Promo Art

[Pomelo]

That was actually one of their biggest concerns. They didn't seem to like the thought of Male Viera. If at all possible it would seem that they wanted to avoid trying to have Male Viera to the point where they'd gender lock it, just like Miqo'te, Highlander and Roegadyn were before.

Which is a shame to be honest, I mean...they made everything else accesible by both genders now...why lock one again? Thats like going 1 step forward, 3 back xD

[Ecks007]

Which is a shame to be honest, I mean...they made everything else accesible by both genders now...why lock one again? Thats like going 1 step forward, 3 back xD

The thing with this is that if they added a new race that was specifically just 1 sex, then they would also then create a second new race to represent the other sex.

This is how it is with FFXI, and how it was with FFXIV 1.0. There's really nothing wrong with it, as long as both sexes get a new race. I don't see why there has to be a male and female of every single race in a fantasy setting all the time.

Honestly, I don't want to see a male Viera, just like I don't want to see a female Bangaa-like race.

[AlexNiculaie]

Boy, some people are really desperate for Viera, huh? It's just artistic interpretation. I seriously cannot imagine SE releasing another hybrid race that is so similar to another pre-existing one as to not be discernible. I might also point out that they pretty much said a new race would be introduced in an expansion, not a patch. I seriously doubt they are going to hint (badly) at a new race several months before releasing it.

[Leowilde]

Boy, some people are really desperate for Viera, huh? It's just artistic interpretation. I seriously cannot imagine SE releasing another hybrid race that is so similar to another pre-existing one as to not be discernible. I might also point out that they pretty much said a new race would be introduced in an expansion, not a patch. I seriously doubt they are going to hint (badly) at a new race several months before releasing it.

Yeah. The artist has a lot of work, small variations can easily occur. To me, this is more a typical case of us the fanbase desperatly searching for signs of new content, and reading way too much into the artist's minor errors that would otherwise go unnoticed. Not to burst anyone's bubble, I'd be excited for a new race as well, but let's be realistic. The differences between miqo'te and the woman in the poster is simply too minor to matter.

[XanderOlivieri]

The Paladin in the Through the Maelstrom art is a Miqo'te. She has similar ears to other promotional Miqo'te art.

So.. not a miqo'te. The ears are too long and too close together. I don't know what the race will be called but that's definitely not a miqo'te. Hell, after looking at the miqo'te on the left with the daggers gives it away even more. They aren't going to flat out give her longer ears because then we wouldn't need the mystery character.

I'm glad Shioban posted cause I was hunting for his signature for this post.



Ears are on top on the head and are the same shape and size as the Paladin's in the cover art for TtM. The Paladin isn't some new race. She's a Miqo'te.

[Balfreid]

It is just stylized. Nothing more. Its a female Miq'ote.

[Cerat]

Wow, went to bed and didn't think the post count would nearly double by time I woke up!

Now then, not going to reply to everyone, but more make a blanket statement, as it seems the only thing people are really picking apart are the ears, ears ears.

If I hadn't just literally woken up I would do more editing to highlight what I'm talking about, but I digress. The ears are just part of the overall drawing. For all I care, they don't actually exist. The rest of the Paladin tells me that it's not a Miqo'te. The facial design is different than every other promo art, her legs are EXTREMELY long for any other Miqo'te and the fact that she is literally MISSING a tail are all things that add to the fact that she is not Miqo'te. I am not saying it's Viera, heck as much as I would like to see Viera, I'm not one of the people on the forums every day begging for it. I'm looking at this art as a speculation piece, something that may or may not be true. So all speculation is fine, but at least please give some reason instead of "variation can occur" or "It's a Miqo'te".

Now, as for the ears. I have looked at every piece of promo/concept art revealed thus far that features a Miqo'te in it, Shioban's signature original image included. The way that the ears are positioned, especially with the blow back, make them IMPOSSIBLE to be Miqo'te ears. The base for the Miqo'te ear is too large when comparing the base of the PLD in question's ears. There is also background visible from every side of the ear, giving the ears a more rounded shape, something that you, again, don't get from the Miqo'te ears. The ears just are not designed in the same way as a Miqo'tes, even if you were to try to justify with "variation" the amount of design aspects to the ear that are different are far too great, and again that's just the ears. The rest of the body adds to that.

[Lithera]

There is a lalafell blocking her tail..mystery solved.

[Cerat]

There is a lalafell blocking her tail..mystery solved.

Except the Lalafell is nowhere near her waist

Edit:: At least, not where the tail of Miqo'te would be as the Lalafell is closer to the front middle portion of the PLD's waist, insted of the back middle which are on two different levels of view with how she's bent..

[starswept]

I didn't know artwork had to be extremely anatomically correct (especially for made up races) for people to not start speculating it to be a new race.............