Gender locked race?

[Shougun]

The only way they could get around that one is by having only the young boys in the villages survive. It'd be a pretty awful way to handle it, though. And it'd still cripple the Viera population until they matured.

On the note of a species going extinct, that'd be kind of cool imo. If you could play a dying race, you're the last wave and it will end at you. Half way through the story you find there is one last of the opposite gender, and after trying to protect them dearly to get them to safety SE Sephiroths them right in front of you.. :3. Boop.

Might be a better idea to sell them as a going extinct race first before letting people know they could play as them though, it would make acceptance much smoother. Rather than taking away an option as it might feel if they burn down all the male Viera or something like that, this would present it more as "was never an option".

[Astarotha]

heres a completely absurd thought, the males only show up in the village every 5 or so years right? if the refugees come to eorzea several several years after the last meet but before the next one comes, the unclaimed jacks that come with would by definition remain unclaimed and therefore... male viera in eorzea

[redcurrant18]

Quest dialogue often changes if you get far ahead enough in the MSQ, and there is evidence that they could go back and add in dialogue lines specific to Viera and Hrothgar. I remember when I did the Bard and White Mage job quests there were a few lines that implied they were taking place after having liberated Ala Migho. Another thing to note is in the Monster Hunter crossover the talking cat does make fun of you if you speak to him as a Miqote.

heres a completely absurd thought, the males only show up in the village every 5 or so years right? if the refugees come to eorzea several several years after the last meet but before the next one comes, the unclaimed jacks that come with would by definition remain unclaimed and therefore... male viera in eorzea

That, or the playable male Viera got fed up with how their society as a whole is structured and decided to leave the woods in the same way female Viera do. Since their lot in life is so much harder, it would make sense for them want to get even further away from the woods and Dalmasca, where they might be looked down upon by female Viera. They'll probably have escaped north through Garlemald or Yanxia, or however it is that Au Ra players arrive in Eorzea. They could have also been born completely outside of the woods in another part of the world by two Viera who both left together. Endless possibilities.

[Seraphor]

Except this reasoning also throws into doubt Hrothgar. Meaning, why code for male female of somethign that is clearly gender locked and may not be in the game, much like why code for another race that is also gender locked and may or may not be in the game. It stands to reason that if you count Hrothgar as being somethign in the game because it was written in that coding, then it stands to reason that Male Viera would also based on the same evidence. If we say there is no conclusive evidence for male Viera, even if the coding is there, we can say the same for Hrothgar. You cant separate those two things from the same thread of logic. So either the code is evidence of two races with 2 genders, or it's evidence of neither and speculation.

Considering what we have already seen, what people have been demanding, why it would be an unwise move on the developers part from both a marketing and PR standpoint, there's a lot going in favor of there being male Viera, and by that extension, a second race named Hrothgar (if we consider the leaks true).




I posted this in another thread but Ill post it here too because its relevant. The lore discussing viera happens in a 24 man raid, not MSQ. This distinction is important because while the lore is cannon, it is not mainstream. Meaning, players may not see ANY of the lore involved that is discussed if they skip the 24 man.

Furthermore, if we take the leaks at face value and things are being retconned or added into older content, it is quite easy for SE to say "In the past, itd be rare to see a Male Viera" and put that into the dialogue. More so, from a lore stand point its easy to include their participation:

- FFXIV MSQ stuff Happens.
- Male Viera: Oh hey, we should probably help handle this cause it affects us too ultimately.
- Everyone else: Oh Snaps! Look at all these male Viera come out of the wood works to do plot things for plot reasons.
- Game goes on never really stopping to talk about why the male viera are out and about now any further.


It really isnt hard to add this to lore, and it does zero in changing the old lore. It just changes the expectations of a small group of fans who are more in line with "This FFXIV game has to be exactly in line with FFXII and Tactics! So No male Viera!"

Yoshi literally said to read the lore in the Return to Ivalice questline if you want clues about male Viera, and as Shippuu just saud, it essentially amounts to them not existing as far as we're concerned.

What's more, is this lore was JUST added to the game. What is the point in adding this lore to the game, and drawing specific attention to it, only to retcon it a month later?

[redcurrant18]

Yoshi literally said to read the lore in the Return to Ivalice questline if you want clues about male Viera, and as Shippuu just saud, it essentially amounts to them not existing as far as we're concerned.

What's more, is this lore was JUST added to the game. What is the point in adding this lore to the game, and drawing specific attention to it, only to retcon it a month later?

