Iex

I honestly don't know what my characters think about love. Humorous really, but at least they know how tragic it can be. Au Ra

If you only rely on data then you're cut off from the human element. Feedback has to be taken into consideration because data doesn't have emotions, and more importantly it can't be considered prior to the fact. Otherwise, why bother to seek out feedback for anything, really? Just put it out there! If it's not popular it sucks, right!? Data can tell you how much, but it can't tell you why. That's why feedback's there. Also, it's still not a nitpick regardless of what you think. I'd understand if the Au Ra were given to everyone regardless of whether they get the xpac or not but that's obviously not the case here. It's expansion content. I mean, they're also not giving us expanded Ishgard, and quite frankly the last thing I needed is more Ishgarde. If you look at the feedback from this forum, main forums, commentary on gaming site articles, and other random sources it seems to be a bunch of both sides of "I like it" and "I don't like it." This situation is why the feedback is problematic. There is no general agreement or disagreement on the race other than it has caused mixed feelings. Since that is the case, the developer really can only go with what they want. If that turns out as it is now, that is what we will get. However, if you voice your opinion saying you would like a more beasty (for example) or pretty male (for another example) race that is all well in good, and perhaps the reaction will encourage the developers to risk a less data conforming race in the future, or maybe the race may flop who knows. As for the given part, sorry to be the dick saying this: if you aren't going to buy the expansion, the content being created frankly isn't for you. If you cannot find something in the preview (race classes... the ability to keep gearing your character) that you like, the expansion might not be something you should invest in. However, basically they are not 'rebuilding' the intro zones (WoW Cataclysm) and instead adding on top of the current content (WoW Burning Crusade). The mechanics of an MMO is that the world keeps growing otherwise people will stop playing; however, I HAVE DONE SO MUCH TO AVOID SAYING THIS... SE is still a business so they have to make money. If you have a problem with paying for content that you might not enjoy in order to get content you do enjoy, you are really in the wrong type of game. I am paying for PVP content I have not even touched.

Apologies on how direct this will sound: Well, if the race offends people to much that they will not buy the expansion that includes three classes so far, 50-60, new zones, flying mounts, two new beast races, new primals, and other such things, ... uh they were just looking for a excuse not to get it or to quit. Using the argument 'I paid money for this' does not belong in entertainment purchases such as this. FFXIV is not an indie game; it is not in beta. You are purchasing a product, much like a movie ticket. You go to see a movie to be entertained, there will be parts you like parts you don't, but you get them all regardless. But you only will buy it if the parts you like out weigh the parts you don't. You can voice your opinion on if you like it or not. Though I honestly think you are just nitpicking my word choice. You are paying for a game; however to gauge what the players want the developers CANNOT rely on anything but raw data for a large scale thing like a race. Then the developers produce stuff they enjoy and believe the players will enjoy as well based on the data. I chose to use the term 'Given' because a majority of players here will be purchasing the expansion, new race or not. They are enjoying the game with or without the new race or classes. It has already been sold to us and we are the willing buyers, because in the world of MMOs... if you do not buy an expansion you really are not making the most of your subscription. ((Warren worded the data part far better than I could so... yeah.))

On the internet often the loudest may be in a minority. However, it is my theory, see my previous numbers post, that basically SE created a race whose appearance was traits combined of the three most popular races. Hyur Miqo'te Elezen Only by using the raw data from population on the servers can they get a relatively unbiased opinion of the general interests of the public. It isn't 100% accurate of opinions, but it is the closest they can get to giving both vocal and quiet players of the game what they want. It is obvious that not everyone likes the new race appearance, but they are adding on top of the five races we already have. A sixth option that will appeal to folks... they aren't taking away anything from anyone.

