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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
The Rise of Social Justice Warrior developer.
Rhel
Member
Skimpy outfits tends to get more of the diverse payer base and add to the fantasy aspect to mmorpgs. Final Fantasy XIV is partly successful because they have skimpy outfits contributing to women playing the game. Women like to look sexy and cute so making a sexy clothing will sell the game. I just hope Ashes does not go the censorship social justice warrior route like other Western Developers.
2
Comments
What's not okay is crap like maid outfits, bikinis, or similar Eastern MMO garbage.
Oh, here is another one, this was a costume from the cosmetic shop:
The only reason they would not have over sexualized stuff in Ashes is because they don't think it fits with the setting. Stuff like that makes a lot of sense in Conan or Final Fantasy, but not really so much sense in Lord of the Rings. Steven already said he does not like the swimsuits in his MMORPGs. That is not an SJW take so much as it doesn't fit his vision of the aesthetic take.
That said, Final Fantasy XIV is not some magic beacon of sexualization. They try to tone down the sexualization all the time. They see the "2B legs" as a mistake and tried to "nerf" them, but there was backlash. Nearly ever top they have made sense has covered that ass on those legs in some way. They took the ass slider out of the game. Yoshi-p is constantly saying "don't be lewd". The outfits that are skimpy are few and far between in order to keep the game somewhat family friendly. Many of the female monsters that don't have tops on also don't have nipples. These are all design choices FFXIV has made to try to make the game not super sexual.
It's not a "Western Developer Problem" so much as it is a "we don't want an adult rating on our game to reduce sales" problem. Conan Exiles and Mortal Online 2 don't give a shit about that.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Which is a totally valid question.
I mean, nobody wants to say "will there be slut-mogs?"
With all the self-censorship to avoid backlash, it makes sense. Look at what blizzard is doing. They self-censored a blurry painting that had been in the game for years. No one asked them to do that.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
I think female characters should have options to look "cute." But cute is subjective so it's up to the devs. I personally don't want to see too much eastern bikini armor, but it's whatever at this point.
I don’t think it’s a great comparison. Blizzard is in complete free-fall attempting to find their way after decades-long use of sexist working practices. These things you see manifesting in WoW is the tip of a very disturbing iceberg. Not sure that’s the case with IS.
You are right, but no one was calling for it and no one asked them to do that.
Another point is that Blizzard stopped putting "slutmogs" in the game. In fact, the best slutmog options are old, out of date gear from before transmog was an option. With the exception of the "2B ass" the same is true for FFXIV.
Korean games on the other hand don't care. I think that is more what OP is looking for, and I am not sure he will find it unless Intrepid realizes that it's a fantastic way to sale cosmetics.
More skin=more sales. I can promise that.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Also, the kind of guy who joins a game for skimpy outfits might be the kind of guy who leaves the game as soon as another game with skimpy outfits comes out. Rather than attract a guy who leaves in a few months, let's try attracting a woman who might stick around for years. Personally, I like playing games with woman players.
We do know that AoC will not have Lolitas, that has been announced.
So, if you want to look at scantily clad women, there are probably other places on the web where you can find that.
I have not seen that to be true at all. I have seen more women do slutmogs than men.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Just because someone says they are a woman online, doesn't mean they are.
Just sayin'.
I have been pugging raids in FFXIV and WOW for years now. Most of the time, joining other people's discord is required. Unless these "guys" are all using voice changers too, I don't think I am wrong about what I have been seeing. FFXIV also has a way larger female audience in my experience than WOW. Most eight man raids I have joined have had at least 2-4 females "voices" in them.
I don't know what kinda person raids with a voice changer, but I am sure there are a few out there. Still, I don't think that is what I am seeing.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
That is not true @tautau. There are women who also like to make female characters with different outfits which may or may show skin. Unless you have empirical data showing that a majority of female gamers are turned off, you are just giving your opinion. Men and Women both enjoy porn. People also like to roleplay. It's not just the 40 year old loser living in his mother's basement that like scantily clad women characters. You realize 15% of the population in FF14 were Lalafell. People are not for censorship in games.
The problem is never the skimpy outfit. It is that cosmetics/design overfocus on them, never giving us a better spread of representation in taste.
I like both. I just hate that me liking skimpy armor in one context apparently gives random men on the internet freedom to brow beat and silence the other side of demand. Some days I wanna feel cool other, days sexy. A good ally would support both.
I like to believe that not every person wants their character to look like a slut. But hey, I could be wrong about that.
Same. I grew up liking things like Conan and Heavy Metal Magazine. That does not mean I wanted the elves in Lord of the Rings to be dressed like Rivendell was a red-light district...
It just depends on the setting. It makes sense in FFXIV because so many of the bosses are nude or close to it. I am not sure about anything with Ashes. It feels like the Developers mainly care about the rule of cool at this point. Which I am fine with.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Women like to look attractive. Men do as well. When a company provides a full variety of customization options for both sexes, from silly, to cool, to sexy, you get more people from both genders wanting to play.
There's a reason why half my ff14 guild is a bunch of ladies running around in skimpy clothes and mods that increase butt/boob size. It's not just men that appreciate the view.
That tracks 100% with what I have experienced. I think people just want to do what they think is cool or fun.
I am afraid to look into the FFXIV mods.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
What @JustVine said
And to anyone trying to bring in their anecdotal "evidence" and numbers to the discussion, I hope you know the significance of this picture?
If not, read more here. If a game has a lot of heavily sexualized female characters in it, the women you find playing that game are obviously ok with it to some extent. What you don't see are all the women who are NOT playing the game because of that heavy sexualization. Women are no more monolithic in their preferences than men are. So please, unless you have an actual study to back those quantitative statements up, let's stick to personal opinions and preferences on this one. That goes for other discussions too obviously.
I did a little digging and this is what I was able to find.
Here is some information I have found for FFXIV:
https://twinfinite.net/2017/07/survey-reveals-final-fantasy-xiv-has-a-very-equally-balanced-gender-ratio/
All I could find for WOW was this article:
https://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre/
Which says that 23% of WOW players is female, with the source link appearing dead on my end.
I don't have a clue what the numbers are like today. There has been a radical shift in both games populations this last year.
I would love to see in depth data on this subject because I do think it in interesting.
You are right that women are very diverse in what they like. Generalizing and anecdotal evidence is not facts.
Still, in a forum conversation, I think it's valid to give examples of your personal experiences with the people you have encountered in different game populations.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
I hate to break it to you, but Intrepid does not care about what is realistic as long as they think it's cool. Which is totally fine once you learn to accept it, as I have.
You will see people on the front lines in grass armor. As is the ways of the nikua.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
So many korean game devs are horrifically sexist and creepy. Like.. it should be a exaggeration “for the lols” except those developers are genuinely that creepy. Do not bring that awful cringe into Ashes
Yeah, there is some creepy shit. Looking at Tera specifically...
That does not mean that a well funded studio does not have a better chance at success.
I can deal without the creepy Elin shit, but if a little more skin on these cosmetics means we get a better game, I will make that trade in a second.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
“A little more skin” is just asking for more visible boob and legs on pixel women, let’s not pretend this is about the health of game 🙄