Prediction: Female Hrothgar will be human-like, not beast-like

[Eisi]

Everybody who wants fierce beast-like lionesses, prepare to be disappointed!

What we will get is not a female pendant to male Hrothgar but instead big female Miqote.



UPDATE: Here's the new, more accurate version:



There is an enormous amount of development resources being invested into creating a new race - at this point the final race - and they will go with the popular option, not the one that only a tiny minority of players would like to fantasia to. I think the census data on the most popular race/gender combinations in the game are well known.

Femhroths will be very human looking with no muzzles and only minor nose differences. That way players will also be more easily able to cosplay them.

Beastly is manly and this is a sentiment that is to stay. Especially in Final Fantasy XIV where you just need to take a look at the female primals as opposed to the male primals to see what is the acceptable looks range for feminine entities.

So femhroths are caught in a bind: they are female, but beasts at the same time. Historically beast-like designs for female characters are not well-received because of those two clashing identities. Beasts automatically become men, while women automatically cease to be beastlike, there is no satisfying synthesis. And male hrothgar already exist if you want to play a more beastly race.

The unique niche that femhroths could fill as a beast-like race is also countered by the unique but far more impactful niche that still exists within the broader Miqo/Au Ra/Viera paradigm, where Femhroths could become a very profitable fourth vector for fantasia addicts.

Imagine if they announce Femhroths and they are just a super unpopular race that most people would be like: "Not gonna play them but happy for the furries who like them" rather than "omg, Femhroths are way better than expected, ngl actually might fantasia over, not a furry btw!". It would be way bigger hype for the game.

We also already have examples in both male and female Au Ra where they forewent more fierce and animalistic designs in favor of more human ones.

All of that leads me to the conclusion that it makes sense to expect femhroths to be super sexually dimorphous - aka more human - from male hroths.

You could even make the different appearance seem logical from a story perspective - femhroths are to be protected by male hroths, which is why the males are more beastly.

And finally the biggest nail in the coffin if you don't believe me.

This is an official artwork for "The Queen" from the Shadowbringers Artbook:



Sure they might change course in the future, but this is a big Moonkeeper.

Here's another artwork done by a Square Enix artist and showcased on Twitter:



This is exactly what I ecpect we'll get. A furry human with a disneyfied anthro-face and a tail. This is the popular stuff that players who want Femhroth actually like. It's not a female equivalent to male Hroth and it's not a beast-race in the way some people are hoping for.

[Renalt]

Huh.

All three got me having feelings I really shouldn't have. Am I becoming a degenerate?

[Eisi]

Huh.

All three got me having feelings I really shouldn't have. Am I becoming a degenerate?

Sure!

I personally prefer the second and fourth one.

[Ath192]

Everybody who wants fierce beast-like lionesses, prepare to be disappointed!

What we will get is not a female pendant to male Hrothgar but instead big female Miqote.



There is an enormous amount of development resources being invested into creating a new race - at this point the final race - and they will go with the popular option, not the one that only a tiny minority of players would like to fantasia to. I think the census data on the most popular race/gender combinations in the game are well known.

Femhroths will be very human looking with no muzzles and only minor nose differences. That way players will also be more easily able to cosplay them.

Beastly is manly and this is a sentiment that is to stay. Especially in Final Fantasy XIV where you just need to take a look at the female primals as opposed to the male primals to see what is the acceptable looks range for feminine entities.

So femhroths are caught in a bind: they are female, but beasts at the same time. Historically beast-like designs for female characters are not well-received because of those two clashing identities. Beasts automatically become men, while women automatically cease to be beastlike, there is no satisfying synthesis. And male hrothgar already exist if you want to play a more beastly race.

The unique niche that femhroths could fill as a beast-like race is also countered by the unique but far more impactful niche that still exists within the broader Miqo/Au Ra/Viera paradigm, where Femhroths could become a very profitable fourth vector for fantasia addicts.

Imagine if they announce Femhroths and they are just a super unpopular race that most people would be like: "Not gonna play them but happy for the furries who like them" rather than "omg, Femhroths are way better than expected, ngl actually might fantasia over, not a furry btw!". It would be way bigger hype for the game.

We also already have examples in both male and female Au Ra where they forewent more fierce and animalistic designs in favor of more human ones.

All of that leads me to the conclusion that it makes sense to expect femhroths to be super sexually dimorphous - aka more human - from male hroths.

You could even make the different appearance seem logical from a story perspective - femhroths are to be protected by male hroths, which is why the males are more beastly.

And finally the biggest nail in the coffin if you don't believe me.

This is an official artwork for "The Queen" from the Shadowbringers Artbook:



Sure they might change course in the future, but this is a big Moonkeeper.

If they are like the middle one on that chart it will be a widely used race, and really cool at that.

[Eisi]

If they are like the middle one it will be a widely used race, and really cool at that.

I agree with the really cool, but would it really be popular?

[Ath192]

I agree with the really cool, but would it really be popular?

A svelte Cheetah like race that looks like a fashion model? Yes...

The other two are too bulky, which we know are a type, but not a mainstream one thanks to femroes (around, but not ubiquitous) and the other one is too sexualized and deviates too much from Male Hroth. I'm very positive as they stride the line nicely between miqo and and viera which both are really popular.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Huh.

All three got me having feelings I really shouldn't have. Am I becoming a degenerate?

"Becoming"?

Anyway, FemHroths are more than likely gonna be based on fem Roes, same as male Hrothgars are based on male Roes. It saves time on having to remodel gear to just tweak an existing model.

[Eisi]

A svelte Cheetah like race that looks like a fashion model? Yes...

The other two are too bulky, which we know are a type, but not a mainstream one thanks to femroes (around, but not ubiquitous) and the other one is too sexualized and deviates too much from Male Hroth. I'm very positive as they stride the line nicely between miqo and and viera which both are really popular.

Then I hope the devs see it the same way! I'm not gonna be disappointed if they end up more human-looking, cause this is what I expect.

Are there examples of beast-girls from other games that are popular with the playerbase? Cause that's stuff that's gonna be looked at.

[Ath192]

Then I hope the devs see it the same way! I'm not gonna be disappointed if they end up more human-looking, cause this is what I expect.

Are there examples of beast-girls from other games that are popular with the playerbase? Cause that's stuff that's gonna be looked at.

According to this my predictions about it being popular are tracking. Khajit were pretty popular it seems. They share extremely similar features and body types to the middle chart one and with an anime style to them like the chart would look even better imo.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/elderscroll...20look%20weird.

[Zeastria]

it would make more sens to have a more beastlike..
Bc we already have human looking cat girls ingame