VIERA AND HROTHGAR COMPLAINT MEGATHREAD

[Caro178]

I don't have much faith in the 7.0 update, SE's MO recently has been to release something, get backlash on it, claim they didn't know there was such support for x feature, say they'll do better next time, then repeat it over again. Chances are they're going to just update all the ARR-Stormblood races and areas, and leave Viera and Hroths untouched. In a Live Letter, Yoshi-p will say "We're shocked to hear that Viera players are disappointed in the graphics update not updating their models or headgear, we can try to do something after 8.0" and it'll push the issue back another 2 years. They already said they would make new gear compatible going forward from Endwalker, but now it's shifted to being after the 7.0 graphical rework.

I dunno, I've watched this game change so much since I started that I have no reason to live in the land of "they'll never fix anything and everything is terrible". My observation is that they are trying, it's just not possible to please everybody. They never made any such massive promises and never gave any particular time when things would be implemented outside of hairstyle updates which have been plentiful since Endwalker launched.

There is absolutely zero picture evidence that Elezen and Au'ra are part of the texture update either, and yet nobody doubts that they will be. Wait and see on that one. I know it's easy to be cynical and expect nothing, but we really don't know what will happen yet.

[Midareyukki]

I dunno, I've watched this game change so much since I started that I have no reason to live in the land of "they'll never fix anything and everything is terrible". My observation is that they are trying, it's just not possible to please everybody. They never made any such massive promises and never gave any particular time when things would be implemented outside of hairstyle updates which have been plentiful since Endwalker launched.

There is absolutely zero picture evidence that Elezen and Au'ra are part of the texture update either, and yet nobody doubts that they will be. Wait and see on that one. I know it's easy to be cynical and expect nothing, but we really don't know what will happen yet.

Well, they did say they'd do the base races first, so Elezen are for sure there. But Au Ra likely won't be. Things can change.

And the issue isn't that the game's changed. Honestly, that's quite disingenuous because quite often you sound like just because stuff worked out fine before, they'll work out fine since... which isn't the case and it definitely hasn't been for these races. Especially not lately, as Square Enix's fuck-up count has been saturated in the past year. However, the same can be said toward me saying this because it might just mean bias and you accuse me of being a negative nancy. So in the end, no one wins there...

Ultimately the reason people are so dour toward future implementations has been less "because the game has changed" and more because of the way things have been dealt with recently. Square Enix's responses have been super tone deaf and haven't painted them in a good light. Whatever goodwill they have established prior, it needs to be maintained. It's fine for it to fluctuate, it's normal and they're not machines, but to have it drop this low with such low-effort responses is bad.

The game has indeed changed. Some aspects for the better, others for the worse. Some because the devs were listening (Diadem being repurposed, Eureka being changed in every iteration, raid design shifting since Gordias...) and some because the devs were trying something in their own right (Blue Mage being the most striking for me, a piece of content that was and still is divisive).
But that's a given on the sheer aspect of it being an online game with prospects for the future. If it didn't change at all, it'd either be abandoned after a while or it would just be a solo experience. I don't really commend "it changed" on that virtue, but I do at least commend Square Enix for working on stuff fans asked for. Stuff WE KNOW they said they didn't have any plans whatsoever for, such as Reaper... or as I mentioned before, Male Viera (at least not so soon).

The issue comes with this one project. Disregarding all their recent failings, from Endwalker's release to the Housing Fiasco of 2022, Viera and Hrothgar are for sure a hotly debated topic. Missing features, shoddy writing and lore, patchy implementation of game assets, delayed releases, lack of fixes, poor choices and really bad responses to fan outcry. And all that I can just catch under the umbrella of "poor decisions", which I'll get to soon.

That is why people are so negative about this topic. Because it's been over 3 years now. The only implementation until early this year had been done behind their backs, a decision that people have started to question over whether it was a publicity stunt to garner goodwill in what was a hot decision. No fixes since then. Then, Male Viera are implemented with no fixes being applied, so they get to suffer as much as Female Viera do. And then, after so long of updates FOR Viera, the one update Hrothgars have that gave them more stuff not only was questionable, it also removed their ears. And they stoked the fires by giving the response "We weren't expecting this reaction, but it's hard".
It may be more tricky than other races. But it isn't hard whatsoever. And a quick analysis of the way these races are laid out in comparison to other races shows it was done on purpose to be hard.