The problem here is that the race is... more of the same. I mean, look, if the next race for 4.0 ends up being more of the same I can guarantee you the negative feedback will be even more concentrated than it is for the Au Ra. Lots of players are very invested into this game yet find themselves feeling underserved by the available options, so naturally they're hoping for something different. The longer they have to wait, the more they keep serving the same niche over and over again, the greater the volume of negative feedback they will receive. It's cumulative. Certainly, every race has its detractors, but look at how much of the feedback is along the lines of "oh it's a Hyur/Elezen with some scale patches and horns, how staid!" That's something you only get when you're retreading old ground, and boy howdy are they doing that now. We already have 5 races, 10 subraces, of slight variations on humanity, so please forgive me and the rest of the detractors if we're getting gradually more irritated over Square Enix's inability to break out of that very same overused mold. Are you not happy with the races you have? By the August 2014 official census of the races. Hyur (aka human) consist of around 34% and Miqo'te 33% The less human looking they got the smaller population played it, right down Roegadyn at measly 5% short of Lalafell they are the least human looking, but Lalafell have the Cute small thing bump (like the female animal people of Tera being the MOST popular). If we go by a direct numbers game.... people prefer more human looking races in FFXIV. So it would make sense they would want to make a race that appealed to the mass majority of the current players by the number games. A human with some beast like traits. So.... and http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/197811-Eorzea-Census-2014 for the numbers.

Before you attempt to present a series of quotes to try to prove that a lot of folks dislike the race and as a 'movement' to change something consider the following: Lot of people dislike how Miqo'te look. Lot of people dislike how Elezen look. Lot of people dislike how Roegadyn look. Lot of people dislike how Midlanders look. Lot of people dislike how Highlanders look. Lot of people dislike how Lalafell look. Also, on those same commentary from the sites you linked I can find as many positive reactions to the race as well... so it shows that the race has both positive and negative reactions... kind of like how it is for every race? (Edit: Below this is directed toward the topic not just one person) There are reasons there are more than one race, because a race does not appeal to everyone. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and on the internet folks are far from scared to share it, so here is mine: If game developers and game artists listened to everything fans wanted from the game, they would never be able to release it. I am fairly certain the artists, who designed the new race, designed it how the producer and the artists wanted it to look, and what would fit into their world. I am fairly certain the put a lot of effort into making what they imagined fit into the game. I am fairly certain they wanted an certain aesthetic and they would not release it unless they were happy with it. FFXIV 1.0 failed on account of several factors some of which were artistic (I recall copy pasted zones and textures)*, and FFXIV is succeeding greatly in 2.0. I do not think they will half do anything for laziness. If we are absolutely honest, nothing in FFXIV is created for the individual. It is created for the community of everyone, as well as to fulfill the desire of those developing it. That being said SE did not personally 'let down' fans by how they designed the new race because they did not promise anything, some of the fans just did not like what they produced. I believe if that was not the case in an MMO... something would be seriously wrong because people's definition of beauty and even of beastliness are very varied, nothing will be perfect with everything. In my opinion the complaints about the how the female looks compared to the male are unfounded except for height and the horns. My previous posts explained the dimorphic nature of all the races in all the major aspects. Not everyone agreed with me. However, are you wrong in your opinion? I guess an opinion on a silly thing like this really cannot be wrong. The bigger issue I have seen is folks seriously getting heated about how the new race appears to presented. It is like being angry that the /free/ gift you are getting isn't the gift you made yourself believe you are getting. The fact of the matter is, the Au Ra are as they are, designed how they are by the artists, developers, and producer. An individual may not like the race and are free to express why they don't; however, the heated anger about how SE was lazy and made a mistake, seems to me out of line. If we are realistic, a call for them to 'fix it' will fall on deaf ears because if they fix it for some people it will be broken for others, as such they can only do what the artists who designed them wanted. People expected something they were never promised and if you do that you end up feeling as though you were personally attacked by a company that doesn't even know your name. Your idea of what it should be is under attack by what reality it is. You may not like the reality, but it is honestly not SE's fault. You may not like how it looks, because you think the women should have more 'beast features' though they share the same as the males. However, instead of just trying to compare the race to what you expected, try to find something you do like about them and what you don't like about them rather than what they 'should' be. I don't think anyone is trying here is trying to tell other folks they can't have an opinion, or denying that some people dislike it. I believe the existence of this thread actually proves some people don't like them and others do. Attempting to prove someone's opinion of if a race would look better as A rather than B, is rather absurd. It is like telling someone who doesn't like mushrooms they are simply incorrect about their tastes. No one made a mistake in how the designed the races, folks just either like them or not. We are all slaves to the aesthetics of the game developers so all we can do is have opinions on that aesthetic and work with what we are given, and just by looking around the Quicksand... people are really good at that. My apologies if I presented myself in a way that seems like I am saying what you dislike or like about the reality is wrong.

