Character Creation: Assessment and Critique

[Zyrusticae]

If there's something you're confused about, it's that you're trying to do this in a triple-A MMO.

 

Fine, I will stop trying to assert my existence in the virtual worlds I use for excapism and accept the fact that I will forever be marginalized and treated as a third-rate customer if I am accepted at all.

 

(edit: you are being very mean right now, and I think I am going to cry. seriously cry. I am not even joking. good job, you're really something.)

[Blue]

Going to paste here what I said in the first thread, since in there it was probably out of place, but here's my feedback on Au Ra CC:

 

Overall rate: 6.9/10

 

My major peeve is that the difference between the two clans are pretty abysmal, so I will split my list of opinions on gender rather than on clan…

 

General:

- I am HIGHLY disappointed that faces and horns are tied together, with only four options at that, and absolutely no sliders whatsoever for horns.

- I think scales should have been given a colour pallette, even a small one, with dark shades for the Xaela and light shades for the Raen.

- I like that tails have different shapes, but I am horribly disappointed that we cannot change their colour.

- Some hairstyles seem to give extra horns. It's something that bugs me because we can change hairstyle in-game. How are we going to explain the appearance/disappearance of new horns on our heads?

- The limbal rings are very interesting. Happy they don't have odd-colouring. Four-color eyes would've been too much.

- The "special features" (renamed 'scales' for Au Ra, even though it includes eyeliners…) category is again dependant on what face you select. It's something I was never fond of even with the previous races.

- I really like their emotes. They are a lot more tranquil and serious, something we really needed after the overly vivacious spree most of races (I think, except Elezen) displayed in 2.0. Great fodder for serious/gloomy characters.

 

Females:

- Love the shortness.

- Their dance emote is very sweet and elegant, it reflects them awesomely.

- Their voices are mostly atrocious. They can't laugh, and their /no's are too vocal. Their /angry is scary <_< some make me think of harpies.

- Their hairstyles are elaborated and interesting, though they all seem quite "fancy" and not quite how I'd do my hair for everyday activity.

 

Males:

- Their hairstyles are all freaking amazing. Perhaps too amazing, to the point the older hairstyles all look kind of "meh" on them, wasted.

- Their voices are all very awesome.

- Their dance….. what is that….?

- Their idle stance is awful.

- Their tails are a bit shorter in comparison to female's proportions. Myeh.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

On a general note, some people seem unhappy the males are too tall or the females too short, but personally I think that is one of the scarce things this race has to offer that the other races do not have. I know I will be rolling a female Au Ra to finally RP a child that can look like a child and save me from all the flirting and hitting on that other characters seem to make me receive (seriously, I cannot RP checking the marketboard in a full Immortal Flames Set on an Elezen woman that someone will walk up to me and start talking about wanting to play with my bosom, ugh). That I dislike sexual-related RP is no mystery by now, and I see Au Ra girls' shortness as a brim of hope to get away from it.

 

Last and not least, I'd love if whatever race came next had some feminine, short, anime-looking guys. This game still has none of that unless you appreciate chibiness and roll a Lala, which I do not. I'm talking about short height, long limbs, small shoulders (ALL our males have outrageously broad shoulders, excluding Lalas), big eyes, pointy chins. In short, anime boys.

 

 

It would've been much more of a novelty than Au Ra are, even without scales and horns.

[Darien Cadell]

However, alas, we have that boat anchor of the PS3 holding us down.

 

As FFXI still has the PS2 essentially causing its demise (and age, but not much room to improve when nobody develops PS2 anything).

 

How I would love to see a FFMMO with all the bells and whistles, 1.0's massive zones and zone line free cities, character creation with both style and options. It'd be so lovely. I don't see them ditching the consoles without seriously significant motivation, though.

[Harmonixer]

I feel a bit safer speaking up on the subject now that this is a thread dedicated to such, so thank you for providing that.

 

Unless I'm mistaken, the primary reason we don't have customization is because of the PS3. There's simply not enough space and power behind the system to handle all of that, while also providing the MMO we play today. Plenty of features are 'dumbed' down in the game to compensate for this and it's almost daily that I find myself going 'man I can't wait till they drop that goddamn console'.

 

In a way, I feel bad because I know plenty of people still play on PS3s and I even have friends that do because they have no way to upgrade for the time being. But it really holds back what this game could be.

