Would you like to see a new race?

[Legal Fish]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

Thanks for reminding why I tend to hate other people on this game.

[Omni]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

But you knew what you were choosing between then. You might kick yourself now for choosing to be an Elvaan (as you should) but it was your choice and your own fault. Adding a new race now forces you to give up everything you've done and starting over if you want to play it because you couldn't choose that option before you spent time on your existing character.

this says it all.

i also dont think stat wise that this would be really viable since theres a nice balance right now.

currently we have a spectrum, if you will.

i goes something like:

galka -- elvaan -- hume -- mithra -- tarutaru
hp++ ------------------------------------ hp--
mp-- ------------------------------------ mp++

the left end of the spectrum is more physically attuned and durable while the right end is more magically attuned, dexterous and agile. hume make a nice middle with balanced stats across the board.

if you add a 6th race, where would you put it that:

1) is not a copy of another race (stat wise)
2) different enough where it makes sense to even add it? (meaning, i guess you can have a race with super high CHR or something but is that even necessary?)

[Armando]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

No. Same reasons as above, you'll either mess up the story or you'd have a huge mess trying to implement beastmen races, it's really freaking late to add a new race, etc. etc.

[DieselBoy09]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

I just want more variety. I don't really care either way. I'm happy with what we have, and I hear if they added another it would mess up the story line and such, but if they added another, I would welcome it openly.

[Silent Howler]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

S-E adds new jobs, not new races.

[Malacite]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

Okay here's the deal.

First and foremost, we can't have new races. SE is barely considering male mithra, and even then there's a good chance they'd be NPC only. Also, for the record Galka are male in appearance only. So there can't be "females" given that there aren't any males either, they're asexual and reincarnate (very strange combo but that's SE for you)


Second is the PS2. SE has already stated that they will not ever release new hair styles and faces because of memory limitations of the PS2. However, that's not the main reason.

The main reason is because of the insane work that would go behind it. They would have to essentially remake every single piece of equipment and animation in the game for these new styles. And you want them to make a new race? That would be even more work for them.

They've already stated in numerous interviews that as much as they'd like to, they won't because of the amount of work (and the limitations of the PS2) involved. They want to keep all 3 versions the same, which is part of why there won't ever be a graphics update for PC users. The other reason being they'd basically be remaking the entire freaking game all over again.

End of discussion.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

Hairstyles are one thing, it wouldn't bring PS2 to its knees for SE to expand on character hair color options, though. That's just a pallete swap. A couple more options per face model would be nice.

[Malacite]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

Not according to Sage Sundi it isn't.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3161097

1UP: Really? That's nice. In a past interview I did with you guys, you mentioned how you were slowly adding to the number of armor types because you weren't sure how much the [lowest common denominator] PS2 system memory could manage, in terms of displaying so much different armor. But with COP and especially now with TOAU's Assault and Salvage gear, you've got a lot of new looks. Have you ever thought of adding new hairstyles, character models, or races, and if not, why not?

KO: Yeah, the PS2 technology isn't going to get any better, so that's why we can't add any new races. The same with hairstyles, too.

1UP: Even though you've added so much new armor?

Hiromichi Tanaka: By adding a new hairstyle, we'd have to go back and remake every model for all of the armor on that new hairstyle. It's not just changing the color of the hair. If we change that, we have to change the helmet for how it looks on this type of hairstyle.

read it and weep

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

Not according to Sage Sundi it isn't.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3161097





read it and weep

QFT

Now, go back and read what I posted, then what you looked up and bolded in that quote.

I was talking strictly about hair color. They would not have to remodel helmets and such for that.

[Malacite]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

It still doesn't seem very likely though.

[Magoo]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

The question is whether you would like to see one, not so much whether SE is likely to do it.

I primarily played a hume for my first two years in this game, took a long break, and came back this past March to focus on my taru which had previously primarily been a mule. In the 6 months since I've been back I'm farther along than my hume in just about every aspect other than playing time (and HP D: ). Starting over isn't the end of the world if you choose to do it.

