Male Viera as a playable character! show your support

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Fair, though even if I grabbed a wrong photo, my point stands that we know what female ronso look like. They're all over Spira. And they're not far off from the fan image.

I was just being 'that guy' and pointing it out. Cause no doubt there could be someone that might belive that to be made by SE and take it as Official.
Stiil, I advocate for a more Beastal face similar to the males. Its just abot to soft and humanoid for me. Plus I like that they are tall, but I think as beastmen they shoukd have abit more muscle to, so Im hopeful for the FemRoe body

[Theodric]

Right, and I personally think it would make more sense for their 1st reveal to be in a Mainline Final Fantasy Game taking place in Ivalice.
Not saying they cant be in XIV, bit it just feels weird to potentially make their debut i an MMO 1st

FFXIV is heavily inspired by Ivalice across the board, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch for male viera to make their debut in this game. There's also no guarantee that we'll even see another game set in the original version of Ivalice.

[BunnyBois]

I was just being 'that guy' and pointing it out. Cause no doubt there could be someone that might belive that to be made by SE and take it as Official.
Stiil, I advocate for a more Beastal face similar to the males. Its just abot to soft and humanoid for me. Plus I like that they are tall, but I think as beastmen they shoukd have abit more muscle to, so Im hopeful for the FemRoe body

Curious that you seem to be in support of Female Hrothgar but not Male Viera. Can you explain why you support one but not the other when the two races are in a sense each other's counterpart? And just as an aside I'm also in support of there being a well thought out lore reason for playable Male Viera, and playable Female Hrothgar. I want my Bunny Bois but I also I want the FFXIV writers to give me a nice piece of story for why they've chosen to leave their forests and branch out into the world beyond them.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Curious that you seem to be in support of Female Hrothgar but not Male Viera. Can you explain why you support one but not the other when the two races are in a sense each other's counterpart? And just as an aside I'm also in support of there being a well thought out lore reason for playable Male Viera, and playable Female Hrothgar. I want my Bunny Bois but I also I want the FFXIV writers to give me a nice piece of story for why they've chosen to leave their forests and branch out into the world beyond them.

Your last sentence is pretty much exactly what Im advocating for. I may not be 100% on board with Viera Males coming to XIV, but your last sentence there is what I personally want If they do it, because I feel a race that has existed outside of this game being put into it should stay consistent from its source material, at least to a small level. Which would be obvious for most people, but as seen with alot of discussion ive been getting, there is a healthy amount of people who don't want/care if it happens.
I don't support Male Viera being in XIV from a Lore standpoint, that in all games that have featured Viera in the Ivalice setting where they come from, the Males have always been practically invisible to the outside world, besides the rare occasion 1 person ever saw one leave the forest to trade. Or if they ventured to far into the Woods and got taken out/attacked.
But Ive stated with that Lore standpoint the Devs: SE/Yoshi-P and Team, could write in a decent Lore Tidbit to finally take them out of the forest and join the outside world with the Females. Im at at 70/30 split on No/Yes. Because I also think their 1st appearance should be in a Mainline Game instead of an MMO.
ALL of that being said, Ultimately, its not up to Me, or any of us if/how they put Male Viera into the game.


Now Female Hrothgar, they are a new race entirely to XIV. Its argued that they are basically 'Ronso' but the only legacy and resemblance they have to real Ronso of FFX is 1 face option that has a unicorn Horn on it. And its removable. So I dont consider them ronso at all, especially because Outside of the 1st, they arnt called Ronso, and at character creation they arn't called Ronso either. Then there is their homeland, which is VASTLY different from the Ronso. Moving on...
I think Hrothgar Females have more wiggle room, because they arn't a pre-existing race being adapted into this MMO, and because as Yoshi-P has already stated in interviews, they gave us Male Only Hrothgar because this might be their last chance to make a new race, so they wanted to fulfill the request of Viera, but also wanted to add a Beast Race option that was both requested, and that the team themselves agreed and decided the game needed for a truly Diverse Character Option that isnt another Humanoid.
Plus it was said that they just barely finished up the Hrothgar, so its not likely they would have had enough time, or the resources to make Females within the timeframe they had.