 

Another point I want to bring up, and this might be somewhat of an unpopular opinion in these parts but 1.0 was what I consider to be a 'bad' game. It was rich with story and thematic elements and ambition, but absolutely the most unengaging pile of pixels I've encountered in a long time. It did however have some merits that are messing from the current version. Some animations are just gone, or baked into other skills, yet toned down, the list goes on and on. In order to make it into what it is today, some things had to go because again, PS3. Space, power, all that stuff.

 

Onto the character creator itself:

 

Someone mentioned this in another thread, but there is a slight 'issue' with a fully open character creator. That being that people just straight up aren't very fucking creative. It's rude, I'm aware, but let's look at Guild Wars 2. You've prolly seen this image I'm about to reference, but it's a collection of people, all different races and classes ALL with greatswords, and the color scheme of black and red.

 

All of them.

 

There are literally hundreds of these people with black and red, and greatswords. Casters, Melee, all of them are almost identical. I saw this on ever server, (when we actually had those) without fail you could throw a rock into a crowd and hit at least one of them. Even I was a scumbag and had a human 'main'. My charr and sylvari never panned out, I tried though. Didn't enjoy the classes as much as Guardian.

 

PSO2, which Zyru likes to bring up often, is another game in which creativity is actually more of the same. You'll likely see hundreds of lolis, all featuring the same outfit, haircut, voice and weapon pallet. They do tend to vary a bit, but generally speaking they tend to be more of the same. People love smaller characters with huge tits in that game, slap on the biggest weapon and you've got money raining from the sky for SEGA.

 

This is not to say that there isn't people who make genuinely interesting looking (bias, I know) or different characters. They can and sometimes do vary greatly! You see some fantastically put together sets and color schemes with some really cool characters but it doesn't change the fact that a large amount of it is the same.

 

My point is, even when given choice it's very likely that people will make the same things. In TERA I only saw the same 3 elin and humans running around. Just copy pasted everywhere. Sprinkle in a few castanics and 1 aman for every 30 or so elin and human and even less for female aman. Which is a shame, because female amani were really cool looking! I only met 2 of the stonemen race. Popos were always people who thought they were funny.

 

Now I'm just repeating myself at this point. I would like to see people actually follow through with 'unpopular races and combos' themselves before saying something about how there isn't this and this and this and that doesn't look like this and that. It seems counter productive to say things like 'I don't like how this ended up like this' and then proceed to be very similar to what everyone else is playing. I do not, by any means think this somehow makes you less of a person, or ment as an attack. But it certainly makes me think you might be somewhat less creative then the rest, since you are so strongly crying out for change.

 

I would also like to point out, that with somewhat less options people tend to make more stand out characters. It happens in Phantasy Star Online 1, Phantasy Star Universe, this game too! I can list a few other examples but it's unneeded. I've seen some really cool characters on this game! Plenty of people even make cats and highlanders that look different from their peers but it's super rare.

 

All of my non RP friends are absolutely elated to play Au Ra. Nearly all of them played cats, or humans. I think one of them played a female roe and is going to make a male au ra. I heard repeatedly 'Omg, the females are so elegant and pretty! And like, a little mysterious? I loveeee i!' I couldn't help but laugh when I heard it. Not a single one of them said 'ew why are they so short, that's gross!' or 'wow how come they can't look like huge monsters?'.

 

 

At least we have some sliders, and face options. We have nicely rigged hairs, which a lot of games don't have. We have INSANELY detailed armor. We have actual meshes and not just textures. Weapons bounce at our sides, books and vials. OUR BOOKS OPEN FOR FUCKSSAKE. We have animations for ALL of our skills. Stuff that wouldn't get much more than an aura in other games gets a full on effect here. There's a fair amount less recycled here. So yeah, we 'suffer' a little when it comes to sliders, but I'm willing to be there wouldn't be a whole lot of variation anyway because people straight up don't bother when given the choice.

[Warren Castille]

If there's something you're confused about, it's that you're trying to do this in a triple-A MMO.

 

Fine, I will stop trying to assert my existence in the virtual worlds I use for excapism and accept the fact that I will forever be marginalized and treated as a third-rate customer if I am accepted at all.

 

(edit: you are being very mean right now, and I think I am going to cry. seriously cry. I am not even joking. good job, you're really something.)

