Female Representation Pitfalls (AKA "The Chainmail Bikini")

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Xontian said:

I didn't say you couldn't or shouldn't wear realistic armor. You should wear whatever takes your fancy and so should everyone else. My argument was that totally realistic armor is not necessary if we can fortify ourselves as magic users.
The extra mana cost to make you cloth armor behave as mail may or may not be worth it. But that is a decision everyone will have to make for themselves.
That was really my point that everyone should be able to wear what they want and live with the consequences of those decisions. Maybe wearing full plate as a mage would hinder your ability to cast therefore you just might want to use the mana on a spell that makes the cloth protect you better. I think everyone in this game will be relying on some form of magic or at least magic like properties so i dont really see this as an issue.

What Xontian said. I just hope for the option to go skimpy for us and the option to go conservative for other people if they want. No one has to be forced into anything but no one should feel left out!

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Nude beach in ashes 

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IMO each race should look like what you would expect them to look like not wall pinups. Human women should look like human women, elves should look like elves, ect. With reptilian Tulnar there shouldn't even be that big of an appearance difference (eg Everquest 1 and 2). But thats just my personal opinion, they might decide to make them all pinups.

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Nefelia said:

Atama said:

It’s not moot if I don’t want to look ridiculous.

Well, no one is forcing you to wear a chain bikini if you don't want to.

I'll likely avoid the chain bikinis myself, but I do tend to like to alternate between sexy and conservative armour based on the personalities I give my characters.

Hopefully that is true. Some of us have differing experiences and HAVE played games where female characters weren't given much option otherwise - or given no option at all.   Age of Conan for an example of mandated skimpiness ( yes it fit the theme ) and Star Citizen - where as a female character I am currently required to walk around in a mans corpse.

Great games give you options to RP your way, right out the door from when you roll your character though. An example of this would be in SWG. I proudly played a fully cloaked combat med Twilek in SWG that confused and angered role players to no end.

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I wish we can crossdress. Male characters wearing dresses and bikinis as well

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Santy182 said:

I wish we can crossdress. Male characters wearing dresses and bikinis as well

That's called kilts and robes and speedos. 

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Santy182 said:

I wish we can crossdress. Male characters wearing dresses and bikinis as well

There was a dwarven Champion in Lord of the Rings Online that I used to group with and he always wore a yellow sundress into combat.  It was hilarious.

ArchivedUser

I was hoping for more a chainmail thong and pasties but suppose negotiating to the bikini isnt bad ?

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nagash said:

Nude beach in ashes 

That reminded me of this film.

Beach pvp

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NightshadeRaven said:

nagash said:

Nude beach in ashes 

That reminded me of this film.

Beach pvp

Its the same scene just 100 years latter ^^

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HK83 said:

Looking at the development staff, I noticed there aren't any females present.  This leads me to wonder if the in-game female models are going to be a rehash of games past, specifically in the department of clothing.

You know what I'm talking about:  A female fighter with an armor class to take on the world who visually looks like she's wearing a mid-drift top and hot-pants.  It's kind of contrived and I don't always want my females 'pretty' from a roleplaying perspective.  Sometimes you don't want to play Xena as much as you want Brienne of Tarth.

I guess this all leads to the question:  What ARE your thoughts or plans on the topic of 'realistic' armor options?

I think you need to have both sexy and realistic costume/armor options.  Let's face it Sex sells but so does immersion.  So I would say having several of each extreme and maybe a few costumes/sets with something inbetween works best.  Just make sure the game launches with at least 1 good option of each type. 

1 skimpy, 1 full plate/full coverage and 1 inbetween. 

ArchivedUser

HK83 said:

Looking at the development staff, I noticed there aren't any females present.  This leads me to wonder if the in-game female models are going to be a rehash of games past, specifically in the department of clothing.

You know what I'm talking about:  A female fighter with an armor class to take on the world who visually looks like she's wearing a mid-drift top and hot-pants.  It's kind of contrived and I don't always want my females 'pretty' from a roleplaying perspective.  Sometimes you don't want to play Xena as much as you want Brienne of Tarth.

I guess this all leads to the question:  What ARE your thoughts or plans on the topic of 'realistic' armor options?

You would be surprised to learn that 85% of these "chainmail bikini" were designed by women developers in most of the games.

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Metztli said:

HK83 said:

Looking at the development staff, I noticed there aren't any females present.  This leads me to wonder if the in-game female models are going to be a rehash of games past, specifically in the department of clothing.