The nice thing about a new race to me though has nothing to do with the players currently playing though. A nice benefit would be the fact that it could attract new players to the game and very well might lure some former players back. Folks that deleted their characters long ago and don't have a way of getting them back and didn't really feel like starting a dhalmel...I mean, elvaan all over again might see a new race as something that is worth coming back for since they'd have to start over again for it anyway. While I think the player base of FFXI is still strong, an injection of new players for an MMO celebrating its 5 year anniversary certainly isn't a bad thing.

[Mhurron]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

A nice benefit would be the fact that it could attract new players to the game and very well might lure some former players back.

A new job has the chance of adding players or making old ones consider coming back; a new race, not so much. Since there is nothing existing races can't do well, all a new race would be is something new to look at and it would only be new for a month at most.

How many people disregard getting a car and then change their mind because the manufacturer added a new colour. Thats all a new race to FFXI is, a new colour on a car.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

S-E palette swaps all the time.

Look at the Mobs we've had the past 5 years.

They get larger and change colors the higher level they are.

[Magoo]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

A new job has the chance of adding players or making old ones consider coming back; a new race, not so much. Since there is nothing existing races can't do well, all a new race would be is something new to look at and it would only be new for a month at most.

How many people disregard getting a car and then change their mind because the manufacturer added a new colour. Thats all a new race to FFXI is, a new colour on a car.

Is it really that much different than adding a new job at this point? Sure there will be differences, but any new job is either going to primariliy be a tank, a healer, a damage dealer or support - and those are pretty well covered by what we've already got. What would a dancer support job bring to the table that isn't already covered by bard and corsair? New outfits?

A lot of the existing races are pretty similar as they are already - there's not all that much difference between a Galka's stats and an Elvaan's? A taru has extremely low HP but can still play a tank (the only jobs where HP should really matter) without any real problems. Thinking about it, a race that had really high agility coupled with decent str would be nice to excel at ranged jobs (and ninja for that matter).

Regardless, you'd be suprised at just how important the aesthetics of their character is to some people.

[Lunaryn]

Re: Would you like to see a new race?

To be fair in responding to the question, I have wanted moogle available as a PC race since before I joined the game. I still do. I don't think it's practical for a number of reasons which have been stated, but I have to admit to wanting it. I do make do somewhat by being responsible for the majority of the moogle NPCs involved in my RPLS' storyline, at least.

As far as the hairstyle question, I'm not sure exactly where the clipping information on hair goes, since each helmet has a single data file per race/gender combo (with the exception of Tarutaru which only has one data file). However, even if this info is directly in the helmet, not in any way generic, but split categorically based on face, it should be split 8 ways; there is no possible excuse given the way faces were set up for it to be split 16 ways. My point being that while new hair styles may not be feasible within the current engine constraints (and I really have to wonder about the competence of the dev team given some of what I hear, but to be fair I don't have any PS2 dev experience, and it's entirely possible that a different team ported FFXI to Win32/DirectX after creation on too short a deadline, accounting for the apparent sloppiness in the PC version...), there's little excuse for why more hair colors per face couldn't be implemented (e.g. face 1-C, 1-D, 2-C, etc.) using the exact same preexisting styles. Some hairstyles (particularly on Tarutaru where each hairstyle was used twice) do have a decent set of color options, but no one could call them comprehensive. Not to mention eye color being totally dependent on hair color, if it's not completely fixed for a given hairstyle. I don't mind Kumei (8-A) having brown eyes, but given the choice I probably would have given her gray eyes.

In hindsight, the reason there are only 4 taru f and 4 taru m hairstyles may well be an 8-way split in helmet info combined w/ the fact that taru m and f share the same equipment; that would only further support the notion that an additional set or two of hair colors to the existing styles would not require modifying existing headgear.