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+--- Thread: Cats. And things that look like them. (/showthread.php?tid=7880)
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Zyrusticae - 08-05-2014
Better sense of taste and smell, sure. Sight and hearing, not so much.
Most four-legged mammals have better senses of smell than us humans do. In some cases, several hundreds of times better than our own. Cats and dogs, in particular, basically live in a world defined by scents, with sight and sound being supplementary senses. (Fun fact: cats have scent glands along the tail, on each side of their head, on their lips, base of their tail, chin, near their sex organs, and between their front paws, so their affectionate cuddling is actually a way of marking you as their family. Your furniture, on the other hand, is less fortunate.) I wouldn't be against Miqo'te having a sense of smell a few times better than humans (but not much more than that, because there are only so many sensory nerves to go around).
Sight, on the other hand... believe it or not, we humans have some of the best eyesight in the animal world. We can observe the full range of colors and our visual acuity is obviously very high. There are animals that can observe a more specialized range of the electromagnetic spectrum (like animals that have infrared vision) as well as animals with higher visual acuity (like most birds of prey), but never both at the same time. We have the "best of both worlds", you could say. If anything, it is likely that most Miqo'te would be partly colorblind (having blue and yellow cones, for example, but not red ones), at least if their feline heritage is anything to go by.
Hearing is complicated. Our hearing is omnidirectional, which means we may have a little bit more trouble picking out sounds from the rest of the background noise, but unlike creatures like cats, we can pick them out no matter what direction we're facing. Miqo'te, on the other hand, have focused hearing by default, and so while they have better hearing in the directions their ears are facing, they will naturally have worse hearing for anything that isn't in those particular directions. This is simply due to the physical design of their ears.
It should also be noted that you do NOT want an exceptionally sensitive sense of hearing, because that would just result in hyperacousis, and as anyone who's had that condition can tell you, it is NOT a boon to your everyday life.
And that is my exceptionally long-winded post about inconsequential fictional sapient fauna. I hope someone enjoyed it!
Edit:
(08-05-2014, 04:45 PM)Aerghwab Wrote: For Miqo'te eyesight, I'd think it would depend on subrace, with Keepers seeing far better at night (hence the rounded pupils) and Seekers during the day (slitted). Both seem to naturally be quite agile and dextrous, though, just going by their starting attributes.And just for completeness' sake, I should note here that real cats have both. Like any animal with complex eyes, their pupils will dilate based on the amount of light hitting their cornea at any one point in time, hence they will tend towards slitted (closed) pupils during the day and round (open) pupils during the night. If Squeenix wanted to be accurate, both Keepers and Seekers would have this feature, but programming functional eye muscles is probably more work than they're willing to put in for a single race.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - LiadansWhisper - 08-05-2014
(08-05-2014, 04:45 PM)Aerghwab Wrote: Even elezen? The Wildwood blurb on the website makes a point of saying they have an incredibly keen sense of sight, which factors greatly into their unparalleled expertise as archers. Likewise for Duskwights and their hearing: "They have developed an acute sense of hearing, capable of detecting the faintest of sounds."
Well, for whatever reason, the thing ate my first response. But, I think Wildwood having sharper eyesight while Duskwight have sharper hearing makes sense, given their divergent lifestyles.
Quote:For Miqo'te eyesight, I'd think it would depend on subrace, with Keepers seeing far better at night (hence the rounded pupils) and Seekers during the day (slitted). Both seem to naturally be quite agile and dextrous, though, just going by their starting attributes.
xD
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Bumo - 08-05-2014
(08-05-2014, 04:30 PM)Kailia Wrote: As for tongues, I do suspect their sense of taste is far more superior to other races. Do they have sandpaper tongues? I don't think so. But I do think they'd have more nerves within their tongues.
If Miqo'te have catlike tongues, their sense of taste would actually be worse than the other races. Cats in the real world have 470 taste buds. In contrast, humans have 9,000. Cats also can't taste sweet foods because they lack the taste receptor for it. So, no cake for Miqo'te.
If Miqo'te have something similar to a Jacobson's organ, though, they could 'taste' scents.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Aduu Avagnar - 08-05-2014
(08-05-2014, 06:30 PM)Bumo Wrote:Nako can taste Aether, but that's not really the same thing... XD(08-05-2014, 04:30 PM)K Wrote: As for tongues, I do suspect their sense of taste is far more superior to other races. Do they have sandpaper tongues? I don't think so. But I do think they'd have more nerves within their tongues.
If Miqo'te have catlike tongues, their sense of taste would actually be worse than the other races. Cats in the real world have 470 taste buds. In contrast, humans have 9,000. Cats also can't taste sweet foods because they lack the taste receptor for it. So, no cake for Miqo'te.
