Races

[Rostum]

How do you guys feel about the re-use of the races from FFXI in FFXIV? I guess this is more relevant to FFXI players, but anyone feel free to answer.

To be honest, at first I was a little disappointed to hear that news, but it is growing on me more and more. If it were to be successful, they'd really need to redesign them (and it looks like that's what they are doing, especially with a new lead artist). Galka seems to be re-imagined in a much better way, as does the elvaan (however, that is pre-rendered so who knows). I like that Mithra have bushy tales now, but I'd be interested to see what the Tarutaru will look like. It is also nice to see the Hume males look much more masculine (in FFXI they are very feminine).

Do you think they will keep the same names? I hope they decide to call them something else.

Anyway, just random throughts, anything discussion about races is welcome.

[Ouch!]

I'm interested to see what this new race they've mentioned might bring to the table. The five races from FFXI cover all the bases fairly well. They already range from well-rounded to all the extremes, so I'm not sure what exactly a sixth race will offer. Although, if it's anything like FFXI, ultimately race will not matter except for certain circumstances (usually difficult endgame stuff), so perhaps it won't be so vastly different from something we already have.

[Mirage]

There are certainly some hume males that actually look masculine in FFXI though. I can think of 4 at the top of my head, which is like half of the possibilities.

[Ultimage]

Meh, as far as races go, I'm still not sure how I feel about the Galkas not having tails. It just looks weird. Also, a friend of mine (who is a galka) always says "That's not a tail," so if nothing else, it was good for a few laughs.

[Yeargdribble]

I understand why they kept them and I kinda like the idea honestly. For me, having gotten fed up with the lashing FFXI was giving be years ago, I think there will be a strong home-coming feeling when I start FFXIV. It's really a win-win for them. Old players will get to wash themselves in nostalgia and new players won't notice much difference so it won't matter. The third option are those that play FFXI right up until the release and somehow feel no attachment to their races and rue the idea... but honestly, SE will get their money either from them sticking steadfast to FFXI or switching regardless of their distaste of the "unoriginality" that SE is using.

I'm happy about it... but I'm pretty torn on the name thing and leaning towards wishing they would keep the same names. Like my wife has said, "I don't care what they rename Mithras... I'm still going to call them Mithras."

It's an interesting double-edged sword. Not only did the races seep into our being and make us feel connection to them (a large part of why SE is keeping them), but the labels (names) of these races did the same. To keep the races and change the names will probably result in some mild unsettling.


Either way... it's out of my hands. Tanaka has already commented on it (though depending on community feedback this type of thing is always subject to change this early in dev).

"However, while they look similar on the surface, they will be given somewhat of a makeover, which Tanaka says will include new names for the races."
~Hiromichi Tanaka | Source

[Rostum]

There are certainly some hume males that actually look masculine in FFXI though. I can think of 4 at the top of my head, which is like half of the possibilities.

Sorry, I meant appealing male hume's, not beard face, indian dude and baldy.

[Mirage]

I'm sure some people find those appealing... :(

[Yeargdribble]

I'm somewhat torn about what to choose honestly. I was a taru before and I loved being cute. If I were to ever be a taru again I'd want to be the same one with the same hair honestly. At the same time I like being able to see my gear better sometimes. For 3 years of WoW I've been a Tauren and I love being huge and beefy and bulky. Strange thing is, I never wanted to be a cute gnome in WoW and never wanted to be a beefy Galka in FFXI.

I hope the stat differences are kept to a relative minimum because I don't wanna pick boring Hume by default just because they will allow me to play most flexibly.


Something else to keep in mind... there's always a chance that there will be both sexes for the new Galka and Mithra. If being a manthra was balanced it might be a nice medium... but I don't want to be a catboy.

... almost certainly am gonna end up a taru...

Nostalgia > Reason

[Ultimage]

Female Galka? I can picture that. {No thanks.} They could make the females completely different from the males, but since DNC AF is basically the same between males and females, I'm not expecting much.

[Del Murder]

I think it's dumb. This is a new game, a new world, there should be new races. The races of FFXI had rich histories and were a large part of the dynamic of Vanadiel. To me they belong to that world and no other. Are they going to have new backstories, new dynamics in this game? It will be hard to forget the past.

[Roogle]

I hope that the reimagined Tarutaru look more like the conceptual images of pesky little children rather than strange, bipedal puppies of some kind.

[Yeargdribble]

Well I can see how the fact that they already have a backstory may clash with a new set of characters who will have new backstories yet retain the same look.

[Rostum]

That is a good point Del. Hopefully it's something that doesn't hinder it too much, especially if the designs are re-imagined (Galka does look different enough to me to forget about the Galka's actual backstory in FFXI).

[MrNash]

I like Galka and Taru, so I'm happy to hear they're coming back in some form. It would be interesting to see some races that simply don't get along, though. Either they're constantly at war with one another, or players need to go through interesting quest lines in order to get on their good side. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for some interesting, new races to be thrown into the mix this time around.

[Lionx]

I am probably one of the few that liked the feminine Humes. lolz

I think its cool that they are back, if there is a Taru with the same hairstyle and/or build, then it will be just like my old character, plunging headfirst into a new world and adventure. Except somehow i lost all my skills haha. If there are male mithras i will probably play as one too, as one of the reasons why i did not choose a mithra all those years back was because they were all female, and it felt extremely awkward to play as one...

At the same time, if there are no new races i might be disappointed. I was hoping that it would be something like FFTA world, and i can be a Moogle or Bangaa. A new race can help those transferring from FFXI, and keep the game fresh for them. Not just FFXI v2.0