Why do Mi’qote ears go through Snow’s hat but not Hrothgar ears?

[XiRon]

Here's a more official note

Worth noting:
"The addition of new playable races will impact more than the development cost of the items added in 5.1 and subsequent updates. Not only will we be transitioning from twelve variations (six races, two genders each) to fourteen, but we will also need to commit more resources to the development of new emotes. While FFXIV will continue to strive to maintain a regular 3.5 month major update cycle, we must also ensure that sufficient time is secured for the meticulous development of new content—or else the quality will invariably drop. This is a complex problem that can’t be solved simply by throwing more money or people at it, as it impacts both debugging and QA."

Yknow it also occurs to me that Yoshida absolutely has 0 right to talk about QA after saying oblong peanut-headed 2B hrothgar hair past muster, like are you freaking kidding? THAT passed QA? was the QA tester recently giving out pints of his blood or was he severely drugged? Freaking god I really can't care about anyone saying "we need QA" when earless, Ridley Scott Alien hair was deemed acceptable jesus

[SturmChurro]

...

Have to agree about quality. Quality has gone down if anything, granted Covid can be blamed for a bit of it. Patch schedule has also been extended, for the foreseeable future, as far as I am aware, so since that statement was made, things have definitely changed. Just as things have changed since viera and hrothgar were launched. I'd like to see some quality improvements as far as viera and hrothgar are concerned, that don't take several years.

[Aneshda]

Please help me understand the attempted lore justification for this particular example, game designers; your “the ears are hiding” explanation doesn’t work for this hair option due to an illogical inconsistency between two different feline races that both have ears.

Are all Hrothgar making a conscious decision to uncomfortably tuck their ears under the hat, whereas no Miqo’te decide to do that? Why would the two races be different here?

Cause Yoshi hate Hrothgars and if he could they would be already done like Garlemald, Ascians and most of the Story from the Past. So please be nice go and eat a Burger with your new Battle-ready-Bobs Hairs and be H.A.P.P.Y

[Midareyukki]

Yknow it also occurs to me that Yoshida absolutely has 0 right to talk about QA after saying oblong peanut-headed 2B hrothgar hair past muster, like are you freaking kidding? THAT passed QA? was the QA tester recently giving out pints of his blood or was he severely drugged? Freaking god I really can't care about anyone saying "we need QA" when earless, Ridley Scott Alien hair was deemed acceptable jesus

I agree. It can be a complex problem all it wants, but it's far from unsolveable. They're just lazy. And if Quality is what they're really after, then they have to answer for how shoddy Endwalker has been.

Covid can be blamed for only so much. They've said that they're back to their old work schedule. Stop saying things without meaning them, Square Enix. You will be expected to deliver, and at that point, you cannot complain.

Cause Yoshi hate Hrothgars and if he could they would be already done like Garlemald, Ascians and most of the Story from the Past. So please be nice go and eat a Burger with your new Battle-ready-Bobs Hairs and be H.A.P.P.Y

He can blame us all he bloody feels like, he was the one who added in. I don't remember anyone clamouring since Heavensward for a Ronso-type race. Most we had was "wouldn't it be cool if they added it in?", not actual fan demand. From what Yoshida himself said, the demand came from the dev team directly. It was he who wanted a bestial race.

Don't make something you're not willing to support. It just makes you look unprofessional as hell.

Frankly, I don't know and I don't care. I'm the wrong person to ask. I suspect there's more to it than just slapping it on there after all the fact. It's clear that expectations are quite unrealistic, given that people keep whining here about it and asking the wrong people about it.

I don't see any incentive for them to even work on it, when there's a fix that's in use. Just don't tell them.

If you're the wrong person to ask, who the hell are you to say it's unrealistic?

THE EXPECTATION IS NOTHING MORE THAN HROTHGAR PLAYERS ASKING TO BE TREATED LIKE OTHER RACES AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE.

Because all we've gotten was unprofessionalism and dismissal. They were even surprised that we reacted the way we did to our own hairstyles, and so we're giving them our feedback now so that they don't Pikachu-face us in the future.

None of what we ask is unrealistic. We're not asking for them to change the game overnight, nor in 6.2. Just to be mindful when they do decide to address anything related to us, rather than throw something that no one who would play it would agree to. What IS unrealistic is the devs assuming we'll just sit and take whatever little we can get without complaint.

It's not "whining". It's complaining and feedback. As they asked since A Realm Reborn. It's just a frustrating topic, and they have done NOTHING to help the matter. If you can't handle it, then bugger off Elezen boy, what are you even doing here? This isn't for you, nor do the devs need you to white knight them. They're adults, they're expected to know how to take a criticism.