If Miqo'te have something similar to a Jacobson's organ, though, they could 'taste' scents.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Naunet - 08-05-2014
(08-05-2014, 04:45 PM)Aerghwab Wrote: Even elezen? The Wildwood blurb on the website makes a point of saying they have an incredibly keen sense of sight, which factors greatly into their unparalleled expertise as archers. Likewise for Duskwights and their hearing: "They have developed an acute sense of hearing, capable of detecting the faintest of sounds."Â
For Miqo'te eyesight, I'd think it would depend on subrace, with Keepers seeing far better at night (hence the rounded pupils) and Seekers during the day (slitted). Both seem to naturally be quite agile and dextrous, though, just going by their starting attributes.
As far as senses go, smell is probably a primary one for miqo'te. Elezen are more noted for their hearing, according to lore as you say. Keepers have good night vision for sure.
I don't really see any reason they would have a superior sense of taste. Cats IRL actually have pretty crappy taste and can't taste sweet things at all, so if one roleplays their miqo'te like a cat, say goodbye to enjoying cupcakes or cookies. I don't think I'd go that far with miqo'te, though, as I'm not a fan of treating them just like anthropomorphized cats. It's the same reason I don't roleplay any sort of "catnip" effect unique to them.
(08-05-2014, 05:01 PM)Zyrusticae Wrote: If Squeenix wanted to be accurate, both Keepers and Seekers would have this feature, but programming functional eye muscles is probably more work than they're willing to put in for a single race. Â
I just go with Keeper pupils are larger overall, even when fully constricted.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Knight Kat - 08-05-2014
Just wanted to add something.
This a quote from this site: http://www.ffxivinfo.com/races/miqote.php
"During the Age of Endless Frost, as the seas turned to ice and passage over them became possible, Eorzea saw an influx of foreign fauna to her shores. This in turn brought the hunting tribes which subsisted upon them, the modern descendants of whom are today known as the Miqo'te.
Since then, the Miqo'te have diverged into two physically distinguishable groups — the diurnal Seekers of the Sun and the nocturnal Keepers of the Moon. Both groups share a superb olfactory sense and powerful leg musculature, results of a long evolution geared towards hunting and predation.
Adaptation to a hunting lifestyle has fashioned them with a keen sense of smell, powerful legs, and a tail which provides them with exceptional balance. Miqo'te are known to be very territorial, and many individuals tend to lead solitary lifestyles, particularly males. The few Miqo'te who have made the transition to life in Eorzean society are predominantly female."
This information can also be clearly read in character creation, in-game.
I don't know about the other senses (except Keeper night-vision and Seeker day-vision), but their sense of smell being superior is mentioned -twice-. "Superb olfactory sense" is the exact wording. I do not think it would be worth mentioning if it was just a little bit better than that of the other races.
On that note, I do not meta/power-game my Miqo's sense of smell. I often leave it up to the other players what my character can smell from them, or from the scene. If players do not stipulate what Kiht can smell, I just have her sense of smell strong enough to pick up and recognize an individual's unique scent.
In other words, if someone Kiht is familiar with is in the area, she can smell them, but may not know their exact location unless she sees them too.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Kailia - 08-05-2014
(08-05-2014, 04:44 PM)LiadansWhisper Wrote:(08-05-2014, 04:30 PM)K Wrote: I RP K'ailia and my other Miqo'te as being feline with human features, rather than the other way around. So yes, in the case of my miqo'te, Nepeta Cataria aka, catnip, does make them trip out.
However, reproduction department, I approach that as miqo'te being like humans there, except the fact that Miqo'te produce  mostly girls, with boys being very rare for either species of Miqo'te.
As for tongues, I do suspect their sense of taste is far more superior to other races. Do they have sandpaper tongues? I don't think so. But I do think they'd have more nerves within their tongues. I believe miqo'te have superior sight, taste, smell and hearing compared to the other races.
I would not be surprised if they did have superior senses to humans, but I've always thought that Moon Keepers have superior night vision and inferior daylight vision, and that Sun Seekers are the opposite - very good daytime vision, inferior night vision.
Yeah that I definitely think is the main differences between Seekers and Keepers. Seekers see amazingly well during the day, not too well at night. And Keepers, would definitely be the opposite end of the spectrum, having exceptional night vision, but pretty poor vision during the day.
(08-05-2014, 06:30 PM)Bumo Wrote:(08-05-2014, 04:30 PM)K Wrote: As for tongues, I do suspect their sense of taste is far more superior to other races. Do they have sandpaper tongues? I don't think so. But I do think they'd have more nerves within their tongues.
