Female Hrothgar as a playable race. Show your support!

[MsQi]

So then, new races. How expensive are they, especially with the knowledge that SE's MMOs reign king in today ? (At the end of point 8, March 2020, SE reports that MMO sector is near ~40% of all income)
I'd like to point out Au'Ra. They were developed during a period of extreme uncertainty. If it's true that creating a new race takes time and money, then Au'Ra are a wonder. The developers or stakeholders took a risk to add a new race, working on AuRa just as ARR was released. I have reason to assume that Au'Ra did not take a full 2 years to develop without further evidence. Au'Ra were also implemented to the fullest degree that the original races are - meaning all hair and clothing articles operate as should. Points 2,3 show that SE had huge successes across all digital entertainment, including ARR. Heavensward release with Au'Ra carried on through 4,5 with overall ~37% increase in income. On point 7, during stormblood SE takes quite a hit due to a failure of expectancies on games outside of XIV.

Despite the general decrease on point 7, the fiscal year with Shadowbringers brought SE their highest return on point 8 during covid. 9 will be interesting to see.

With all this in mind, knowing the situation of Au'Ra and how much more risk there was than time or money in their creation, and the past and current of their finances, I think it's safe to say that making a new race is not financially impossible or even, dare I say it, difficult in a temporal sense. This makes me look to the decision makers, the stakeholders, shareholders, owners, projects outside of XIV, inside of XIV as a cause rather than dismissively saying "time and money".

To say that Au Ra were "implemented to the fullest degree that the original races are" is misleading. There are several items that have tail slots for miqo'te but not Au Ra. Many hats and helmets have been designed to accommodate Miqo'te, Elezan and Lala ears, but Au Ra Horns just poke through. I haven't seen anything that seems to be specifically designed to accommodate Au Ra features.

The point is they cut corners, and then they cut corners further with Viera and Hrothgar. To implement a new race properly and completely not only has an initial cost, but also ongoing costs.

I think they should commit to completing Viera and Hrothgar, as that is consistent with initial ARR philosophy. However I think it is best for the game to avoid any new races. There a a lot of features that could be added to existing races to give players massively more diverse options without requiring massive gear redesigns.

I'm not gonna tell people they are wrong for wanting a new race, but I'm not going to back it either.