Stop saying expectations are unrealistic. Stop blaming the playerbase. The devs are no saints, and it doesn't matter how hard they're working on whatever project if the quality they give a select group of people is worse than scraps.

PS: That's still not an official note whatsoever? Where does he actually, factually, claim us to be a Limited Race, using that exact terminology? The insinuations that we're a Limited Race do nothing but perpetuate negativity and discrimination toward Hrothgar players. Because then people think it's okay to dismiss what Hrothgar players have to say about the race they play. Because then people start denying everything that they are and blame them for crap, or making up slurs against them just for being so different. We're left out of the community as it is, with many people not even bothering to include us, and we're ignored way too often because of crap like this.

And once again, the only people willing to entertain this ridiculous notion are the people without the evidence to back it up other than circumstance.

[Midareyukki]

What I can say is that being frustrated does indeed give us nothing and Square Enix is just as likely to set things aside as "people are too angy".

...BUT we did have at least ONE thread where people pointed out "Hey, there are these flaws, this is what your fans think and want, please be more aware of things going forward".

And the only thread they ever answered was one where people went to express their outrage and frustration, so really Square only has itself to blame for that. If frustration is the only thing that gets them to reply at all, then people can't blame others for acting out of frustration against the devs whenever something happens.

Clearly that's the only thing Square looks at. So c'est la Square.

[Deveryn]

What I can say is that being frustrated does indeed give us nothing and Square Enix is just as likely to set things aside as "people are too angy".

...BUT we did have at least ONE thread where people pointed out "Hey, there are these flaws, this is what your fans think and want, please be more aware of things going forward".

And the only thread they ever answered was one where people went to express their outrage and frustration, so really Square only has itself to blame for that. If frustration is the only thing that gets them to reply at all, then people can't blame others for acting out of frustration against the devs whenever something happens.

Clearly that's the only thing Square looks at. So c'est la Square.

It's a flaw that was acknowledged from the release of the race. Short of actually having this work done, it doesn't seem like there's anything that could be said to satisfy anyone, as that's something else to hold them to or misinterpret. They'll say something when they're ready. That's always how it goes.

[Lunalepsy]

Because they're special!

[Midareyukki]

It's a flaw that was acknowledged from the release of the race. Short of actually having this work done, it doesn't seem like there's anything that could be said to satisfy anyone, as that's something else to hold them to or misinterpret. They'll say something when they're ready. That's always how it goes.

Not necessarily. One thing is it not satisfying everyone. It's to be expected.
Another thing is satisfying absolutely no one. That's a sign that you're not doing something right.

Even if in the end it's futile because that was their choice, it's still irresponsible to leave it like this when the playerbase that actually does make use of their hard work is saying "no one is satisfied".

As for them saying something when they're ready? Sorry but, while I agree that's appealing and that's how it should be, that is not at all how it goes.
Example? HROTHGARS THEMSELVES. Many features within this game were thrown in for the hell of it, without nary a thought. What we got was them saying "Oh we'll make this, expect XYZ" and then fail to properly deliver. So no. It doesn't go down that way too often, and it's gotten noticeable. It should be, but they don't do it.

And there is something that could be saying to satisfy Hrothgar players, you really just need to read what Hrothgar players have been saying in the threads they make.
No one's expecting them to do things overnight, as I said. THAT is unrealistic.
And no one is expecting them to just up and actually admit "hey, Hrothgars are a Limited Race". It'd spark too much controversy for them to do so.
We'd like them to be more open and transparent about the process they have into making this race's stuff, at least more than an unconvincing "it's too hard". But no company would do that, that's just not how they work. It'd be an exceptional case.
So failing that, what is it that we "whine about", like you yourself put?

We want 3 things:
a) We want to know what their plans for the future are in regards to us and be forthright about what it is that they see in us. Just to know what to expect and what not to expect. So far all we've had were statements that immediately got contradicted. And "what they see in us", as in, what are we a Joke Race? A Limited Race? A "too long, didn't finish" race?? Where do we stand?
b) We want them to take this seriously. To allocate the proper time and resources into making said content actually feel worth expecting. And don't say "Oh but they don't have time and resources", when this game is planned into phases eons before anything is even announced.
c) We want them to operate based on feedback from Hrothgar players. Because it doesn't seem they've been working with what we've been telling them in mind. Just look at April 1st.

That isn't unrealistic nor is it something that they'd misinterpret. It's as simple as that. Any company would seek to do this unless they've actually given up on their product. Which SE insists so much they haven't.
It's also going to be a generic answer, which they're fond of. The issue is just how they do that generic answer. Because constantly spamming "it's too hard" when difficulty isn't the problem, OTHER FACTORS are, makes them look like liars.

