Which do you prefer? Miqo'te or Au Ra?

[Atelier-Bagur]

None of the races have had any exploration of their ancestors or evolution path, but overall the vibe seems to be "human variants that came to resemble particular animals" than "actually descended from different animals".

(Hrothgar being something of a question mark, but I get the feeling they either didn't really think too hard about the lore implications or decided they didn't care about lore if it got in the way of the race they wanted to add, and hoped people wouldn't stare too closely.)

Hyur and Roegadyn are probably the most closely adjacent to each other since they lack any major physical differences like pointy ears, tails, fur, horns etc. The only thing thats different between the two are their body stature and some skin tones; I wonder if that means anything.

[TheDustyOne]

If I had to give up my Highlander for either Miqo'te or Au Ra, I'd go Au Ra for female, and Miqo'te for male. The overly cutesy and feminine Au Ra animations don't bother me, I kinda find them charming if anything, and they at least don't run like Midlander women. I dislike the male Au Ra design for the most part, and their run looks goofy, so it goes to male Miqo'te by default there, arthritic hands and all. Bonus points to Miqo'te men for having a funny ear-wiggle when they're happy.

Part of the reason I like my Highlander as she is is because of how exaggerated and over-the-top many of the emotes feel, you just can't top that /dance and /joy. Both Miqo'te and Au Ra feel very subdued in comparison, but between the two, I prefer the "overly cute" Au Ra over the Miqo'te. Also Au Ra dance is sillier, so it wins by default.

[Iscah]

Hyur and Roegadyn are probably the most closely adjacent to each other since they lack any major physical differences like pointy ears, tails, fur, horns etc. The only thing thats different between the two are their body stature and some skin tones; I wonder if that means anything.

If I was in charge of lore and had to invent an evolutionary tree for all the playable races, I would put the starting point as something resembling Elezen, maybe furry-eared and with a tail, and then have two main branches – one that loses any animal features and splits into proto-Elezen and proto-Hyur/Roegadyn groups, plus one population of the proto-Elezen gets isolated and shrinks down to Lalafell, like the real-world "hobbit" race of humans.

The other main branch becomes the animal-eared races, splitting into Miqo'te/Viera and Au Ra groups; Au Ra evolve fur into scales and somehow got antlers (mutated scales?) that took over their ear shape and turned out to be sufficiently beneficial to survive; a branch of the proto-Miqo'te becomes isolated Viera with longer ears, lost tails and extended life cycle; Hrothgar are still a puzzle that would either be "extreme evolution of the Miqo'te branch" or "a wizard did it".

Alternately, Hrothgar are the precursor race and humans evolved from cats rather than monkeys. Somehow. (Or the monkeys took a turn towards resembling cats, perhaps.)

[Local_Custard]

None of the races have had any exploration of their ancestors or evolution path, but overall the vibe seems to be "human variants that came to resemble particular animals" than "actually descended from different animals".

(Hrothgar being something of a question mark, but I get the feeling they either didn't really think too hard about the lore implications or decided they didn't care about lore if it got in the way of the race they wanted to add, and hoped people wouldn't stare too closely.)

lol maybe- but that explanation does help explain why the different fantasy races are able to bare offspring together regardless of some of the drastic size differences there may be (like an au ra and roe having children). I feel like hrothgar would be an odd case- I am tempted to post a question for a future live letter about how hrothgar came to be well, hrothgar (evolutionarily speaking).

[ReynTime]

Humans with animalistic features are the worst thing japanese spread through fictional work. But between those two Au'ra is the least of the eyesores.
Don't care for Miqo'te, Au'ra or in case of FFXIV's incarnation even the Viera at all. They're walking "anime monster waifu" cliches.

[GTK0HLK]

ignoring the few clear/obvious comments that dont understand the reasons why some races are certain ways.(in the sense that I can imagine them ranting on Twitter/X for clout, just get a earned teaching/scolding)

it is strange how the races and souls work in Eitherys.

almost like Eternal Concepts Never Fade Away, except when potentially fully spent.
(Unless that was a lie from SE/CBUIII in order for us to not want reborn characters.)
Also seeing how Emet reacted to your race in elpis. (which is pretty hilarious how he went Bully like a Hot and Cold Person with some.)

Ancients felt like a Mix of Roe/Elezen/Hyur.(With some of them clearly having some length to their neck, but not as obvious)

As well as others noted about how you can get half-races like our Neighborhood watch Leader(Half Elezen/Hyur).

Cannot speak much to how I imagine them to have evolved(Unless youre going to add races that dont exactly exist in XIV but maybe in other FF, as common ancestors. Like those in XI.)

Though I really doubt SE will ever explain the origin of the races, maybe not even if we somehow got sent all the way back to setup the setup of Eitherys, or the story.
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As for the Threads main topic, Clearly Au Ra.
While I am a Alt-holic at times(and will push for better overall systems, that inevitably will benefit alts as a side piece), I would never give up my scales. while I appreciate the races positives and understand their negatives.
(and wont overtly misunderstand or pull unrelated topics out of the wood work to justify any dislike on any)

I find Miqote quite basic, with few actually being great examples overall. (if I ever make one an Alt, it'll be a Moon. Dont At Me or Get Bit. Fangs over Eyes)

Au Ra deal with kinda the opposite, it has strong interest to those who want to have one. Yet If you have no interest at all, youll never have it.

(Cant Call either them Cult Classic, cause they have enough popularity to be a religion)

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(Which is why I find Hyur just perfectly Balanced on all aspects, for good or bad. Though Finding Males of Mid/High being much better than the Female Midlanders. While Female Highlanders above all in their race.)

Roes Depends on how good you can make a feeling go through with your design.
(Imposing in all the right ways, or be so close, yet so far from perfect that you dont want to look.)

Hrothgar cannot be fully stated on til we get a real full representative of their Female halves. That placeholder really aint doing much for them atm. (But I find them very respectable in a sense. Have strong hopes for Rothgals.)

Never Potato, but hold the npcs worth a damn close.

Elezen are like Hyur, except I feel like they are truly. If you make an alt, itll be that forever(Unless you get bored and delete the npc) [Aka, Once they go Elezen, that character might never go back. Unless you dont want to play with them anymore -Andy drops toy gif-]

as for Viera..,
No Tail?, Be Damned then.
(DONT CARE THAT YOU EXISTED WITHOUT THEM IN ANOTHER FF. So Weird. Lose the Ears then.)
Very pretty race, though Ill never make or run one, since its jarring for me, the lack of a fluffy tail.

[GoatOfWar]

For the females, obviously Au ra.
For the males, Miqote.

[Larirawiel]

I like Miqos more. Because Au Ras have very strange noses.




Cheers

[Valkyrie-Veil]

Midlander.



Tails, ears, and horns clip in gear.

Hear hear, sister.

… but also au ra. By a lot.

[KageTokage]

Au Ra.

I am rather strongly biased towards reptilian/draconic-looking races and feline derivative races are overwhelmingly common comparatively (At least as far as playable ones go, because everyone loves making the icky reptiles bad guys).

Though I prefer fully bestial vs. partly if it looks halfway decent.