Show your ELEZEN

[RayddenPrime]

I usually am a big fan of elven races in the fantasy world...but big games usually have a bad design when it comes down to elven races.
Expectation vs What we Get :


What is you favorite elven design..mine is from middle earth.. and i love the design of Mirkwood elves gear
Elezen in FF is pretty good too compare to other..tho they might need a little redesign in my opinion..which is subjective of coarse

But yeah , lets see those Elezen and their glorious glamour

[MelodyCrystel]

There's already such a thread:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ow-your-Elezen!

[Nedkel]

Bad design? Where? :x

[AnonymousBard]

I've always preferred playing as a human as it helps me associate closer to my character (unless for story reasons I do a crossbreed like a half-elf). However, FF has done an amazing job IMO with the lore/design/etc of the Elezens. Ishgard, the Holy See, their history, culture, etc is so ingrossing to me; as I'm a huge fan of high fantasy Medieval settings and the Elezens in FFXIV tend to have that Medieval European vibe going on. I couldn't help but main one. See profile pic for my Elezen (though I'm just wearing generic clothes right now for my armorer leveling).

Having said all that, I believe that Tolkien's Elves are more or less the defacto elves of just about any fiction. Never really liked the design of any of the Elder Scrolls elves but I do like the design and lore of the High Elves. Most fictions tend to depict elves as savage. Which is totally fine. there's alot of people that enjoy that setting. But I like Tolkien's take on things. Royal entities in tune with creation.

[RayddenPrime]

Bad design? Where? :x

Again , as i said ..its subjective. And i did say the FF design is quite nice but not how i would actually want them to look like.

[RayddenPrime]

I've always preferred playing as a human as it helps me associate closer to my character (unless for story reasons I do a crossbreed like a half-elf). However, FF has done an amazing job IMO with the lore/design/etc of the Elezens. Ishgard, the Holy See, their history, culture, etc is so ingrossing to me; as I'm a huge fan of high fantasy Medieval settings and the Elezens in FFXIV tend to have that Medieval European vibe going on. I couldn't help but main one. See profile pic for my Elezen (though I'm just wearing generic clothes right now for my armorer leveling).

Having said all that, I believe that Tolkien's Elves are more or less the defacto elves of just about any fiction. Never really like the design of any of the Elder Scrolls elves but i do like the design and lore of the High Elves. Most fictions tend to depict elves as savage. Which is totally fine. theres alot of people that enjoy that setting. But i like Tolkiens take on things. Royal entities in tune with creation.

Oh no, i do love the elezen lore on Ff14 , especially the ishgardian elezen..i am mainly talking about physical appearance design..character design.. my favorite elves are the ones from Middle earth. They still look very human but ..like a higher species of humans..and their popularity in craftsmenships actually shows in their gear and armor designs..i wish they made the design a bit closer to that.

[RayddenPrime]

There's already such a thread:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ow-your-Elezen!

Oh i know about these treads lol this one is a bit different tho.

[Eien713]

I personally like the Elezen race in FF14 and have been one since the very beginning (close to 5 years now). I've always loved elven races and archers, so I guess this is a huge part of my loyalty to them in video games offering multiple races. However, my only complaint would be the distorted anatomy of Elezen in FF14. Their bodies kinda have weird proportions, which makes some outfits or parts of outfits look bad on them (e.g. shoulders). I honestly can't help but find myself envying Viera because they're tall yet still retain normal proportions. With my Elezen, I need to be very careful when creating my glamours because some pieces either look off or just bad on this race (>_<)

[Inyalu]

Oh i know about these treads lol this one is a bit different tho.

Maybe consider renaming this thread?

On topic: I like the basic design of Elezen in this game even if they have some weird proportions and not every glam is for them.

But if you pay tribute to their assets (i.e. slender body, endless legs) and play around their flaws a bit (neck, shoulders) you can get amazing results.

[Kalise]

One of the main things that contributes to how games do elf designs is that they're trying to also make them more than just "Humans but with pointy ears"

As well as two completely different mythologies about elves in general. One where they're the most beautiful race in existance (A trope used in the LotR mythos) and one where they're monsters with fangs and claws etc.

The former is hard to actually portray, given that beauty is subjective as well as the whole inter-species relationships thing is not actually seen in reality (Despite it being a popular trope for fantasy and sci-fi genres)...

The latter, well it comes out with designs closer to that of how you see elves in the Elder Scrolls series, or the Night Elves in Warcraft (Until WoW made them into cutesy cheerleaders...)

Elezen in XIV, try to come up with something different. Something that looks "Normal", but yet different enough to not simply be "Human but with pointy ears" (Despite Miqo'te being "Human but with cat ears and tail" and Viera being mostly "Human but with bunny ears"). Though, I think the fact that they were the first race to be created shows, with some rough edges here and there.

As far as preference, I tend to err on the side of D&D style elves, whom are shorter and more slender than humans as opposed to taller and leaner variants. I think it tends to fit the typical "Elven" lore that most settings use (I.e. Forest dwellers, agile and often using bows and light blades). Not to mention the variety of skin colours and the reasons for them can be cool too (Even Warcraft has interesting backstories behind Night Elves, High Elves and Blood Elves and their distinct features. Night Elves drinking from Moonwells to sate their magical addiction and thus becoming pale pink/purple/blue coloration, High Elves drinking from the Sunwell to sate their magical addiction gaining a more "Human-esk" skin tone with Blood Elves resorting to feeding on Fel Energy directly from demons when the Sunwell was destroyed giving them their green eyes (It'd have been nice to see more skin discolouring as a result, similar to how Orcs became green skinned after Grommash drank the blood of the demonlord Mannoroth but whatever))

On a side note: When the option presents itself, I tend to pick Half-Elf races, striking a balance between Elf and Human and getting some interesting proportions. Though, it's impossible to pass up a cat girl when it appears, hence my Miqo'te.