[U]nstylish: Lack of Effort in Viera & Hrothgar Hairstyle Releases

[whitemoonflower]

Hrothgar clearly took the brunt of this with the "hidden ears" and hairstyle choices. I wanted to compare the way Battle-ready Bobs for female Viera was revealed as well. When I first saw the printout, I wondered where the headband had gone just to realize it was clipped underneath the hair, small portions poking out on either side of each ear. It could've been placed in front of the ears. It would've been fine if they held off on releasing it until it was ready. But instead, it was printed out and presented like this…



What feedback would they receive had they released it that way for Miqo'te?

As for removing the ears entirely and the hairstyles chosen for Hrothgar, I couldn't hold up those printouts with any degree of satisfaction. It's just…wrong—more of a slap in the face than any real improvement. Hrothgar having to Fantasia just to change their hairstyles is already bad enough, but…this?



At least Hrothgar get a properly placed headband (even though they had to sacrifice their ears for it). But the bigger problem: of all the hairstyles to release for Hrothgar, this was seen as a fitting choice? For a race often given the excuse, "Xyz is done to keep the race more bestial," this is about as "bestial" as a Loporrit space café or Namazu accounting firm.



Lastly, I wanted to point out how No.2 Type B Goggles and basically all blindfold pieces clip horribly with this hairstyle on female Viera. Male Viera? No problem. (They're new and shiny.)

In conclusion, Viera and Hrothgar are both playable races. If hairstyles for these races are going to be managed (or mismanaged) like this, both races might as well be given access to everything: every hairstyle and every piece of headgear (where it applies). At least let us experience the options other races are entitled to. Race-specific hairstyles should be a feature built alongside other unlockable hairstyles, not as a replacement for them.

Thank you for reading. Please be safe & well.

Update: No.2 Type B Goggles no longer clip when paired with Battle-ready Bobs on female Viera. Other blindfold pieces (YoRHa Type-53 Headband of Striking for example) still do, but I'm thankful to see even one issue resolved. Thank you, dev team. I hope you'll continue to work toward a better experience for Viera and Hrothgar players. Each and every step in a better direction is appreciated.

[kpxmanifesto]

Part of me wonders if the devs have seen any of the backlash to the hrothgar hairstyles. They're in for a rude awakening if they haven't yet.

[Kaoru_Nagisa]

Part of me wonders if the devs have seen any of the backlash to the hrothgar hairstyles. They're in for a rude awakening if they haven't yet.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they've seen it and chose to ignore it. There's just been this really odd 'disconnected' feeling with Yoshida in particular lately, and it's easy to see in interviews regarding EW's story beats.

[whitemoonflower]

Part of me wonders if the devs have seen any of the backlash to the hrothgar hairstyles. They're in for a rude awakening if they haven't yet.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they've seen it and chose to ignore it. There's just been this really odd 'disconnected' feeling with Yoshida in particular lately, and it's easy to see in interviews regarding EW's story beats.

Given them being discussed on multiple platforms, complete obliviousness to how they're being received is slim to none. They can choose to ignore it, but it won't be a beneficial decision in the long run. You can only ignore your playerbase for so long before they look to find a dev team that listens. And that's the sad part: Creative Business Unit III was "the dev team that listens", at least more than most these days.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Given them being discussed on multiple platforms, complete obliviousness to how they're being received is slim to none. They can choose to ignore it, but it won't be a beneficial decision in the long run. You can only ignore your playerbase for so long before they look to find a dev team that listens. And that's the sad part: Creative Business Unit III was "the dev team that listens", at least more than most these days.

This is whats hurting me the most. I though this dev team were supposed to be the ones whom prioritize on always listening to player feedback. Its what gotten them out of the hellhole that was 1.0
What happened? Did they just get super complacent from success?

[Knot_D]

I don't know why they choose the Karen hair for both Viera and Hrothgar instead of Wind Caller... I barely see any Viera using that (Mostly just female Viera, none on male)

[whitemoonflower]

This is whats hurting me the most. I though this dev team were supposed to be the ones whom prioritize on always listening to player feedback. Its what gotten them out of the hellhole that was 1.0
What happened? Did they just get super complacent from success?

To bring a game this far just to begin distancing from players would be a waste of all the work and time it took to even reach this point. Complacency truly is a miserable snare…one I hope they haven't fallen into.

[juicybug]

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they've seen it and chose to ignore it. There's just been this really odd 'disconnected' feeling with Yoshida in particular lately, and it's easy to see in interviews regarding EW's story beats.

Where ff14 works and succeeds is indeed several fathoms larger than the slowly emerging cracks on where it doesn't. Like, obv these issues are minor : the outdated character creation, repeat lazy hairstyles, hrothgar unable to change hair at aesthetician for 2 years now, clunky unpolished character models, rushed & predictable story sections, terrible housing decor system (floating, sinking, clipping) like imagine creating a decorating/placement system that is beyond frustrating, and then being okay with the fact that players have to maneuver and exploit unintentional glitches that break the decor system just so they can have something that isn't just an open room with some posters on a wall.

[whitemoonflower]

I don't know why they choose the Karen hair for both Viera and Hrothgar instead of Wind Caller... I barely see any Viera using that (Mostly just female Viera, none on male)

That's exactly why I see no reason to pick and choose which styles they receive and which styles they're barred from. Give all races access to Wind Caller in the first place and make it a non-issue.

[whitemoonflower]

Where ff14 works and succeeds is indeed several fathoms larger than the slowly emerging cracks on where it doesn't. Like, obv these issues are minor : the outdated character creation, repeat lazy hairstyles, hrothgar unable to change hair at aesthetician for 2 years now, clunky unpolished character models, rushed & predictable story sections, terrible housing decor system (floating, sinking, clipping) like imagine creating a decorating/placement system that is beyond frustrating, and then being okay with the fact that players have to maneuver and exploit unintentional glitches that break the decor system just so they can have something that isn't just an open room with some posters on a wall.

Many of which are issues that begin as cracks but can later prove to be sinkholes. Better to reinforce what still stands before building too much more on top of it.