Actually, I was berating myself and a tank who dpsed too much on King they were tanking. The dps were good in that run. And oops Kage too many runs and they blend together. :cry:

Perhaps we are all looking at this wrong... It was mentioned by a first time poster who I will look up and Rep here in as second that they look almost demonic. I am inclined to agree. To me neither of the genders look bestial in comparison to Charr and Aman. HOWEVER, they do look demonic... and if you note the horn direction on the succubus from Haukke manor... it matches the female horns of Au Ra. Perhaps we are off on the origin... They also share the frighteningly haunting look. (I am aware they Succubus in the dungeon has ears and the horns don't replace them, but they have an eerie similarity.)

I had to convince a warrior they were dpsing too hard once... after a couple wipes. With echo it was harder to have them slow down. Made for some humorous chat. "You need to slow down on King or..." (had to stop typing to heal) "Or What?" >Momento Moogle (or whatever) with only 2 dead< "Or that um... happens."

As a healer that gets hit by them.... It is mostly all my fault as I reached the end of Nexus light grind. I have been on pure automatic while healing things. Normally, I just started healing at intervals rather than need Cleric stance -> dots -> Normal Aldo/Phys and Succor -> Cleric back to dots. -> Soil for LB and Succor... I won't lie half the time I wasn't looking at my screen while doing Ifirit or Garuda by the end of it. If I die to charges that would mean... I was standing in the very middle.. oops. (I never did...)

They cannot stray too far away from the general humanoid look of other player races and keep with a consistency that the Au Ra are not a beastman race as well as the general humanoid look of PC races. Not to mention the massive armor alterations they would have to make for a less humanoid race. (Personally I would have loved if Miqo'te were less Mancat and more Catman.) (Do not quote me on that as it has not be stated in canon lore) However, in a world where dragons/beastmen are the banes of entire nations even being similar to them at all can be peril. (My theory about the Lore reason for Yugiri being masked) Also see Gridania quests were Miqo'te are called wild beasts rather than civilized individuals. By the looks of what I can see from the screen shots, you will be able to pick horns (maybe) but for sure color of the scales. http://imgur.com/a/MUEoR#2 Shows blue scales and horns while the other ones show black and tan. They only show two types of horns for both male and female, so either the horn type may declare clan or they just haven't shown us all yet. Here is some salt to take with this post as I cannot be held responsible as an accurate source for anything other than Au Ra exist and will be in the expac. Also, cough sorry for rehashing some of the posts above me.

As we have very little lore outside of the distinct possibility that some Au Ra came along for the ride with Yugiri. All I can assume is that maybe some have been some in hiding in Mor. (Hoods to hide horns and tails hidden.) While we do not have definite time passed since 2.2, we can assume enough time has passed that Yugiri and the Doman people have gotten acquainted with the lands (hence why they can handle stuff so well in MSQ) so a Au Ra might not be entirely clueless of the world they are in. Also, the Ninja storyline is not connected to MSQ, so it means travel from the east to here is possible and here to the east, meaning that perhaps they could have been here longer than the start of Heavensward. However... I haven't the slightest if I will do something with one of my characters. Reasons being: 1) I haven't clue about the lore. SE could say they are living in the North. (Wouldn't be surprised if their homeland is part of the new zones rather than overseas) 2) If I were to transform one of my characters into one, I would probably name change/fantasia OOCly, and then make an alt by the name of the old one so the character still exists. But since that requires IRL money I would need a SOLID character idea to do that. PVE Main and RP main don't need to really be tied together. Until we get more lore and information about them, I cannot answer the poll outside of derp... I don't know.

