Male Viera as a playable character! show your support

[KaijinRhada]

Just have to be patient. Be it months or in two years time until we hear anymore discussion from SE about this, people can keep up the discussion on their end for male Viera/female Hrothgar in the meantime to show that there is still interest; the Viera thread lasted for a long while up to the present, so I'm sure this and the female Hrothgar thread will last as well.

I hope to see both, but waiting is not a problem, especially considering that they're still working on female Viera/male Hrothgar, and there's other content that they have to roll out in the meantime if they do intend to implement the other halves of each race in the future. Enthusiasm is great, but I would encourage people to remain calm, civil and constructive, and be patient.

[MrKimper]

Just have to be patient. Be it months or in two years time until we hear anymore discussion from SE about this, people can keep up the discussion on their end for male Viera/female Hrothgar in the meantime to show that there is still interest; the Viera thread lasted for a long while up to the present, so I'm sure this and the female Hrothgar thread will last as well.

I hope to see both, but waiting is not a problem, especially considering that they're still working on female Viera/male Hrothgar, and there's other content that they have to roll out in the meantime if they do intend to implement the other halves of each race in the future. Enthusiasm is great, but I would encourage people to remain clam, civil and constructive, and be patient.

This pretty much, again we won't see a response yet so close to content release, the BA thread most likely only got a response because they were monitoring that content and had the free time to reply. I doubt we'll get one before may or even before SHB launches. Keep in mind to my knowledge no other eureka critique thread had any official response attached to it.

[Quipsy]

I've been watching this thread for a while in fact it's the first and only place on the forums I've ever posted and the vast majority of male viera supporters are patient and ponderous people who have a lot of interesting ideas. Most of the discussion I see is either playful or thinking about what could be... occasionally someone comes in and is quite emotional--either because they're growing impatient or the decision still has quite a visceral impact on them--but that's the minority. A lot of those people seem to leave fairly quickly, content to leave after voicing their support and disappointment.

(As for entitlement--this game is much like a restaurant. If you're paying for service, you are entitled to make complaints and suggestions, so it goes--it is from these things that the company offering the service learns where they can make more money. If only Jack-in-the-Box would learn from this and bring back mozzarella sticks...)

I, for one, am holding off on buying Shadowbringers until we are given some sort of assurance that at some point in the future the deed will be done--it doesn't matter if it takes a while, just a jaunty "we've heard you, we'll be working on it, it might take one or two years but please look forward to it in the future!" I'll keep subbing since playing this game is highly encouraged by my neurologist and I have boatloads of fun watching the everlasting comedy that is Famfrit in action alone, but the lack of the other half of these races has left a sour taste in my mouth. The thing I like the best about this game is the story, but I can hold off just fine since I can't really do instanced content right out the gate anyway and I can still see what's up with the story other ways. I don't need to pay if I can't continue my character's story the way I'd like to--voting with my wallet, in and of itself valuable input. (Some have said this kind of decision is extreme, but I... really don't know why? There are lots of fun things to do in the game already.)

[Renthas]

The voice has already been heard by Square. They've already said they're looking into the feedback and haven't said anything else because we already know that we have no male Viera or female Hrothgar due to a lack of resources and they don't want to make a promise they can't keep. If the higherups refuse to provide additional resources to the XIV development team, then that's that; at this point Yoshi-P and his team really don't have too much of a say in it. Saying that they can afford to splurge or have enough time to develop is not how it works at all, this kind of thing takes time and we know they've been working on Shadowbringers stuff since 4.1. Considering we're only 2 months off from the launch of SHB, they're entering the crunch period too where the developers and artists spend almost all of their time in the office working and get excruciatingly little sleep. We've already had them tell us that many parts of SHB, notably male Hrothgar and the Crystarium, were just barely ready in time for fanfest.
Be patient, you guys will get another response eventually. This really isn't about Square withholding information or trying to play coy, it's just that they can't make any real announcements until they actually know something regarding the resources themselves. We already got female Viera instead of female Hrothgar due to fan demand, if they get the resources and the go-ahead, I'm sure we'd get male Viera and female Hrothgar as well.

[LaylaTsarra]

The voice has already been heard by Square. They've already said they're looking into the feedback and haven't said anything else because we already know that we have no male Viera or female Hrothgar due to a lack of resources and they don't want to make a promise they can't keep. If the higherups refuse to provide additional resources to the XIV development team, then that's that; at this point Yoshi-P and his team really don't have too much of a say in it. Saying that they can afford to splurge or have enough time to develop is not how it works at all, this kind of thing takes time and we know they've been working on Shadowbringers stuff since 4.1. Considering we're only 2 months off from the launch of SHB, they're entering the crunch period too where the developers and artists spend almost all of their time in the office working and get excruciatingly little sleep. We've already had them tell us that many parts of SHB, notably male Hrothgar and the Crystarium, were just barely ready in time for fanfest.

Be patient, you guys will get another response eventually. This really isn't about Square withholding information or trying to play coy, it's just that they can't make any real announcements until they actually know something regarding the resources themselves. We already got female Viera instead of female Hrothgar due to fan demand, if they get the resources and the go-ahead, I'm sure we'd get male Viera and female Hrothgar as well.

Thank you very well stated and right on the money in my opinion.

