Viera and Hrothgar Megathread

[LuciaMirain]

No.. viera must have racial unique hairs*.. I do wonder though if the whole "racial unique" thing was more due to them just not wanting to adjust hairs for them regularly.

At first it was they would get the hairs that others have but yeah....I think you might be on to something.

[LuciaMirain]

If at least their hairstyles were encompassing their ears...






There is no technical reason for this on their race. They have, just like every other race, 4 head models and separate hair models.
The only reason I can think of is they didn't want to give them a hairstyle option because you'd just have 2 hairs. That would look worse than having "8" face options and a missing hairstyle option is hard to notice... hoping the reviewers wouldn't either?

this is what has been bothering me for a long long time (around two years ....or so.....) Vieras own hair already clips with the ears so to use that as an excuse as to why we cant recieve the other hairs is just silly. I have through mods seem all the modern aes hairstyles on them and honestly only form and function and the "B hairstyle clips really bad with the braid or headband. Great lengths looks really nice on viera. If they want to make it easy for themselves then just release the same hairstyles in a bundle for both female and male vieras and just let them share hairstyles like all the other races and genders do (except some few race specific ones). Alot of the fanart of male vieras already have them in long feminine hair anyway, locks and braids....so it wouldnt be too much of a stretch to actually let them use existing viera hairstyles already. Also give us option to toggle off the flowers......please...They ruin my style so many times.

[Iscah]

I also don't think some of the hairstyles could be achieved if they had to go around the ear base.

That's exactly my issue. They shouldn't be achievable and therefore they don't make sense. They just need to have more styles that sweep backwards between the ears instead of sideways.

For the male hairstyle you posted above, it's hard to tell but it might shift direction and only the section in front of the ears has the parting line. That would make sense. But there's no need for it to continue sideways between the ears.

I just feel like you could do more things that actually work with the ear position - different ponytails or half-ponytails or fancy braids that run longways between the ears. Or for the style with pigtails, do three sections instead of two. Don't just ignore them and create six different styles with centre part lines that shouldn't be physically possible.

[Halivel]

At least he talked about it that recently... so there is still hope. I thought the last time he talked about it was more than a year ago.

That interview probably wasn't translated, I'm not sure. At least I don't remember seeing it anywhere in English. He was actually asked both about haircuts and helmets situtation, and answered both of them:
http://blog.livedoor.jp/umadori0726/.../57551645.html

• ヴィエラの髪型は増えませんか？

ヴィエラ・ロスガルの髪型はもうしばらくお待ちください

• ヴィエラやロスガルの頭装備の対応どうにかして吉P！

ヴィエラとロスガルの頭装備は、「今の実装を許容する」という条件付きで特殊な耳や顔になっているので、その両立を100%行うのは不可能です。ごめんなさい。

Q: Will there be any new hairstyles for Viera?
A: Please, wait a little bit longer for Viera and Hrothgars hairstyles.

Q: Yoshi-P, you should do something about Viera and Hrothgars headgear!
A: Regarding Viera and Hrothgar headgear - we have an "acceptable for immediate release" condition, so because they have unique ears and faces, we can't make them 100% compatible. I'm sorry.

I'm not sure if I conveyed well what he means in the second answer, because I understand it while reading, but I'm not a translator so... sorry if it's a bit cryptic. The general sense is that helmest won't be ever compatible for 100%.
I'm also honestly still wondering what's so wrong with Viera ears, but I guess that's due to them being changable and being of different shape and size... which is a valid reason, but it sounds a bit weird when there're Lalafells and Elezens who can change their ears shape and size, and Miqo'te and Au Ra whose tails clip trough nearly everything (not to mention Au Ra's horrendous clipping with current Bozja helmets).

[Yencat]

That's exactly my issue. They shouldn't be achievable and therefore they don't make sense. They just need to have more styles that sweep backwards between the ears instead of sideways.

For the male hairstyle you posted above, it's hard to tell but it might shift direction and only the section in front of the ears has the parting line. That would make sense. But there's no need for it to continue sideways between the ears.

I just feel like you could do more things that actually work with the ear position - different ponytails or half-ponytails or fancy braids that run longways between the ears. Not just ignore them and create six different styles with centre part lines that shouldn't be physically possible.

I get what you're saying completely, and if the race didn't have bigger issues than whether or not the direction the hair is going in relation to the ears is realistic I'd agree they should pay this more mind.

