Can we get normal manly males ?

[Lauront]

The Highlander options are all really manly. None of them look like any iteration of Tarzan, really. I find it kind of funny that you play male Au Ra, as other than height/nose shape, they're quite a bit more effeminate in my opinion.

I would not consider the facial option I use or the "older" face they have effeminate in the slightest. The former in particular conforms with classic standards of masculine attractiveness, and you'd have to design it to look effeminate, and the latter doesn't even really offer any options in that direction. Granted, they're both less common than the Magnai face, but that one comes down to customisation options as to whether it looks effeminate or not. It very much conforms to the typical manga/anime "badass" facial aesthetic.

My problem with Highlanders is I dislike the shark face effect the more rugged younger facial option has and I likewise find the one Arenvald uses is too broad and soft at once. I don't like any of the other options. Both are too broad for my tastes. As far as Hyur go, I prefer the more boyish flourishes of the derplander face, which would be perfect if it could be coupled with stubble and a bit more muscle.

I just want my lady Au Ra to be tall like the men. There's no reason for her to be so tiny.

I think they ought to have used the height slider range to allow for them to be between female miqo'te and viera height, maybe. They just look too shrimpy for me to like them, even though their faces can be quite pretty.

But also, I say as someone who originally came from WoW, it took me a while to "get" the aesthetic of FFXIV. In WoW (and really a lot of western games), you always want your character to be "the biggest, baddest dude in the room".

I like bulk and musculature but not if the character is ugly, too large or too bestial. Never could get into the design of humans in WoW, but luckily it had other options I much preferred.

When it comes to "monstrous" looks the ones I tend to enjoy are in the more vampiric or demonic direction, where the character can still be attractive. I guess that's why I like Au Ra.