[Hestzhyen]

snip

I don't think anyone sincerely expects people to stop what they're doing and give a detailed response at the drop of a hat. But someone somewhere in the company could tell a community rep to say "we are still collecting feedback" and that would satisfy for the time being. Customers don't like feeling as though they are screaming into an empty void; knowing someone is there to listen, maybe even provide a statement stating there is nothing to state at this time, offers a little peace of mind.

SE is pretty bad at the whole communication thing, honestly. It should be PR 101 to engage your customers and let them feel heard... especially with all the cheap and convenient ways to do it nowadays. Hold companies accountable for behaving poorly.

[Renthas]

I don't think anyone sincerely expects people to stop what they're doing and give a detailed response at the drop of a hat. But someone somewhere in the company could tell a community rep to say "we are still collecting feedback" and that would satisfy for the time being. Customers don't like feeling as though they are screaming into an empty void; knowing someone is there to listen, maybe even provide a statement stating there is nothing to state at this time, offers a little peace of mind.

SE is pretty bad at the whole communication thing, honestly. It should be PR 101 to engage your customers and let them feel heard... especially with all the cheap and convenient ways to do it nowadays. Hold companies accountable for behaving poorly.

Well, it's only been about two or three weeks since they gave us the first official response, which was that they were looking into the feedback over the monogender controversy but had nothing to state at the time. I wouldn't expect another response until the May Live Letter at the soonest.

[Saywihee]

Ok... Hear me out... let me give a magical analogy for all these arguments..

Say there's a subscription box service for clothing. it's pretty popular and they usually have lots of styles that both guys and girls can wear, even really sexy options. In the past they were a bit more stingy on guys and girls wear, but they loosened up a bit once they entered under new management. They have somethings specifically for women/men but most of these decisions make sense and you could still get them anyway even if you weren't actually a guy/girl (like bras, etc).

Then, one day, they are getting to release one of their deluxe packages that people have been looking forward too (as well as pre-ordering for). It should have all kinds of innovative styles and such. And one of the things that are being advertise is a high-quality halter top. A lot of women and even some of them men were looking at this halter top and thinking "Oh! That's cool! I can't wait to order one!" however, in their preview pictures, they only showed female models. "Well, this isn't really too big of a deal, even if it's designed for women, the guys should be able to order them too."

However, later on, in a bit fashion-type show. They also announce some really nice muscle-showing sleeveless shirts. A lot of the guys are really excited, some of the girls too. BUT, then they announce that only men can buy the muscle shirts, and only women could buy the halters. FUTHERMORE, they would be putting in measures to keep women and men from buying the other top directly into their profile, making it all but impossible for men to buy the halters, and women to buy the muscle shirts. They cite reasons of of the package's themes and saying that having women buying muscle shirts and men buying halter tops would go against the theme of the release.

Of course, this doesn't affect everyone. Most men/women wouldn't buy these products.
However, the fact that they are making such an active effort to keep the other genders from buying these pieces, when previously they've been more lax with such things before, has caused many people to be upset. Some are pointing out that, even if this is "off theme" There have been other deluxe packages with options that go off theme before. Some of these upset people are now canceling their pre-orders for the deluxe package and trying to cancel their subscription, onnly to find that, because they have already accepted one item that was considered a bonus, that they cannot get refunds for the more expensive deluxe package.

Why would these people be "entitled?" in any way?

We're not saying that everyone has to buy the Halters or get the Muscle Shirts. We're just saying it's wrong for them to be gender-limited.

[xbahax92]

Of course, this doesn't affect everyone. Most men/women wouldn't buy these products.
However, the fact that they are making such an active effort to keep the other genders from buying these pieces, when previously they've been more lax with such things before, has caused many people to be upset. Some are pointing out that, even if this is "off theme" There have been other deluxe packages with options that go off theme before. Some of these upset people are now canceling their pre-orders for the deluxe package and trying to cancel their subscription, onnly to find that, because they have already accepted one item that was considered a bonus, that they cannot get refunds for the more expensive deluxe package.

Why would these people be "entitled?" in any way?

We're not saying that everyone has to buy the Halters or get the Muscle Shirts. We're just saying it's wrong for them to be gender-limited.

Then go and protest about it, leave feedback but dont act like you cant live or play the game without them. These things are nice to have, but not necessary to enjoy the basic subscription.
People are not entitled, I have been in this boat for a while as well and voiced myself pretty much for wanting male Viera. But I'm getting annoyed by some comments and it makes me /facepalm.
If FFXIV is ruined for some people, then so be it. They will come back eventually, after realizing the MMO market isnt that great, and FFXIV offers a really great service. But dont act like it is "the end of the world". Thats why I said this comment to begin with. If people want to be respected, then they should also respect other players who are excited for the expansion. I dont need to read every 2. post being "q-q" or just wishful thinking.

[Nestama]

Well, it's only been about two or three weeks since they gave us the first official response, which was that they were looking into the feedback over the monogender controversy but had nothing to state at the time. I wouldn't expect another response until the May Live Letter at the soonest.

And if they do mention it in the Live Letter, the most they'll likely say is "we're aware of the issue," and then leave it at that. I doubt SE will want to raise anyone's hopes (again) until they're 100% sure they'll have the resources to make them (Fan Fest naturally being the latest). We have multiple threads/posts showing us exactly what happens when expectations are not met regarding this issue specifically.