 

I don't understand your argument. You're pointing out that that other game has so much better (for you, even) character allowances, yet you're here trying to escape. I'm missing something here.

 

"These cookies would be so much better if they were brownies."

[Desu Nee]

If there's something you're confused about, it's that you're trying to do this in a triple-A MMO.

 

Fine, I will stop trying to assert my existence in the virtual worlds I use for excapism and accept the fact that I will forever be marginalized and treated as a third-rate customer if I am accepted at all.

 

(edit: you are being very mean right now, and I think I am going to cry. seriously cry. I am not even joking. good job, you're really something.)

 

I don't understand your argument. You're pointing out that that other game has so much better (for you, even) character allowances, yet you're here trying to escape. I'm missing something here.

 

"These cookies would be so much better if they were brownies."

HEY

[FreelanceWizard]

If I may -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- I think the argument is that XIV should have more character options and models that are accommodating for those whose preferences or real life circumstances are not compatible with the "big guys, small girls" aesthetic and yet who also like the gameplay, RP, or community of the game.

 

Now, personally, I'm not sure I agree with that; if the artistic vision of the game is that lalafell are the only androgynous race (and I sure can't tell them apart sometimes ), then I don't think the designers should change that to accommodate people. However, since we've already seen that the devs make design choices for reasons other than an artistic vision, one could make an argument for simply adding more creation options, which I think everyone would enjoy...

 

...at least until the technical limitations of the PS3 come into play. I hate to keep harping on that, but it annoys me that we PC users, as usual, get the shaft due to sharing code with consoles.

[Harmonixer]

stuff

 

My hope is that if Heavensward does really really well maybe the next xpac will have more breathing room in terms of art direction. Though, really, I suppose it might be grounds for a "keep doing what you're doing" mindset.

 

Argh. It's frustrating to me because I picked catgirl because I wanted a runty street kid. And I like cats. And it was something that was very different from what I normally played: tall, muscular badasses (WoW troll 4 lyfe!). I was inches away from picking a roe, but in the end they were too big for what I wanted to do with this character. It pains me that Zhi is part of the problem. And now with the xaela being nomads, I'm being hooked for them.

 

I think I'm gonna have to make a highlander or roe to even out my character creation karma. :<

 

See, in my last post I said mean things but I don't want it to be remembered as something so cut and dry.

 

I don't want people to feel guilty for playing what they like. I want people to realize it's okay to like something and it's especially okay to continue to do so. Don't try to sabotage something for yourself in favor of change or variance in something you wouldn't have played anyway.

 

You had something in mind, you went with it. It's something I say allllll the time:

 

"It's about the presentation."

 

Plenty of people here have pretty 'typical' characters. I'm pretty sure even I contribute to this. But it's always coming down to presentation. Be it color schemes or slight differences in height, whatever. It's about how you present it to others. It's that whole thing where you try to be unique and you end up like everyone else in the process.

 

So what? We're all pink on the inside and we have a whole bunch of other shit that overlaps.

 

Go on, rock a cat. From what I've gathered you have something that works well with you and is well accepted by others. Don't feel guilty for it. Just present it differently and embrace what you love.

[Desu Nee]

If I may -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- I think the argument is that XIV should have more character options and models that are accommodating for those whose preferences or real life circumstances are not compatible with the "big guys, small girls" aesthetic and yet who also like the gameplay, RP, or community of the game.

 

Now, personally, I'm not sure I agree with that; if the artistic vision of the game is that lalafell are the only androgynous race (and I sure can't tell them apart sometimes ), then I don't think the designers should change that to accommodate people. However, since we've already seen that the devs make design choices for reasons other than an artistic vision, one could make an argument for simply adding more creation options, which I think everyone would enjoy...

 

...at least until the technical limitations of the PS3 come into play. I hate to keep harping on that, but it annoys me that we PC users, as usual, get the shaft due to sharing code with consoles.

Albeit that's an unfortunate truth, I don't mind so heavily. Not everyone can pay a PS4 as of now, or like to play on Computers. I don't mind the fact many options you have to select because I absolutely blows at using sliders to change a character face. Dear god, I should show my Skyrim characters someday.

