So.... why the Races from FFXI?

[DarthTaru]

I like that they continued with similar races. In fact, I honestly wish they just made FFXIV a true sequel and brought us back to Vana'diel, even if a Vana'diel that exists a thousand years later than the one we experienced in FFXI.

I also believe that the fact that SE used the `same` races as FFXI is the only reason this game is still alive. The similarities tricked us into having hope long before Yoshi announced the 2.0 redesign. Had SE used Humes, Fairies, Lizard men and Fish-people, every last one of us would have long moved on after the disastrous launch.

MY MAIN GRIPE WITH THE RACES NOW
Is that they have no identity. In FFXI I knew who the Tarutaru were. They were kind, friendly, intelligent, sometimes humble, sometimes arrogant. Sometimes courageous, sometimes cowardly. They had fears, worries, dreams, goals, delights, allies, enemies, a culture, a past, a civilization, a way of life.

There was lore, history, personality, etc. I had an attachment to them and their civilization. The story telling of FFXI gave players reason to be nationalistic, no matter what race they chose. There was cause to be interested in your nations past as well as reveal its future through continuing with its story. Nobody in FFXI asked fellow players to hastily skip cut scenes so that they could get on and over with the fight at hand. It was commonly understood that everyone would want to see the next chapter in Vana'diel, of their home, of their story, and that was rarely infringed upon.

In FFXIV, nobody cares.

In other words, who are we?

I like that SE used the same races as FFXI but I despise the fact that they didn't give any of them any personality.
They are as bland and as empty as the copy pasted zones we chocobo through.

[Skies]

I like that they continued with similar races. In fact, I honestly wish they just made FFXIV a true sequel and brought us back to Vana'diel, even if a Vana'diel that exists a thousand years later than the one we experienced in FFXI.

I also believe that the fact that SE used the `same` races as FFXI is the only reason this game is still alive. The similarities tricked us into having hope long before Yoshi announced the 2.0 redesign. Had SE used Humes, Fairies, Lizard men and Fish-people, every last one of us would have long moved on after the disastrous launch.

MY MAIN GRIPE WITH THE RACES NOW
Is that they have no identity. In FFXI I knew who the Tarutaru were. They were kind, friendly, intelligent, sometimes humble, sometimes arrogant. Sometimes courageous, sometimes cowardly. They had fears, worries, dreams, goals, delights, allies, enemies, a culture, a past, a civilization, a way of life.

There was lore, history, personality, etc. I had an attachment to them and their civilization. The story telling of FFXI gave players reason to be nationalistic, no matter what race they chose. There was cause to be interested in your nations past as well as reveal its future through continuing with its story. Nobody in FFXI asked fellow players to hastily skip cut scenes so that they could get on and over with the fight at hand. It was commonly understood that everyone would want to see the next chapter in Vana'diel, of their home, of their story, and that was rarely infringed upon.

In FFXIV, nobody cares.

In other words, who are the Lalafell?

I like that SE used the same races as FFXI but I despise the fact that they didn't give any of them any personality.
They are as bland and as empty as the copy pasted zones we chocobo through.

Truth to be told, you can't tell one Lallafel from the other, but you can tell a Gridanian from a Lominsan. And that is perfectly the point, actually, in XIV. XIV is not based around racial identity but national identity, you don't gain a personality based on what race you are, but what nation you are from. Every race is literally the same to society and that shows, and sincerely it's a thing I personally like.

Even so there are still a few details visible, Miqo'te are more often than not either cute or lascive, Roegadyn are definitely in the badass range and often angry. I do not pay sufficient attention to the tiny details of other races so I cannot tell, but even so there are tiny diffeirences but the grand focus is still your mother nation.

[DarthTaru]

Truth to be told, you can't tell one Lallafel from the other, but you can tell a Gridanian from a Lominsan. And that is perfectly the point, actually, in XIV. XIV is not based around racial identity but national identity, you don't gain a personality based on what race you are, but what nation you are from. Every race is literally the same to society and that shows, and sincerely it's a thing I personally like.

Even so there are still a few details visible, Miqo'te are more often than not either cute or lascive, Roegadyn are definitely in the badass range and often angry. I do not pay sufficient attention to the tiny details of other races so I cannot tell, but even so there are tiny diffeirences but the grand focus is still your mother nation.

