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Viera - Yey, Nay?


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I have a friend who recently really wants to get into the game and roleplay. She recently heard that the Viera race was at least being considered by Yoshida as playable. She contemplated making one for roleplay with the intent to change over avatars if it ever was added. I suppose the question here is, knowing that Yoshi is at least considering it, how do you feel about people playing non-playable races in the game. Of course, this is assuming the person does a decent job at portraying the racial tendencies and good research; how would you feel as fellow roleplayers? Would that be someone you'd be okay with roleplaying with/interacting with on a blog; or are you adverse to seeing something like that and would rather keep your distance?

 

All opinions are appreciated! :D

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I feel that if Viera are announced as a playable race, they would be under fire for "not being how they were originally portrayed"

 

The dev team would probably take some artistic liberties to separate them from the game they debuted in, lighting a fire that would cause many a heated forum topic.

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To be honest I personally avoid anyone rping a race that doesn't specifically exist in game. As of right now we have nothing saying that viera do or will exist in the FF14, and thus by rping a viera you are setting yourself up to be potentially messed over hardcore by the devs. Even if they do introduce Viera as a race, playable or otherwise, to the lore of FF14 Neryem makes a huge point in that they most likely will not be done in any way that is similar to how they have been portrayed previously.

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I just...I really, really hate Viera.  I hate that they walk around on high heels (yes, I know the explanation, but I think the explanation is bullshit).

 

It's basically just another neko-esque race.  I'd like to see something different.

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12 hours ago, Rhygan said:

I have a friend who recently really wants to get into the game and roleplay. She recently heard that the Viera race was at least being considered by Yoshida as playable. She contemplated making one for roleplay with the intent to change over avatars if it ever was added. I suppose the question here is, knowing that Yoshi is at least considering it, how do you feel about people playing non-playable races in the game. Of course, this is assuming the person does a decent job at portraying the racial tendencies and good research; how would you feel as fellow roleplayers? Would that be someone you'd be okay with roleplaying with/interacting with on a blog; or are you adverse to seeing something like that and would rather keep your distance?

 

All opinions are appreciated! :D

 

Viera are the best. And given how we still have more Ivalice content coming with the 24-mans, it wouldn't surprise me to see them as a playable race in 5.0. Tell her to go for it and enjoy

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So far Viera are not only not a playable race, they are not in the game at all, and will most likely never be.  They have been considered as a playable race, yes, but that was a long time ago and nothing further has been said about it.

 

People playing currently non-playable races such as goblins, or sylphs, or other beastmen - that is one thing.  Not my cup of tea, but I don't see it as a problem.

People playing non-existing races is another thing.  You can't do any research on them, since we don't have any information about them.  Even if it is a race which exists in another FF game, it would most likely not be the same if it ever was added to FF14.

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I have no problem with people RPing a race that is normally not available to players if they do it well.  If a game has illusions or costumes to really make the player look like the race, that just makes it even better. For RP, there's no reason why we should be confined to only what we can pull up at the character creation screen.

 

That being said... as others have pointed out, Viera do not yet exist in FF14 in any form. Playing as one now runs a risk of lore contradictions later if they are ever implemented (even if only as NPCs). This doesn't mean anyone shouldn't RP a Viera, but if you do you should have a good story behind the character to explain why they are in Eorzea. Perhaps something happened when the character was a young child, causing separation from their family and they don't remember anything about their origins. Perhaps only survivor on a ship caught in a storm? Taken by slavers? The search for information about their race and where they came from could even be part of the character.

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As someone who considered doing the same thing in the past, I'd say it really depends. Most of the other posters made a good point, the same reason I decided against RPing as a Viera at this point in time: The FFXIV lore is very different from that of FFXII or Tactics. IF we get Viera, then there is a very good chance that the lore will be something we didn't even dream of, and your character would suddenly be in a bind, having to explain why their culture and mannerisms are different from that of their brethren. ...sistren? ... Their people. :P

The option is always there to play a viera who has memory loss, as Tregarde suggested, however (for me at least) that somewhat defeats the purpose. If it were a playable race and you really just liked the body but not the culture, that's one thing, but you can't have the body, nor the culture, so at that point you'd just be playing a fairly vanilla character with ears from the gold saucer (if you go that route).

If your friend is of the type that is okay with maybe hiding her character's race (hooded cloaks, hats, etc) to all but close RP friends who have been screened ahead of time as being okay with it and with whatever retcons she will likely have to do at some point, then I strongly suggest going for it, because what are we doing as RPers if we're not trying to be creative and have fun? If, however, she's the type that would rather not risk getting into lore arguments with people, it's probably not a good idea, as it would cause undue stress.

As for me, I'm trying to leave my character an out so that when/if we do get Viera down the line, I can race change with very little problems or retconning. Fingers crossed!

 

That being said, if you were on Mateus, I'd be happy to try RPing with your friend's Viera :) Good luck!

