MrHappy interview with yoshida from tokyo

[SpiritMuse]

That is a very good interview, good questions from mr Happy and Yoshida's answers did much to help me understand their reasoning for some of the decisions I didn't agree with. I only raised my eyebrows a bit when Yoshida said that we already have plenty of cute characters in the game. Because while it's true we have plenty of cute *female* characters in the game, cute *male* characters are somewhat more scarce. I still see a gap there that a small-type male Viera could fit into very well. (Same for large and buff type characters, we have plenty of *male* large and buff characters, but not so much *female* of that type - a gap that a female Hrothgar might easily fill.)

[SendohJin]

I guess my question would be if they knew that development of a new race would consume so many resources and take so much time, why did they choose a race that very few people had asked for over a race that many people have asked for, for a number of years. The Viera race has been asked for by numerous people and at nearly every fanfest for years. When you knew you were going to add a new race, why start with this beast race that by comparison relatively no one asked for?

Viera as popular as it is, is still in the human/furry hybrid niche that Miqo'te is also in. Hrothgar fills a niche that doesn't exist at all in the game.

[Shougun]

I guess my question would be if they knew that development of a new race would consume so many resources and take so much time, why did they choose a race that very few people had asked for over a race that many people have asked for, for a number of years. The Viera race has been asked for by numerous people and at nearly every fanfest for years. When you knew you were going to add a new race, why start with this beast race that by comparison relatively no one asked for?

He does answers that though, not saying you have to like the reason - just that it was an answered question. He wanted to add something new, to fill a void of options for players that where not normally available, but he also knew that players really wanted Viera and so he set out to do as much as possible by doing a bit of both. Of course some people wanted to play and reveal the mystery that is male Viera but to be fair the only version of Viera we know is female Viera so you might argue that by creating female viera that then a majority of the "viera" demand had been met (because male viera is not known, there are some arts that people like of course but none of them are "true" yet and there is actually some disagreement on how male viera should appear).

So the answer to "why design a race that is less popular than the one asked for?" would probably be something like "We did design the popularly ask for race, and while we understand the desire to see both sides of that we also wanted to create a race that would create unique options and experience that we normally have not been able to provide - in this way we could use our resources as effectively as we might to create as diverse options as possible. These things take a lot of time and resources so please give us feedback on our new races and we will look forward to the interest of the other genders. Please look forward to it".

Hopefully the devs are able to unlock the genders (seems like a good expansion selling point to be honest, that and adding more customization to the our current races), while hopefully players are prepared to equip their patience and if haven't done yet be sure to give polite feedback. I don't mean it has to be "weak" feedback, just hopefully not attacking lol (and hopefully you don't get attacked either), but especially with our interview answers it's clear why they did what they did and it wasn't due to any sort of malice/gender issue - they were trying to give both the most diverse and popular options with limited resources.

When I have been seeing requests on the boards for new races, it really does boil down to two categories:

~Those who want Viera.
~Those who want something completely different, like a Beast Race.

... and the two "factions" have sparred with each other for a very, very long time.

But both of them have been asked for.

Indeed - while obviously getting all the cake at once would be great lol (both races released full) in this way they've delivered the most popular version of Viera (the only one we've known) and also filled a void which can help players find a home they never had the option to find before (or had to compromise towards) and in this I think help gain a few new people too.

Of course I think Viera male would be decently played (less then female viera but still a real good % of the player base) so designing it is wise (I think), as it'd make a lot of people happy who were wondering what they look like and also that sweet fantasia money lol. Hrothgar female would just be really interesting I think, I believe the beast males will be played more than female just out of knowing people and their choices but female beast option would be cool (they can make them a bit pretty like Ronso FFX but it would be a bit unique if they make sure the females could bulk a bit and have the horns/teeth as well).

[SieyaM]

Viera as popular as it is, is still in the human/furry hybrid niche that Miqo'te is also in. Hrothgar fills a niche that doesn't exist at all in the game.

I will be very curious about usage stats on the Hrothgar race then. If they don't at least exceed the Roe usage then it was an enormous waste of resources and time.

[Shougun]

I will be very curious about usage stats on the Hrothgar race then. If they don't at least exceed the Roe usage then it was an enormous waste of resources and time.

I really disagree that if it isn't popular it wasn't worth the time/money. If you have a buffet with a bunch of carb related food because it's the most popular, obviously you could add more carb food just trying to really nail that general audience. OR because you have so many carb related items already you might add some fruit so you can draw in those side family members and please those who've never been fully pleased before, it may be less popular but it could still be worth while.

Ronso is to satisfy those who've never had the chance to be fully satisfied before, Ronso doesn't need to be raging in popularity to be a success.

In a way you can see it as an argument for diversity/of choice, there of course may be certain choices that are more popular and so be it - but sometimes its good to make sure you haven't ignored an entire group on purpose/accident (like DoH/DoL isn't main content for most people but this game actually has one of the most satisfying crafting/gathering systems for an MMORPG, and in that FFXIV can hold their attention unlike many other popular mmos).

[Dasya]

I will be very curious about usage stats on the Hrothgar race then. If they don't at least exceed the Roe usage then it was an enormous waste of resources and time.

Subjective. You believe it would be a waste of time & resources. Those who do play Hrothgar (not matter how small the population) would see value in the time & resources spent.

End of the day, it's up to Youshi-P how development time and money is handled. I'm pretty certain he's not just throwing both around willy nilly, and well aware the numbers will not be anything high.


I personally do not care for the Hrothgar race at all, but I appreciate the time the dev team spent in giving other players options.

[Physic]

I will be very curious about usage stats on the Hrothgar race then. If they don't at least exceed the Roe usage then it was an enormous waste of resources and time.

hrothgar wasnt added for popularity, it was added for diversity within the game world.

[Alleo]

Quite a few posters have expressed their desire for a more bestial playable race. It just so happens that many of the same posters complaining about the lack of Viera men are the very same posters who do everything possible to downplay and stamp out the suggestions for something that isn't more of the same. Personally I'd have preferred no new playable races at all in favour of more customisation options for the existing playable races.

The problem really is that they somehow decided that one part of each race would be the best. So they probably thought that less people would want to play female ronso or male viera. This might be true for the female but eventhough I do want a beastial race (and since I only play females on my main I still have to wait for that dream to come true) I am not sure if the need for a male ronso was higher than the one for a male viera. Anyway the best (imo) would have been to make a full beastial race (maybe with a bit more quality to their faces) and then tease the Viera with Fran as the next and last race for the next expansion.

(I also would not want to sweep so many people into one category. Because quite a few Viera supporters wanted Viera men that are different from the things we already have.)

I feel bad for Yoshi P and the dev team ... they will be back from the Fanfest and there is an avalanche of complains about the genderlock races as if nothing else they showed for 5.0 matters.

That might sound a bit harsh but sometimes you reap what you sow.

[Lambdafish]

I will be very curious about usage stats on the Hrothgar race then. If they don't at least exceed the Roe usage then it was an enormous waste of resources and time.

This logic is the reason we have so many call of duty clones, battle royales, needlessly open world games and live services. Putting out only the popular thing quickly leads to stagnation.

[ReiMakoto]

probably because blue mage plan is not out in its complete form yet. Feedback on limited jobs and blue mage at this point isnt that useful. That said, limited jobs excites me more than main jobs at this point.

unless they drastically change the battle system, its all pretty repetitive at thus point.

The game is repetitive, so the job that has to repeat the same stuff over and over and over to learn skills that will either never be used, or used in once again repetitive carnival fights. Alright then.