Gender locked race?

[Melichoir]

That BDO and Tera commit a greater gaming sin and having classes gender-locked is barely a blip now on the gaming conversation radar, and was rarely more than a moderate complaint when the games were first debuting.

Internet outrage is notoriously short lived over most things...and ultimately, an aesthetic-lock on a character type is typically one of those things, especially when it doesn't impact gameplay.

Also, it's unlikely to change their current course. If we are getting both genders of Viera, we will find out soon, and if we aren't, then that is what will happen. We are approximately 4 and a half months out, if the male side of the race isn't in the works, it isn't coming, and the level of outrage the playerbase would have to collectively reach for that to change would be significantly higher than we are going to see.

There are exceptions to the Gender locking. In Tera, the female characters who were gender locked were also pretty much the 'magical forest girl' trope. They were small childlike and were pushing the innocent angle. In games like Vindictus, genders are locked cause youre playing a named Hero (Technically). Im not usre of BDOs case, but Gender Locking does happen. However it is not a popular concept in games and is seen typically as a negative on the game rather than a positive, even with lore.

Furthermore, I think youre underestimating player base feelings. We've had the last 4 months be nothing but a slew of player backlash against large companies over many of their design decisions. While Im not saying its gonna be "Diablo Immortal" all over again, I think we can see a trend where players are starting to say "Fine, if yorue not doing what I want, then Ill stop playing your game." where it used to be more along the lines of "Fine, whatever. Stupid devs."

You are right. If they havent made em, by now and dont reveal at FF, thats that. They wont be in game. At that point itll be up to players to decide what to do. And I do beleive some players will unsub, while some players will remain bitter over this and cause some commotion. And 8 months down the road, itll likely be something thatll be brought up when takling about something terrible the base disagrees with. Meaning, it wont be something thats forgotten easily. Which is why I suggest that if they do not have plans for male Viera, that the devs should just pull the band aid off now and not try to do it at the last Fan Fest. Because that bitterness will only be exemplified if they feel like they got cheated by ambiguous details and interpretations where the devs couldve clearly stepped in and said what was happening.

Just consider how much talk this thread is generating over male Viera, and how much that talk hypes up speculation for the final fanfest. Now imagine that those glitches referring to Hrothgar never happened. That they remain unnamed. FF roles around and they say "No male Viera but heres a Hrothgar!" I dont think its hard to imagine therell be a lot of mixed feelings over that.

[Berethos]

Furthermore, I think youre underestimating player base feelings. We've had the last 4 months be nothing but a slew of player backlash against large companies over many of their design decisions.

Player backlash against major, game play impacting design decisions. Server woes. Duping issues. Lack of end-game. Hyping a version of the game that doesn't really exist, followed by practically patching in more bugs than they started with.

You'll excuse me for not thinking that something as relatively minor as an aesthetic implementation of a race (which is, ultimately, what gender differences are when jobs/classes are not locked behind them) is going to generate significant amounts of internet outrage.

[redcurrant18]

You'll excuse me for not thinking that something as relatively minor as an aesthetic implementation of a race (which is, ultimately, what gender differences are when jobs/classes are not locked behind them) is going to generate significant amounts of internet outrage.

That is a massive oversimplification of what we are discussing. An entire race is nowhere near a "minor" aesthetic add on. Your character's race is and appearance is what you'll see on the field, in dungeons, and in the many cutscenes in the game. People choose their character's race for a variety of reasons: wanting to play a character they feel looks like them, one they are attracted to, one that is their opposite gender, one that has a really unique feature that isn't in other games, etc. When only one gender is unlocked for that race, half the interest and potential players of that race disappears. Anyone who was planning to to transition to that race will keep their money, and go play one of the other races begrudgingly. It is an irritating and frustrating point that we even have to be discussing whether or not they will be gender-locked due to how open and free this game is in terms of customization, with the only thing worse than this being gender-locked classes.

[Berethos]

An entire race is nowhere near a "minor" aesthetic add on.

Relatively minor.

There is a damn good reason I chose that exact word, and responses like yours are why. Compared to the game play systems, server tech, etc., what your character looks like is a minor element, and since I was comparing hypothetical outrage from potentially getting only one gender (in a game where gender is an aesthetic element) to the previous months of backlash against gaming companies when said backlash has been based on game play systems, server issues, duping, poor upper level management decisions, etc.,?

In that context, aesthetics are minor...relatively speaking.

[Lacan]

Relatively minor.

There is a damn good reason I chose that exact word, and responses like yours are why. Compared to the game play systems, server tech, etc., what your character looks like is a minor element, and since I was comparing hypothetical outrage from potentially getting only one gender (in a game where gender is an aesthetic element) to the previous months of backlash against gaming companies when said backlash has been based on game play systems, server issues, duping, poor upper level management decisions, etc.,?

In that context, aesthetics are minor...relatively speaking.

I think you're underestimating how seriously people take the races in this game. Even in 11, there was a lot of uproar over genderlocked races. It was just as cosmetic there and people still cared. There is a reason Yoshi made undoing the genderlocked races from 1.0 such a priority. Character race is one of the foundations of the game, it is the point you start your character with. Getting new options for that is huge and lots of people care about it. It is a bigger deal than you think.