If Miqo'te have catlike tongues, their sense of taste would actually be worse than the other races. Cats in the real world have 470 taste buds. In contrast, humans have 9,000. Cats also can't taste sweet foods because they lack the taste receptor for it. So, no cake for Miqo'te.
If Miqo'te have something similar to a Jacobson's organ, though, they could 'taste' scents.
I did not know that about cats, so yeah I guess they wouldn't have superior taste to humans. That probably is one of the organs I do RP as being really not all that different from humans.
(08-05-2014, 07:01 PM)Knight Kat Wrote: Just wanted to add something.
This a quote from this site: http://www.ffxivinfo.com/races/miqote.php
"During the Age of Endless Frost, as the seas turned to ice and passage over them became possible, Eorzea saw an influx of foreign fauna to her shores. This in turn brought the hunting tribes which subsisted upon them, the modern descendants of whom are today known as the Miqo'te.
Since then, the Miqo'te have diverged into two physically distinguishable groups — the diurnal Seekers of the Sun and the nocturnal Keepers of the Moon. Both groups share a superb olfactory sense and powerful leg musculature, results of a long evolution geared towards hunting and predation.
Adaptation to a hunting lifestyle has fashioned them with a keen sense of smell, powerful legs, and a tail which provides them with exceptional balance. Miqo'te are known to be very territorial, and many individuals tend to lead solitary lifestyles, particularly males. The few Miqo'te who have made the transition to life in Eorzean society are predominantly female."
This information can also be clearly read in character creation, in-game.
I don't know about the other senses (except Keeper night-vision and Seeker day-vision), but their sense of smell being superior is mentioned -twice-. "Superb olfactory sense" is the exact wording. I do not think it would be worth mentioning if it was just a little bit better than that of the other races.
On that note, I do not meta/power-game my Miqo's sense of smell. I often leave it up to the other players what my character can smell from them, or from the scene. If players do not stipulate what Kiht can smell, I just have her sense of smell strong enough to pick up and recognize an individual's unique scent.
In other words, if someone Kiht is familiar with is in the area, she can smell them, but may not know their exact location unless she sees them too.
So definitely good sense of smell and even hearing, based on the direction the ears are pointing. Eyesight as mentioned above, would depend a lot on the sub-species of Miqo'te.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - synaesthetic - 08-06-2014
Since miqo'te intellectually appear to be equal to, well, every other race, it's unlikely that they actually have senses being considerably more sensitive than the human baseline.
Additional sensory input requires more brain space dedicated to processing it. Miqo'te brain size is pretty much identical to hyur, so if they actually had a sense of smell that was considerably greater than that of hyur, they would have to lose something somewhere else. Either in their other senses or in their cognitive abilities.
Unless we get into my own personal headcanon about the existence of "chimeric" forms in Hydaelyn, where accidental or intentional aetheric-induced evolution resulted in all the other races originating from the hyur ancestral stock. I can definitely see miqo'te as being a created race, a magically-engineered offshoot of Midlander hyur (or their ancestors) stock designed by A Wizard (probably more likely to be a whole mess o' wizards) to serve a specific role such as hunters, assassins, scouts. It wouldn't even surprise me that much if the Allagan Empire, or another precursor civilization, was responsible for the creation of all non-hyur races.
In that case, it would be entirely possible for miqo'te to have magically-amplified senses that don't have to follow the rules of mundane biology. Considering how high-magic the XIV setting is, this really doesn't seem to be much of a stretch to me.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Cato - 08-06-2014
I see Miqo'te as being pretty similar to Hyur and closer to a human as we know them than a feline. Obviously they have some feline features but I think it's fair to suggest that they're rather subtle.
I also doubt that they'd be rolling around on the floor in response to the presence of catnip, assuming catnip even exists in Eorzea to begin with. A few 'touched' individuals might respond to it in such a manner but I'd wager that the more civilised and tribal Miqo'te would frown upon such erratic behaviour.
I'm not going to touch the whole 'barb' thing with a pole, though. It's rather creepy to act out in a role-playing environment and reeks of personal fetishes being shoehorned where it isn't really welcome. Though after the infamous 'Miqote mating' thread I'll bite my tongue and avoid commenting further on that particular subject.
Either way it'd be great to see more Miqo'te that aren't just played as raging sex fiends or with the 'lol dey liek a kitty xDDDDD'. My grim and serious Sunseeker is pretty lonely and only really interested in interacting with members of his own kind who aren't just a walking parody/stereotype.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - synaesthetic - 08-06-2014
I've spent the past year trying to find people interested in roleplaying a plot more serious than tavern talk.Â
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Mercurias - 08-06-2014
The way I roleplay M'sato is that he'll often move his ears about, especially when actively trying to listen for sounds, and that he has a sense of smell strong enough track. This means he also has an aversion to strong-smelling perfumes or medicines, and some alchemical practices within smelling distance will give him a headache unless he wears a mask to cover the smell.
