Male Viera as a playable character! show your support

[Theodric]

art by @FrischeNq on twitter

I still think Senn's suggestion, as quoted from the OP, is the best compromise. It's proven to be very popular within this very thread after all with multiple people having it in their signature.

It's not overly bulky, it resembles an adult and it's fairly masculine. Most importantly, it doesn't resemble a child - which we know Yoshi-P ruled out as a possibility.

[Senn]

You used the word "strong", so I wanted to clarify what the exact quote was. As I thought, it refers to their prowess in more general terms.

I'm in agreement with what Tabbs said. Real world biology doesn't matter in this game. Also, if we're talking about playable characters/male viera, consider this; males and females of the same race/tribe have the same stats as each other (including strength).

I still think Senn's suggestion

This post isn't necessarily for you since I'm aware you're just being petty, but for other people who happen to read this. That picture of male viera is not one that I personally suggested. I actually think it's too bulky and would prefer something slimmer like Omega M's body type. The reason it's in the OP is because a user (Lauront?) requested that I add the photo - at the time, I was still willing to make changes to the OP.

Theo, I think at the very least, you should respect the fact I even left that picture up there, even though you and I both know it's not what I'd "suggest", nor is it something I prefer.

[Lauront]

Yes, agreed.

[Crushnight]

Ah so the buff agenda is back, good to know i'll avoid thread for awhile again then..

I'll stay around asking for a single more youthful face (early 20s etc) but even that is classed as hijacking the race apparently so meh.

[Senn]

Ah so the buff agenda is back, good to know i'll avoid thread for awhile again then..

I'll stay around asking for a single more youthful face (early 20s etc) but even that is classed as hijacking the race apparently so meh.

I'm sure at this point, he's aware no one is "hijacking" anything considering no one knows what male viera look like. Can't hijack something that doesn't even have an official design yet. He's just saying it to get a rise out of people.

[Lauront]

I'm in agreement with what Tabbs said. Real world biology doesn't matter in this game. Also, if we're talking about playable characters/male viera, consider this; males and females of the same race/tribe have the same stats as each other (including strength).

Real world biology matters to the extent which the in-game lore doesn't explicitly contradict it - it's still operative, and where they feel the need to specify other factors, e.g. the presence of Elementals in Gridania, or Eorzea's aether-richness, they do so. Nonetheless, this argument is seriously flawed. The reason I didn't see the need to respond to Tabbs was because that whole discussion was proceeding on a different tangent, about whether they're "fierce" or not, which like "formidable", can be taken in multiple different ways.

However, in-game stats don't mean anything. They used to be there to reflect racial differences a little bit, were then removed, but they're obviously not literal stats and anyone who knows anything about MMOs would know better than to make any sort of inference from them. They're irrelevant and the fact that the descriptive lore does mention racial differences at various points goes further to show how useless they are at establishing anything.

The even bigger issue is people who think confounding variables, like materia, or jobs using lots and lots of magic mean physiological differences are irrelevant - they're not, because it isn't cost-free to train up or equip individuals with such methods/items. This may not matter for the WoL or an established adventurer, or wealthy city-state army, but what we're discussing is the race's evolutionary history which likely took place in an environment of more severe scarcity. Eorzea is also uniquely aether-rich, FYI, which contributed to its prosperity, and even so these pressures appear to have existed in shaping the differences in each race.

So no, I don't find this line of reasoning compelling in the least.

That picture of male viera is not one that I personally suggested. I actually think it's too bulky

Ah so the buff agenda is back, good to know i'll avoid thread for awhile again then..

Yes, we must not let it interfere with our echo chamber's singular vision for cutesy, soft bunny boys.

I'll stay around asking for a single more youthful face (early 20s etc) but even that is classed as hijacking the race apparently so meh.

Yeah, the one or two people who take it to that extreme have besieged the thread...

Really, I don't post here much but the few times I do, I always see the same soft, cutesy bunny boy thing being pushed, because - and solely in the context of this thread - there's quite a few of you dedicated to keep repeating the same demand. So relax.

[Senn]

Real world biology matters to the extent which the in-game lore doesn't explicitly contradict it - it's still operative, and where they feel the need to specify other factors, e.g. the presence of Elementals in Gridania, or Eorzea's aether-richness, they do so. Nonetheless, this argument is seriously flawed. The reason I didn't see the need to respond to Tabbs was because that whole discussion was proceeding on a different tangent, about whether they're "fierce" or not, which like "formidable", can be taken in multiple different ways.