Now, regardless of potential fixes or getting mad at Square Enix, the sentiment overall is simple. Square needs to work better on its priorities and work on that good will. Because, to me, that's the issue. Their priorities suck, and they keep making weird choices that look like they're procrastinating. None of it was done, Hrothgars are rarely ever mentioned by Yoshida if at all unless it specifically concerns them, and when the topic concerns Vieras also, the attention is poured primarily on Viera. So communication is at an all-time low, prospects for the future are concerning. And the bare minimum, restoring Hrothgar ears, was done to appease Hrothgar players... but it was still a shit job and they have a weird texture mesh around the ears.

Yes, the game changed. But lately we've been seeing changes being done on a monkey's paw. And that's not good to foster a positive outlook. So, naturally, you see people feel this way regardless of all the prior good the devs have done for the game. We could cut them some slack... but dude, why would we when they themselves don't do the bare minimum effort of keeping communication healthy? Other topics have had better responses than we have! Freaking Black Mage needed a justification on the Official Posts as to why it was being buffed in PvP, all while Hrothgars were still missing ears!

It's not on us to feel positive. The devs need to give us a good reason for it. And one thing is to look at the whole game and see growth... another is seeing our own corner where it's barren and the devs constantly ignoring it.

[Pip_Chick]

It's not on us to feel positive. The devs need to give us a good reason for it. And one thing is to look at the whole game and see growth... another is seeing our own corner where it's barren and the devs constantly ignoring it.

This, 100% this!

It is very hard for some of us to believe in them or to be excited about anything new when they showed us that they either couldn't or didn't want to put in the effort. It took an entire patch to get our ears back all the while a minor bug in the ultimate was given Nr. #1 priority (the dragoon zoomies). It is very disheartening when all we get is a lazily put-together "update". Yoshi P's face says that even he was surprised by the earless bs that he couldn't do anything but laugh. Thankfully that ordeal has been resolved, but it took an entire patch with no one addressing the problem and a massive player outrage.

The best thing that they might do, in my opinion, is to hire some supervisors, each to look after a certain race and ensure quality. As it stands right now, the Lalafells get the majority of the care from the dev team, that being because Yoshi plays as one so he would immediately notice if something is wrong, but if we had a person for every race this might be the case for all races.

And yes I am still angry that Lalafells have not one but 2 areas that only they can access.

[XiRon]

So we know viera are getting Roxas in 6.3 but nothing else yet. And while patch notes will pv maybe 2 other styles, we can reasonably assume they will get 6 all together based on the past 3 updates.
If we assume hrothgar will ONLY get the 6.1 update, not 6.1 and 6.2 like I want (sigh), these will definitely be the last styles we get in Endwalker if we believe we'll get viera handmedowns 2 patches afterwards.
Unless 7.0 majorly updates hrothgar to bring them up to par with all viera updates, what 5 other styles would you like? I'm gonna assume we wont see viera in windcaller so my choices would be Aymeric, Leveilleur twins pony, Lexentails, Samsonian locks and, ofc, Styled for Hire.
I would list generic Character Creation approved styles but none of those are named so eh.
And I know two of those require mogst purchases but looking online there are not a lot of hairstyles available in game that are like...super amazing.
Adventure on men is just really boring and while I would love Adventure on a female hroth, on men its just so bland.
Curls ie Afro looks bad on everyone frankly its so low texture and looks more like a puffball than hair.
I would like Gyr Abania on hrothgar, my friend showed me modded gar in it and I felt such envy its great but if I had to pick another braided style I had to go Lexentails bc you HAVE to complete the ivalice raids to unlock bozja and I like the ahoge I think its really cute and the girl variant has a cute bow I think femgar would appreciate.

[Tehmon]

So we know viera are getting Roxas in 6.3 but nothing else yet. And while patch notes will pv maybe 2 other styles, we can reasonably assume they will get 6 all together based on the past 3 updates.
If we assume hrothgar will ONLY get the 6.1 update, not 6.1 and 6.2 like I want (sigh), these will definitely be the last styles we get in Endwalker if we believe we'll get viera handmedowns 2 patches afterwards.
Unless 7.0 majorly updates hrothgar to bring them up to par with all viera updates, what 5 other styles would you like? I'm gonna assume we wont see viera in windcaller so my choices would be Aymeric, Leveilleur twins pony, Lexentails, Samsonian locks and, ofc, Styled for Hire.
I would list generic Character Creation approved styles but none of those are named so eh.
And I know two of those require mogst purchases but looking online there are not a lot of hairstyles available in game that are like...super amazing.
Adventure on men is just really boring and while I would love Adventure on a female hroth, on men its just so bland.
Curls ie Afro looks bad on everyone frankly its so low texture and looks more like a puffball than hair.
I would like Gyr Abania on hrothgar, my friend showed me modded gar in it and I felt such envy its great but if I had to pick another braided style I had to go Lexentails bc you HAVE to complete the ivalice raids to unlock bozja and I like the ahoge I think its really cute and the girl variant has a cute bow I think femgar would appreciate.