Because not everyone does raids. If you don't do the Coils of Bahamut they retcon the MSQ for you. The lore around this kind of side content is subject to change. If you haven't done Return to Ivalice, Fran will probably be introduced in a completely different way if they decide to make her relevant in Shadowbringers, and any Viera lore about them keeping to the forest will probably be thrown out the window.

[Seraphor]

Because not everyone does raids. If you don't do the Coils of Bahamut they retcon the MSQ for you. The lore around this kind of side content is subject to change. If you haven't done Return to Ivalice, Fran will probably be introduced in a completely different way if they decide to make her relevant in Shadowbringers, and any Viera lore about them keeping to the forest will probably be thrown out the window.

It doesnt matter who reads what, you can skip the entire MSQ if you want.
Yoshi P specifically drew attention to this lore as important information pertaining to the status of male Viera in hydaelyn.

[Gwenorai]

It doesnt matter who reads what, you can skip the entire MSQ if you want.
Yoshi P specifically drew attention to this lore as important information pertaining to the status of male Viera in hydaelyn.

Because the lore actually depends on how you read it and what you take from it. In fact, the Dramaturge talks in the past tense. This is how things used to be, now things have changed in recent times. Example; those who leave the wood aren't seen as outcasts or exiles no more.

When he was a youth he did this travelling, he never saw one and others didn't see them either. But times are changing - they are changing, their way of life is changing. Things that were shunned are shunned no longer. The war has them on the defensive, they need aid. They need the WoD.

Let's also bring forward the fact they're supposedly all in that wood. These fierce warriors who defend the wood and their families. Having them not defend the wood in any shape or form goes against their lore unless something extremely drastic, such as their deaths or capture - would have it make sense.

Viera are not idiotic, they will seek help from outsiders if it is to protect the wood. If the wood tells a viera to leave in order to become WoL or put them on that path. They will leave.

[Melichoir]

It doesnt matter who reads what, you can skip the entire MSQ if you want.
Yoshi P specifically drew attention to this lore as important information pertaining to the status of male Viera in hydaelyn.

As poitned out by others, they say theyre rare to see, not non-existent. What Yoshi-P says actually doesnt give you either way and it depends wholly on your perspective.

Perspective A:Male Viera are incredibly rare - Means we wont see them other than maybe an NPC here or there.
Perspective B: Male Viera are incredibly rare, but theyre in the game and possibly a player race.

This brings up the question: If we cant play as them, why not just say so? Why not say were keeping true to old lore and youll only really see female viera and play as such. Why not be upfront. Cause you know whats going to happen if they dont: People will have expecations (which they do) and those expectations are going to be thrown out the window, and whatever they put in Male Viera's place will likely get lambasted broadly. It would be better for them not to play the ambiguous card and let people know that its not goign to happen so people, while disappointed, will shift their attention and speculation to what is coming. Thus far, thats not happening (as this thread demonstrates). This would be a bit of a PR misstep for ShB if the plan was to be ambiguous and then reveal "Sorry guys! No Male Viera. Have this Hrothgar instead! Hes cool right!?"

Also consider this from an outside point of view:

You think people arent going to start saying "Why are they having girl play bunnies in the game, but no boy ones?" SJ stuff aside, people were asking and demanding for there to be male versions of hte GoldSaucer Bunny costume. The demand was there enough that SE actually did it. Now that was a glamour. What makes anyone think that argument wont get cranked up when it comes to a playable race? I keep bringing this stuff up because we should take into accoutn what SE would choose to do as a business. Avoiding PR missteps and fan backlash over really foolish design aesthetics, not being clear about something fans clearly want and addressing it, pulling what will amount to many people seeing as a bait and switch...yeah, these are things SE would consider, regardless of YoshiPs feelings. If he felt strongly enough about not having them, SE would tell him to just verify they wont be a part of it.

[Theodric]

One might even question if the recent changes to the Terms of Service are intended to mitigate the disappointment and backlash that would arise from a gender lock...

[Seraphor]

Because its Yoshi P, he likes to tease these things.

He wants people to be on edge going into Tokyo fan fest.
If they're going to announce a new race, when people are already expecting 'something', then keeping 'male viera' as a possible option gives us doubt as to what to expect.
Eliminate male Viera before announcing the new race, and people are already on the defensive and already forming negative opinions on what is obviously a new race before its even announced, which is exactly what's going on due to this leak.
They need the new race to soften the blow of no male viera, and they need to save something big for Tokyo fan fest.