Gender locked race?

[Shougun]

Honestly, I think this situation is simply a nightmare. It obviously makes people who want male Viera feel bad, and it personally makes me feel bad in the other camp. Their losing hype and I'm tempering mine simply to try and not get burnt (which is making me feel exhausted waiting for the next fanfest). I can't wait to get off this break and just go back to work and let the days fly so I can either be like, "OMG OMG!" or "Well, it is male Viera as expected."

It's almost that feeling of climbing a rollercoaster and you start to dip back into the horizon.. but... really... long... ... oh man lol.

Part of me still thinks this was dropped on purpose to keep people chatting and wondering about it. Although I would suggest being more playful in the future if this is a legit strategy to bring a bit more levity. And if it wasn't on purpose then at least we've done a good job trying to stay in limbo (in general I think this thread has tried to not be like "I am Nostradamus and you all suck" lol). I mean we could have been far more chaotic about it haha.

Could be telling people Ronso is confirmed and FFXIV is 2000 years in the past same world as FFX. Also there will be a Hello Kitty Cross-over, where she'll have a key part in the storyline leading up to 8.0 and is the most powerful hero in the game. That'd be fun XD.

Yup, it's really dragging. I'm not even that torn over it, since I will probably continue playing male au ra and midlanders regardless - unless the new race is really fantastic - but I just want to see what decision they're going to make at this point and I'm really hoping it's not going to be permanent gender locks.

That just sounds like a train wreck... oh.. can you imagine "So we've made these two races, and these are the last races, we will not be unlocking them based on gender". Someone call the fire department now.

If they're locked.. I just can't believe they'd keep it permanently (if they can control the train of hype and hate well enough now they could use the unlock later as another hype fire-starter). It just beggars disbelief they'd plan on permanently locking them. Although I guess some people can't believe they'd gender lock them in the first place and I can.

So.. there's that lol.

At the same time it also means they're not particularly suitable for addition as playable races. As for WoW, I did not mean the Allied Races, as I'm not hugely fond of how they were implemented, but I do like the racial starting zones and storylines much better as an approach.

Oh I love the starting in WoW. I did all the races just to experience all the zones.. :/. I still like FFXIV more, trying the races in WoW was a passing fancy, but in terms of which game I liked to start out in more it's not this one unfortunately (but I enjoy the long hall /a lot/ more here, and that's pretty important when discussing an MMORPG lol).

On that (why I follow FFXIV) its that I still have energy/faith from the whole 1.0/2.0 and random things that the team still trys, with their incredible presentation (boss music and transition still blow my mind that it's a mmo lol), that they're not done attempting to make the best game (which is why I like to hang out in the forums). I have faith Yoshida and team are going to keep trying stuff, and I hope when they decide XIV is done that the knowledge and experience only improves from there (taking that knowledge to start out with an incredible engine next time, rather than the struggle that was 1.0 and the baggage we still carry from it). I don't really have faith in blizzard anymore (left WoW many many years ago, but I mean just watching them even now is a bit.. meh), not that I think they produce horrible things as they still have talented people for now but just.. seems like the spirit is limping on past gains. While FFXIV is the opposite, past gains are negligible (1.0 is mostly seen negatively, mostly) and FFXIV lives on in the present achievements and fame pretty much exclusively.

Would be interesting if SE could make a starting zone for a new race if they do so later. I mean imagine trying to join the game two more expansions from now... Jump potion seems pretty mandatory already. What if they created an expedited crafted starting experience with a racial starting zone? I feel that'd be pretty neat (so the race starts with a heavily modified jump potion basically).

[Lauront]

Oh I love the starting in WoW. I did all the races just to experience all the zones.. :/. I still like FFXIV more, trying the races in WoW was a passing fancy, but in terms of which game I liked to start out in more it's not this one unfortunately (but I enjoy the long hall /a lot/ more here, and that's pretty important when discussing an MMORPG lol).

On that (why I follow FFXIV) its that I still have energy/faith from the whole 1.0/2.0 and random things that the team still trys, with their incredible presentation (boss music and transition still blow my mind that it's a mmo lol), that they're not done attempting to make the best game (which is why I like to hang out in the forums). I have faith Yoshida and team are going to keep trying stuff, and I hope when they decide XIV is done that the knowledge and experience only improves from there. Don't really have faith in blizzard anymore (left WoW many many years ago, but I mean just watching them even now is a bit.. meh), not that I think they produce horrible things as they still have talented people for now but just.. seems like the spirit is limping on past gains (while FFXIV is the opposite, past gains are negligible and FFXIV lives on in the present exclusively).

