Quote Originally Posted by Tsiron View Post
I can't imagine the devs not trying to maintain at least some degree of mainstream appeal, female designs are under a lot more "pressure" to be attractive, after all, so that may be just what get in the end...
That's not necessarily true. First, fan feedback is something they need to take into account. I KNOW that generally speaking they don't really lend an ear to Hrothgars, but given that a) we do have a thread on this, and b) members of other races have also given their input, they will at least keep this in mind. Even if the pressure to make attractive female characters exist, keep in mind that they usually tend to make races as similar as possible even when there is dimorphism so that they match. As well as how the inverse is also true: Male Viera look incredibly similar to Viera. Their original design for FF14 back in Heavensward shows that they considered more masculine-looking bodies, but as fans showed support specifically for "shorter males with similar attractiveness", they acquiesced.
I'm seeing them making one or two "attractive faces", and then go for more feral faces to cater to people who want them.