Hrothgar Feedback Thread

[Midareyukki]

Players have analyzed the game and the way it is structured, leading to some particularly awkward reveals in 6.1. In simple terms:

a) Rather than decoupling racial Hrothgar hairstyles from the head’s model to make them available in the Aesthetician, the developers simply duplicated the head models. There is actually a total of 32 heads: 16 are the original ones (8 for Helions and 8 for the Lost), the rest are duplicates. Meaning you’re still changing your head model when you change racial hairstyles.

This is suspicious. Other races do not have this quirk. Considering the final patch notes for 6.1 had a last-minute red note on the Aesthetician makes us wonder if this was a last-minute change.

b) We were told twice our head models are done differently. Hrothgar ears are tied to their head model, unlike Miqo’te whose ears are separate from their head. Square maintains that this gets in the way of making hair. Square’s phobia of clipping side, which a good portion of the playerbase does not share, why not detach the ears like on other races?

No, what Square did was isolate the ears’s polygons and hide them entirely. We’re told that “it would be too much work”… but there’s a solution. Since they isolated the ears to render them invisible, they could have just as well separated them and done what they did for Miqo’te. Other races do not suffer from this.

This has been done by amateurs. Source 1. And Source 2.

c) We know that the way Hrothgars are done is sloppy. Polygons in the wrong place, reused assets and a growing danger of things not working the way they were intended in the future. We feel designed from the start to fail on-launch.

We know Square intends to upscale the legacy races in the following patches. But I fear the priorities are jumbled here. Because it’s clear other races are in a larger need of attention before the classic races get their lift. Otherwise it’s just more years with a sub-par character we paid for.

[Midareyukki]

d) This it isn’t a problem with heads: we have hairstyles altered to fit both Miqo’te and Roegadyn heads. And modders have been able make hair with better results and quality. So why not alter the hairstyle like they did? Oh… Bravo on the attempt?


This is discriminatory and grossly lacking in effort.

According to Yoshida, he is aware people are upset and claimed to work hard to fix this issue at a later date. Yet the wording perpetuates this inaccurate notion that “it’s too hard” when it isn’t, and that they’ve only now found out about this when amateurs have been exposing it for years.

Nor do we want it done “now”. We just want it done responsibly. Yoshida assumes that we are demanding a quick and easy fix, but this is pinning the blame on the playerbase. For one, players waited for three years for attention, and this is the best you have? Earless Potato 2B? And then, we understand how slowly it’s taken Square Enix to do anything. We wouldn’t be asking for quick and immediate content for us, because it’s clear that even when we’re patient, Earless Potato 2B is the best we get!

You are the ones dejecting your own quality, not the fans.

And it’s on you to figure out what you can do and allocate resources for it. Not wing the situation and expect people to take it. We are not a meme race, and we are not letting you turn us into one.

d) When you take all that’s been said, it proves why people are so allured by third party tools. If it took not even a week for people to make something like this, then you, Square Enix, a multi-million dollar company with cutting edge technology and people with experience in making 3D characters, need to step up your game.

When your own apologies do not match your words, Square, we have a problem. One called bias.

We were told “No expenses were spared” in Endwalker. Yet our experience has been limited for years, and it feels the devs only think of us at the last minute.

Is “your best” for us malicious compliance? Are all of us wishing on a monkey's paw?

Grapes had more attention than we did.

[Midareyukki]

I hope the previous three posts made it clearer why Hrothgar players have felt neglected for the past 3 years. Why we consider the current situation unacceptable. We understand there have been limitations (COVID, work on FF16). But it’s still not enough a justification for the way this situation has been handled: with low effort, silence and dismissal. Thus:

1 – We ask you review your priorities when it comes to these races. We wish for what’s already implemented to be fixed and treated like everyone else. Hrothgar feel discriminated by the development team

2 – We demand transparency. It’s clear the communication between developers and fans has been one-sided. It makes it easy to ignore the voices of those who feel slighted (such as us being unable to change hairstyles without buying an item with real-life money), and also serves to perpetuate misconceptions about the state of the game. Ones which fans with proper know-how are able to analyze and expose

3 – We wish for more effort from the development team when it comes to content made for us. 6.1 is rushed. It’s disrespectful. Fans perceived the announcement on April Fool’s, with the devs giggling on-camera to horrendous and meme-worthy renders of “Karen Hrothgar”, as negative and dismissive. The devs should have realized it and known better rather than act surprised

4 – Seek to listen to us. Rather than excuses, understand what fans of this race want. Don’t let others speak for us.

5 – Acknowledge our patience. Our silence was patience and faith, not quiet consent.

6 – Hrothgar may be 2% of the playerbase, but you promised no fan would be left out. That if a demographic complained, you'd listen. Honour your word.

7 – Strive for better quality for us in the future. Do not neglect us.

It’s likely that there are many more sentiments the Hrothgar community wishes to express, which I likely skipped or could not fit into an already-lengthy thread.
Which is why I invite Hrothgar players to comment their sentiments and feedback here in a structured way.

Put forward your opinions and knowledge on the situation, with better clarifications if required, and give proper feedback on the situation so the game grows healthily with our race in toe.

But do not speak for the development team. Please understand there has been bad faith on both sides and we Hrothgar players seek to mend it. This is our foot forward. Allow us the chance to communicate to the development team about our grievances, and allow THEM to properly assess and respond.

And please do not give feedback on other races here, as while our situation overlaps others, it is not the same. We want the devs to hear Hrothgars’ very limited voice.