So Long, and thanks for eating all my fish!! (Race Bonus thread)

[Elexia]

It does raise the point though: People seem hardpressed against racial bonuses yet almost every other MMO out there have a Racial Bonus or Class Bonus of some kind and no one complains unless it's utterly overpowered.

[Skies]

Nah, I just think that most of the people who say they play them for the animations are in denial.
Just like all the "G.I.R.L." Players.

My friend, I resent that. Truthfully, calling Miqo'te furry is like calling elezen males manly! One could perhaps do the stretch but it would be in fact a very large stretch!

And as you can see, I am in fact a guy playing a catgirl before you ask. I would also daresay I have sufficient knowledge to back up my claims.

[Ruisu]

It does raise the point though: People seem hardpressed against racial bonuses yet almost every other MMO out there have a Racial Bonus or Class Bonus of some kind and no one complains unless it's utterly overpowered.

I actually stopped playing World of Warcraft, mostly because I was bored with it, but also because I couldn't play an undead hunter/tauren warlock/etc.

I don't mind minor stat changes, honestly. It's going to be 3 points or so extra on one stat or something. So long as something like a Roegadyn WHM isn't taboo, like it was when FFXI first came out.

[Fiosha_Maureiba]

Miqo'te only seem to have furry tails and ears. They are 10%.

credit to: Iareninja

And yes, there is no such thing as a girl on the internet.

It's true. I read it on the internet.

But there are androgynous voiced males into hair and beauty products. They are highly suspicious.

Camate does this "follow me into the rabbit hole" thing better.

*burns the image*

Cake.

Please stop... please. No room... to smoke.

[Arcell]

this doesn't make any sense. under what logic does any race bonus\Incentive prevent anyone from creating the character they want to. just because a Lalafell might have a better affinity towards Magic doesn't mean people are going to stop going DD on them, just because mi'qote can Dodge and evade better doesn't mean people are going to stop playing mage on them, just becuase a galka or whatever there called in 14 has a better affinity towards DD Doesn't mean people are going to stop playing EVA based jobs.

they'll be better at what they do and in no way does it stop or hamper your choices.

It doesn't stop you but it hinders you. If one race has more MP or INT than all the others, which do you think people would prefer for a BLM? If one race has higher evasion than all of the others, which do you think people would prefer for a Monk? You're not forced to go with those choices but the community tends to shun anything that's not the best of the best and that in turn makes it impossible for some people to actually play their preferred class/job in parties because of their race. People already don't like taking certain class/jobs into some fights as it stands, can you imagine how much worse it would get if race was also a factor?

Yes things like materia exist but when stats differ to any great amount, two equally geared players of different races will always be that far from each other. If the stats don't differ to an amount that matters, what's the point of even having the different stats in the first place? If it doesn't matter, there's no point. If it does matter, the community will shun any non-optimal combination.

I'm all for race specific customization options, animations, emotes and even gear look varying a bit based on race but anything outside of that and it starts to create more problems than it's worth. The development of the game hasn't been going in that direction anyway so I wouldn't count on it being part of the 2.0 plan.

[Wolfie]

So then how about we don't go with the FFXI style of race bonuses (which were more like race disadvantages), and we do something more similar to WOW or RIFT, where you simply get some almost inconsequential, highly situational, but fun and visually distinct abilities?

[Zyph]

So then how about we don't go with the FFXI style of race bonuses (which were more like race disadvantages), and we do something more similar to WOW or RIFT, where you simply get some almost inconsequential, highly situational, but fun and visually distinct abilities?

I actually like this idea.


It would also help further racial lore in game, as there is currently none aside from what's on the website.

[Raymeo]

It does raise the point though: People seem hardpressed against racial bonuses yet almost every other MMO out there have a Racial Bonus or Class Bonus of some kind and no one complains unless it's utterly overpowered.

The majority of those MMOs, if not all of them, have vertical character scaling and expect your character to be locked into one class for the majority, if not the entirety, of its existence. This game is different, in that it uses horizontal character scaling. Rather than providing us with an endless rat race of improvement for one class, this game wants players to improve by broadening their capabilities through the leveling and use of multiple classes. Abilities by nature are used by certain roles -- caster, dps, tank, etc. Giving each race a unique ability is pretty much allowing them an additional edge in one of the combat roles compared to other races, and in a situation where different races begin to fill different roles better than others, players start feeling like different races are locked into filling certain roles, which goes against the game's core focus on encouraging players to level and play multiple classes.

I'm not saying that you don't have a point -- people may still accept racial bonuses in this game if they were to be implemented. However, I have a hard time imagining the devs ever implementing them because of the potential for it to go against their game's foundations. If they were to implement racial bonuses, I see them being more along the lines of non-combat bonuses in order to preserve the encouragement of combat flexibility. Perhaps bonuses for DoH and DoL would work, and those could even be tuned in such a way that they could help balance out the different areas of supply in the market if they took the most popular races and gave them abilities for the least popular DoH and DoL classes, as well as the reverse. Or the bonuses could be passives that don't relate to any classes at all, with things like 10% faster anima recharge rate or 10% more crystals from mobs. A situation where abilities contribute to any sort of combat proficiency though, which is when players start getting concerned about balance and fear of "overpower" as you pointed out, I think is very unlikely to be added into this game.

[Felis]

FFXIV is in dire need of some form of Racial Activity's/Bonuses to allow Diversity in Eorzea. i do not know if this is planed for 2.0, but it needs to happen on launch of 2.0.

We would get race specific starter equip with 2.0

[Nahaara]

Please no, racial choice should be cosmetic only imo, I'd rather not have a repeat of the nonsense that was FFXI's racial system and the way the community handled it tyvm.