Male Viera as a playable character! show your support

[Yencat]

There are some informal censuses that have been done based on lodestone data where they try to count active players by achievements earned and these kinds of censuses regularly list Roes and Hrothgar as the least played races. I kind of figured in the long run that the addition of Hrothgar would just split the already low population of Roe players and that really is all it did. I think very few people changed from any of the other races to Hrothgar for any real length of time.

You're right, in the active character census Hrothgar is above both male and female Roegadyn and male Elezen, so not dead last but relatively low. A race like Hrothgar doesn't have massive appeal to begin with, but I have to wonder how much of it is due how badly they bungled them. Everyone memes on Viera being the fan service race they really didn't want to add but did so purely because of demand and we're still in better shape in terms of customization than Hrothgar. They have 4 faces like everyone else (edit: except midlander Hyur) but then only 2 hairstyles (of varying quality, but that's a matter of taste I suppose) paired with each face that they have to pay real money to even change, it's absolutely shameless.

I think they look great and I love seeing Hrothgar out in the world and in dungeons, but if Viera was released in a similar state as Hrothgar I absolutely, 100%, no question about it would've switched to something else too no matter how good they looked. And it's a damn shame too because I complain a lot about the lack of hairstyles I have but it pales in comparison to how dirty they did Hrothgar.

[Amnmaat]

The devs did state why we didn't have beast races though, they specifically said it would have a lot of limitations. But those who wanted beast races ignored it. Reddit discussed many of these points very well, which they referenced the dev's stance on beast races: https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...ther_mmos_can/
It's just hard to source since it wasn't a live letter statement. But I remember it came up in the (female) Viera thread in the past as to why a beast race would have a lot of limitations.

hrothgar is a huge contradiction to the game's graphics-design policy and the inherit limitations they bring.

[Amnmaat]

Honestly, this should've satisfied those that want to play as animals



Look at how that Roegadyn fills out the animal glam in a hrothgar-like way, perfect.

[Yencat]

The devs did state why we didn't have beast races though, they specifically said it would have a lot of limitations. But those who wanted beast races ignored it. Reddit discussed many of these points very well, which they referenced the dev's stance on beast races: https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...ther_mmos_can/
It's just hard to source since it wasn't a live letter statement. But I remember it came up in the (female) Viera thread in the past as to why a beast race would have a lot of limitations.

hrothgar is a huge contradiction to the game's graphics-design policy and the inherit limitations they bring.

It's not like they asked anyone's opinion though? At least I don't remember getting a questionnaire in the mail about whether or not I would be happy giving up hairstyles and hats for 4 ear styles and length sliders? Didn't see a poll about it either? They touted these races being highly customizable and I have to ask where? 4 ear styles for Viera and a fur pattern for Hrothgar they can't see unless they're shirtless, and now we're in limbo on when we're getting anything else? Stunning, I guess.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Honestly, this should've satisfied those that want to play as animals



Look at how that Roegadyn fills out the animal glam in a hrothgar-like way, perfect.

No, because its way more desirable to actually play a beastman. Putting on a fake suit like the Vanu outfit or even the Frog suit is not the same as playing a Beast Race.
Guess everyone already has Male Viera then, just go to the Gold Saucer as a male Hyur or Elezen and buy the Bunny ears. Boom, no resources needed to make a full fledged race.
If fake BeastTribes suits are good enough in your eyes for a Playable Beast Race. Then Gold Saucer Bunny ears are good enough to play as a Viera.

[Nestama]

Honestly, this should've satisfied those that want to play as animals



Look at how that Roegadyn fills out the animal glam in a hrothgar-like way, perfect.

Mate, if the Vanu Vanu costume didn't have a zip on the back and you couldn't see your characters face in the mask, yeah. They would have been fine. I'd be even more fine with a Beastman glamour (not costumes, but actually using a Beastman model).
That all said, I'm still very happy SE made Hrothgar. The problem with Beastmen costume glamours is that they're more restrictive than Hrothgar and Viera when it comes to how you want to dress. For example, the Vanu Vanu glamour I have on right now (on my PLD) only looks good with Aymeric's armour. Anything else and it just looks weird (since the head is massive).

[Saix027]

Mate, if the Vanu Vanu costume didn't have a zip on the back and you couldn't see your characters face in the mask, yeah. They would have been fine. I'd be even more fine with a Beastman glamour (not costumes, but actually using a Beastman model).
That all said, I'm still very happy SE made Hrothgar. The problem with Beastmen costume glamours is that they're more restrictive than Hrothgar and Viera when it comes to how you want to dress. For example, the Vanu Vanu glamour I have on right now (on my PLD) only looks good with Aymeric's armour. Anything else and it just looks weird (since the head is massive).

Also if you want the Hrotghar stance for the costumes you not can use the headgear also, so so much for customization also.

[Nestama]

You can use the Vanu Vanu head on Hrothgar, though. It's my griffon cosplay.

[Saix027]

You can use the Vanu Vanu head on Hrothgar, though. It's my griffon cosplay.

My bad then, hard to often tell with the headgear mess we have with them. Not playing them so could not tell, does the Vath one work tho? Vanu Vanu is a mask and hides the head basically so, but Vath i am unsure since it kinda fits around your face and all. Unsure on Vath and Vanu Vanu on Viera also. Anyone knows?

[Halivel]

Honestly, this should've satisfied those that want to play as animals



Look at how that Roegadyn fills out the animal glam in a hrothgar-like way, perfect.

No. With same logic people say "buy bunny ear in gold saucer and here is your male Viera". Playing as a race and imitating it is two different things. Race as whole gives you the range of attributes that you won't get by simply making a cosplay: animations, emotes, racial haircuts, stances and unlimited glamour options (not exactly the case with headgear for Viera and Hrothgar, but still), dialogues (there's a handful of NPCs that acknowledge your race and gender). Equipping a cosplay item (either beast tribe suits or bunny ears) limits your existence to only these cosplay items, making impossible to wear anything else, while also not giving any real experience as a cosplayed race. NPCs still will call you Roegadyn, if you are one, and they still will see you as a woman if you're trying to let's say play as a male Viera using female Viera model. That's why people want a real beast race - because if you are imitating it, it's just that - imitation with such a big amount of restrictions that it's not worth imitating it.