[Midareyukki]

One thing I'd like to add to the above, because I literally have nothing better to do

On A), like...

You guys have a point, there are statements Square put out that really do limit what to expect for Viera and Hrothgar. But then they get contradicted by Square going out of its way and doing things that they said they wouldn't.

We weren't meant to have these hairstyles.
So why add them?

No, we should want a proper plan presented to us, and we should want to know what is okay to ask and what isn't.

Because rather than focusing on them saying it's too hard, or focusing on whatever parameters they have in store that they can't get through (technical limitations, specs, polygon counts, engine, systems, you name it), what we should be focusing is on what's feasible and what isn't.

As it stands, anything is feasible because we know Modders can do it. But Modders are their own vaccum, one that SE won't be operating on. THAT'S what we should know. Exactly in what way are Hrothgars so hard that they'd refuse to do anything? And as a follow-up, if given time and resources (because this CLEARLY DOES have the backing of the community, if not the playerbase engaging in Hrothgar content), is it possible to reconsider the "no-more" stance? If yes or if no, then why so?

Because today it's hairstyles and head gear, next thing you'll know it's going to be other pieces of gear. And look, as much as you guys think it's not fair on Square Enix for Hrothgar players to always be nagging them after the fiasco of April 1st, it's also not fair on us to not know how far is too far.

Fan outcry has changed this game so many times, so silencing us and saying we're "whiny" REALLY doesn't help.
But at the same time, no one went out of their way to ask for the hairstyles we got, so why give those in the first place? What's going on there?

And we know what's going on there, we know why those hairstyles in specific were given to us. But the point remains that we weren't meant to have those, and no one asked for them. So what's their plan? And given their plan, given how the game is structured, what would really count as feedback vs "unrealistic demands"?

Plus, we SHOULD know what it is they see us as when planning how to proceed. Are we finished? Are we not? Are we an "IOU"? Finish later? Joke race? Limited race??? What?
What's conditioning your development of Hrothgar? So that it's fair on you when we provide complaints and feedback and it's fair on us to expect certain things to be done in a certain way. WITHOUT contradictions or vague statements that lead to people questioning what you meant that one night.

I don't think this thought is overbearing on Square Enix. I'm not calling them out on anything. Still beats the constant silence from Square, that's for sure. It hasn't helped them before, it certainly won't help them going forward. We just shouldn't be expecting more April 1st scenarios. To expect those is a sign that Square went down under.

[Deveryn]

We want 3 things:
a) We want to know what their plans for the future are in regards to us and be forthright about what it is that they see in us. Just to know what to expect and what not to expect. So far all we've had were statements that immediately got contradicted. And "what they see in us", as in, what are we a Joke Race? A Limited Race? A "too long, didn't finish" race?? Where do we stand?
b) We want them to take this seriously. To allocate the proper time and resources into making said content actually feel worth expecting. And don't say "Oh but they don't have time and resources", when this game is planned into phases eons before anything is even announced.
c) We want them to operate based on feedback from Hrothgar players. Because it doesn't seem they've been working with what we've been telling them in mind. Just look at April 1st.

That isn't unrealistic nor is it something that they'd misinterpret. It's as simple as that. Any company would seek to do this unless they've actually given up on their product. Which SE insists so much they haven't.
It's also going to be a generic answer, which they're fond of. The issue is just how they do that generic answer. Because constantly spamming "it's too hard" when difficulty isn't the problem, OTHER FACTORS are, makes them look like liars.

You can check off all those items as done, per that letter I linked. (The level of denial I'm seeing regarding that is insane.) Between that and that schedule you don't want to see mentioned, their stance is pretty clear. It sounds like they'll try to get to female hrothgar at some point, but it's gonna be like male viera, where it's happening when they can find the time and you're not gonna hear anything until it's ready. Maybe try holding out for that last piece and if they don't have headgear by then, just give up. There's too much going on.

It was 3 years between that letter and when male viera were ready to be announced and they made no promise or even a mention on headgear.

Because today it's hairstyles and head gear, next thing you'll know it's going to be other pieces of gear. And look, as much as you guys think it's not fair on Square Enix for Hrothgar players to always be nagging them after the fiasco of April 1st, it's also not fair on us to not know how far is too far.

I don't think people are being unfair to SE. I don't think anyone does. I think you're being unfair and unkind to yourselves with this whole crusade. You're only driving yourselves mad and annoying a few other people at best.

The answers are right there, in the letter and in your sig.

Promote the mod intelligently. Leave it at that.