I'm honestly unsure how you can look at the bodies, posture, features, and faces of the males and females and say that they are similar. o.0 The males are all angles, lanky limbs, sharp features, large and distinctive draconic parts. The females are soft and round with no muscle to speak of, horns that look more like hair ornaments, and barely discernible scales. >_> http://imgur.com/a/MUEoR#5 Female http://imgur.com/a/MUEoR#6 Male They possess the exact same location for scales save for the 'facial hair.' The male happens to be showing more skin, and the paler skin makes the color of the scales harder to see. I am not denying the horn differences, if that is your problem with the race I really can't say anything about it. There IS a horn difference. Honestly, the Au Ra compared to Roegadyn and Highlanders aren't so defined in terms of muscle. The have big arms, but otherwise are rather lithe. My post was mostly to demonstrate that the dimorphic nature of all the races is present due to the art style of FFXIV. They are being true to their art style. What happened was folks assuming that the race was going to be beastly and latching on to it like a vise. No where did the they promise anything but a race unique to FFXIV. The Au Ra fall directly in line with the rest of the races in differences between male and female. (excluding Lalafell cause... I can't even tell the difference short of hair style sometimes).

Honestly... you cannot apply real world science to a land of magic. Furthermore, I know quite a bit of people irl who only go up to the shoulder's of the opposite gender. Variation like that can only have a certain extent of demonstration in a game. In FFXIV (except for Lalafell) even the max height of a female of any race is only a couple inches at best taller than a minimum height of the male counterpart. It is a standard set by the artistic team. The Au Ra are a bit of an extreme example of this but still fall into the standard. As for the physical traits differing from the rest of the races, there actually is less than people seem to think. The head shape actually is quite similar to each other by what limited pictures we have. The female head is slightly more rounded which is more fitting for a shape of the body they have, while the male is slightly more oval to fit the taller build, but both come to a "point" at the chin. It is harder to see on the males because instead of facial hair they have the scales along their chin which gives them the rougher look everyone wishes the females had. Once again this is present in all races, females have rounder heads while men have more oval or square. If anything the Au Ra are closer together than others because their jaw shape is very similar. The horns: They are different, no denying that, but what is the problem with having different horns for the sexes. Lots of games give gender specific traits, but as for the SIZE. If we were to shrink down the height of the male to the height of the female, I believe that the horns would be proportionally similar in size. However directionally they will be different. The brow: Females have a softer brow than the males. That is once again an artistic standard for every race. While for some of them (elezen and Miqote) (excluding Lalafell because there is relatively zero difference between male and female in comparison to other races) you can give the male a very soft brow, as standard male of all races have a firmer brow. The eyes: Eye style is very, very varied between options, but once again a standard of 'softer and more round eyes' exists for all females. THE EXCEPTION being Roegadyn where it is the inverse. Males have the rounder and somewhat softer eyes, while females have the piercing narrow eyes. The Noses: Noses in general are weird and EXTREMELY varied between the options we see. If anything there is nigh zero dimorphism between the male and female pictured short of the size of height of the bridge of the nose, which is once again present on all races in character creator or not depending on the nose you pick. Ears: I didn't see any ears on Au Ra... just horns. Lip: Going through character creator, once again I noticed a trend: Pale lips for men that are 'flat' and pursed lips with color for women. Now I know you can change lips in the character creator to give men larger lips... but since we are going off 'standards' and the pictures we are given, the lips are actually less dimorphic than the rest of the races. Poses: Yes the poses they provided seem to provide different personalities to the genders. Builds: This is the only truly dimorphic aspect that does not fit perfectly into the present art style, or does it? Look at Roegadyn, Massive Hulking men, but in comparison slender females. In all races, (except Lalafell because zero difference) the females of this particular art style are always more slender and less broad. Even highlander females look petite compared to the male counterparts. So... really the only thing extremely different is the Height and Horns. Likely the issue of dimorphic differences is because both females possess a pale complexion compared to the males of darker color, which gives the feeling of porcelain dolls. However, we all know better. The character creator has zero limitations between make and female skin tones.