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Tell her to wait until 5.0 and then just "reroll" as a "new" character.

 

There's zero guarantee they'll come forward as playable, and there's zero basis for lore/background/whatever. Easiest not to risk it, unless they want to risk having to retcon a couple of years' worth of RP for the sake of being a bunny.

 

Edit: Ask the undercover void-based Dark Knights and the secret Au Ra how the game panned out for them sometime. And the secret red mages. And the secret blue mages. And the secret (insert FF class/race/job/trope)...

Edited by Warren Castille
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I don't see the appeal in role-playing something that as of yet doesn't exist, the information that circulates about Viera tends to be 90% unconfirmed rumors - Kind of like Ishgard housing.


Of course it's entirely up to oneself if one wants to run the risk of never actually being able to have a character model, nor proper lore to support what you're going for. Either way, until they implement it, your connection to other roleplayers will be - not impossible - but a bit diminished as you'd need to find people willing to see beyond the lack of implementation, and understand that your (insert race of stand-in model) is actually a Viera and not go by wysiwyg. At the very least they need to understand/accept that if they participate in public events/public roleplay, then not everyone in attendance will accept or treat the character as a Viera, as not everyone checks search comments/looks up wiki or tumblr pages etc. 

 

It strikes me as a mammoth of a task to implement an entirely new race at this point in the game, with how much armor we have that would need adapted, I don't blame them for putting other things at the top of the to do list. Personally I would rather want new classes, crafting jobs etc. over something that is purely aesthetic at the end of the day. 

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I don't personally see it as a problem to play a race that doesn't exist in the game yet. Like Maril said, your character might not be received the way you want in walk-ups or public events, but if you choose to rp with people who accept that you're playing as a Viera, I say go for it as long as you can all enjoy it.

As far as lore goes... if they implement Viera in the game at some point, then you will be contradicting the canon lore, at least in some ways. In reference to Tregarde's reply, another very easy way to circumvent that issue is to say that your character comes from a different population than the ones presented in canon. Being a certain race doesn't necessarily have to dictate the abilities and traditions of every single member of that race. For instance, there are dragons in Dravania, and we know there are (or were?) also dragons in Meracydia. Separated by an ocean and several millenia, can we expect the Meracydian dragons to look and act identical to the Dravanians? Or, heck, look at the thaumaturge guildmasters un Ul'dah, 5 of whom can wield powerful thaumaturgy, and 1 of whom can't cast a single spell. Even though lalafell are supposed to be magically adept, that trait is not uniform across the entire race.

What I'm saying is, they might one day release viera as a playable race, and if you make a viera toon now, it'll end up contradicted in lore, but that shouldn't stop you from having fun and being creative. 

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On 3/22/2018 at 8:05 AM, Nimh said:

The option is always there to play a viera who has memory loss, as Tregarde suggested...

 

Maybe I didn't phrase it well originally.  What I meant was a situation where the character was stolen/shipwrecked/whatever at such a young age the character has no real memories of their past because there wasn't time to form any lasting memories. Whatever memories the character has would be vague, like a faded dream.  This could give the theoretical Viera a 'who/what am I?' purpose in life.

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17 hours ago, Tregarde said:

 

Maybe I didn't phrase it well originally.  What I meant was a situation where the character was stolen/shipwrecked/whatever at such a young age the character has no real memories of their past because there wasn't time to form any lasting memories. Whatever memories the character has would be vague, like a faded dream.  This could give the theoretical Viera a 'who/what am I?' purpose in life.

 Eorzea is extremely xenophobic and something turning up with beast traits would probably get it murderkilled because racism. Yugiri makes it a point to not reveal herself for not wanting to get herself killed. That happened relatively recently, not even years ago (that would be required to be of adultish age in current timeline).

 

On the other hand, Eorzea welcomed infinite Au Ra despite the lore, so really, flip a coin.

Edited by Warren Castille
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2 hours ago, Warren Castille said:

 Eorzea is extremely xenophobic and something turning up with beast traits would probably get it murderkilled because racism. Yugiri makes it a point to not reveal herself for not wanting to get herself killed. That happened relatively recently, not even years ago (that would be required to be of adultish age in current timeline).

 

 

Eorzea as a whole isn't that badly xenophobic.   Gridania and Ishgard are xenophobic for different reasons, although they are improving.

Ul'dah used to let beastmen into the city for trade.  It is relatively recently (as in the last 20 years or so) that beastmen have banned from the city.

Limsa Lominsa welcomes beastmen as long as they follow the rules.  It is only kobolds and sahagin that are banned - and they used to have treaties in place with the kobolds.

 

Yugiri knows very little about Eorzea when she first arrives there.  She disguises herself mostly as a "just in case" measure, and because humans as a whole (not only in Eorzea but everywhere, including our world) have a tendency to fear the unknown, and fear often makes them quick to violence.