But right now? The selection is already so bare bones, if they were to take this into account as well we'd be even more limited in the sort of styles we would potentially get access to.

Viera hair already has a lot of weird little quirks like a wildly inconsistent hairline shape and forehead size. It shows in the image with the male Viera as well, his forehead is so small with that hairstyle his eyebrows almost connect with the hairline.

They clearly do not care and just design a cool hairstyle and then cut two holes in it for the ears so I can't bring myself to care too much either, I just want more of them at this point.

[Iscah]

But right now? The selection is already so bare bones, if they were to take this into account as well we'd be even more limited in the sort of styles we would potentially get access to.

That's my thing. I don't think it would be "more limited", just more unique and they'd actually seem like race-specific Viera hairstyles that they put effort and thought into.

Viera hair already has a lot of weird little quirks like a wildly inconsistent hairline shape and forehead size.

That's not a Viera problem, it's a whole-game problem. The standard hairstyles vary a lot too - they're either not paying attention to it or they're deliberately going for variety over consistency.

I honestly don't think the character designers think about the one character constantly changing hairstyles, but rather the idea that you build your character and stick to it. It would certainly explain the approach to Hrothgar not prioritising hairstyle changeability over the variety of fur patterns.

[LuluLavender]

The thing I don't understand at all is that Viera's headshape at least, really isn't unique. Sure their ears are slapped on there, but as the modding community as proven, Viera heads are not so unique you can't fit gear meant for other races on them. That excuse just doesn't fly with me.

Also, just popping in as I was dicussing on discord and was reminded that for community event such as the fanfest screenshot contests, 2 out of the 4 prizes available are not relevent for players playing Viera or Hrothgar, and that ties in with us getting cut out of rewards for in game events and the loss of content such as grinding for hairstyles, etc. I know it's a small thing, but something needs to be done.

[Iscah]

The thing I don't understand at all is that Viera's headshape at least, really isn't unique. Sure their ears are slapped on there, but as the modding community as proven, Viera heads are not so unique you can't fit gear meant for other races on them. That excuse just doesn't fly with me.

Whatever it is, it's not just the visual shape of the head, so I assume there's some kind of behind-the-scenes trickery involved to make it work that somehow makes hairstyles hard to implement.

It's clearly not about avoiding clipping and I don't know why they'd drag their feet on it if they could simply add the older hairstyles and make everyone happy.

[LuluLavender]

Whatever it is, it's not just the visual shape of the head, so I assume there's some kind of behind-the-scenes trickery involved to make it work that somehow makes hairstyles hard to implement.

It's clearly not about avoiding clipping and I don't know why they'd drag their feet on it if they could simply add the older hairstyles and make everyone happy.

As far as I am concerned, SE are completely obsessed with clipping. In a very weird way too, they seem to be really over the top about it in some ways, and then really lax about it in other ways. I really do believe the issues come down to clipping but the biggest issue is down to the distribution of resources, that we're not seeing any headway on this issue. They focus on things like making male viera which brings in new players, increasing the playerbase, and that's good for buisness. New features are good for buisness. Race hairstyles is primarily a concern of long term players, and fixing it is not really seen as important I believe, at least judging by the response. Which is why I stated I don't feel like they'll ever fix it. At the end of the day, they are a buisness here to make money, and they'll keep the resources on developing parts of the game that draw players in. Of course, there's also less resources available as a whole because of covid, and I acknowledge that may well have an effect.

I do have some experience with playing around with 3D modeling and assets, and I am by no means an expert in any way, but I really don't see what "behind-the-scenes" trickery could be at play. They're simple models and assets really. Happy to be proven otherwise.

[Yencat]

That's my thing. I don't think it would be "more limited", just more unique and they'd actually seem like race-specific Viera hairstyles that they put effort and thought into.

Maybe it wouldn't be more limited in the total amount of hairstyles because they could've made something else instead, but if a hairstyle like the one I'm using right now (or several of the other Viera hairstyles I'm quite fond of) wouldn't be possible, how can that not be limiting?

It's fine to argue for more unique and race-specific hairstyles, but when 8 hairstyles in 2 years is all they can manage without putting the thought and effort into working around ears then I don't want it.

Don't get me wrong it's nice in theory, but it's kind of a first world problem to people that just want more hairstyle options. Even if it isn't exactly realistic.