Tl;Dr Version
I guess the short version here is....
I support Female Hrothgar because they are new to XIV, and its been stated that they wouldn't have really had enough time to make females considering they just barley finished the Males. Their lore is also kinda vague because they had to slap it together, so it can be changed and updated.
I dont support Male Viera Personally because its a pre-existing race outside of this MMO, so I think if they will fullblown use Viera they could keep its lore consistent. But thats not to say they can't change up and ADD to that lore to bring them out of hiding. Id be more in support of Viera Males, if they have a good or decent enough lore to support them coming out of hiding. And not this "It doesn't matter" or the "I am the warrior of light so im the exception" idea that falls flat and looks lazy once we start seeing other Viera Males running around.

[Allegor]

I'm assuming back in 1.0 female Highlander and Roes always existed and you just pretended they were always there when ARR was released, right? There was no need for an explanation to anything, unlike the newer races.

Au Ra were war refugees from the Far East granted asylum in Eorzea, which explains why they also start like any adventurer (time paradox shenanigans aside), while female Viera are members of the revolution group lead by Fran (who mentions some naive female ruler, might as well be the current Hrothgar queen?). I'm sure lore of male Viera joining in will most definitely be mentioned during either the MSQ or relic questline, just like how they explained the aforementioned Au Ra and Viera. If anything, it's Hrothgars who have no explanation whatsoever, they kinda just...appeared.

On the Hrothgar sidenote, in retrospect, it would've made more sense for their lore to state something like only males traveled to Eorzea to "test the land" and see if it's safe, afterall it was stated they were treated as a beast tribe at first and understandably not welcomed until they learned the common tongue. That way it would explain why females aren't playable [yet] without the convoluted excuse that a female Hrothgar is very rare - they kinda cornered themselves there, expect a retcon in the future.

PS: art quality aside, I'm not a fan of that female Hroth pic either, she's too human, but, if I'm allowed to say it, it seems nobody wants to play female characters that aren't conventionally beautiful or even...kawaii, so it wouldn't surprise me Hrothgals to end up looking something like that /sigh

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

I'm assuming back in 1.0 female Highlander and Roes always existed and you just pretended they were always there when ARR was released, right? There was no need for an explanation to anything, unlike the newer races.

Au Ra were war refugees from the Far East granted asylum in Eorzea, which explains why they also start like any adventurer (time paradox shenanigans aside), while female Viera are members of the revolution group lead by Fran (who mentions some naive female ruler, might as well be the current Hrothgar queen?). I'm sure lore of male Viera joining in will most definitely be mentioned during either the MSQ or relic questline, just like how they explained the aforementioned Au Ra and Viera. If anything, it's Hrothgars who have no explanation whatsoever, they kinda just...appeared.

On the Hrothgar sidenote, in retrospect, it would've made more sense for their lore to state something like only males traveled to Eorzea to "test the land" and see if it's safe, afterall it was stated they were treated as a beast tribe at first and understandably not welcomed until they learned the common tongue. That way it would explain why females aren't playable [yet] without the convoluted excuse that a female Hrothgar is very rare - they kinda cornered themselves there, expect a retcon in the future.

PS: art quality aside, I'm not a fan of that female Hroth pic either, she's too human, but, if I'm allowed to say it, it seems nobody wants to play female characters that aren't conventionally beautiful or even...kawaii, so it wouldn't surprise me Hrothgals to end up looking something like that /sigh

There is no Promise or guarantee that we will even see Female Hrothgar, but if we do, I feel I can expect a change/revamp in the lore. Cause like I said before, it was just kinda slapped together, so to me it could very well be updated or changed IF they make Females Playable in the future.
Lol I mean...its not wrong. As cool as beastmen races are, more people do in fact lean towards humanoid/Human characters. The look familiar to ourselves and so attraction is just easier. Here is to hoping that DOESNT happen...but it just might.

[BunnyBois]

I dont support Male Viera Personally because its a pre-existing race outside of this MMO, so I think if they will fullblown use Viera they could keep its lore consistent. But thats not to say they can't change up and ADD to that lore to bring them out of hiding. Id be more in support of Viera Males, if they have a good or decent enough lore to support them coming out of hiding. And not this "It doesn't matter" or the "I am the warrior of light so im the exception" idea that falls flat and looks lazy once we start seeing other Viera Males running around.

I can sympathize with this. Maybe it's because I'm still relatively new to this franchise, FFXIV is the only FF game I've ever played and I started mid Stormblood, but it seems to me like the FFXIV team have a lot of love this game and especially it's story. So I think if they are to implement Male Viera, which I hope they do as well as Female Hrothgar, that they would include a story element to explain why they've stepped out from the forests. If not immediately then something that would be explained through questing relevant to the Viera on the first. Do you have a reason to think they would be lazy with the introduction of Male Viera or is it just something you're really adamant about them not doing simply because?