Disagree entirely. Under this model for identity we're essentially just midgets... Not very exciting.
The monolithic societies of FFXI gave the world diversity and clearly defined cultures that added a richness to the world this game completely lacks in its lore and mythology. If you were a Windurstian Tarutaru visiting Bastok or vice versa you were visiting a foreign land and it felt like it. Traveling to another city in FFXIV just feels like exactly that - traveling to another city. Denying each race a unique culture and civilization deprives them all of any real identity or character.

More over, if each race was given its own home nation the game world would be far more dispersed. Not everyone would be huddled in Ul'dah simply because of the market wards. People would be more inclined to stay in their own nation.

I started as a Lalafell in Gridania and I feel absolutely zero attachment to that place. It's in the woods. It has a creepy kid with horns. It has people of all sorts wearing silly wooden masks. It does nothing for me because it lacks a core or center that it would otherwise have if it were, for example, the home of the Elves.

[Pixi]

More over, if each race was given its own home nation the game world would be far more dispersed. Not everyone would be huddled in Ul'dah simply because of the market wards. People would be more inclined to stay in their own nation.

Very true. Despite Ul'dah being one of the three *home* nations, it may as well be the equivalent of Jeuno or Whitegate. People hang out there for convenience, not because they actually feel attached to it.

[Valmonte]

Disagree entirely. Under this model for identity we're essentially just midgets... Not very exciting.
The monolithic societies of FFXI gave the world diversity and clearly defined cultures that added a richness to the world this game completely lacks in its lore and mythology. If you were a Windurstian Tarutaru visiting Bastok or vice versa you were visiting a foreign land and it felt like it. Traveling to another city in FFXIV just feels like exactly that - traveling to another city. Denying each race a unique culture and civilization deprives them all of any real identity or character.

More over, if each race was given its own home nation the game world would be far more dispersed. Not everyone would be huddled in Ul'dah simply because of the market wards. People would be more inclined to stay in their own nation.

I started as a Lalafell in Gridania and I feel absolutely zero attachment to that place. It's in the woods. It has a creepy kid with horns. It has people of all sorts wearing silly wooden masks. It does nothing for me because it lacks a core or center that it would otherwise have if it were, for example, the home of the Elves.

Gil Hording Evil Casting Midgets....Big difference.

[Zyph]

MY MAIN GRIPE WITH THE RACES NOW
Is that they have no identity. In FFXI I knew who the Tarutaru were. They were kind, friendly, intelligent, sometimes humble, sometimes arrogant. Sometimes courageous, sometimes cowardly. They had fears, worries, dreams, goals, delights, allies, enemies, a culture, a past, a civilization, a way of life.

There was lore, history, personality, etc. I had an attachment to them and their civilization. The story telling of FFXI gave players reason to be nationalistic, no matter what race they chose. There was cause to be interested in your nations past as well as reveal its future through continuing with its story. Nobody in FFXI asked fellow players to hastily skip cut scenes so that they could get on and over with the fight at hand. It was commonly understood that everyone would want to see the next chapter in Vana'diel, of their home, of their story, and that was rarely infringed upon.

In FFXIV, nobody cares.

In other words, who are we?

I like that SE used the same races as FFXI but I despise the fact that they didn't give any of them any personality.
They are as bland and as empty as the copy pasted zones we chocobo through.

I was going to post pretty much this in this thread but you beat me to it.

Pretty much exactly this. I think the reason Zaaku feels so attached to Galkas is that there hasn't been any defining racial lore in this game that he can attach himself to. Currently, every race is exactly the same just with different polygons.

[Cendres]

I like that they continued with similar races. In fact, I honestly wish they just made FFXIV a true sequel and brought us back to Vana'diel, even if a Vana'diel that exists a thousand years later than the one we experienced in FFXI.

This would have been very cool, like EQ2 is to EQ1 or similar. <3

@Elexia I don't even know where to start if I were to reply to you, your posts don't make much of a lick of sense to me and contain some misplaced angst and just repeat what I said anyway. O.o

Didn't Tanaka say in some interview that they kind of had a plan to have character travel between XI and XIV.
It was some old old article before XIV was out or was during alpha/beta days so can't remember where I read it but that was part of reason he said the characters looked a like...

But then ... this was Tanaka who told everyone all kinds of stuff for XIV.....

Yeah that was like some old scrapped up dream that they decided early on was not going to work with our current technology. That is what was fundamentally wrong with Tanaka he couldn't stop dreaming about what COULD be instead of what IS possible now.