[Max]

But since the point was brought up already: Phantasy Star Online 2. It's one of SEGA's most successful franchise operations in ages, and it's purely because of the character creation and the dress-up. Believe it or not, there is a huge potential revenue stream there and I do not believe SE is sufficiently tapping into that as of now. Not that that matters to me. I just want better character creation purely for selfish reasons.

Waifu Simulator-- I mean, Phantasy Star Online 2 and FFXIV are two very different games. Like you mentioned, the main draw of PSO2 is their character customization, and they dedicate a lot of time bringing in new outfits, hairstyles, and accessories every couple weeks. It's how they make the bulk of their money, being FTP and all.

 

FFXIV doesn't need to take notes from PSO2 because PSO2's target audience is completely different. I'd also hate to see improved mechanics and bug-fixes not prioritized over money grab vanity.

[LiadansWhisper]

 

 

(edit: you are being very mean right now, and I think I am going to cry. seriously cry. I am not even joking. good job, you're really something.)

 

I feel like you're going for the emotionally manipulative angle at this point.  What's coming across is, "You said something I don't like.  Omg, you are so mean you made me cry.  You're a bad person and should feel ashamed of yourself."

 

People are gonna disagree with you.  I haven't seen anything Warren's said that was overtly malicious or hostile, especially not in the last few posts you've quoted.  If you can't handle people disagreeing with you, it's probably unwise for you to engage in any sort of debate with other people.  Because opinions are like assholes - everyone has one.

[Zhavi]

 

See, in my last post I said mean things but I don't want it to be remembered as something so cut and dry.

 

I don't want people to feel guilty for playing what they like. I want people to realize it's okay to like something and it's especially okay to continue to do so. Don't try to sabotage something for yourself in favor of change or variance in something you wouldn't have played anyway.

 

You had something in mind, you went with it. It's something I say allllll the time:

 

"It's about the presentation."

 

Plenty of people here have pretty 'typical' characters. I'm pretty sure even I contribute to this. But it's always coming down to presentation. Be it color schemes or slight differences in height, whatever. It's about how you present it to others. It's that whole thing where you try to be unique and you end up like everyone else in the process.

 

So what? We're all pink on the inside and we have a whole bunch of other shit that overlaps.

 

Go on, rock a cat. From what I've gathered you have something that works well with you and is well accepted by others. Don't feel guilty for it. Just present it differently and embrace what you love.

 

But that's the rub -- for the Au Ra I wanted something tough and rugged. I don't normally play cutesy or small, I normally play big buff warrior women who can handle themselves, or at the least are old and washed up but can still bring it when needed. The idea that the proliferation of miqo'te are discouraging the devs from creating more races like roes or highlanders makes me cringe, because that's what I typically enjoy playing. That's what I would have preferred for my Au Ra.

 

Zhi works, for what I made her for.

 

But that's not the only type of character I want to play, aesthetically.

[LiadansWhisper]

 

 

But that's the rub -- for the Au Ra I wanted something tough and rugged.  I don't normally play cutesy or small, I normally play big buff warrior women who can handle themselves, or at the least are old and washed up but can still bring it when needed.  The idea that the proliferation of miqo'te are discouraging the devs from creating more races like roes or highlanders makes me cringe, because that's what I typically enjoy playing.  That's what I would have preferred for my Au Ra.

 

Zhi works, for what I made her for.

 

But that's not the only type of character I want to play, aesthetically.

 

It's really hard to play rugged when no one has hair on their chest or legs.

 

I am just saying. :bouncy:

[Harmonixer]

 

See, in my last post I said mean things but I don't want it to be remembered as something so cut and dry.

 

I don't want people to feel guilty for playing what they like. I want people to realize it's okay to like something and it's especially okay to continue to do so. Don't try to sabotage something for yourself in favor of change or variance in something you wouldn't have played anyway.

 

You had something in mind, you went with it. It's something I say allllll the time:

 

"It's about the presentation."

 

Plenty of people here have pretty 'typical' characters. I'm pretty sure even I contribute to this. But it's always coming down to presentation. Be it color schemes or slight differences in height, whatever. It's about how you present it to others. It's that whole thing where you try to be unique and you end up like everyone else in the process.

 

So what? We're all pink on the inside and we have a whole bunch of other shit that overlaps.

 

Go on, rock a cat. From what I've gathered you have something that works well with you and is well accepted by others. Don't feel guilty for it. Just present it differently and embrace what you love.