You know what I'm talking about:  A female fighter with an armor class to take on the world who visually looks like she's wearing a mid-drift top and hot-pants.  It's kind of contrived and I don't always want my females 'pretty' from a roleplaying perspective.  Sometimes you don't want to play Xena as much as you want Brienne of Tarth.

I guess this all leads to the question:  What ARE your thoughts or plans on the topic of 'realistic' armor options?

You would be surprised to learn that 85% of these "chainmail bikini" were designed by women developers in most of the games.

Id be surprised since there is unlikely to ever be facts to back that up. X # of games had no developers that were female to start with. I think it would be fun to prove out the failure to the fact though so why don't we pick 5 games to be a baseline for the research... Will start with SWG and wow , anyone else want to toss out a few names for bonus points?

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arrachne said:

designed by women developers in most of the games.

Id be surprised since there is unlikely to ever be facts to back that up. X # of games had no developers that were female to start with. I think it would be fun to prove out the failure to the fact though so why don't we pick 5 games to be a baseline for the research... Will start with SWG and wow , anyone else want to toss out a few names for bonus points?

Your stupidity clearly visible on the fact, that models for armors created by 3d artists and not by developers.

Developers do coding and engineering tasks, and not art related works.

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chill guys this discussion is not about who made what.

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Developers do coding and engineering tasks, and not art related works.

That was the joke.

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I have no objection to skimpiness other than the fact it needs to come with consequences..such as zero Armour rating.

I find the thought of guards chasing a semi-naked ERP role-player (with a bounty) around town rather amusing TBH.

I dont see how/why realism and role play must conflict on this issue.

On the battle mages wearing plate.

Dragons are magical beasts that have no issue with dragon plate.

You don't have to use 'metal' plate/chain and say ....therefore... only physical combat can wear heavy Armour.

Different materials, have different properties.

Who Knew ?

It would in fact be desirable to separate the identity of magical heavy armour from physical heavy armour....and the same for medium and light... or even materials suited to hybrid builds that channel physical force with magical energy.

In fact you could require a tailored recipe to tune your armour to your specific build style

/shrugs

ArchivedUser

I'll be wearing a chain bikini...

and if you don't like them, don't stare as I walk by.

 

ArchivedUser

I'm ok with that as long as it's 0 physical defense =P

ArchivedUser

Looks good but it's kinda skimpy.  Would this considered bikini wear for guys? 

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Atama said:

If there is no realistic armor, then yes, they are forcing me to wear a chainmail bikini.

Given the many videos and screenshot we have seen featuring realistic armour within AoC, why is this even an issue at this point? The action combat reveal showed nothing but conservative full-body armour (though I may have seen bare calves from time to time), so obviously there will be plenty of choice within that range.

If you don't want to wear a chain bikini, do not wear a chain bikini. Wear one of the many other options that will be available.

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Calliandra said:

Looks good but it's kinda skimpy.  Would this considered bikini wear for guys? 

I mean that is meant to spill blood as its for a blood game. still Pompeii is an underrated film

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Calliandra said:

Looks good but it's kinda skimpy.  Would this considered bikini wear for guys? 

NO!  If he had just a short loin cloth below his belt with his cheeks showing in the back, then it would be like a bikini.  And actually he has too much belt, too.

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T-Elf said:

NO!  If he had just a short loin cloth below his belt with his cheeks showing in the back, then it would be like a bikini.  And actually he has too much belt, too.

Not like this I assume

ArchivedUser

hot!

ArchivedUser

Cotton Candy Bikini. Don't get it wet!

Just kidding. Ladies can wear or not wear whatever they want.

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hey1 gentelmen can wear whatever aswell =(

I usually end up making female characters because they have a ton more cosmetic options than male characters, I hope Ashes makes everything available for everyone.

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@Nightshade Raven - Too funny!  I couldn't help but laugh.    Borat pushes it to the extreme for sure. 

That outfit would undoubtedly decrease your base stats by 10, but you'd pick up +50 on political acumen. 

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NightshadeRaven said:

T-Elf said:

NO!  If he had just a short loin cloth below his belt with his cheeks showing in the back, then it would be like a bikini.  And actually he has too much belt, too.

Not like this I assume

Close, but not quite like that, but tied around his hips or waist.  More just speedo is really my equivalent of a bottom part of a bikini.  

ArchivedUser

See this is why I prefer bone over skin *shudders*