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

I can sympathize with this. Maybe it's because I'm still relatively new to this franchise, FFXIV is the only FF game I've ever played and I started mid Stormblood, but it seems to me like the FFXIV team have a lot of love this game and especially it's story. So I think if they are to implement Male Viera, which I hope they do as well as Female Hrothgar, that they would include a story element to explain why they've stepped out from the forests. If not immediately then something that would be explained through questing relevant to the Viera on the first. Do you have a reason to think they would be lazy with the introduction of Male Viera or is it just something you're really adamant about them not doing simply because?

Its because they very well 'Could' be lazy about it. Like just slap together some lore that sounds pretty decent, and then it means nothing as soon as you start the game and enter a world featuring thousands if not Millions of other players. Such as a Birthrate lore where Females dwarf the males 8 to 1, but then suddenly we see way more Males out in the world then females. Or how very few could master (Insert Class name) and then everyone has it. Its not so much that I think they WILL be lazy about it., its the idea that they COULD be lazy about it.
Afterall, the Viera are really only in the game because of High demand, and this is their last chance to possibly meet that demand. If Viera weren't in such high demand, we might have gotten a completely different race.

[BunnyBois]

Its because they very well 'Could' be lazy about it. Like just slap together some lore that sounds pretty decent, and then it means nothing as soon as you start the game and enter a world featuring thousands if not Millions of other players. Such as a Birthrate lore where Females dwarf the males 8 to 1, but then suddenly we see way more Males out in the world then females. Or how very few could master (Insert Class name) and then everyone has it. Its not so much that I think they WILL be lazy about it., its the idea that they COULD be lazy about it.
Afterall, the Viera are really only in the game because of High demand, and this is their last chance to possibly meet that demand. If Viera weren't in such high demand, we might have gotten a completely different race.

Well I can appreciate your caution. Thanks for answering my questions. As I've stated several times already I am in the Pro Bunny Bois camp. But I stand with you on wanting a viable and well thought lore reason for them to be available. So I hope we both come out whatever the future brings happy.

[dezzmont]

One of the 'goals' of Hrothgar was to make a race that didn't just look like an altered human. Hopefully that will apply to Hrothgar women as well, because there are already plenty of options for that.

Likewise, some of the concept art for male Viera showed both a very masculine athletic one that we sorta don't have (closest are Highlanders but they are a bit too swole, and Roe are like full out 'musclefat') and very 'boyish' ones who sorta resemble what Au'Ra might look like if they didn't have extreme sexual dimorphism and all took after the girls, which is good for variety even if they wouldn't be popular. Hopefully those, if they get added, get the highlander-midlander treatment. Heck, hopefully Hrothgar do too and we get 'lady with cat head' and 'full out Charr from Guild Wars where the girls literally just have a different tail tuft.'

And while we are making wishes I wish every single beast tribe becomes playable at least as a glam option, and we get concept art demonic female Au'Ra! :P

Lore wise it is... so trivial to rationalize male Viera it actually would be weird if they did, because the conditions that the male Viera are experiencing are IDENTICAL to the one the females are: Homeland destroyed, fleeing their woods, forced to forsake the Green Word, not isolated to the WoL. I mean they needed to put in more effort for the Miqo'te (They pointed out that in 2.0 male Miqo'te are less rare because the destruction of the callamity caused many tribes to collapse resulting in the menfolk being free from their tribe/losing their tribe depending on which variant they were) and most people don't even remember that lore bit and don't bat an eye at male Miqo'te anymore. Like... obviously there are a bunch of male Miqo'te running around in the city states where the refugees went to you dum dums! And even beyond that its very clear before the calamity not every Miqo'te was living in a tribe, there are multiple Miqo'te who were married 1:1 (including one very critical NPC!) with another Miqo'te or practicing trades. You think Zhai'a Nelhah was just living as a nomadic pickup artist as a keeper of the moon before he shows up? And what about the fact that Miqo'te are nominally mega rare even ignoring the gender disparity in the first place? No one is REALLY bothered by the fact they are the most popular race, are they?

Put another way: If you don't have issue with swarms of Viera running around breaking the green word, you shouldn't have an issue if they are male or female. It is literally an identical level of violating their social norms. Like I said earlier, this hand wringing about 'explaining the other PCs' doesn't actually make much sense because the rationale for a male Viera isn't 'the Warrior of Light is special,' it is 'so many Viera had to violate the Green Word that there are now entire non-Green Word following communities.