Gender locked race?

[Roda]

Gonna add to this, considering the previous comment this one seems to be replying to. Being "feminine" also doesn't necessarily equal being weak or not "fierce." Going off of other fantasy races, the elves in LotR were described in ways we would think of as more feminine, yet they were still badass. It IS possible for a pretty boy to be a badass.

Non-sequitur: I keep saying to others and myself I'm done with these threads. Yet I keep coming back. Fanfest cannot come fast enough.

Don't lie to yourself, these threads are a delicious guilty pleasure.

[stormygabe]

Don't lie to yourself, these threads are a delicious guilty pleasure.

Oh god this is a personal attack.

[Roda]

Oh god this is a personal attack.

Against myself!
I'm literally responding between pulls.
It's raid night for me!

[Lauront]

Congrats on 200 guys! I sketched out possible male Viera and female Hrothgar designs that I'd like. I'm not very good at outfit design so forgive that >o>

It's a nice piece of art, but it's not really something that would lure me to play a Viera male.

All of this makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't really want a feminine male race but if that's how they choose male Viera to look can't really argue against it. I would just still put my vote in the Hrothgar tab

IMO, we can expect a modification of the adult male concept art they showed, if they make it in.

If Hrothgar is a bulky thing then I don't really want to "wish" my opinion of bulky Viera onto others who don't want it, but if Hrothgar isn't a thing then I can't help but let my selfish desire overtake the "understanding" and wish "bulk viera, bulky viera, lets go plz".

I wish clans were used more dynamically though, then I'd wish for a masculine heavy to medium (based on options) clan and a medium to very light masculine (high feminine) option for most diversity. Unfortunately it seems clans are often color switches and a few changes to other things, not like Hyur which gives you a strong difference in options.

This is my view, too, and I'm in the same boat. I almost wish they'd just add two dimorphic clans, to resolve the whole issue of discrepant expectations regarding Viera. Modifying the Feol concept to fit this would do the trick. Alternatively, sliders with a wide berth of settings could help as well.

Plus, if we were to talk realistically, 'bulk' isn't solely down to muscle mass, bone structure plays a role too. If male Viera have slender shoulders (as they realistically could have given their 'quirk' of being virtually indistinguishable from the females until puberty and then don't age all that much after) they wouldn't appear classically 'bulky' if they tried. Toned, yes, but not bulky.

Could but it's never stated that they do in fact work that way. Given that differentiation kicks in at that point, I imagine puberty and hormones work much the same in them as they do in humans in setting the two sexes apart physically and mentally. Humans of either sex are very similar too, after all, up to that point - hence why there's some speculation that the comments may be alluding to something else that is unique in terms of what would differentiate a male and a female at such an age.

So much this. We already have so many fierce bulky men in this game, there is a glut of choice in that area. Give us a soft, cute one, for once, please! I would Fantasia so fast.

You can design midlanders and catboys to fit that description, through adjusting the height and face on both and the muscle tone on midlanders. You can even do so with elezen, and lalafell are small, soft and cute. Also, whilst male Viera need not be bulky, they also won't be soft. There isn't a dearth of choice in either area.

And female xaela are supposed to be fierce warriors of the steppe, and yet we got tiny waifus. /shrug

Yes, a pretty awful move on their part, IMO. I'd rather they not repeat such pandering. Already Viera females are far too girly and giggly for my liking. Yes, a lot of people play female au ra, but it's not like catgirls and female midlanders or even highlanders could not be given such waifu design.

They missed the boat with Au ra design, IMO, and could have differentiated each subrace by allowing Xaela some more monstrous features, whilst keeping Raen as they are - for both, I would have liked the females to simply have a bigger height bar (i.e. from the current minimum to say maybe 175.)

I kind of agree with this one actually [...]

Agreed on all those points. Although they need not be as large as au ra, much of their lore is antithetical to them being soft or cutesy. I'd rather they not repeat what they did with female au ra. In fact, I like this post so much, I'll bookmark it.

Regarding Amazonian women, I see highlander women as closest to that, as they were not exactly depicted as being super bulky, but like Artemis, lean and athletic.

