Female Hrothgar as a playable race. Show your support!

[LinaAkayomi]

They NEED to break that Mold.
We need to stop being afraid of Embracing Beauty in different Forms.
Regardless of how small the fan/playerbase is, its still money to feed the Machine, and its still a Demographic worth appealing to.

See, here's the problem. We gotta keep in mind this is mainly a Japanese MMO, very heavily influenced by their designs and ideas, and since most of the dev team is Japanese, they'll most likely cater to Japanese audiences.
This is not to say that our ideas are completely ignored, far from it! They're one of the best dev teams out there when it comes to listening to their community, in my opinion. But still, you can clearly see their aesthetic choices and whatnot in their designs. While I agree with what you say, we say this from our culture with our ideas of beauty and whatnot.

What I'm trying to say with this is: They need to please very different kinds of people, and as such, they'll go for the most tame, middle ground option they can. I don't say this to talk down on them, it's just how things are, it's the most logical business practice.

So don't expect anything too risky or too extravagant.

[Allegor]

See, here's the problem. We gotta keep in mind this is mainly a Japanese MMO, very heavily influenced by their designs and ideas, and since most of the dev team is Japanese, they'll most likely cater to Japanese audiences.
This is not to say that our ideas are completely ignored, far from it! They're one of the best dev teams out there when it comes to listening to their community, in my opinion. But still, you can clearly see their aesthetic choices and whatnot in their designs. While I agree with what you say, we say this from our culture with our ideas of beauty and whatnot.

What I'm trying to say with this is: They need to please very different kinds of people, and as such, they'll go for the most tame, middle ground option they can. I don't say this to talk down on them, it's just how things are, it's the most logical business practice.

So don't expect anything too risky or too extravagant.

You're not wrong, generally speaking, but they've already defied their own cultural status quo by un-genderlocking a lot of glamours, for example, and as Yoshi-P himself said (don't have the quote at hand, if anyone else could link it) Hrothgars were made for more diversity in the roster, regardless of popularity, meaning the race existing is already 'breaking the mold' - whether they stay true to their word or not is what's yet to be seen, considering how the male Hroths have been practically neglected treated thus far for being too difficult/unconventional to work with.

In other words, it's less "they're Japanese/another culture" and more "this specific group of people likes to cut corners."

[Shinkuno]

You're not wrong, generally speaking, but they've already defied their own cultural status quo by un-genderlocking a lot of glamours, for example, and as Yoshi-P himself said (don't have the quote at hand, if anyone else could link it) Hrothgars were made for more diversity in the roster, regardless of popularity, meaning the race existing is already 'breaking the mold' - whether they stay true to their word or not is what's yet to be seen, considering how the male Hroths have been practically neglected treated thus far for being too difficult/unconventional to work with.

In other words, it's less "they're Japanese/another culture" and more "this specific group of people likes to cut corners."

Its pretty clear hrothgar are an afterthought and are completly ignored. The whole earless hair wouldnt have happened if they actually cared about the race. And you can clearly see it in the olther non-"beauty" races too. Highlander still cant have eyebrows and maleroes look dumb in most armor even though they have a seperate model for armor. They went out of their way to make a different armormodel for the burly race but made it look shit. If you arent a aura or miqote you dont matter to the devteam.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Does it matter what YoshiP said?

It does if they care about the long-term health of the Game.
I hate bringing up other games as examples...but just like Overwatch 2. They said they were going to do something, hyped us up, and then didnt do it...so now, that game is Dead for all I care.
Id hate the same thing to happen to FFXIV, because YoshiP or any of the devs said "Dont worry, this is coming" and then go back on it.
((Granted Id leave over something much bigger then the Gender/Sex of a Playable Race Avatar that doesnt even have Voice Acting))

[Shinkuno]

