Au Ra Character Creation Screens discussion!

[allgivenover]

Kind of wish they'd been more like this myself

 

 

This is some speculative fan art that came out shortly after Yugiri was revealed to be a new race.

 

More like this would've been my ideal, but I'm fine with what we got.

[SessionZero]

I, for one, am very pleased with what we got. Perhaps my only gripe would be the height of female Au Ra but overall I'm happy.

 

One thing that I think it's important to remember, is that this is not a game designed with just RPers in mind. Sure, we get a lot of love in the form of emotes and interactivity with our environment and housing and so on and so forth, but this is a game designed for several different play styles and SE must allocate resources and dev time accordingly. By and large (with a few exceptions), RPers are the only ones who care about a superbly robust creation system. What we have been given is better than some MMOs, pales in comparison to others, and, in my opinion, is fairly balanced between giving us RPers some options while simultaneously not bogging down non-RPers in an overly complex creation system. 

 

Likewise, the Au Ra strike a good balance between filling a niche (dragon people, yay!) and still catering to the type of people who will glamour their WAR to wear the Coliseum loincloth (scantily clad catgirls, yay!), who are, we must remember, people who have just as much right to be catered to as we do. They also pay 15 bucks a month. They also buy stuff from the Mog Station. We are not better than them because we play the game "right". SE must cater to a wide range. 

 

We are but a piece of the pie and they give us what attention they can.

[Asmodios]

I, for one, am very pleased with what we got. Perhaps my only gripe would be the height of female Au Ra but overall I'm happy.

 

One thing that I think it's important to remember, is that this is not a game designed with just RPers in mind. Sure, we get a lot of love in the form of emotes and interactivity with our environment and housing and so on and so forth, but this is a game designed for several different play styles and SE must allocate resources and dev time accordingly. By and large (with a few exceptions), RPers are the only ones who care about a superbly robust creation system. What we have been given is better than some MMOs, pales in comparison to others, and, in my opinion, is fairly balanced between giving us RPers some options while simultaneously not bogging down non-RPers in an overly complex creation system. 

 

Likewise, the Au Ra strike a good balance between filling a niche (dragon people, yay!) and still catering to the type of people who will glamour their WAR to wear the Coliseum loincloth (scantily clad catgirls, yay!), who are, we must remember, people who have just as much right to be catered to as we do. They also pay 15 bucks a month. They also buy stuff from the Mog Station. We are not better than them because we play the game "right". SE must cater to a wide range. 

 

We are but a piece of the pie and they give us what attention they can.

 

You're dumb. 

[Ritual]

I, for one, am very pleased with what we got. Perhaps my only gripe would be the height of female Au Ra but overall I'm happy.

 

One thing that I think it's important to remember, is that this is not a game designed with just RPers in mind. Sure, we get a lot of love in the form of emotes and interactivity with our environment and housing and so on and so forth, but this is a game designed for several different play styles and SE must allocate resources and dev time accordingly. By and large (with a few exceptions), RPers are the only ones who care about a superbly robust creation system. What we have been given is better than some MMOs, pales in comparison to others, and, in my opinion, is fairly balanced between giving us RPers some options while simultaneously not bogging down non-RPers in an overly complex creation system. 

 

Likewise, the Au Ra strike a good balance between filling a niche (dragon people, yay!) and still catering to the type of people who will glamour their WAR to wear the Coliseum loincloth (scantily clad catgirls, yay!), who are, we must remember, people who have just as much right to be catered to as we do. They also pay 15 bucks a month. They also buy stuff from the Mog Station. We are not better than them because we play the game "right". SE must cater to a wide range. 

 

We are but a piece of the pie and they give us what attention they can.

 

You're dumb.

Was that necessary? Oh wait, new account and this is your first post? Just a troll then, not worth my time, I'll just ignore anything you say from now on so don't bother replying to me.

[Naunet]

One thing that I think it's important to remember, is that this is not a game designed with just RPers in mind.

 

I disagree with the notion that wanting SE to provide some variety in character models is asking them to design for RPers.

[SessionZero]

One thing that I think it's important to remember, is that this is not a game designed with just RPers in mind.

 

I disagree with the notion that wanting SE to provide some variety in character models is asking them to design for RPers.

 

That's not what I was saying. What I was saying is that it's not designed just for RPers. I went on in that post to mention that they must design for a wide variety of play styles, which means budgeting and time and resource and staffing allocation to a variety of different content. They had to build an entirely new city-state, new instances, new open-world areas, new enemies, new ability animations, etc, etc. I'm not an animator or an expert but I would think that building new models from the ground up is expensive and time-consuming and SE was just trying to maintain that balance that I also mentioned later on.

 

There's a clear preference for model types among the entirety of FFXIV's playerbase. Do I like the fact that pretty much no one plays FemRoes or FemHighlanders? No, because I think they're great. I'm just saying I understand SE's perspective.