To be fair, you can never apply real world economics to an MMO market board. Real world Economics rely on a couple key factors that do not exist in a digital game. The biggest of which is finite resources. Some resources are rarer drops in the game, but in reality are also infinite. The only finite matter in an MMO market is time. There are only so many hours in the day; so the real value of an item is how much people believe the time to gather it was worth in gil. Thus a 'market value' of an item will always crash and spike depending on who is selling and how lazy folks are. (aka how much they are willing to spend for another person's time) If one person values their time higher than another person, naturally they will be undercut and because there is only a max of 100 (if you are paying for extra retainers) or 40 for the more average player selling slots, you must make a decision of what to sell at else you have 'dead' slots. Clinging to an artificial thought of what 'something should be worth' will only result in you not selling. You have to ride the market of time value as it crashes and as it rises. When patches are released, things sell far higher because more people are willing to be 'lazy' to finish new items, content. The prime example of this is the Belah'dian Silver, which on patch day was selling for 200-400k depending on quality, and now it sells for 20k. Another example was people selling Dungeon runs for Rogues/Ninjas folks were buying the time of other people the market was good at first with the more impatient people willing to pay 50-70k a pop, but it quickly crashed as the more patient people refused to pay absurd prices. However, looping back to the housing topic, the housing issue is sort of an example of real world economics. The resource being traded is finite and the demand is high. The problem comes from, the price is not in control of the seller outside of the reservation fee. The price resets to full price 5-80 million regardless as to what would be considered a market price. The seller gets zero gil from that, which is where the real world similarities end. Money gain in this game is based off infinite resources, but the product being purchased is a money sink, meaning it goes down the drain. If someone could 'transfer' ownership of a house we could have an actual... housing market... but at the same time it would likely be taken over by Real-estate moguls who would ruin it anyways. As for attempts to fix 'undercutting' markets, it actually only works partway. If someone clicks the history tab they will see a bunch of something selling at a cheaper price and maybe assume that is the 'correct' price. Also... you just bought their time, so they will sell it again at that price because it sold. Just my 2 cents.

Pretty much I just think a lot of misconceptions about players and how they are comes from the lack of OOC communication. If someone has nothing but the IC behavior of a character, they cannot technically make a sound judgment about the person, but at the same time... they can't really see the player for anything but the character. On the devil's advocate side of things, sometimes people are more similar to their character than they realize. The case of IC bleeding into OOC. Or... they are rping a character actually how they are. On the more realistic point of view, most of it I think is miscommunication and lack of communication. The best thing you can do is just keep being yourself and not let it affect you (easier said than done) if it is actually is malicious it will end up backfiring on them if you don't 'take the bait.' If it is merely a misunderstanding and you give it a chance likely time+communication=betterallaroundrelationships.

Roe females humorously are one of the more popular combinations of race and gender. However, the other two have beat me to the punch on a bunch of things. Try to ignore the population of the races when you are creating a character, you are creating something for yourself rather than everyone else. Oriel hit the nail on the head.

Honestly, none of the characters have a defined age. Grave is somewhere around in his forties... I just consider him a mature adult. A few big events I in his life have defined years since, but in general I don't really apply an age to him outside of being an adult. Sarij is an adult, younger than Grave but older than Cursed. Cursed is probably my youngest character... he is a very young adult, but an adult. Vulgar... uh... who knows. Just an adult. I rarely mark off another year of life as anything other than: well he has been around some more, had some adventures, and will have more in the future.

I would say this thread is very similar to the thread about how far can you take 'because aether' or discussion of Dragoon abilities. As some folks said before, as far as you like depending on the narrative. Val could be able to do flips and what not all he wants if he used aether to enhance his physical ability (see the lalafell bros throwing people) or... he could not depending on what Val's player wants. When you RP with other folks you just need to work with them on what they think will work. Maybe someone can use the aether to make themselves less noticeable all the way to invisible... or maybe they are just good at blending in to the environment or sometimes it is just easier to BS the whole thing and merely have the character unnoticed rather than trying to explain it. The ending Rogue quest scene was a dramatic flair that is used ALL the time when a character needs to disappear. Frankly if you look too into it... you can start asking yourself did any of this actually happen, have I just gone mad? However, if we apply realism too much to a world with some sort of trait that makes it supernatural (aether in FFXIV) it starts making things tricky. A Roegadyn Rogue or Ninja starts to seem silly, a Lalafell Warrior or Paladin seems unwise, and Dragoons start becoming red pancakes or you just see them jumping up and down (with the amount of armor probably only a foot up) trying to poke Dragon's bellies as they swoop down. (Not to mention how can dragons fly much less hover.)