It does if they care about the long-term health of the Game.
I hate bringing up other games as examples...but just like Overwatch 2. They said they were going to do something, hyped us up, and then didnt do it...so now, that game is Dead for all I care.
Id hate the same thing to happen to FFXIV, because YoshiP or any of the devs said "Dont worry, this is coming" and then go back on it.
((Granted Id leave over something much bigger then the Gender/Sex of a Playable Race Avatar that doesnt even have Voice Acting))

It already happened multiple times. You are just too new to the game to know. One of the most prominent example would probably be housing.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

See, here's the problem. We gotta keep in mind this is mainly a Japanese MMO, very heavily influenced by their designs and ideas, and since most of the dev team is Japanese, they'll most likely cater to Japanese audiences.
This is not to say that our ideas are completely ignored, far from it! They're one of the best dev teams out there when it comes to listening to their community, in my opinion. But still, you can clearly see their aesthetic choices and whatnot in their designs. While I agree with what you say, we say this from our culture with our ideas of beauty and whatnot.

What I'm trying to say with this is: They need to please very different kinds of people, and as such, they'll go for the most tame, middle ground option they can. I don't say this to talk down on them, it's just how things are, it's the most logical business practice.

So don't expect anything too risky or too extravagant.

But here's the thing......they have NO SHORTAGE of Options for "Pretty" and "Humanoid" looking Options.
Many people like to (probly just Meme and Troll) come in and basically say we should get Miqote 2.0 or just basically a Bigger Catgirl. This makes no sense, we already have Catgirls, they would have wasted all of this time and resources on Creating "possibly our last playable race to be added to the game" on just a bigger version of what we already have...at that point, why couldn't they just make a New Clan and just upscale the bodies? Instead of Robbing the Hrothgar of a Legit Female Counterpart? They were already Robbed of their Queen being Featured in the Bozja Storyline, now rob them of a Female Counterpart? We have more then enough Human Options...
What we DONT have, is a Fully Female Beastman. And, its not like they havent made these before...like Freya and Female Ronso just as 2 easy and Quick examples. So why cant they do that for an MMO, Devoid of any Non-Human Option? (Besides Male Hrothgar)
They have already appealed to their Main Demographic, and have given people the more popular options, they even put in Viera and Created the 1st Illustration of their Males.
So Branching out into another Demographic that would love something NOT Humanoid/Human-Looking, is more money.....and people like to talk about Money. They'd be missing out if they didnt have a playable Beastrace, BOTH with a Male and a Female Sex/Gender.

Halfassing it and going for the Tame Middle-ground, would be a Bigger Mistake and waste of money, then it would be to Follow through and make a Legit Female Counterpart to the Males.

[Boblawblah]

But here's the thing......they have NO SHORTAGE of Options for "Pretty" and "Humanoid" looking Options.
Many people like to (probly just Meme and Troll) come in and basically say we should get Miqote 2.0 or just basically a Bigger Catgirl. This makes no sense, we already have Catgirls, they would have wasted all of this time and resources on Creating "possibly our last playable race to be added to the game" on just a bigger version of what we already have...at that point, why couldn't they just make a New Clan and just upscale the bodies? Instead of Robbing the Hrothgar of a Legit Female Counterpart? They were already Robbed of their Queen being Featured in the Bozja Storyline, now rob them of a Female Counterpart? We have more then enough Human Options...
What we DONT have, is a Fully Female Beastman. And, its not like they havent made these before...like Freya and Female Ronso just as 2 easy and Quick examples. So why cant they do that for an MMO, Devoid of any Non-Human Option? (Besides Male Hrothgar)
They have already appealed to their Main Demographic, and have given people the more popular options, they even put in Viera and Created the 1st Illustration of their Males.
So Branching out into another Demographic that would love something NOT Humanoid/Human-Looking, is more money.....and people like to talk about Money. They'd be missing out if they didnt have a playable Beastrace, BOTH with a Male and a Female Sex/Gender.

