Gender locked race?

[Sehrina]

I consider myself one of the masses that hoped for the Viera. I like the idea of a tall, slender, elegant, yet beast-like race. The potential of male Viera in this game has also been apart of the main reasons why I hoped for them, as I was under the assumption that this particular dev team preferred not to do gender-locking. (This is considering they undid the gender-locking of 1.0) Yoshi-P directed us to the Dramaturge when asked about male Viera, and I see people debating on what the NPC's words could truly mean when it comes to the Viera's male counterpart. We can probably take the "lore" stated as not a proper excuse but the dev's stance on the matter, as vague as it is...

This line in particular stood out to me. He prefaces with "Until recently-" meaning that the lines after that statement is history/background lore and may not actually apply to current/future events. This could potentially also apply to the lore stated about male Viera. The dev's are obviously being vague on purpose to stir up the community and build hype for the next fan-fest, and it's working.

I'm also among those who hope that our potential males are more on the slender, lithe, and androgynous side. However this is just my personal preference when it comes to body types on men, as all the other races(save for lalafell) are too muscular and/or broad shouldered for my tastes. I'm female irl, but not really into "manly" or "rugged". Elezen bodies come closest, but none of their faces really fit the bill. I'm seeing a lot of comments either outright saying or debating on, "male Viera lore states that they are fierce and scary and therefore cannot be 'cute' and thin". I think that this is incorrect and thinking too much in the box, as lithe and even "cute" characters can still be designed to come across as fierce, cold-blooded, and even terrifying. You don't have to be heavily built in order to survive in a harsh wilderness; you just have to be cunning and skilled. In fact, being dexterous and light is probably more beneficial considering that Viera are potentially "tree-dwellers". I agree with some of the recent commenters that we need a proper "beautiful" man option.

I honestly empathize with the fans who have high hopes for this Hrothgar/potential beast-like male Viera-alternative. If it weren't for Viera, this Hrothgar race could have very well possibly had both genders, ie been a complete race. However, if they are truly going to be implemented as just the male counterpart to Viera, they get shafted just as much with these gender-locking shenanigans.

The next fan-fest cannot come soon enough...

[Alesone]

This line in particular stood out to me. He prefaces with "Until recently-" meaning that the lines after that statement is history/background lore and may not actually apply to current/future events. This could potentially also apply to the lore stated about male Viera. The dev's are obviously being vague on purpose to stir up the community and build hype for the next fan-fest, and it's working.

I think you're skipping over the whole "a Viera living outside her homeland was unheard of." There is little reason to specify female viera if it applies to both of them.

[Sehrina]

I think you're skipping over the whole "a Viera living outside her homeland was unheard of." There is little reason to specify female viera if it applies to both of them.

Oh, you are right. I did miss that. My brain replaced "her" with "their" by default. This muddies some of my hopes from the "lore" given to us as it is even more vague than I originally thought.

[Gwenorai]

I think you're skipping over the whole "a Viera living outside her homeland was unheard of." There is little reason to specify female viera if it applies to both of them.

I took this with a grain of salt. In FF12 and tactics, you still saw Viera that were outside of their woods, they were all female. You didn't see a male. Before this time, this 'several generations' you didn't even see the females. They only started to leave the forest due to changes with life outside of the forest and the fact their way of life wasn't fulfilling enough for them. The change was very recent on the scale of time for the Viera people - especially considering how long they live.

So, the text reads in line with past events with the females. The difference here is that Viera who did leave their tribes were branded 'outcast' - this no longer seems to be the case. This is a big difference between these games or rather this is what the text is implying - or so I read it.

Considering the huge rule regarding the 'Green Word' that is if you left the Wood you were no longer considered 'Viera' and were an outsider - this 'rule' or their 'dogma' has been relaxed. If the dogma on this has been relaxed then it's likely that it isn't just relaxed by the females alone and there may be further adjustments, of course, we haven't seen that yet - the Dramaturge certainly hasn't seen it other than hearsay.

