Newcomer here, just a bit of feedback for the devs! :D

[Terin]

Hello! I just started playing the Live-version of the game a few days ago, and so far, I've been having quite a bit of fun! I thought I'd offer a few suggestions, though

1. The male Hyur -- Midlander and Highlander alike -- have some really awkward idle and running animations. I don't know exactly what it is, but they look a bit "goofy", particularly when sprinting. Something about their posture seems a bit effeminate.

2. There probably needs to be another more "masculine" race added at some point, just for the sake of variety. Hyur, Miqo'te, and Elezen are all very thin, very beautiful races, with the Lalafell and Roegadyn as the only ones that really stand out to me as appealing to different tastes. Personally? I'd love to see a race along the lines of a "humanoid Behemoth", sort of like Ifrit in some of the older games. Something that looks physically intimidating, as I could see something like that appealing to fans of other MMO's, to contrast the "pretty" races.

3. Personal opinion; I want to play as a Moogle! Just have their weapons "float" by their side, using magic and whatnot to swing them. Sure, it's purely visual, as they'd play like any other race, but they're just so iconic to the Final Fantasy franchise, it would be cool! Even if their Helm is the only armor they display, I would be all over that idea!

4. Clothing-customization. Customizing your character themselves is great, but I'd also like to choose my favorite clothes and armor. As long as you've equipped it before, and it doesn't conflict with your current Class, why not open those options up a bit?

5. Add a Grid-style UI manager. Instead of having to line things up manually, with overlapping or micro-managing every individual pixel, I'd love to have everything snap into a nice, clean grid.

6. I seriously love the idea of the "Lightning Returns" themed event. I'd love to eventually see similar events celebrate other games in the franchise, as well, provided it not get *too* overboard. I also love the idea of unlocking new Character Customization-options.

7. Some sort of multiple-characters utility. Maybe being able to trade soulbound-items between characters, or extending the catch-up mechanic for leveling up a different class to meet up with your highest-level, but also applying it to alts, as an option? I really like the idea of having two or three characters, not just using the same one to do everything, but I feel like you're just missing out on too much for it to really be feasible.

8. In regards to some above suggestions, I'd love to be able to start playing a new character, but visually outfit them with higher-level gear I've earned on my main. For example, if I earn the "Warrior of Light set" on my main, I'd love to be able to use its appearance while leveling up a new character, even if they're still just as weak as anyone else. I suspect some armor-sets simply look better on certain races, so that would be great!

9. Maybe consider bringing back a few truly iconic items that have since been retired? Many players are able to digitally upgrade their standard editions to acquire the new Collector's Edition items, and truth be known, I would really like to be able to attain the Onion Helm, as well as some other distinctive items that are no longer available. Of course, not *everything* needs to be available again; just things that aren't "status symbols".

10. There are a couple of unnecessary cases of ability-bloat (although not many!). Long-duration buffs, for example, I would personally change to be passive "Auras" for all friendly nearby players, removing the need for them to be placed as hotkeys. This also sort of leads into the next point...

11. The terminology of what constitutes as a "Class", versus what is a "Job" is just really confusing. Instead, I would advise breaking things down a bit. Instead, I would have *everything* listed as a Class, and listing the differences as "Base/Core Jobs" versus "Advanced Jobs" (or vice versa, everything lists as a Job, with Core/Advanced Classes) . You could even get all fancy with it, and refer to them as "Archetypes" and "Hybrids".

[Terin]

3. Personal opinion; I want to play as a Moogle! Just have their weapons "float" by their side, using magic and whatnot to swing them. Sure, it's purely visual, as they'd play like any other race, but they're just so iconic to the Final Fantasy franchise, it would be cool! Even if their Helm is the only armor they display, I would be all over that idea!

4. Clothing-customization. Customizing your character themselves is great, but I'd also like to choose my favorite clothes and armor. As long as you've equipped it before, and it doesn't conflict with your current Class, why not open those options up a bit?

[Enkidoh]

Welcome to Eorzea!

1. there's probably a reason why the Highlanders run awkwardly, as their animation set is particularly fitting for a certain npc named Hildibrand (who is a comic-relief character you'll probably end up hearing a lot about ). Apparently SE are planning on adding a new race into the game in the first expansion due within the next two years, but no one knows what that race will be.
2. I don't know, I find the roegadyn and Highlander hyur look masculine enough to me. I think if you're after a Hulk-level body build though I think you'll be sadly disappointed, as that sort of body size is just not popular in Japan, FFXIV's core market. Some of the other races still look buff enough to me, like some male miqo'te or even some of the elezen. :3
3. Unfortunately, given the game's lore, moogles will probably never be a playable race in the game - moogles are native to the Black Shroud near Gridania and usually shy away from contact with other races (apparently because Ul'dah merchants hunted them in the past!). Now they act as emissaries between the people of Gridania (and by extension, the rest of Eorzea), and the elementals. In fact, the original version of FFXIV (1.0) stated moogles spoke a completely different language and hence couldn't be usually understood by most people (there's a story reason the player can understand them though which I won't spoil). So sadly, I think we have a better chance of seeing another race than playable moogles.
4. Vanity slots are planned for the game, but recently the development team stated they're having to make some changes to how it will be implemented from what they originally planned due to technical reasons (originally they planned on having it as a literal 'slot' system, where one set of armour slots was for stats and the other for appearance). Now it looks like we'll be getting a kind of transmog system where you actually physically change a piece of armour's appearance to another permanently. There is still no word on when this system will be added though. For the time being though, you can actually change most gear's colour by dying it, the ability which is unlocked through a quick and easy quest in Vesper Bay at level 15. Not all gear can be dyed though, especially special gear or rare gear found in dungeons. But it's a start.