Halfassing it and going for the Tame Middle-ground, would be a Bigger Mistake and waste of money, then it would be to Follow through and make a Legit Female Counterpart to the Males.

idk, would it be a mistake if 'sexy femroth' was insanely popular? For those that wanted something different sure, and I don't have a ..err, Hrothgar in this race, but I'm not sure it would be an objective mistake. That said, I think you all will be happy with how they turn out, they've made it clear they're NOT going for the sexy popular crowd.

[CidHeiral]

What I'm trying to say with this is: They need to please very different kinds of people, and as such, they'll go for the most tame, middle ground option they can. I don't say this to talk down on them, it's just how things are, it's the most logical business practice.

Q: Do you have any updates regarding female Hrothgar?
（04:14:39）

A: With Endwalker-related tasks finally calming down, rough sketches are now being made to solidify their design in earnest. It’ll be a long while before they’re implemented, but progress has been steady.

Some may think, “Won’t only a few people play as female Hrothgar?” but my concerns aren’t really about whether female Hrothgar will become as popular as other races. More importantly, expanding the in-game world with a variety of different races and players of varying characteristics is a crucial step towards making FFXIV an RPG that can be played alone or with friends. As such, it’s not about how many people will use them, but rather about implementing female Hrothgar for the people looking forward to them.

Source: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/456921


The devs do not care how popular hrothgals are going to be. If popularity were the only factor they wouldn't have added Hrothgar in the first place. Beast-like and other "not pretty" races are almost always less popular, but they are still a wise business decision because they bring in players who would otherwise not play the game at all.

To put it another way, in World of Warcraft the most popular races by far are Humans, Blood Elves, and Night Elves (the "pretty" races) and it's not even close.



However, the game also gives players the choice of being werewolves, minotaurs, zombies, foxes, goblins, trolls and other "ugly" races. If all those other races were deleted tomorrow but everyone was given a free character change to a Human, Blood Elf, or Night Elf, how many do you think would take it? Some probably would, but I'd wager many would just quit the game. I certainly would have back when I was playing, and that's the money you're leaving on the table by only focusing on conventionally attractive popular races.

Yoship understands this, which is why he said:

After seeing the positive reception of the Lupin characters we introduced in Stormblood, we concluded that, for the long-term health of FFXIV, it was important to implement a greater variety of character types beyond the traditionally beautiful in a future expansion.

Source: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/389675


Female Hrothgar are not going to be another Miqo'te/Au Ra. I'm going to keep reposting this until it sinks into people's skull.

[LinaAkayomi]

[IMG]Female Hrothgar are not going to be another Miqo'te/Au Ra. I'm going to keep reposting this until it sinks into people's skull.

Don't waste your breath on me, my fursona is a 7 foot 300 pound big cat lady. I want bestial big cat ladies as much as every other Hrothgar fanatic in here. Wish I could have it my way, but it's not realistic without proper investment, and I'm quite pessimistic about that.
Only options I see viable right now is:
- Another Hrothgar fiasco (Remember when Hroths first came out? Yuck)
- Furrier Miqo'tes (Mostly because it'd be easier)
- Roes with muzzles on (Arguably best possible scenario)

Wanting a fully fledged, properly built bestial race just for females sounds a bit too good to be true, considering the new expansion, the graphics overhaul and whatnot.
Best case scenario we'll get thinner Hrothgars with breasts slapped on top.

[CidHeiral]

What I find Crazy about that Chart, is how many Vulpera Players there are.
The Numbers for Tauren & Worgan also Proves people like Beast Races. Even the smaller numbers of Pandaren still proves there is a Fanbase/Playerbase for this "Unattractive" option.
Its small by Comparison to the others...but those are still good Numbers. Dont sleep on them.

Exactly. Individually their numbers may seem low but put them all together and that's a massive amount of people. That is the audience (and $$$) you're missing out on by only pandering to the "pretty race" crowd.

Wish I could have it my way, but it's not realistic without proper investment, and I'm quite pessimistic about that.

Fortunately your pessimism is irrelevant since we have direct quotes to the contrary from the person in complete control of the game.

Can we stop treating YoshiPs word like gospel?

Sure right after you stop making dumb hyperbolic posts.