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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.
Comments
Why do you get so triggerd?
I just answerd your question about why so many people hate sexy female characters in games.
I'll repeat myself, I don't think it's about hating sexy female characters pers se, I think its more about disliking the sexual objectifying of femele characters.
If you're not sure what sexual objectification really is, you can read about it here.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_objectification
You said you was legitly curious and didn't want to argue, but yet you still trying to argue.
And what other girls in this thread has commented is irrelevant with your question and with my answer.
I'm well aware what this threads is about.
I did add my own opinion to the thread, it's on the first page.
Hmmm
"I dint think it's about hating sexy female..."
"Triggered"
Hmmm.
Well if you're not triggerd then it seems you just missunderstod my point.
Why can you not just accept my answer without interpreting things I have not said anything about?
I have never stated that feminine armor is the same as sexual objectifying, nor is form fitted armor. That must have come from your own thoughts?
In fact, I also want feminine and form fitting armor for my female characters but not at an objectifying level, for example when the armor looks like it's just airbrushed on a naked body. But I really don't want to discuss this, it wasn't what I was referring to in my answer.
Since I'm guessing that you didn't understand my point I'll explain it. My point is that some people (myself included) might be concerned about the fact that many game companies are sexually objectifying female characters and they don't want AoC to be one of those games, so just don't assume it's only about hating sexy female characters.
Edit: Fixed a typo.
To clarify I (a woman) and many OTHER women here have gone 'I want CHOICE.' We want the option to look sexy AND the option to look 'bad ass'. All of the women have been pretty on message they want choice and they worry about the choice bit.
Some of the people who have not claimed on this thread they are women on the other hand seem to be getting super offended and upset when the 'not as sexy, but bad ass options' are the ones getting represented more. The difference in tone is just kinda 'strange' you know?
You've been a pretty good sport so I'm not saying you are one of said people. But some of the people here I won't name have been acting pretty sus. So in my opinion the person you are responding to seems to be (emotionally) reacting to that vibe from said others. I hope, therefore, you can ignore such a person. Just as I hope @Zahie can recognize you are definitely the wrong person to be arguing with and hopefully just ignore the rest. You've been very reasonable. It's starting to feel like the conversation is once again getting derailed though.
I therefore ask if we can all just get past this and post cool female armor?
I now realize we seem to be pretty much on the same page and you were just trying to give alternate reasons some people may have a negative reaction to mentioning "sexy armor" is that in the industry there is a bad stigma of OVER sexualizing female characters design and armor. I also agree that a lot of people will think of those games when this topic comes up, but i trust that Ashes would never go to that level of sexualization, just as Steven has mentioned.
@JustVine Yea i'm a guy so i can't really speak for girls, but i've always played with lots of girls in many games, and one thing i always hear is that they want the choice to dress sexy when the feel like it. Character cosmetics and character creation is one of my favorite parts of a game and i always make female characters and me and my girl and guy friends do fashion shows and talk about armor designs alot. The main take away i have gotten over the years is that players love CHOICE. I also have been noticing some people seem to be strongly against this topic and that's why I've been trying to ask them their reasoning because i don't really understand why so many people dislike bad ass female armor that looks sexy and combat effective. I also agree there has been too much back and forth and we should get back to just talking about awesome designs!
BTW Erza is amazing and she has so many good armor sets! I might go find some dope armor to post here also
Aion:
Lineage 2:
Yes from what i can see we are on the same page. Also, you pointed out exactly what I meant, if only I could have thought of saying it like that from the start. Oh well
Back to the threads topic. Here's some armor aestethics ideas that I, as a female, would love to se on my characters. I'm personally a fan of light and medium armor and really don't like it looking bulky and inflexible.
WARNING: A TON OF PICTURES
Heavy Sets
Medium Sets
Light Sets
Casual/Merchant/Artisan Sets
I honestly just like having a lot of options when it comes to my character. To me, sexualization (and thus the chainmail bikini) is not an issue as long as it's equal across genders. It does become troublesome when 'sexual' or provocative armor is made solely for female characters, as (IMO) it caters to an unequal fantasy that is largely perpetuated by gamers having been predominantly male for many years - which is not wrong but I think if we want to cater to a female audience, then there needs to be some variety. I guess what I am trying to get at is making the opportunity for slutty armor be available across the board - for both male and female characters.