I don't really see them as being overly feminine and child-like. They're meant to be fierce protectors of the forest and are even more isolated than their female counterparts - not to mention more solitary, suggesting a large degree of self reliance. Realistically that'd result in a decent amount of bulk - as seen in the more muscular concept art. It'd also reflect the effects of a tribal lifestyle as we know it in the real world.

I don't expect them to be hulking brutes, but I am expecting them to have a similar look to that typical of wood elves, i.e. wiry and lean. I'd therefore expect them to be between the size of an elezen and a midlander.

This is still my favourite look for one, which I am sure everyone can agree isn't super bulky:

[Theodric]

That's pretty much what I envision them as when referring to them as 'bulky'. It's very reflective of this particular bit of concept art:

[Hunky]

It's a nice piece of art, but it's not really something that would lure me to play a Viera male.

This is still my favourite look for one, which I am sure everyone can agree isn't super bulky:

I agree on both points. The art is is nice, but if male Vieras turn out like how CoolDad drew, I wouldn't be lured to play it at all. And I believe the art you posted is still the best theoretical representation of a male Viera.

I don't see it as being even bulky. Buff? Yes, but not bulky. I think there's a difference between muscular/buff and straight-up bulky. To me, Roegadyn are bulky. They got wider midsections.

Here are some real-life examples

Two totally different builds. One I would consider bulky, and the other just plain buff.

I've read a lot of people on here saying we have enough bulky builds, but I disagree. The only real bulky characters we have are male Roegadyn, in my opinion. And the closest thing to buff would be male Highlanders and male Au Ra. I would not consider male Au Ra to be bulky. They have broad shoulders, lean waists, and strong arms. They look more like male fitness models than strongman competitors.

I would say male Midlanders, Elezen, and Miqo'te already fit the very lean, kpop boy-band member look. I would say the lithe, young-boy look outnumbers any other build there is.

Personally, I just wish we had more buff men. Not bulky, not skinny kpop boy-band, but buff and tall. I'd play male Au Ra if it wasn't for their crazy amount of scales. I really hope male Viera turn out to be tall and buff, but we might not even get male Viera at all.

One thing's for sure. Whether we get male Viera or not, people are bound to be disappointed. Because even if we do get male Viera, they won't be to everyone's liking.

I don't really see them as being overly feminine and child-like. They're meant to be fierce protectors of the forest and are even more isolated than their female counterparts - not to mention more solitary, suggesting a large degree of self reliance. Realistically that'd result in a decent amount of bulk - as seen in the more muscular concept art. It'd also reflect the effects of a tribal lifestyle as we know it in the real world.

Agreed. I just want to add that the male Viera art that Lauront posted doesn't come across as effeminate to me.

I'm saying this because it seems a lot of people are assuming that male Viera = feminine men, and that's definitely not the case. There are those of us who want more muscular, masculine Viera, and those who want the more youthful, thin, kpop boy-band Viera.

So for those of you who might say, "I don't care about male Viera because I don't care to play as a feminine male," just know that there's a chance that if we do get male Viera, they might turn out to be more masculine than you think. Perhaps not hypermasculine like Roegadyn, but definitely masculine enough to come across as tough warriors.

[cicatriz313]

Seems at this point in time what people want is so all over the place that at the end of the day, someone's getting disappointed no matter what. Just keep in mind if you don't get what you want, it's just another waiting game until next expansion.

[cicatriz313]

All of this makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't really want a feminine male race but if that's how they choose male Viera to look can't really argue against it. I would just still put my vote in the Hrothgar tab

[CoolDad]

Thank you for the kindness in response to the sketches guys ^^ And I know the poster edited it out (I didn't find it rude don't worry) but I totally agree the female Hrothgar could have been more muscular! I'm not too great at drawing big muscles but I do think they would look very good on a female beast race.

As for how people have many different ways they want the races to be implemented, I think while people still have preferences most of us are just spitballing designs. The designs we make aren't the only way we would accept them appearance-wise. They could design Male Viera in many different ways and I think I'd like most of them. Anything is better than them not existing period, at least for me.

[Taykawai]

The draw is nice, but another cat like race is so weird... what SE was thinking?