 

But that's the rub -- for the Au Ra I wanted something tough and rugged. I don't normally play cutesy or small, I normally play big buff warrior women who can handle themselves, or at the least are old and washed up but can still bring it when needed. The idea that the proliferation of miqo'te are discouraging the devs from creating more races like roes or highlanders makes me cringe, because that's what I typically enjoy playing. That's what I would have preferred for my Au Ra.

 

Zhi works, for what I made her for.

 

But that's not the only type of character I want to play, aesthetically.

 

Ahh, I see now.

 

Now, that makes me wonder... How the Au Ra age. For males, there's the one face that suggests some age. The placement of the horns and nose, eyes etc. For females, there flat out isn't one.

 

I think you'd have to do something with the facepaint. But yes, you are flat out lacking the options to depict such a thing for females. In that regard, I understand.

 

Hmm, now I'm wondering if they age like other races. So much lore stuff that needs to be explained to me. I mean, their demon-like right? Guuaaah. I'm going to be thinking about this all day.

[Zyrusticae]

I don't understand your argument. You're pointing out that that other game has so much better (for you, even) character allowances, yet you're here trying to escape. I'm missing something here.

 

"These cookies would be so much better if they were brownies."

I see that you don't understand at all. Of course you don't, as your position is fundamentally different from my own.

 

Let me put it this way: I play video games to help me escape from the reality where I would be ridiculed and put down were I to ever attempt to express myself in any way outside of what is expected of me (note: I live in Texas). Telling me that trying to do this in a video game is the wrong thing to do is akin to telling me that I am not allowed to exist in any form outside of what is given to me.

 

For loads of people, genderqueer folk don't even exist. Every day I am reminded of that fact, especially when I try to make characters like me. It all adds up. It gets tiresome.

 

That is why I am so passionate about this to begin with.

 

I feel like you're going for the emotionally manipulative angle at this point.  What's coming across is, "You said something I don't like.  Omg, you are so mean you made me cry.  You're a bad person and should feel ashamed of yourself."

 

People are gonna disagree with you.  I haven't seen anything Warren's said that was overtly malicious or hostile, especially not in the last few posts you've quoted.  If you can't handle people disagreeing with you, it's probably unwise for you to engage in any sort of debate with other people.  Because opinions are like assholes - everyone has one.

See above.

 

This is an emotionally charged issue for me. I want to exist, I don't want to kill my individual self in order to conform. If you think there is nothing malicious in refusing my right to express myself in virtual worlds, we are approaching this from fundamentally different positions. And that's okay, but you have to understand why I feel the way I do.

 

And for the record, I did cry. It was helpful and cathartic. I should probably do it more often instead of raging.

[Dravus]

 

 

But that's the rub -- for the Au Ra I wanted something tough and rugged.  I don't normally play cutesy or small, I normally play big buff warrior women who can handle themselves, or at the least are old and washed up but can still bring it when needed.  The idea that the proliferation of miqo'te are discouraging the devs from creating more races like roes or highlanders makes me cringe, because that's what I typically enjoy playing.  That's what I would have preferred for my Au Ra.

 

Zhi works, for what I made her for.

 

But that's not the only type of character I want to play, aesthetically.

 

It's really hard to play rugged when no one has hair on their chest or legs.

 

I am just saying. :bouncy:

 

One of the reasons as to why I stopped playing a Highlander, personally. I figured I might as well go down the 'classically handsome' route instead since it's just as satisfying to me as 'rough and rugged' but it's actually possible to reflect it in-game.

[LiadansWhisper]

I don't understand your argument. You're pointing out that that other game has so much better (for you, even) character allowances, yet you're here trying to escape. I'm missing something here.

 

"These cookies would be so much better if they were brownies."

I see that you don't understand at all. Of course you don't, as your position is fundamentally different from my own.

 

Let me put it this way: I play video games to help me escape from the reality where I would be ridiculed and put down were I to ever attempt to express myself in any way outside of what is expected of me (note: I live in Texas). Telling me that trying to do this in a video game is the wrong thing to do is akin to telling me that I am not allowed to exist in any form outside of what is given to me.

 

For loads of people, genderqueer folk don't even exist. Every day I am reminded of that fact, especially when I try to make characters like me. It all adds up. It gets tiresome.

 

That is why I am so passionate about this to begin with.

