The State of Male Character Creation

[Fyce]

idk, maybe they found a pic of a hyur on google images and just picked that one
you're taking it too seriously bro

it's just an assumption but even taking the no muscle hyur, op probably means they want something less broader and slimmer than that

Of course I'm taking it seriously. How else should I take it? Someone is creating a thread to ask for something while presenting their arguments, the least I can do is to take them seriously. They are presenting flawed/false information, I correct them. That's it.
And if it wasn't mean to be taken seriously, then why posting it at all? That'd be an even greater disservice to what they're asking for... If it's not serious then nobody will bother supporting the idea.

I know what they want, the issue is how they presented their argument to obtain it.
The way you ask for something is as important, if not more than what you're asking for.


Edit: Whatever dude. If you don't agree that not presenting false information when asking for something is important, then I guess we simply don't share the same values.
I simply debunked a false claim that the game only allowed the player to create a muscular male character as presented by the screenshot someone posted. You were the one starting to answer beyond the point by telling me stuff I already knew. Between the two of us, I don't think I'm the one diving too deep into it. They were wrong, and I corrected them. That's it. Don't start arguing if you don't know where you are going :/

[MiraKershaw]

It is rumored that all male warriors of light awake from the hydilbolic time chamber before they start their adventure

[ElezenWoL]

Actually I would argue that Elezen and Miquote aren't all that masculine. And I say this as an Elezen. In fact, without a beard as mine has, he could look pretty androgynous.

I am pretty disappointed that Viera and Hrothgar are gender locked, as I was thinking of doing a fantasia to a male Viera. The Hrothgars do not appeal to me because they actually do look so hyper masculine and too bestial for my tastes.

But I don't think that no male Viera is worth all of the outrage that is going on. Could the devs have handled it better by outright stating at Paris that there will be no male Viera? Yes they could have, but the reason they probably did not is because Hrothgars were not ready to show off then.

I also don't understand how Viera are viewed as sexist when they clearly have an inherently matriarchal society where the women wield all of the power and the males have diminished roles that boil down to breed and protect the forest, and do not live within Viera society properly. Is it sexist towards male Viera? Depends upon your view point. But we also know nothing of the women in Hrothgar society. Maybe the men are merely the wanderers who go forth and become warriors whilst women do other things. We don't know.

There may be male Viera in the future. There may be female Hrothgar in the future. We do not know. There was also nothing to state that male Viera are more feminine looking. They could be hulking beasts for all we know. There are a few outdated stereotypes in here, but calling every male race overly hyper muscular and masculine is disingenuous.

[TaiyoShikasu]

Character creation as a whole is lackluster and needs work, it's not just for male characters.

[SpiritMuse]

> Complains about muscular males
> Post a picture of characters with the muscle slider all the way to the top



Yeah, this bad boy must hit the gym at least once... per decade.

This is definitely still a dude who works out. He's maybe not a dedicated gym rat but he probably still lifts regularly. At the very least he's a runner or something. The point is, this is not the body of an untrained man.

The thing is those "muscle sliders" don't actually change the character shape. It just adjusts the shading to accentuate the muscles more. Seen from the side, this dude definitely still has significant pecs, and his arm muscles bulge just the same.

[Vidu]

This is definitely still a dude who works out. He's maybe not a dedicated gym rat but he probably still lifts regularly. At the very least he's a runner or something. The point is, this is not the body of an untrained man.

The thing is those "muscle sliders" don't actually change the character shape. It just adjusts the shading to accentuate the muscles more. Seen from the side, this dude definitely still has significant pecs, and his arm muscles bulge just the same.

And our character isnt an untrained person? Even if you're playing as a mage, your character is still doing an aweful lot of running around etc.
You actually cant play the game without playing a character who is - thanks to storytelling and gameplay - working out in some fashion. Unless ofc you create a character only for RP-purpose and keep him/her at level one, sitting on a bench for their entire lifespan.

I know that specially in the light of the recent annoucments lore is a bit of a shifty argument and the logical idea of "the WoL has to be a fit person to be the WoL" might have not even been the real reason not to have a "fat-slider", but it definitely makes sense that out characters appear as if they're working out, because... they are.

[SpiritMuse]

And our character isnt an untrained person? Even if you're playing as a mage, your character is still doing an aweful lot of running around etc.

I... never said they are? And in fact that's kind of my point. Trying to claim that any of our characters have the body of someone who basically never works out is not really accurate.

[Ramesses]

See how thin Alphinaud is?



I think Alphinaud's body type would work out very well for male viera, and I have a feeling would be popular as well. Right now, compared to Alphinaud's body type, the other races are more muscular and in general bigger/broader than his. Personally, what I would like to see is a short and slim male viera, as that is the body type I feel is missing from the other races.

Can you please leave Alphy out of this...? He's busy saving the world.

I thank you most kindly for your discretion... most kindly.

[Barraind]

This is definitely still a dude who works out. He's maybe not a dedicated gym rat but he probably still lifts regularly. At the very least he's a runner or something.

As a Warrior of Light, by the time we finish Stormblood, we have:

Carried the entirety of our inventory on our backs, which includes multiple sets of armor, rations, consumables, animal droppings and up to millions of coins.

Spent an inordinate amount of time running through cities, running through the desert, running through the forest, running around the plains, running around the beach.

Mastered the art of horsemanship.

Mastered at least one style of Martial, Spiritual or Mental combat. Each of those requiring physical endurance, the ability to take punishment, and the ability to sprint short distances regularly to avoid AE's.

Explored countless ruins, dungeons, outposts and hostile environments, each requiring us to run or sprint through them, dodge traps and environmental effects, and fight monsters, constructs or garleans.

Additionally, we have optionally mastered multiple professions that require mining, woodcutting, farming, or beating rocks into submission with a sledgehammer.


We're all in the top fraction of a fraction of a percent of olympic-level athletes in terms of fitness.

[MPNZ]

Midlander - muscular male
Highlander - extra muscular male
Miqote - short muscular male
Elezen - lanky muscular male
Aura - lanky muscular male
Roe - ridiculously muscular male
Hrothgar - reskinned roe
Lalafell - potato

Wow so many diverse and unique options. Hrothgar really filled a niche that wasn't being satisfied before. There couldn't possibly be another race that would give them a chance to balance out the roster.

midlander- average person MC type. Traditionally fem girl. and, thancred
Highlander- Grinder male. Pro wrestler/ female body builder
Elezen- Guant and lanky male. a tall gazelle-like figure
Roe- Bara bear w/ soft-muscular body. Sigourney Weaver(alien ressurection). The Admiral
Lala- totes adorable little gremlins
Miqo- Pretty boy and def hot bishie body. cute and tomboyish bodies.
Auri- Tall, hot, and kind of dangerous that would fit in a lot of shojo manga. Small, petite, otome/romance manga protagonist
Viera: unknown. voluptuous and tall.
Hrothgar:Same as male roe but furry. Unknown