Female Hrothgar as a playable race. Show your support!

[Allegor]

If they follow the trend (Yugiri, Fran) they'll likely appear somewhere in 6.X as an npc. Yugiri's approach of a completely masked character would be too suspicious/obvious, but it'd at least confirm the body type and height, and if they're hunched or not.

To be fair, Yugiri was also masked at first because the Au Ra models weren't done yet. Until she unmasks, she's actually a modified Miqo'te.

Huh, since she was introduced so early in the MSQ (2.1 I think?) I assumed it was to keep the mystery going until Au Ra were properly revealed going into HW, but that still didn't change the fact she foreshadowed female Au Ra would be of comaprable height/silhouette to a Miqo.

[TheMightyMollusk]

If they follow the trend (Yugiri, Fran) they'll likely appear somewhere in 6.X as an npc. Yugiri's approach of a completely masked character would be too suspicious/obvious, but it'd at least confirm the body type and height, and if they're hunched or not.

To be fair, Yugiri was also masked at first because the Au Ra models weren't done yet. Until she unmasks, she's actually a modified Miqo'te.

[SassyAssassin]

Im too excited to see the first hrothgal trailer! Call it stupidity, but I have hope.

[Pip_Chick]

It's not that complicated. New races are a marketing point for a new expansion, so it makes no sense to reveal the race before you reveal the expansion. It's pretty standard practice for MMOs.

I wasn't referring to a full-on reveal, but hinting at a lack of communication. The last thing we heard from them was that they had 2 designs that they were deciding from.

Let's be honest, the only people who are tunning in the Live Letters are a small minority when compared to the rest of the player base, there are even less people tunning in the dev blogs. So somewhere in those they could show concept art, or just discuss where they are in the project. It's a simple matter of communication or lack thereof.

Besides, people have seen the Au'Ra concept art from back when they were still in the works and the hype for them wasn't diminished, but it actually grew.

And just because something is standard doesn't mean is good. I, like the rest of you, am paying monthly to play this game. So I don't think that me asking for more communication on a project I am very invested in is in any way a problem. Just have a short update on the dev blog about them. By this time there should be a finalised concept art that would be good to show in such a mini blog and say at which point are they in the pipeline.

[CidHeiral]

If they follow the trend (Yugiri, Fran) they'll likely appear somewhere in 6.X as an npc. Yugiri's approach of a completely masked character would be too suspicious/obvious, but it'd at least confirm the body type and height, and if they're hunched or not.

The difference between those examples and this time is that Hrothgals are arriving alongside a complete graphical overhaul. To include them early they would have to either make a separate low fidelity model to show once then never use again, or entirely shroud the character in something. Of course anything is possible so who knows, but I would put the likelihood of an early cameo as pretty low. I would love to be wrong.

I wasn't referring to a full-on reveal, but hinting at a lack of communication. So somewhere in those they could show concept art, or just discuss where they are in the project. It's a simple matter of communication or lack thereof.

They're unlikely to reveal the race preemptively for reasons already stated. Beyond that there's nothing to communicate that you don't already know. What would be the point of an update that just says "yeah we're still working on it"? You already know that. It's like answering a kid in the backseat screaming "ARE WE THERE YET???"

I, like the rest of you, am paying monthly to play this game. So I don't think that me asking for more communication on a project I am very invested in is in any way a problem.

Your monthly subscription does not entitle you to behind the scenes game development access. I understand you are very excited for female Hrothgar, I am as well, but the fan fests aren't that far away. All will be revealed in due course.

[Fukuro]

By this time there should be a finalised concept art that would be good to show in such a mini blog and say at which point are they in the pipeline.

I might be in the minority here but I hope they don't show us anything before they are finalized tbh. People will never be satisfied and will start to pull the devs apart on how to design them, what to change etc. I think the devs are very aware how "passionate" people can be. (Thinking about the Male Viera thread)

I'm just excited for the future LL regarding the new expansion, and I'm more than 100% sure they will be in there and Femgars will look awesome!

[Midareyukki]

They're unlikely to reveal the race preemptively for reasons already stated. Beyond that there's nothing to communicate that you don't already know. What would be the point of an update that just says "yeah we're still working on it"? You already know that. It's like answering a kid in the backseat screaming "ARE WE THERE YET???"

I think what people want to know the most isn't whether or not they're coming (they are, we'll get them eventually) or see the models. But rather at least see the designs.

Because if the past few hundred pages are any indication, people are apprehensive about the design choices they'll take for Female Hrothgars. Hence why people want an update on that, so they know what path they'll take and if it matches player expectations/demands.

Now, realistically, Square has never done that before a major event. And by that time they likely already have their ideas sorted out and ready to finalize.