Anyway, I didn't mean to pour could water over your suggestions - you have some good ideas!

[Terin]

Hah, no worries!

As far as a "masculine race", the Highlanders definitely *look* the part, but their animations sort of throw me off. Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing them with a few more facial-hair options. Either way, I'm quite happy with the male Miqo'te, I've just noticed in World of Warcraft, more "savage" races tend to be more popular, so I figure if FFXIV had its own "badass" race, it might draw even more people to the game. Roegadyn are pretty tough looking, just in a different sort of way, I think.

As far as Moogles becoming playable, I never honestly expect it to happen, either; I just wanted to at least voice how much I really like the idea! :P

As far as Clothing-customization, I'm personally hoping they maybe steal a page from DC Universe Online. In that game, once you've equipped a piece of armor, you unlock its appearance for use permanently, even if you sell the item. I'm always deathly afraid I'm going to accidentally sell a piece of unique-looking, irreplaceable armor.

[Terin]

Just adding a few more ideas to the list!

5. Add a Grid-style UI manager. Instead of having to line things up manually, with overlapping or micro-managing every individual pixel, I'd love to have everything snap into a nice, clean grid.

6. I seriously love the idea of the "Lightning Returns" themed event. I'd love to eventually see similar events celebrate other games in the franchise, as well, provided it not get *too* overboard. I also love the idea of unlocking new Character Customization-options.

7. Some sort of multiple-characters utility. Maybe being able to trade soulbound-items between characters, or extending the catch-up mechanic for leveling up a different class to meet up with your highest-level, but also applying it to alts, as an option? I really like the idea of having two or three characters, not just using the same one to do everything, but I feel like you're just missing out on too much for it to really be feasible.

[Terin]

8. In regards to some above suggestions, I'd love to be able to start playing a new character, but visually outfit them with higher-level gear I've earned on my main. For example, if I earn the "Warrior of Light set" on my main, I'd love to be able to use its appearance while leveling up a new character, even if they're still just as weak as anyone else. I suspect some armor-sets simply look better on certain races, so that would be great!

9. Maybe consider bringing back a few truly iconic items that have since been retired? Many players are able to digitally upgrade their standard editions to acquire the new Collector's Edition items, and truth be known, I would really like to be able to attain the Onion Helm, as well as some other distinctive items that are no longer available. Of course, not *everything* needs to be available again; just things that aren't "status symbols".

[Terin]

10. There are a couple of unnecessary cases of ability-bloat (although not many!). Long-duration buffs, for example, I would personally change to be passive "Auras" for all friendly nearby players, removing the need for them to be placed as hotkeys. This also sort of leads into the next point...

11. When down-scaling our character's level, why not let us maintain the use of our abilities? As far as I can tell, their effectiveness is based almost entirely on your level and equipment, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about their being too overpowered. The reason I suggest this is because I find it sort of bothersome to have to go through a mental check-list when I sync and un-sync my level. It sort of breaks up the "flow" of getting used to playing a particular rotation. This one is less minor, but as a Pugilist, I constantly forget to reapply Fists of Earth when I un-sync, and I suspect that applies to other classes, as well.

[Bixby]

5. Add a Grid-style UI manager. Instead of having to line things up manually, with overlapping or micro-managing every individual pixel, I'd love to have everything snap into a nice, clean grid.

Hold in on Shift while you're dragging things around. You still can't see what they're snapping to, but HUD elements will snap every so many pixels. No idea if there's an equivalent for dragging with the gamepad's mouse mode.

Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, there is an on-screen grid when you're in HUD layout, isn't there? Things might snap to that if they're at their default size. I know it's been off when I've moved things around, but everything I've used the snap on, I've resized.

11. When down-scaling our character's level, why not let us maintain the use of our abilities?

To keep new players from being excluded/overwhelmed in leveling content. They'd either have to spend loads of time balancing every ability at every level, or end up with some things being completely over/under-powered, and a miserable experience for new players. Locking out skills keeps things balanced without a ton of work, which lets them spend that time balancing endgame etc.

[Terin]

Hold in on Shift while you're dragging things around. You still can't see what they're snapping to, but HUD elements will snap every so many pixels. No idea if there's an equivalent for dragging with the gamepad's mouse mode.

Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, there is an on-screen grid when you're in HUD layout, isn't there? Things might snap to that if they're at their default size. I know it's been off when I've moved things around, but everything I've used the snap on, I've resized.

Hmm, doesn't appear to work. Shame, since that would definitely be a Godsend right now, as I *hate* trying to manage the UI. I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive, so if the pixels are off even a little, it just drives me insane. Conversely, it would be nice to have a "Reset UI to Default" option, as well.

[Bixby]

Hmm, doesn't appear to work. Shame, since that would definitely be a Godsend right now, as I *hate* trying to manage the UI. I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive, so if the pixels are off even a little, it just drives me insane. Conversely, it would be nice to have a "Reset UI to Default" option, as well.

Strange, just tested it. You do have to "pick up" the windows and move them a bit first, then hold shift to get them to start snapping. The windows I've left at 100% size are snapping their left and top edges to the visible grid lines in /hudlayout.

No idea what would get it not working. I am in full screen windowed mode, though I wouldn't think that would change anything.