In a similar vain I would love to be able to dress my male character in more feminine or soft attire instead of what I would consider to be very masculine warrioresque head to toe plate (I loooooove a good plate set though and intend to have my main be a tank, so it's very much welcome!). That doesn't have to be dresses but having pretty robes, slick leather gear and whatnot could be great and would fit in very well with the Empyrian, Py'rai and Kaelar races!
As long as it has a purpose in the world, fits within the narrative and there's good variety in armor options, I'm happy!
I mean - men can wear bikini armor, too. Especially in a Barbarian Fantasy setting.
Barbarian fantasy is typically a low magic setting, though.
In a high magic setting, people can get their armor ratings increased via jewelry and a wide variety of Enchantments, rather than from the physical dynamics of their armor.
Some Polynesian, Native American and African cultures would be increasing armor ratings via tattoos and ritual scarrification.
Due to the tattoos and scarrification available in the UE5 Character Creator, I will certainly have Vek and Nikua who wish to display their tattoos and scarrification. Not only will I want to transmog chest pieces to be invisible, I will also want to wear armor and costumes that reveal my tattoos and scarrification.
The devs have said that there will be a variety of armor sets that reveal tattoos.
So.... I definitely now want to see some armor sets and costumes that are revealing.
Especially ones designed to show off tattoos and scarrification.
Revealing is not necesarily the same thing as "sexy".
I completely agree! It'll be interesting to see what possibilities players will have to show off their scars and tattoos
I don’t want any significant difference in design between male and female versions. They should be adjusted to fit physical forms, but obviously there shouldn’t be coverage lost from the male > female designs. Outfits that display more skin should be equitable between both sexes, like those shaman costumes. Don’t give me a damn dress for my female characters while the males get a suit when using the same outfit.
OMG! Don't get me started on the Bather's Towel costume situation... Or the overly exposed cleavage on the Nocturnal Frock costume... Costumes/armor in general is something Zenimax did pretty poorly of. The silhouettes were simply not flattering, all robes/dresses has a straight cone shape.
I would like to see some sex appeal and beautiful silhouettes for both male and female character. But let's not go the eastern mmo direction where everything is exposed or that you can fight some end level boss in a skimpy bikini..
Please god, no 6 inch heels!! But if you reeeally want 6 inch heels on your character, i will advocate for a stam penalty when running! LOL
What other women have said DOES MATTER because it is proof that
Take a chill pill
Yeah that's normally my stance on things. Almost word for word. There are definitely games that are pretty good at achieving that kind of aesthetic I still play.
There are also definitely games that fail at this 'equalized' balance, I think due to a lack of understanding of degrees of intensity of sexualization for male physique. After all the industry is still male dominated. Most of these design decisions are made by mostly straight men. And so they only understand 'what would be attractive' as informed by 'society' rather than what queer men or straight women might find attractively sexualizing. Where as for the female form what degrees of attractive is far more understood by their preferences and experiences throughout the entire team and there is therefore a lot more gradation in female cosmetics.
Part of my cosmetic discontent over the years (and the reason why I am not taking my usual stance you outlined in your post for AoC specificially) though is that many games suck at giving us a decent range of options for the cool/badass side AND the 'softer' side due to a rigidity in design guidelines that sort of wind up with a lazy projection of what qualifies for either design set, and they invariably skew towards 'softer' designs because those sell more or are at least less confusing to the artist making them. It's not always clear to me which given some of the better games for cosmetics are Korean and Japanese.
Sexy, badass, but not particularly sexualizing example below. I don't think it's hard to mix the two general style approaches. I don't think it's hard to keep a range of cosmetics serving different style tastes. But with as saturated as the market is with games with a fairly binary approach to female cosmetics styles and usually with less cosmetics in the 'bad ass' and 'nonsexualized' direction, you'd certainly think it was. I'm just tired of games with a false sense of choice.
So I really hope IS serves both sides of the market in earnest. It's the 'in earnest part' I think that I have gradually been fed up with over the years since 'after launch' behavior quickly causes one side of the market and usually the same side of that market to dry up in terms of new products down the line. Here's to hoping AoC manages to excel where others have fallen repeatedly.
I see the usual political screenplay in your post.
How come you havent started a topic titled "We need revealing designs for males?"
Who ever told you that you couldnt ask for what you want, instead of bringing in a political spin on "female players want feminine designs (and horny dudes agree)" ?
Why dont you start that topic?
Seriously, just ask for what you want instead of talking about male dominated this and male dominated that. You just show your true colours.