[Naunet]

There's a reason the standard paradigm for character design involves developing races that each have unique, identifiable silhouettes. I'm not sure what changed that made people suddenly afraid of investing in some variety. Variety is good. SE doesn't need you defending their choices, especially not financial-related stuff.

 

Games would be so much better if there was less justifying done by playerbases.

[allgivenover]

Games would be so much better if there was less justifying done by playerbases.

 

Ahahaha I suppose my hindsight reasoning why things are as they are is to blame! Damn my eyes and opinions!

[Brynhilde]

Okay guys I made my Au Ra!

 

 

 

No wait wrong picture

 

 

 

There we go.

[SessionZero]

There's a reason the standard paradigm for character design involves developing races that each have unique, identifiable silhouettes. I'm not sure what changed that made people suddenly afraid of investing in some variety. Variety is good. SE doesn't need you defending their choices, especially not financial-related stuff.

 

Games would be so much better if there was less justifying done by playerbases.

 

I'm not defending anything. I'm providing a realist's opinion on what we've been given. I'm not going to pretend that Square-Enix is some altruistic corporation out to provide us our every whim on a silver platter, as some people seem to expect from them. They want to make huge piles of money while providing an engaging, entertaining experience so we will continue to furnish them with huge piles of money. 

 

I find FFXIV - and by extension, the Au Ra - to be an engaging, entertaining experience. So I will continue to furnish them with huge piles of money.

[Wymsical]

There's a reason the standard paradigm for character design involves developing races that each have unique, identifiable silhouettes. I'm not sure what changed that made people suddenly afraid of investing in some variety. Variety is good. SE doesn't need you defending their choices, especially not financial-related stuff.

 

Games would be so much better if there was less justifying done by playerbases.

 

I would like variety too! Most aren't trying to justify, they're just attempting to explain possible reasons for why design choices were made. 6-7% of players are Roegadyn. 10% are Highlanders. Of those players, approximately less than 40% are females. In the context of wanting to devote your extremely busy team to something that will be majority-popular, 'safe' types make the most business and manpower sense. It sucks for the players who want tough ladies, but producing for majority appeal can be cold that way. Personally, I'm hoping the demand for Viera convinces SE to try their hand at something different - even if it isn't Viera exactly.

[Naunet]

I would like variety too! Most aren't trying to justify, they're just attempting to explain possible reasons for why design choices were made.

 

The reason is quite obvious. Yoshi even outright stated that they designed the Au Ra (at least the females, I guess) based on how much people loved female miqo'te. Restating it a million times isn't going to change my opinion on the matter though.  I still disagree with it. I still think there was a better way to go about it (split the design so that one clan appeals to one sense, the other appeals to another sense).

[cherrybomb]

There we go.

 

*waggles finger at you, eats chili dogs*

 

[Zhavi]

I would like variety too! Most aren't trying to justify, they're just attempting to explain possible reasons for why design choices were made.

 

The reason is quite obvious. Yoshi even outright stated that they designed the Au Ra (at least the females, I guess) based on how much people loved female miqo'te. Restating it a million times isn't going to change my opinion on the matter though.  I still disagree with it. I still think there was a better way to go about it (split the design so that one clan appeals to one sense, the other appeals to another sense).

 

People are just trying to share their view/opinion back with you, man. You enter discussions here, so people want to discuss with you! I don't think anyone expects you to change your opinion or anything; if anything I think they might just want to understand better. I know you've been on site for a while and have plainly stated your stance often, but there are a lot of new people who haven't seen your older posts and so will want to engage you to see where you're at and why.

 

That said, I don't follow a lot of the dev stuff, I only pick up stuff here, so things being "obvious" or Yoshi "outright" stating things goes wayyyy over my head -- which is why I, at the very least, ask why people think things were done a certain way. I just didn't know! I like getting others' take on something!

 

I do agree that splitting design, even if it was just for one or two faces or . . . somethign that wouldn't require as much work, would have been very appreciated. Still though, Idunno, it's hard for me to really criticize or justify anything without knowing the full story -- which you're only gonna get by being there behind scenes. So I'll just keep hoping that next time maybe they'll go for something a little more off the beaten path.

[Hyrist]

We've got two places to post Character Creation Screenshots, but both run the risk of getting siderailed by the discussion of opinions regarding design choices for Au Ra.

 

I'm no moderator, but perhaps we can combine the SS threads and make a thread specifically for discussing Au Ra design as a development concept?

[Naunet]

This thread wasn't made for people to post their Au Ra screenshots. It was originally made to discuss the benchmark "screenshots" that were taken last week during a demonstration of it. So, no thread merge necessary IMO.

 

A clarification in thread titles would probably help.

[FreelanceWizard]

We've got two places to post Character Creation Screenshots, but both run the risk of getting siderailed by the discussion of opinions regarding design choices for Au Ra.

 

I'm no moderator, but perhaps we can combine the SS threads and make a thread specifically for discussing Au Ra design as a development concept?

 

Conceptually, I'd like to see a thread for character screenshots (which I think we have) and a thread for discussing the design (which I think this kinda-sorta mostly is ). I can move some character screenshots out of this thread and into the other one, but given the size of both threads, that's a very delicate operation.