Also, his ears and tail are a dead give away to Sato's overall mood. Him being a grouch, the ears are often flattened back with his tail swishing irritably behind him when he's interacting socially.
The strong lower body is also canon for him. I don't write him as being a kicking kung-fu master (the character is a magic-user, mostly), but he's practically got springs in his legs when it comes to jumping or crossing distances, and he can be agile and a tiny bit of an acrobat when it comes to him trying to avoid something.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Roswyn - 08-06-2014
Yoshi has stated they are all the same species so aside from cosmetic differences and maybe a little better sight on on one race and smell on another they are all pretty much the same and will all reproduce in the same ways.
InB4 people don't know the difference between species and race.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Zhavi - 08-06-2014
(08-05-2014, 07:01 PM)Knight Kat Wrote: Just wanted to add something.
This a quote from this site: http://www.ffxivinfo.com/races/miqote.php
"During the Age of Endless Frost, as the seas turned to ice and passage over them became possible, Eorzea saw an influx of foreign fauna to her shores. This in turn brought the hunting tribes which subsisted upon them, the modern descendants of whom are today known as the Miqo'te.
Since then, the Miqo'te have diverged into two physically distinguishable groups — the diurnal Seekers of the Sun and the nocturnal Keepers of the Moon. Both groups share a superb olfactory sense and powerful leg musculature, results of a long evolution geared towards hunting and predation.
Adaptation to a hunting lifestyle has fashioned them with a keen sense of smell, powerful legs, and a tail which provides them with exceptional balance. Miqo'te are known to be very territorial, and many individuals tend to lead solitary lifestyles, particularly males. The few Miqo'te who have made the transition to life in Eorzean society are predominantly female."
This information can also be clearly read in character creation, in-game.
Yup, that's what I follow. In order to avoid metagaming, I use Zhi's bad habits (notably the smoking and snorting things >>) to lessen impact during rp -- unless I'm rping with someone I know doesn't mind.
Being that they're cat people, I just quietly try not to think about the biology aspect. Except for the smell and strong legs (partially why I made her so adept at climbing) that the game mentions (and, since keepers are supposed to be nocturnal, I let her have great night vision), I rp Zhi as if she's just another person, with nothing else that screams 'cat'. It's one of those weird grey areas that will very probably never be resolved. My reaction to those tends to be to rp around them if I can at all help it. (unless we're talking setting, in which case I will forever mourn how incomplete Limsa feels and MAKE IT WORK, DAMMIT)
I have often thought about the tail and how someone born with a tail would use it. I will shamefully admit I forget to rp it as an extension of Zhi's body pretty often -- but I imagine if I had another extremity I would be using it when I talked and moved around; it wouldn't just hang about doing nothing. Now if only I wasn't so forgetful...
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - FreelanceWizard - 08-06-2014
Bearing in mind that ffxivinfo.com isn't an official lore site and has been known to contain incorrect and contradicted information, in this case, I think it's quoting either the 1.0 site or the original 2.0 site. The information does jibe with what's in character creation right now, so I'd call it accurate. I stand corrected on the vision and hearing, then.
(Not that it matters for L'yhta, who can run right past people she needs to talk to and ignore them completely, wondering where they are, or plow into a wall when she's thinking through a problem...)(08-06-2014, 11:30 AM)Zhavi Wrote: I have often thought about the tail and how someone born with a tail would use it. I will shamefully admit I forget to rp it as an extension of Zhi's body pretty often -- but I imagine if I had another extremity I would be using it when I talked and moved around; it wouldn't just hang about doing nothing. Now if only I wasn't so forgetful...
I try to work the tail into my RP as much as I can, because I think it's a great RP tool. It often accentuates something L'yhta's saying or betrays her feelings when she's trying (and largely failing) to be deceptive. This thread has some tail motions that could be used in RP.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Zhavi - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 11:51 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: I try to work the tail into my RP as much as I can, because I think it's a great RP tool. It often accentuates something L'yhta's saying or betrays her feelings when she's trying (and largely failing) to be deceptive. This thread has some tail motions that could be used in RP.
Oh yeah, I def use it for emotions when she's strongly feeling something -- but more than that. You know, like using it to point, or tap someone, or using it like people use their hands when they're really engrossed in a topic of discussion. Using it to carry something light when the character's hands are full, that sort of thing. Typically for me, unless it's an emotional thing, it just hangs there dead, unmentioned, unless she's trying to hide the kink in it.
Though I still don't use it often enough for emotions, really.