At the end of the day, you're just speculating. In terms of martial prowess, male and female viera are equal. If we were to look into the synonyms of martial, I guess you could say the females are just as aggressive/military/war-like as the males. In terms of raw physical strength between males and females, if you don't count them as being equal in martial prowess as physical strength, then nothing has been confirmed on that end. It's a video game. Real world biology doesn't matter. We can just agree to disagree here.

However, in-game stats don't mean anything.

I don't know, if we're talking about getting male viera as a playable character, and if we're discussing whether the males and females are equal in strength, then I think those stats speak for itself. I am not aware of racial stats being removed from the game, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Here's a link to the racial stats that I have found - it includes viera stats as well: https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w...ing_attributes

The stats differ between races/tribes, but not between genders. So, if male viera were to be implemented into the game, it would most likely have the same exact stats as its female counterparts. That means the same amount of strength. I know stats are so insignificant that it doesn't really make much of a difference gameplay wise, but that's not really what we're discussing.

And in response to the rest of your post, listen... I don't really care if people prefer one type of viera over the other, and if they choose to express that here. I don't mind when you do it, either. I may disagree with you, and I may have my own preferences when it comes to how I'd like male viera to look, but I don't mind you having your own opinion. I know I can come off as harsh sometimes, but I genuinely have no problems with you, just disagreements.

It's one thing to state your opinion and disagree with people. But it's another thing to rile people up intentionally, which is not what I'm saying you did, but it has been happening by the "one or two people who take it to those extremes" like you said.

[Tabbs]

The reason I didn't see the need to respond to Tabbs was because that whole discussion was proceeding on a different tangent, about whether they're "fierce" or not, which like "formidable", can be taken in multiple different ways.

Sure, it was proceeding on a different tangent. Okay Formidable can mean a few things, but when you combine that with the context of "martial prowess" it can only mean so much.

Still waiting on those sources, buddy.

[Theodric]

I think it'd be pretty cool if they were designed to be tall, masculine and fairly well-built. Something like this, perhaps:



I'd definitely hate to see the gender/race combo hijacked to appease those who want the men to be drastically different to the women for the sake of being niche.

[Melichoir]

I'd definitely hate to see the gender/race combo hijacked to appease those who want the men to be drastically different to the women for the sake of being niche.

I dont think anyone is hijacking anything but rather just explaining their preferences, which is no different than what youre doing. I mean, if we go by how you are contextually using the word, than you yourself are also guilty of 'hijacking' the thread for getting your preferences front and center rather than just stating what you personally like to see.

There have definitely been attempts to hijack the cause, though. Or are we now pretending that Yoshi-P didn't have to make a statement specifically saying that they will not be designed to resemble children...? It was unfortunate that he had to point that out in the first place.

Theres a few breakdowns here. First, I know other people have mentioned how yoshi P envisions them, but hes not the sole designer. If anything hes the rubber stamper. He can have his input and put his vision out there but he is not inherently the person who solely picks what goes where. He literally has professional designers on his team that do the bulk of the designing and is extremely likely that they throw out a ton of design variations that are all drastically different jsut to see what works and what doesnt. Thats design basics 101. So nothing is ruled out just because Yoshi P said his personal PoV on it.

This is important cause yes, we may end up with dimorphic males for Viera. Males that could be smaller or different from the females. The point though about "Oh they wont be designed like children" is an oversimplification and misread of what people were asking for from Yoshi P. Generally speaking on the OFs, people werent asking for the males to be children (typically, as I know there were a few people who wanted that) but wanted cuter male characters. Theres a drastic difference but for some reason people are equating cute means child. The driving point is that people wanted a design that isnt big chiseled block of wood laquered in raw testosterone, but something cuter and softer in design. That there is a difference between child like and cute. Frankly the game could probably benefit in the end from that IMO, because we actually have pretty much every basic Trope of design for males so far (Fierce, Rugged, Average, Elegant, Funny).

Consider it this way, Fem Viera and Fem Roes are designed to be more sexy than cute, and by comparison, Fem Miqote and AuRa are definitely have design aspects to make them more cute than sexy. Neither of them would be construed as being children. Are we gonna suggest that because a character is male that they cannot be designed cute unless theyre specifically designed to be a child analogue? That the only way to have a male character is if theyre ripped, tall, and rugged?