 

 

 

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I mean, the day someone shows up with rabbit ears and a different anatomy IRL, just imagine the ruckus. I can understand that in Eorzea they already deal with different races of man, but still. How do you stay incognito once people point at your ears all the time, and scientists and authorities come to have a word with you?

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4 hours ago, Skae said:

Eorzea as a whole isn't that badly xenophobic.   Gridania and Ishgard are xenophobic for different reasons, although they are improving.

Ul'dah used to let beastmen into the city for trade.  It is relatively recently (as in the last 20 years or so) that beastmen have banned from the city.

Limsa Lominsa welcomes beastmen as long as they follow the rules.  It is only kobolds and sahagin that are banned - and they used to have treaties in place with the kobolds

 

If a 'stranger' could find acceptance anywhere, it would be Limsa. The lore makes it quite clear that trade ships from around the world are passing through all the time. In fact there is great need for translators to keep things running smooth, and avoid disputes and/or misunderstandings. Under such circumstances, there could be many peoples wandering the docks and streets, we just don't see them because they haven't been implemented in the game yet.

 

Other cities I don't think would be that bad. A Viera is clearly a race of man variant, not unlike Miqo'te or Au Ra. Plus there's plenty of people around wearing bunny ears, so a lot of folk probably wouldn't even notice at first. Outside of the cities, where they don't see 'strangers' as much, you'd probably see prejudice more.

 

Or, the Viera could get a job at the Gold Saucer...

"Here's your uniform"

"You can keep the ears, I brought my own."

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I’m actually roleplaying as a Viera. I have been cautious. Implemented reasons why she won’t say much about her past. She’s never said her race, just explained she was taken from home and changed. I’m not proud of it, but I’m making it work. Some things to consider for people who say that’s a bad idea. 

 

First, while rerolling is ideal, it is not good for building relationships, trust, and loyalty IC. If you know in, let’s say, 5.0 you’re going to change your main, what’s the true incentive? My friends would all understand, but I’m not fond of building a foundation I’m going to tear down and start from scratch. 

 

Second, in the case of Viera I really like their lore from other games. I do take this with a grain of salt, but it is the foundation of my character’s beliefs and her behavior. The whole reason I got excited about Viera was the xii PS4 remastered and looking into Fran and Balthier, reading about Viera, and being stunned and giddy both about how much I liked them. 

 

I’m not not open with the details ic or ooc, but I put a lot of thought into her backstory, why she’s in Eorzea, and why she’s not a Viera. Three friends participated in an RP event to solidify this backstory and are the ones who brought her to Eorzea and help teach her customs and beliefs. If you never want to RP with me because of my choice in character, that is your prerogative and honestly I won’t hold it against anyone. Admittedly though that is why it’s a big secret IC and NOT the sole purpose and plot point of my character. She hopes to return to normal, but has made peace with the fact she may never be able to. Just Incase we never get Viera, I still have a main character I love and my friends can be close to. 

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It’s challenging to do and takes a lot of effort to do well. Know that not everyone will receive it well and just as many will encourage it. Ultimately it’s whatever you’ll have fun playing. 

 

Roleplaying is about creativity and having fun. While I strongly advise to not blatantly ignore lore, xiv has a lot of loose ends that provide plenty of freedom. It’s important to keep in mind what was a loose end in one patch may become more specific in the next, though. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

This may be an old reply but I say,


Go for it.

 

Anyone whose actually spent time reading the lore book would see that the lore is busted.
If you so wanted, you can pick Machinist as your class and claim that your weapon is an arm cannon, strapped on by the fabulous powers that be Cid's workshop and nifty workers and that the gun is actually powered by your own aether. Technically there's nothing to stop you from doing so. So again I said, if she wants to be a Viera, I say she should go for it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I respect the desire to have Viera in the game, I too want Viera badly. The issue is that while we have lore from other games we don't have the lore for this game.

Sure you could RP a Viera but what about when they're released and you realize your lore for them is completely wrong? Where will your friend's character come from? You could fix some of this by roleplaying they have amnesia or remember nothing about themselves and their race but then I'd ask what playing a Viera would add that playing another race wouldn't?

Of course, if your friend wants to play one go for it; I just worry how it will be received ICly. I mean one person appearing that is the so far ONLY known member of that race would be a huge deal both ICly and OOCly. I worry about the fact they could be OOCly persecuted hard by many many RPers and get /tells-o'plenty anytime they went into a public space.

In the end, it's their call 'obviously' but you should definitely warn them that there could be backlash.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm animetrash who only creates cat and lizard characters. I'll welcome bunnies!! I too know people with premade characters (for potentially sweet event stuff) to maybe fanta them into viera is the race is ever introduced.
...Ok, I have other characters, and maybe I'm not that big of an animetrash after all, but I'd still welcome bunnies. 
Oh, but the person pointing out that high-heels explanation is BS? 110% right. 

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