Yes, it's just one of the few things in WoW I can fondly reminisce about. Overall, I stopped playing the game and don't like it much these days, but that's for different reasons. The racial zones were one of my favourite aspects.

Would be interesting if SE could make a starting zone for a new race if they do so later. I mean imagine trying to join the game two more expansions from now... Jump potion seems pretty mandatory already. What if they created an expedited crafted experience with a racial starting zone? I feel that'd be pretty neat (so the race starts with a heavily modified jump potion basically).

There's many ways they could approach it, but I think any such shift in approach would probably be best reserved for a future MMO.

To me, the only likely reason that the dev team wouldn't put in male Viera isn't lore, or feet models, or attracting WoW players, it's discomfort. For whatever reason make bunny themes are uncomfortable for them to think about and if Hrothgar is a replacement that would be why. It's not a good reason, but considering it's been mentioned in the past by Yoshi and then the whole debacle with the bunny outfit, it seems clear to me that that's the likely reasoning.

Perhaps, but it's odd then that the 2015 concept art was presented in terms of being a solution by the team to overcoming the objections raised by those critical of the idea regarding the race's design (albeit they were the same concerns he'd voiced in the 2013 interview.) I really don't see why bunny ears are somehow intrinsically worse than, e.g., cat ears.

[Theodric]

I really don't see why bunny ears are somehow intrinsically worse than, e.g., cat ears.

I suspect a lot of the discomfort potentially stems from what exactly bunny women are associated with in Japanese culture/media. It isn't really associated with men. FFXIV and Dragon Quest XI both have bunny outfits and in both cases they're designed to be feminine. It was my hope that they'd design the male variant to compliment the male form and masculinity but even after delaying it for so long we just ended up getting a straight up copy of the female set.

[Lauront]

You're correct in the sense that sex differences for such non-human races would not realistically manifest in the same way, but at the same time it also means they're not particularly suitable for addition as playable races. I brought it up because people were discussing Lupin, where the differentiation between NPCs is extremely limited... it is obvious why this poses a problem when adding a new race, as customisation and a range of options are important.

As for WoW, I did not mean the Allied Races, as I'm not hugely fond of how they were implemented, but I do like the racial starting zones and storylines much better as an approach. It's not the only MMO which did this, either.

[cicatriz313]

To me, the only likely reason that the dev team wouldn't put in male Viera isn't lore, or feet models, or attracting WoW players, it's discomfort. For whatever reason make bunny themes are uncomfortable for them to think about and if Hrothgar is a replacement that would be why. It's not a good reason, but considering it's been mentioned in the past by Yoshi and then the whole debacle with the bunny outfit, it seems clear to me that that's the likely reasoning.

[Lacan]

I just have to say I'm gonna be disappointed if we don't get male viera and hrothgar end up being ugly. :v Just spit in my eye why don't you Yoshi.

[Tanama]

I just have to say I'm gonna be disappointed if we don't get male viera and hrothgar end up being ugly. :v Just spit in my eye why don't you Yoshi.

I am not expecting male Viera at all but I hope the Hrothgar look awesome. Do you expect them to look like the Ronso without the horn or perhaps like Caineghis of Fire Emblem?




https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Caineghis#FE9

[Lacan]

I'm expecting something more like Caneghis. The leaker said something about it not being ronso like at all, so I think that's out. Ronso would be too beast-like for my tastes anyway, so that's a bit of a relief.

[Shougun]

I'm expecting something more like Caneghis. The leaker said something about it not being ronso like at all, so I think that's out. Ronso would be too beast-like for my tastes anyway, so that's a bit of a relief.

IIRC the first main leaker said it was sort of like Ronso actually (but not a Ronso), and another different leaker called people dumb for thinking they'd be Ronso lol.

I definitely imagine there will not be a horn, but to be honest Ronso is a lion chimera so a lion race from the same company has a high chance to feel vaguely similar.. so Ronso-like even if not even intended is probably likely.

Especially if we are allowed to stretch our imagination lol. Lion race with yellow fur and no horn, okay make them blue add a horn.. ITS A RONSO !! hahaha.

But if it's anything like the Ronso, Caneghis (hopefully more lion though, like Pantera as Caneghis is aggressively approaching Roe), Pantera, Lupis, Etc, I'm so hyped lol. Although I'm still holding some caution for the fact Hrothgar may have been a mistake notice and isn't coming or isn't coming this expansion or something. It still isn't "confirmed".

[Theodric]

As long as they could be designed to be classically handsome, I'd be content. Byakko can be described as such.