I disagree, i think it is fashionable and looks cool to me.
May i ask why you want the armor to look the same for male and female? Throughout history most cultures have different fashion between males and females, Would you propose it looks like a mix between masculine and feminine like a genderless design that you cant tell if its male and female, or something different?
On this i agree! if the female armor is more revealing so should the male armor, the design should feel like its based on the same concept but twisted to each gender. like the same guard uniform but one for male and one for female, the blue cloth design cosmetic is a good example of this here:
What about all the people who want to wear a dress? shouldn't a girl be able to wear dresses or sexy armor if they want? No one in this thread is advocating for all female armor to be dresses and bikini armor. Most of us would just like more feminine armor options once in a while, i also love some more badass thick full cover plate mail too, but i also want more girly looking armor to be able to wear. Were just asking for more choices than just manly looking armor most of the time. Would you agree that having more styles is better, or would you still prefer no dresses or female looking armor?
p.s. i do hope we get a dope suit for girls at some point to like a sleek pantsuit or tux
??? Male armor doesn’t look goofy when you equip it on female characters. Regular armor literally what women wear during reenactments because it’s there for protection. So if your idea of silly is “doesn’t look like it came from tera” then I don’t know what to tell you.
If I buy a suit costume I want it to stay a suit on any character I apply it to. Likewise if I buy a dress, I want it to stay a dress on any character I apply it to. Just offer both in a pack.
Also, most “female armors” posted here have been laughably bad. Drooping necklines to expose the upper torso to attacks. Bare midriffs to expose 80% of vital organs to attacks. Bare thighs and mini skirts that don’t make any sense at all. Heels! Those death traps.
I don’t mind if city fashion is more varied, but no, I absolutely do not want to see ‘armor’ that was clearly designed to turn the character into a sexy prop rather than being designed to offer protection. Unless it is thematically accurate and there’s parity between the male and female versions (aka the gladiator costume), I don’t want to be seeing Barbie doll ‘warriors’ walking around in heels with their chests or butt falling out.
If that’s what you’re after, just go play a Korean MMOs which already has that junk in spades
It does seem pretty relevant to the topic (IMO) to talk about why certain armor types/appearances have been in previous games. I think what JustVine is getting at, is simply agreeing that having variety in armor styles - both more traditionally feminine and masculine - would be nice.
It is true that the gaming community has been predominantly male for a good while and although that is changing, it is something to take into consideration. I don't think either of us argued that something being male dominated or heteronormative is bad. It's just a case of where the demographic lies and what we're catering to.
While I don't think JustVine's or my comment were political per say, at least not very it's interesting to see how certain target groups and their likes/dislikes reflect on elements of game design such as armor choices. There's no "showing our true colors", but merely putting a different spin on the conversation in regards to a shift in gaming culture and its demographic. Nobody is saying we can't ask for things - which I would argue we are doing here - but asking comes with the territory that the predominant opinion often gets pushed through when devs take their community's wants into consideration and here demographic plays a big part.
For example, a level 1 suit of full plate armor head to toe wont do anything vs a max level player, yet max level light cloth armor will be tremendously effective against the same opponent. you cant use real world rules in a magic fantasy world where everything works completely different. If you do not like armor that shows skin then don't wear that armor, they shouldn't ban clothing based on a few people not liking it. Its the same in real life, girls can wear revealing outfits all they want, should they be banned from wearing anything revealing also? I'm just saying why should we ban or limit costumes because a few people don't like it? All the costumes don't have to be battle armor anyway, and I'm not advocating for bikini armor. All we want is some more Feminine looking armor options in addition to the stuff we are getting now.
P.S. I want to be able to show off my cool tattoos so I definitely would like to show some skin, I'm sure there are plenty of beefy guy characters that would also love to show off some sick scars and tattoos, or else what's the point of the tattoo system lol.
Aeyo! haha
On a serious note, let the girls wear their girly stuff! Not sure why western games always get this wrong and misrepresent what females want from a fantasy game. Also a good alternative for "skimpy" is bathing suits or other stat less RP clothes that can be worn for swimming etc.
There is a big difference between showing some skin (off the shoulder, a little cleavage or a little side slit) vs some pictures posted on here that is very oversexualized and honestly inappropriate. Outfits that were only made to sexualize female characters. It's not even sexy, it's actually tacky AND OUTDATED. And a character wearing 6 inch heels running around in a forest, on mud, or on ice is not fitting, even in a fantasy game.