Gender locked race?

[Metsonm]

More creative freedom is what they are afforded by going with a new race over Viera. Viera have a history from past games, and choosing to include them as a race comes with issues. You either toss their lore and appearance out the window, which will piss off fans, or you're restricted by the pre established elements. The more freedoms you take with the design/implementation the less like their original incarnations they become.

So sure, they could make male viera look like anything, but to say everyone would be happy with how they turned out is just not true. You already saw plenty of people complaining about the female viera and they're hardly different from 12's.

With a new race, they aren't bound by these potential restrictions, and actually get to make something new. If I was a director of a big final fantasy game I'd want to put brand new stuff into the IP to make my mark too.

You're not going to get 100% approval on anything anyway, that's not really an excuse to go with one over the other.

[Shippuu]

You're not going to get 100% approval on anything anyway, that's not really an excuse to go with one over the other.

It's an excuse if Yoshida makes it one. You don't have to like it or accept, but he doesn't have to justify it to everyone. He's made plenty of non-valid excuses for a lot of things regarding the game. In the end he's still the director and it ultimately comes down to his decision.

[Metsonm]

It's an excuse if Yoshida makes it one. You don't have to like it or accept, but he doesn't have to justify it to everyone. He's made plenty of non-valid excuses for a lot of things regarding the game. In the end he's still the director and it ultimately comes down to his decision.

Exactly.

Doesn't mean his decisions make sense or are good, though.