O babe, I didn't know you posted here!

If hrothgar gets the '' Artoirel long hair '' next patch, I think that will be great. Hrothgar may be getting viera '' handmedowns '' but let's be real, almost all of the new hairs will look better on hrothgar than on viera, especially male viera, whose fivehead issues are bordering on ridiculous.

[Pip_Chick]

So we know viera are getting Roxas in 6.3 but nothing else yet. And while patch notes will pv maybe 2 other styles, we can reasonably assume they will get 6 all together based on the past 3 updates.
If we assume hrothgar will ONLY get the 6.1 update, not 6.1 and 6.2 like I want (sigh), these will definitely be the last styles we get in Endwalker if we believe we'll get viera handmedowns 2 patches afterwards.
Unless 7.0 majorly updates hrothgar to bring them up to par with all viera updates, what 5 other styles would you like? I'm gonna assume we wont see viera in windcaller so my choices would be Aymeric, Leveilleur twins pony, Lexentails, Samsonian locks and, ofc, Styled for Hire.
I would list generic Character Creation approved styles but none of those are named so eh.
And I know two of those require mogst purchases but looking online there are not a lot of hairstyles available in game that are like...super amazing.
Adventure on men is just really boring and while I would love Adventure on a female hroth, on men its just so bland.
Curls ie Afro looks bad on everyone frankly its so low texture and looks more like a puffball than hair.
I would like Gyr Abania on hrothgar, my friend showed me modded gar in it and I felt such envy its great but if I had to pick another braided style I had to go Lexentails bc you HAVE to complete the ivalice raids to unlock bozja and I like the ahoge I think its really cute and the girl variant has a cute bow I think femgar would appreciate.

Hmmm... If I could choose 5, those would be:
1. Lexen Tails
2. Early to Rise
3. Samsonian Locks
4. Wind Caller
5. Styled For Hire

[XiRon]

Hmmm... If I could choose 5, those would be:
1. Lexen Tails
2. Early to Rise
3. Samsonian Locks
4. Wind Caller
5. Styled For Hire

pretty sure we will get ETR in 6.4 since viera got it in 6.2 I think.
mostly same list as mine lol I toast your taste

[XiRon]

O babe, I didn't know you posted here!

If hrothgar gets the '' Artoirel long hair '' next patch, I think that will be great. Hrothgar may be getting viera '' handmedowns '' but let's be real, almost all of the new hairs will look better on hrothgar than on viera, especially male viera, whose fivehead issues are bordering on ridiculous.

mwah.
Idk I think a lot of the new hair is fine in spite of the 5head but yknow what? Absolutely shocked I dont see more viera in Rainmaker, the hairstyle everyone was screaming at the devs to push back into the game (justified idk why they took it out) and none of them use it.
Once 6.1 drops I think I will use either Rainmaker or the Artoriel bc they're my fave options hrothgar will have access too but idk yet. Might use "Jesus"/Hippie if the artoriel style looks too 5heady on hrothgar.

[Pip_Chick]

pretty sure we will get ETR in 6.4 since viera got it in 6.2 I think.
mostly same list as mine lol I toast your taste

Thank you!
I spent too much time as a baby sprout on farming Palace of the Dead for the Samsonian Locks to not ask for it. XD
And in rest, it's just what I think would look good on Hrothgar!

[Tehmon]

mwah.
Idk I think a lot of the new hair is fine in spite of the 5head but yknow what? Absolutely shocked I dont see more viera in Rainmaker, the hairstyle everyone was screaming at the devs to push back into the game (justified idk why they took it out) and none of them use it.
Once 6.1 drops I think I will use either Rainmaker or the Artoriel bc they're my fave options hrothgar will have access too but idk yet. Might use "Jesus"/Hippie if the artoriel style looks too 5heady on hrothgar.

I've tried to make the new hairstyles work on male viera, but none of them come close to the original hairs male viera has in terms of quality and covering up that damn 5head. I think they'd be better off giving some female viera hair to male viera instead. For a race that's supposed to be so androgynous, you'd think they'd go for it but no.

I don't think hrothgar is going to have 5head issues because they don't have human faces so it's harder to make them look weird and off proportions, but we shall see.