Anyway; if the dogma has been softened so Viera who do leave can come back etc and not be cast out then such teaching must be brought down by the high elders and leaders of the villages; the matriarchs. While the males live outside of the community; they follow the Matriarch and the Wood. Seeing as the Matriarch and the Wood are two of the same in regards to wants and desires due to how they communicate - then yeah...

The only thing I can imagine stopping the males from leaving is they want to protect the villages and are instinctually more 'feral' than the females to the point they don't mix well in society once they hit puberty. It's certainly not like male Miqote or Mithra where the males stayed at home simply because the numbers were so low they needed to be protected. Viera lifestyle actively has the males fight among themselves and cull their own numbers - they don't have to do that, it's just how the 'males' are. It does make me wonder if the lads are sadly just 'like that' and have a nasty predisposition as soon as puberty hits.

Imagine that; elegant, beautiful males that fall into the 'ice king/queen' trope.

[Theodric]

If there's one thing I can say about this game with certainty, it's that it isn't difficult to make feminine looking men. What some people are asking for is the ability to create men that either very child-like or are nearly indistinguishable from women. I'm not sure why Viera have to fit either aesthetic, especially when it isn't at all in alignment with how they're described or the sort of lifestyle they live.

[artyport]

If there's one thing I can say about this game with certainty, it's that it isn't difficult to make feminine looking men. What some people are asking for is the ability to create men that either very child-like or are nearly indistinguishable from women. I'm not sure why Viera have to fit either aesthetic, especially when it isn't at all in alignment with how they're described or the sort of lifestyle they live.

In many fantasy games elves are beautiful and stunning not only in physical looks but in prowess on the battlefield. This is how I imagine the viera. Gorgeous and wise and also dangerous. Beautiful men is very common in Japanese anime and ffxiv. Omega m is stunning but he will kill you. He is also very androgynous but leans toward male.

[artyport]

We're not a hive mind. There are many gay and bisexual men who do not conform to what is pushed as 'gay culture' and 'gay beliefs'.

This isn’t about being a hive mind it’s about the game having options for all people. Currently pretty lean yet adult looking male is missing from the line up of characters... more so than anything else.

Other than beast dudes with tons of fur which doesn’t seem to fit the aesthetics for playable races

[Theodric]

Currently pretty lean yet adult looking male is missing from the line up of characters... more so than anything else.

I assume by 'lean' you mean slim and lightly muscled?

It isn't an aesthetic that's missing, though. Hyur and Miqo'te can be designed to fit that look very well. Especially in regards to Hyur, given that they have a muscle tone slider and can be tweaked to be very short.

[artyport]

Hyur makes come pretty close and I played one for a while. But being hyurr is frankly boring and again the faces are just not it. I play miqote now because I’ve settled with cute.

But none of these give you beautiful male model style vibes.

This is what I see.

Midlander- average to very handsome young male with a average body type
Highlander -hot muscle dudes who will keep your butt
Roe- big burly bear men.
Aura- beastly dragon men
Miqo- mostly cute but also possible to be very masculine looking .
Eleven- tall nerdy to rude looking men with very sharp jaws

There simply isn’t a race that is designed to be beautiful modelesque creatures for any races.

Now the viera come and the women have beautiful runway model looks.
I want men to have that high fashion male model look. And that simply isn’t available in game

[Sehrina]

I assume by 'lean' you mean slim and lightly muscled?

It isn't an aesthetic that's missing, though. Hyur and Miqo'te can be designed to fit that look very well. Especially in regards to Hyur, given that they have a muscle tone slider and can be tweaked to be very short.

While the choices given appear to fit the "aesthetic" for you, they do not for some of us. It's a matter of differentiating opinions on it and what each of us deem to be "lean" or "pretty" enough. Each race seems to have a particular look that no matter how hard you try, is hard to deviate from. This is because of the limited face and body options for each race. TBH the devs just need to give us more customization options outside of hair, like for the body and face, but we aren't really seeing/getting that. So our hopes are put into a new race that fits the look that each of us want. While I have no issues with and even encourage a diversity of character types, I'm going to put most of my support into something that I'd rather play as, especially if that preference has, in my opinion, little representation in game.