 

I feel like you're going for the emotionally manipulative angle at this point.  What's coming across is, "You said something I don't like.  Omg, you are so mean you made me cry.  You're a bad person and should feel ashamed of yourself."

 

People are gonna disagree with you.  I haven't seen anything Warren's said that was overtly malicious or hostile, especially not in the last few posts you've quoted.  If you can't handle people disagreeing with you, it's probably unwise for you to engage in any sort of debate with other people.  Because opinions are like assholes - everyone has one.

See above.

 

This is an emotionally charged issue for me. I want to exist, I don't want to kill my individual self in order to conform. If you think there is nothing malicious in refusing my right to express myself in virtual worlds, we are approaching this from fundamentally different positions. And that's okay, but you have to understand why I feel the way I do.

 

And for the record, I did cry. It was helpful and cathartic. I should probably do it more often instead of raging.

 

This is still all reading as emotional manipulation to me.

 

If someone disagreeing with you is so emotionally upsetting that you feel the need to cry or feel that your very identity is being threatened, then I really do think it is unwise for you to engage in any sort of debate with others.  Because they're going to disagree with you.  And then you will get upset and/or feel your identity is being threatened by people on the internet.

[LiadansWhisper]

 

 

 

One of the reasons as to why I stopped playing a Highlander, personally. I figured I might as well go down the 'classically handsome' route instead since it's just as satisfying to me as 'rough and rugged' but it's actually possible to reflect it in-game.

 

It's truly a crime.  More hair options would be amazing.

 

I'm still trying to figure out why we wear sandals everywhere  tho.  

[Zhavi]

 

 

But that's the rub -- for the Au Ra I wanted something tough and rugged.  I don't normally play cutesy or small, I normally play big buff warrior women who can handle themselves, or at the least are old and washed up but can still bring it when needed.  The idea that the proliferation of miqo'te are discouraging the devs from creating more races like roes or highlanders makes me cringe, because that's what I typically enjoy playing.  That's what I would have preferred for my Au Ra.

 

Zhi works, for what I made her for.

 

But that's not the only type of character I want to play, aesthetically.

 

It's really hard to play rugged when no one has hair on their chest or legs.

 

I am just saying. :bouncy:

 

Hahahaha.

 

Okay, for an example, the troll female faces (in WoW) besides the pretty one (pre the graphics update, I don't know what they look like now), could easily qualify for rugged.

 

Weathered, lined, rough-around-the-edges, a little fierce: you can achieve this with roe to a degree, but with the Au Ra, with the horns and the scales -- I was just hoping for something taller and meaner and maybe a little less of the typical beauty.

 

(I'm starting to realize from these discussions that what I want to see is a very narrow aesthetic -- but, I dunno, I'd be okay with fifth face options for races that go a little outside of the box for that race, which lets the devs have their target audience while still filling for the niche lovers)

[Hyrist]

Oh, I don't disagree. The video game space is by definition very conservative, which means not taking a risk on an artistic decision when you could make a finance-driven one. SE has a bit more freedom than, say, someone being published by EA, but ultimately they're still beholden to their shareholders. If Heavensward doesn't produce a sub bump -- even if it retains the current player base -- it's not going to look good, despite XIV being a wild, runaway success for the company. The artistic choices are the ones you're more likely to see in indie gaming.

 

That said, I'm still unhappy about it.

 

Now, here's the ringer.

 

Are you unhappy about it on principle, or because the result wound up being something that does not appeal to you? Granted, it's ok to be both.

 

I've become jaded enough to accept the business practices, and just make my own subjective opinion on the issue.

 

I don't mind the height differences, that vast of a difference is unique among the races regardless of the corporate drive around it. So while money driven, it can make for good variety traits in the race, comparatively for the others.

 

So long as the result is something positive (Read: Something I like.) The method of getting there gets a bit muted - at least in this particular case. While there's always encouragement for the ideal all around, method and results, sometimes, it's more worth it to stop worrying and enjoy the sauce(er).

 

In this results Au Ra isn't designed to appeal to set particular tastes, and that's ok. Sometimes we forget that while we should work to for a broader appeal and acceptance, it shouldn't come at the outright neglect of more popular views. Sometimes, you need to throw the typical a bone once in a while too.