Sometimes, you have to start your character off as a "Mary Sue." It is a starting place for folks. Different people enjoy different focuses of their Roleplay. Honestly, if you find the jobs as an interesting focus of your character, more power to you. You have to start somewhere... no character is completely flushed out before being created. Sometimes all you have at the moment is you want to play class/job X and go from there. If anything... your character should be interesting to you, the opinion of other people is lower priority. Of course if you start roleplaying with other folks you need to be respectful of other folks and in general "lore and group friendly" by adjusting your character as needed for RPing with different groups. (A powerful mage, instead of Blasting away foes etc... focusing on assisting and bolstering folks, or declining to bring up certain aspects of the character during more public rps.) I don't think anyone tries to play the special someone (the WHM from MSQ the Azure Dragoon). Even if someone rped a White Mage or a Black Mage I don't think that really is a problem given they have a backstory with it. The magic is not inaccessible. In the case of Dragoons, it may seem odd for any Ishgardian House member to be anywhere but the North, but you cannot fault folks for wanting to RP. How a character preforms their skills is really up to them cause you know....artistic license and the character itself. How someone plays a character may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it does not mean they are 'wrong.' If someone thinks your character isn't interesting that is on them, regardless of lore/job/whatever. If you think your character is interesting, you might as well go with it and adjust your character as you learn. It cannot be expected of anyone to know all the lore restrictions and what not about a character idea. It also cannot be expected that a character will be perfect and deep the moment it is born at... 5am every once in a while on Balmung... given that it is open. Character creation should never stop at the uninterruptable cut scene.

Hmmm with the addition of stools... I might be tempted to put them in odd places allow folks to sit on different things. Wish there were low 'cots' that you could put in couches so folks could /doze on big couches. Though right now I walk into my house and immediately think "DAMN YOU TABLE" with my current table woes. As for the clipping mentioned by Dogberry... yeah even the Snow pants have clipping when you sit.... damn thighs!

If I did that... I would have to go with a Midlander or Miqo'te. Curse you min-height of 6 foot for Highlander. Though that is part of why I tried to make both those races.

I picked a Roegadyn for a few reasons. Part of it comes from the fact I can never make a Midlander as good looking as the cut scene fellow and that breaks my heart. My work with a Highlander doesn't seem ever do be as good as I want. ((Well most of it is not being able to make in my opinion... a "good" looking of the various races.)) However, the larger fact is I very much enjoyed the Charr and Aman of GW2 and TERA respectively. No offense to the Miqo'te present, but the way a majority of Miqo'te I see RPed and designed lack the.... Civilized (to a point) beast aspect of the Charr especially. Roegadyn seemed to capture that better than any of the other races even if I don't RP them very barbarically. There are other reasons for Roegadyn, but I shall leave them for your imagination.

Generally, I may look at the size of the zone presented as actual size, but the area between zones I imagine is quite a bit more vast. A similar concept I apply to Ul'dah, it is suppose to be a massive merchant city so I assume it is really quite big in areas we cannot physically go to on our characters. A journey from Ul'dah to the Forgotten Springs may be a short run once you are in the Southern regions, but I tend to treat the longer part of the trip to happen in the loading screens. Someone I know Rped a good couple day Journey between Northern Shroud and Coerthas, If you want the 'loading screen' rp to take place in game just find a place in the zone you want that fits your idea for the scene. The concept of time in RPing is really quite bendable, as you can be RPing for a couple hours and technically only said enough ICly for 15 minutes of time if it was occurring IRL. So really the safest thing to do is just give the concept of time the boot and RP it at your tempo rather than worrying about how true to life things are being.

So recently I was able to acquire a personal house, but discovered the oddity of Roe size vs housing items. The manor couch and sofa work well for basic seating cause everything else looks like it will break (damn expensive fine wax though). Unfortunately, I can not afford to buy every item (tables chairs etc) to test if it seems abnormally small for a Roegadyn. So, I turn to you. What have you found to work for Roegadyn? Cost does not matter in the end, because I am honestly just curious what other size related issues folks have run into with housing, and how they have thwarted them.