources and not lore. I'm very thankful they actually told us the truth rather than hiding behind the lore excuse which we all knew was a bit 'bull.'

[Lauront]

Regarding the matriarchal thing, I believe they specifically said that its amtriarchal in the lore somewhere? could be wrong thou.
As for supermasculine, they have a rather masculien body (super strong, muscled and broad shouldered) and a masculine personality, but you are free to see it otherwise ofc. I think that being a masculine race is a staple if you are going to make a race that lives in such a dangerous place as a jungle

Again, Viera and Viis are organised as societies based on a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. To hyper-focus on a few traits that this requires of the females and then throw around that they're" super-masculine" is, to me, a little bizarre. I don't consider their bodies particularly masculine in the least, either. They look like athletic females, to me.

Quite what the point of this preoccupation is with trying to label the females "masculine" at every turn eludes me.

As for them being "matriarchal", I mean that's because there is nothing but females and children in the villages, and the latter are excluded by virtue of their age. So sure, they have female-run households, but it's a bit different to how the Night elves structure their societies. The males are entirely outside their sphere of authority.

Regarding Gwen's point on possession of the Echo, or not, that one is trickier to gauge. It's not too widely dispersed amongst existing populations. I suspect what it probably is closer to is the ability of Conjurers to "hear" the elementals.

That said, I don't doubt some of them do possess the Echo. It's a bit like the Xaela and the Dotharl's beliefs concerning reincarnation. A belief I strongly suspect is influenced by some of their tribe members possessing the Echo, leading to the propagation of a wider belief that they all undergo reincarnations. So the Viera, in turn, would probably interpret it as a gift or particularly strong connection to the Wood.

[LittleChickenNugget]

ITT: Someone still doesn't know what "masculine" and "feminine" mean, no matter how many times they have it explained to them.

@Churro: If the male rabbits aren't 2'1'', I don't want them. Give me REAL rabbit men.

[alacruxe]

plus they have pink hair and a pink sweater. It doesn't look like it's even trying to be a male at all.

I have pink hair irl and I'm a man. A man who works a blue-collar job. Something like a swatch on a color wheel is not really feminine by nature. Pink is, in fact, the best color and I'm sorry for your loss.

Also, your character is whatever you say it is. I've seen people RPing as literal chocobos. It wouldn't be very nice to walk up to them and say they're just playing a lalafell in a chocobo suit. In fact, that would be pretty rude and disrespectful to their creativity, even if it is factually accurate.

Regarding recent discussion: I'm not terribly confident they're going to add the missing genders in the next expac, considering they probably have other long-established blueprints they're working from. There are always possibilities outside the blueprints, i.e. certain staff working on implementing glasses for the new races practically in secret, but this would be a pretty massive undertaking. If anything I could see it potentially happening in 7.0, but that's a pipe dream. In the meantime I'm happy to play around with the options we were given and try to make the most of it.

[Gwenorai]

I'd argue that facts aren't disrespectful or rude, they're facts. They're neutral. And the ignoring of them is to ignore the reality given. However, this is fantasy, as long as someone isn't going 'Hey, I'm a Chocobo" and being obnoxious about how they are 100 per cent a Chocobo, then it's fine. But you also can't expect for some people to ignore the reality to fit the fantasy of your own creation as that would be robbing them of their own free thought. Blah blah, digression blah.

But, hey, @alacruxe I did very much enjoy your drawing, I did indeed think the drawing was of a male, even if his hair was pink.

I do worry that we might have to wait till 7.0 I really hope we don't - I hope were shocked with a huge surprise. But best not to get our hopes.

[Theodric]

I see that the thread is getting odd again.

Nobody is obligated to acknowledge a character as anything other than what they look or act like. To give a loose example as to what I mean, it isn't at all unusual for role-players to refuse to acknowledge someone role-playing as the Warrior of Light. It's considered to be very selfish to put one's character in the role of the biggest hero of the story and then expect everybody else to fawn over them. That doesn't stop people from doing it, of course, but role-players interested in playing ball and telling a good story don't typically lean on such things and instead choose to portray a soldier, adventurer or civilian.

As for the missing genders? They're either added or they aren't. It remains to be seen. I think it's far, far healthier to just let things play out as they will instead of trying to find a workaround. It's not as if there's a shortage of other options to play as.

[alacruxe]

Apologies for double-posting, but I think another good example of the discrepancy between character model and roleplayed intent is my main character, who's supposed to be very large and burly and muscular. Unfortunately, that isn't really achievable with the male Au Ra base because there's no way to broaden the shoulders, bulk up the chest, or add muscle tone. Technically I could just play as a Hellsguard with succubus horns, but then my character couldn't have a tail or body scales or race-exclusive hair. I do wish all the races had muscle tone sliders, but until that's an option, I have to work with what I've been given.

Do I have a problem with male Au Ra being canonically twunks and not bears? No, but it's creatively limiting if I'm just going off of what the game is presenting to me at face value. But as somebody capable of using their imagination, I'm fine with using the in-game model I'm given and extrapolating the details in my head.

There's no way to win with people who only think in literals. If I used a male Elezen base and gave it the bunny crown, people would just respond with the argument that it's just an elf in bunny gear. "Yes, FFXIV forum user alacruxe, that's the point! I'm so proud of you for getting it!" Yeah, but your point sucks. Let people use their imagination.

I mean, I'm not seeing anyone arguing that the characters in cutscenes aren't actually handing each other items, therefore those items don't exist. We use our imagination to work around the limitations of the game.

edit Hey, other people posted! Looks like I didn't have to double-post after all. ;D