[Warren Castille]

snip

 

Did you hear about Rachel Bryk this week? I knew her. We operated in the same spheres, and while I respected the everloving fuck out of her, we often found ourselves on the opposite side of the discussion vis a vis gender politics and expectations.

 

Do not for a single second tell me that I don't understand. Google her if you don't know what I'm talking about.

 

What you're discussing is the biggest tripping point that people in common culture hit upon when this topic comes up: Your stance isn't unreasonable, but you're presenting it in a way that screams "You must change things to appease me." By your own admissions there are other games doing what you want better than XIV does - You referenced like two dozen things in the Au Ra thread. But apparently they don't offer you the game you want? And the game you want doesn't offer you the customization you want.

 

You're expecting cutting-edge social politics from a Japanese developer regarding bucking the socially-imposed gender standards that have been common place in video games since they existed. You're upset that there isn't a safe place for you in a game world that never suggested it would ever be a safe space for you. You sound in your own head like you're asking for equality. To everyone else you're whining about not being treated special. Yes, I realize this is the crux of the argument.

 

There are places where you can get what you want. I'm sorry XIV seemingly isn't one of them, but the game never pretended to be anything except what it is. I realize this is disappointing for you, but that is unlikely to change in the future, and to be terribly honest? You scare the shit out of me sometimes. I see a lot of Hey in you, and knowing what I do about that now I am legit concerned.

 

You need to understand that my ire isn't aimed at you. I'm just discussing the topic. I understand the two are inextricably connected. When you say things like

 

I see that you don't understand at all. Of course you don't, as your position is fundamentally different from my own.

 

you don't do yourself any favors. I understand a lot better than you think I do.

 

 

This is all stupid and will probably get modded.

[LiadansWhisper]

 

 

 

Hahahaha.

 

Okay, for an example, the troll female faces besides the pretty one (pre the graphics update, I don't know what they look like now), could easily qualify for rugged.

 

Weathered, lined, rough-around-the-edges, a little fierce: you can achieve this with roe to a degree, but with the Au Ra, with the horns and the scales -- I was just hoping for something taller and meaner and maybe a little less of the typical beauty.

 

(I'm starting to realize from these discussions that what I want to see is a very narrow aesthetic -- but, I dunno, I'd be okay with fifth face options for races that go a little outside of the box for that race, which lets the devs have their target audience while still filling for the niche lovers)

 

I think an easy middle ground would be to provide options within the race selections to add or discard characteristics like hair, or more chiseled/rugged features.  I'd love to see them add things like that in addition to hairstyles (which I think someone else suggested, too?).

[Harmonixer]

 

 

 

One of the reasons as to why I stopped playing a Highlander, personally. I figured I might as well go down the 'classically handsome' route instead since it's just as satisfying to me as 'rough and rugged' but it's actually possible to reflect it in-game.

 

It's truly a crime.  More hair options would be amazing.

 

I'm still trying to figure out why we wear sandals everywhere  tho.  

 

If this was ment in any seriousness, I think it's something to do with how the models are rigged. They are always in some kind of 'shoe' and unable to be rendered otherwise. The texture would stretch out and look weird over a foot mesh.

 

It bugs the hell out of me too, but like I said- pretty sure it's the model itself being a problem.

[Blue]

Really, the best way to make happy both those who wanted short females and feminine males (like me) and those who want rough horned women and tall Au Ra men would've been to make two physically different clans, with different emotes and customizations. I'm still annoyed that only Hyurs got that candy. You'd think that in two years they could've designed two clans separated by something more than scale color.

[Zhavi]

 

Ahh, I see now.

 

Now, that makes me wonder... How the Au Ra age. For males, there's the one face that suggests some age. The placement of the horns and nose, eyes etc. For females, there flat out isn't one.

 

I think you'd have to do something with the facepaint. But yes, you are flat out lacking the options to depict such a thing for females. In that regard, I understand.

 

Hmm, now I'm wondering if they age like other races. So much lore stuff that needs to be explained to me. I mean, their demon-like right? Guuaaah. I'm going to be thinking about this all day.

 

Yeah, there's one that could go for late 20s, but overall displaying age on a female face seems to be a no-no for this game. Then again, it tends to be a no-no in most first-world societies, so I suppose I can't really blame the devs for that.

 

I was wondering about how they age in general, too (separate from character creation) -- they seem to be very mysterious to me in terms of how they work. Hopefully we'll get some cool lore.