 

So, if you want your character screenshot moved into the other thread, report the post and note that desire, and we'll get it moved over for you. I've edited the title of this thread accordingly.

 

#magicAdminHat

[allgivenover]

This thread wasn't made for people to post their Au Ra screenshots. It was originally made to discuss the benchmark "screenshots" that were taken last week during a demonstration of it. So, no thread merge necessary IMO.

 

A clarification in thread titles would probably help.

 

hou0lU8WMgo

[Hyrist]

Ah. I stand corrected then.

 

Design wise, I have no qualms. I, like others, expected that perhaps the horns were a feature separate from the face. But as the horns themselves are a kind of major facial structure, I can understand the reasoning.

 

There will always be the desire to want 'more' out of things.

 

The design concepts and works fit within the context of the game, and its artistic style. Too bestial, and they literally become a beast-men race. At this point, they skirt that line enough not to.

 

I realize this disappoints a number of individuals who prefer more Western-inspired design choices - however Square Enix has made some pretty cut-and-dry definition choices between Beast Tribes and the more 'human' tribes.

 

Au Ra may be the last race we get, and if not, I do not expect any future races to stray much further from human than Au Ra has.

[Zyrusticae]

By and large (with a few exceptions), RPers are the only ones who care about a superbly robust creation system.

This is factually incorrect. If this were true, games like Blade & Soul would never get the kind of creation tools they give the player base (because the grand majority of Korean players do not engage in any kind of roleplaying).

 

The rest of your post all goes back to my point about the design of the female Au Ra simply cannibalizing players of existing races. It feels incredibly pointless.

 

But what's done is done. Hopefully next time they won't be so bloody disappointing.

[SessionZero]

By and large (with a few exceptions), RPers are the only ones who care about a superbly robust creation system.

This is factually incorrect. If this were true, games like Blade & Soul would never get the kind of creation tools they give the player base (because the grand majority of Korean players do not engage in any kind of roleplaying).

 

The rest of your post all goes back to my point about the design of the female Au Ra simply cannibalizing players of existing races. It feels incredibly pointless.

 

But what's done is done. Hopefully next time they won't be so bloody disappointing.

 

>(with a few exceptions)

>a few exceptions

>few exceptions

>exceptions

 

Also, for something to be factually incorrect, it requires a fact to prove it is, in fact, incorrect. Citing one game with a robust character creation system is not a fact.

[Naunet]

>(with a few exceptions)

>a few exceptions

>few exceptions

>exceptions

 

I don't think those exceptions are quite so few as you seem to believe. One of the hottest topics in any beta forum for an MMO is character creation, and it's almost always people asking for more options, more customization. Hardly any of those people are roleplayers. There are tons of games out there with far more advanced character creation than FFXIV, and those games didn't develop that with RPers in mind I can guarantee you. People, regardless of whether or not they roleplay, like to be able to customize their in-game avatar to fit whatever image they want.

[Zyrusticae]

>(with a few exceptions)

>a few exceptions

>few exceptions

>exceptions

 

Also, for something to be factually incorrect, it requires a fact to prove it is, in fact, incorrect. Citing one game with a robust character creation system is not a fact.

Aion?

 

APB?

 

EVE Online?

 

Dragon's Dogma (lol, game isn't even multiplayer)?

 

Soul Calibur IV & V?

 

Saints Row The Third & IV?

 

Phantasy Star Online 2?

 

More recently, Black Desert Online?

 

I can forgive you your ignorance, because it seems you just don't follow very many games, but I assure you that deep character creation is not something built specifically to appeal to RPers or is niche and does, in fact, have a sort of mass appeal that FFXIV's simplistic character creation lacks. Hell, PSO2 itself is the poster child for a game where dress-up is basically half the game, what with the scratch being updated something on the order of every 2 weeks with new outfits, accessories, emotes, voice options, makeup, and so on - all stuff just to allow players to customize their characters more. How many Japanese players do you think are roleplaying in that lobby-based action co-op RPG? (Ironically, said action RPG actually has more options supporting roleplaying than any other game I can think of off the top of my head...)

 

At this point, Square Enix has little excuse. Their character creation is just bad, especially if you directly compare it to some of the newer competition and even some non-MMORPG games. They need to do a lot of work if they really want to snare all the players they possibly can.

[ShoggMommy]

Can we stop with the personal attacks and passive aggressiveness/snark? It's going to get this thread closed. I swear any time this race is even spoken about in a thread it starts getting completely derailed. It's not even about Au Ra now. It's completely shifted into other games and character creators rather than the actual topic. I would like to continue to contribute to this, but it seems that so many threads that are interesting at the beginning end up going down this road lately.

[SessionZero]

I can forgive you your ignorance, because it seems you just don't follow very many games

 

And I will forgive you your assumptions, but would greatly encourage you to watch your wording and think about how you might be coming off to others, lest people start to think you are part of the problem that's been plaguing the RPC lately.