Viera.... Ears...

[Reyukka]

So! I have been thinking about viera ears for a while. When viera were first released I didn't care that they couldn't wear many hats/hoods because just think of the difficulty of getting them on or how big the holes would have to be. 

I had thought about how their ears may get cold. Everyone else can wear earmuffs/hats/hoods to keep their ears warm. And then an idea came.. Ear Socks. Its exactly how it sounds. Socks but for ears. I personally think it would be awesome. This was all a while ago that I was thinking about that, but today my mind went back to viera ears. On the game the ears look stiff and don't move at all. That could bring one to forget that rabbit ears are flexible and can move. I know I forgot. So.. I'm wondering. Are viera ears as flexible as a real rabbit's ears? I personally would like to think so because in terms of rp that could give your character so much more expression just like cat ears do for m'qote. What do you guys think? Should viera ears mimic a rabbit's or should they be stiffer than a rabbit's? 

[Unnamed Mercenary]

They're probably meant to move around. In much the same way that Hrothgar ears are also basically static on their heads despite Miqo'te having tons of ear animations.

 

My personal take is that SE rushed to get the new races out and those animations were a cut corner.

[Kohagura]

I never played one myself, but my friend is one, and I did notice they don't move much.

I did have pet rabbits IRL before and their ears were not really floppy/soft or flexible per se, but it would make more sense if they did have more slight movement at least when moving. I think the same should apply to Miqo'te ears too, as I noticed they don't move at all when running. A slight bounce would be nice in both their cases.

 

But I noticed the bunny ears headgear from the Gold Saucer do have a lot of bounce from any movement.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Kohagura

[Reyukka]

Well, I didn't mean that the ears were floppy or super flexible. But they have more flexibility than what it seems on the viera. I know bunny ears aren't so flexible you can do anything with them but at the same time, they can fold backwards to lay flat along the rabbit's body. I mean I know viera ears wouldn't flop around and lay against their bodies BUT they could still fold backwards at times so the ears would be pointing backwards and not upwards. I just wanted opinions on it. Rabbit ears don't typically fold like that one set of viera ears do they? Makes me think of whales in captivity. How their fins droop down.

[Kohagura]

15 hours ago, Reyukka said:

Well, I didn't mean that the ears were floppy or super flexible. But they have more flexibility than what it seems on the viera. I know bunny ears aren't so flexible you can do anything with them but at the same time, they can fold backwards to lay flat along the rabbit's body. I mean I know viera ears wouldn't flop around and lay against their bodies BUT they could still fold backwards at times so the ears would be pointing backwards and not upwards. I just wanted opinions on it. Rabbit ears don't typically fold like that one set of viera ears do they? Makes me think of whales in captivity. How their fins droop down.

 

Yeah, like I said I agree that would be great to see in the Viera and Miqo'te ears more physics movement. I know with the rabbits I had IRL I really loved how the ears looked laid on their back. Then perk up if they were surprised (I noticed Miqo'te does have the ear movement during some emotes, so having that for Viera too would be nice).

 

Also not sure about the ears that bend like that, personally I am just familiar with the Polish Dwarf rabbits with straight short ears, or the lop rabbits with soft droopy ears (but don't appear folded like the bent ears). But I suppose in at least one other fantasy game I played, it had rabbit ear that seems to have some muscle in it to animate it bend it in half like it had a joint like elbows (but it was an anime game lol).

Edited October 5, 2019 by Kohagura