I might be in the minority here but I hope they don't show us anything before they are finalized tbh. People will never be satisfied and will start to pull the devs apart on how to design them, what to change etc. I think the devs are very aware how "passionate" people can be. (Thinking about the Male Viera thread)

You aren't wrong in feeling this way.

But the major reason why people want to have an idea for which direction they're taking is because of aforementioned design choices and reactions :x

And given how SE is very communicative with Hrothgars in general, right? (/s), people are incredibly skeptical about whether or not they'll take a route that matches what people expect to play.

[Pip_Chick]

I think what people want to know the most isn't whether or not they're coming (they are, we'll get them eventually) or see the models. But rather at least see the designs.

Because if the past few hundred pages are any indication, people are apprehensive about the design choices they'll take for Female Hrothgars. Hence why people want an update on that, so they know what path they'll take and if it matches player expectations/demands.

Now, realistically, Square has never done that before a major event. And by that time they likely already have their ideas sorted out and ready to finalize.



You aren't wrong in feeling this way.

But the major reason why people want to have an idea for which direction they're taking is because of aforementioned design choices and reactions :x

And given how SE is very communicative with Hrothgars in general, right? (/s), people are incredibly skeptical about whether or not they'll take a route that matches what people expect to play.

100% this.

SE has proven to not care for Hrothgar as a race that much, see the 3 years of spending IRL money to change a hairstyle between only 2 options per face with no interchangeable hair. That combined with the horrible trope of beast-man/dainty human girl with a-few-not-too-many animal features. It is very clear why we would like to at least see the creative direction of them, to know what to expect.

[CidHeiral]

People will never be satisfied and will start to pull the devs apart on how to design them, what to change etc. I think the devs are very aware how "passionate" people can be. (Thinking about the Male Viera thread)

Exactly.

I think what people want to know the most isn't whether or not they're coming (they are, we'll get them eventually) or see the models. But rather at least see the designs.

"Seeing the designs" is the same difference as revealing the race in their entirety from a marketing perspective. They would be undercutting the impact of the full reveal. You're also then stretching that new race hype from a six month period where you're talking about them regularly to an additional six months where nothing much is going on with them. Not to mention it would also most likely fuel months of forum rage that the art does or doesn't have X or Y because people don't have the context of the actual models rendered and in motion.

I've wanted to play a beast race in this game since I started years ago. I'd love to see what Hrothgals look like now as much as anyone else here but I understand why that would be an unwise decision from the dev's perspective. Hrothgar came out nearly four years ago. Six more months isn't that big of a deal.

It is very clear why we would like to at least see the creative direction of them, to know what to expect.

They're going to be what they're going to be, knowing that now or later makes no difference. They're not being designed by committee.

[Midareyukki]

"Seeing the designs" is the same difference as revealing the race in their entirety from a marketing perspective. They would be undercutting the impact of the full reveal. You're also then stretching that new race hype from a six month period where you're talking about them regularly to an additional six months where nothing much is going on with them. Not to mention it would also most likely fuel months of forum rage that the art does or doesn't have X or Y because people don't have the context of the actual models rendered and in motion.

I've wanted to play a beast race in this game since I started years ago. I'd love to see what Hrothgals look like now as much as anyone else here but I understand why that would be an unwise decision from the dev's perspective. Hrothgar came out nearly four years ago. Six more months isn't that big of a deal.



They're going to be what they're going to be, knowing that now or later makes no difference. They're not being designed by committee.

I mean, bold of you to assume there won't be any rage overall when they do come out anyway. There's still a relative majority that wants one thing and a minority that wants another. Whichever we get, someone will throw a fit. I just personally am on the side of going for what the majorty seems to want, but at the same time, that's still bias from my part.

Otherwise, yeah dw, you're right. And I do get that. It's just wishful thinking at this point to want to know how the design will be, that way the freak-out will happen sooner rather than later. Because we've seen them implement stuff and the reaction be poor, a lot of which could have been avoided if they had just stopped and gauged what the people interested in playing their content actually wanted.

e_e and I very much would like to avoid another moment of "Oh, your reaction to us cutting your ears out surprised us :c", like they didn't see it coming


Editing for clarification: I do agree with you guys, keep that in mind. I was just explaining why people wanted to see things a bit sooner and what they wanted to avoid, but what you said, Cid, makes sense. I'm not going to disprove that, since it's true from my perspective. As for Pip We all are on edge and expecting. But unfortunately, we need to wait and be patient. Square will never work any faster just because we hope for it. Best we can do is wait, see how their business model is laid out, not freak out if they don't show anything because we do know they ARE coming, and provide feedback if it's not up to par. And if they do go for a choice most people are not happy with, then as unfortunate as it is, we either choose to take it or not go for it and present the reason why.

We can avoid a Male Viera problem, is what I'm saying.