Can we get normal manly males ?

[ReynTime]

If the idea is Hyur middlanders mostly look too young and lack of facial hairs, I agree. That's one reason why I don't play male character.

Roegadyn look too "wreastler", Highlanders... seriously... no really I can't (too tall, too wrestler and those faces... hell no), Ao Ra are too tall, Miqo'te... that's not it either (too short, the tail, the running animation, the rest pose, everything is a big no-no)... XD

Roagadyn beard but middlander body, that's it... if it could be.

Roes look like barrels with limbs.

[Eldevern]

Roes look like barrels with limbs.

Said by a potatoe


More seriously : Cid is probably based on Highlander.

[Fukuro]

highlander with eyebrows and more handsome face options would be quite popular imo
we just need more customizability across all races, especially the ones in dire need of it (highlander eyebrows, hrothgar head/hair situation)

[Keramory]

One of the biggest frustrations with character creator was I always wanted to make a highlander but the faces were far too Neanderthal like for my taste. This forum definitely has a problem with nitpicking sometimes but I dont think it's insanely unreasonable to wish for a natural, healthy, realistic medium between mid and highlander.

[Goji1639]

There a plenty of manly looking races. The problem is that there's like maybe 4 hairstyles in this game that look like they were intended for men.

[Theodric]

It's possible to make a handsome and masculine looking Midlander. The main issue for me is that they're lacking in the height department.

Miqo'te have at least one very masculine looking face but again find themselves stuck in the lack of a height situation.

It's also possible to make a masculine looking Raen or Xaela. They have even more muscular arms than Highlander men. The main think I dislike about them is the shape of their hips.

Roegadyn and Hrothgar are too bulky for my liking. To the point of suffering from inhuman proportions.

Elezen would be the most popular race had they been designed to look along the same lines as WoW's Blood Elves, I reckon. As it stands they're far too slender for my liking.

Highlander men have a great physique but their facial features and lack of eyebrows leave a lot to be desired. If they could be designed to look more like Jecht, Gladio or Snow from the single player games they'd be perfect for my tastes.

All in all, as I see it pretty much every option on the table has a flaw that would best be solved through the expansion of additional customisation options. I don't think adding new playable races solves that problem, either - because Hrothgar added a niche option in the form of a beast race and viera men also ended up being designed in a way that didn't quite live up to how I envisioned a bunch of strong, isolated forest warriors.

As for facial hair, I'd like to see this added to the game as a customisation option:



I think it looks masculine and it compliments the strong jaw without obscuring it. I don't really think that big beards are necessarily 'masculine' because often they're just grown out to hide a character's weak jaw.

There a plenty of manly looking races. The problem is that there's like maybe 4 hairstyles in this game that look like they were intended for men.

That's another problem, alongside the unfortunate fact that the lead developer of the game appears to play a female lalafell as his chosen playable option. I don't know if he plays alts or not, but I hope he does so he can see things through a different perspective.

[van_arn]

The game has an abundance of cute or beautiful styles, but the rugged or masculine options are severely lacking.

This is true from races to hairstyles to glamour to character customization to housing.

Shadowbringers added a few masculine glamour options, but we need a lot more than what we have— especially the godawful additional hairstyles.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Unfortunately i don’t see it happening anytime soon. SE seems to have had a fashion apocalypse and decided to added mainly feminine and androgynous hairstyles this expansion and said screw the males. It’s bad enough a lot of glams are feminine but now the hairstyles are too and it’s just... why even bother lmao.

[Lauront]

One of the biggest frustrations with character creator was I always wanted to make a highlander but the faces were far too Neanderthal like for my taste. This forum definitely has a problem with nitpicking sometimes but I dont think it's insanely unreasonable to wish for a natural, healthy, realistic medium between mid and highlander.

Yep, midlander faces and fluidity with highlander musculature would be ideal.

[Terin]

I 100% get the OP's complaint, it's something I held against FFXIV for a very long time. And I'll admit; I kind of think the Hrothgar wound up being "a swing and a miss", because they're essentially just "Roegadyn but cats". Being leaner and more proportionately muscled like Kimahri from FFX, I think they'd have done a great job of offering that "something between a Highlander and a Roegadyn". To me, even the Roegadyn tend to come off as "big ol' teddy bears" more than genuinely intimidating.

But also, I say as someone who originally came from WoW, it took me a while to "get" the aesthetic of FFXIV. In WoW (and really a lot of western games), you always want your character to be "the biggest, baddest dude in the room". FFXIV's art style doesn't really favor that, so much as a lot of beautiful, intricately-detailed designs. So even if you were able to bring over a WoW-style Human or Orc, it would still be a struggle to get them to look the same, because very little clothing/armor options match that aesthetic, either.

I still think "something between Highlanders and Roegadyn" would benefit the game. But with both the Au Ra and Hrothgar being added, I would probably say the next race we "need" is something between Lalafel and Miqo'te.