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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.
Female Expression In AoC
Sybil_Lanel
Member, Alpha Two
As a Female MMO gamer I would like to suggest giving more effeminate options in armor styles. My concern is that I would like to have the option for dressing effeminately. The reason I am suggesting to make it optional is so people can dress as feminine or masculine or neutral as the player choses. This aids players self expression. Different armor styles as well as jewelry and makeup would be very helpful in this goal. I understand that you would like to keep things on the more practical side but this could be stifling to the communities creativity. Self expression and fashion is very important to me as a player I would like as many options as possible in creating my character.
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Comments
It doesn't have to be sleazy but it should look good. There are a lot of female gamers who do want to dress up their characters as they do in real life. A wardrobe option for different occasions. Options for those who do and options for those that don't. I also like the idea to be able to skin a desired other armor set of the same caliber to change and enhance a certain style that someone may be interested in for their look. I remember in Neverwinter finding some gear that was lower level that looked good in a combination with other gear.
A separate wardrobe tab to turn on or off with its own storage setup would also be beneficial. Along with being to turn particular pieces of for showing. Like helmet or cape along with others possibly.
Being able to dye clothing and armor as well including parts and pieces separately would greatly help to customize a character.
And hell why not.. last night I watched "Mollys Game" and I was thinking to myself, this is refreshing. What do I mean? Go watch the movie.
There is bound to be various cosmetic storage tabs since we know that there is a central "closet" for the account bound cosmetics. It has been explained that you select the character you want to outfit, take the cosmetic out of the closet, apply it, and done. Since you can only put a single cosmetic of a unique type on a single character, that is the one that wears it. If you want to take it off and use on another, reverse the process. Take it off, put in the closet, select the other character and apply it.
And dyes. Dyes have been a thing since inception. They sold them with the KS packs. The wiki is great starting point for finding things you may want to see, that they have already confirmed.
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Dyes
I kind of am tired of seeing guys on these forums be so adamantly against "revealing" or "feminine" armor or cosmetics, like the Devs should listen to the ladies on this matter IMO.
Makeup is another thing that many games don't really put any effort into adding into the character creator that I see get a lot of flack from female players. The key thing in both cases in options, for male and female both.
It's an extreme example but a prudent one. Ultimately, the devs need to choose themes that can fit multiple races. Its not like BDO where all the sexy outfits all work because all the toons are relatively the same.
Let's see if they've changed their minds in the last few years.
Fashion is very important to me and i want there to be a lot of variety.
I dont want my character to look half naked, but i also dont want my character to look like Brienne of Tarth if you know what i mean.. ^^ Not that its bad, its pretty cool, but i just cant see all characters running around looking and dressed like Brienne of Tarth.
I would love different kinds of clothing, like a noble dress for example! That would be awesome!
Just.. variety! Thats not much to ask for
I agree, but I just hate it when the variety stops in either direction because 'sex sells better'. I hope Intrepid can buck the trend and actually serve both sides of the market.
Just because they have different armor distinctions between male and female models doesn't mean they can't make crossdressing options available for some models. For example, let maid and butler costumes be a seperate set. Women can look sexy in a butler uniform, men can look cute in a maid outfit. It all depends on the form of the character in question relative to the cut and style of the outfit. I know I for one would really appreciate this since I'd definitely appreciate having some female NPC's at my bar in butler outfits while others are just in maid uniforms. And I certainly know some guys that'd appreciate the ability to have maid outfits on male characters. The fact they'd be making distinctions between the male and female versions of the outfits is technically BETTER for cross dressing since it means the models for each can be better cut and fitted for male and female body types.
Not only that but if we are going to have 'bikini armor' as some people have been calling for, I know I'm gunna riot if they don't give kilts, grass skirts, loin cloths, speedos, mankinis, and other sexualized and scantily clad armor pieces for the guys. I want the market to be served on both sides not just for women, but for men too.
They actually have added a couple nice noble looking dresses, but not many.
I have no interest in fashion that is obviously only made to please the dirty minds of some straight guys, like most of the female fashion in BDO...
From what I've seen there will be many feminine options. It will not be like in New World, that was a disaster imo.
With that said, I think there may be gear sets in the future that please some who are concerned about this! Steven has said he doesn't like the idea of 'bikini armor' but hasn't ruled out form-fitting gear appearances, or more revealing ones ^_^
If you have thoughts on this and you're just happening to see this thread, please feel free to drop your thoughts in a comment!
Thank the gods !!! but....
WTF does crossing got to do with this conversation, no one but you stated this. This is about female players dressing up female characters and making them look good. As in armor thats more specified towards the female build and wardrobe clothing that can have some sex appeal for the female characters.
Here are some of the armors I think are ok at having definite differences between male and female. (7)
Now for these next pictures I think that the designs are cool and we should keep making more like this, but i just think we should add in more variation between male and female also. So maybe just more often they have a pack with a very different female option. These, IN MY OPINION, are all pretty much set up that the female armor looks identical to the male armor but with boob bumps or very minor changes like different drawing on the front chestplate. (Which again, is perfectly fine, but would like bigger changes between male and female on more packs also.) (38)
As you can see there seems to be a lot more where the male and female are very similar, and on those I just kind of feel like they designed the male armor and then went, "ok now how do we make it female?
The ones they did create to have sex appeal were terrible designs.
It is in the OP. "The reason I am suggesting to make it optional is so people can dress as feminine or masculine or neutral as the player choses."
I am all for letting the players have options. I was passing along that Intrepid has said no. You don't have to like the answer for it to be the current one. Keep fighting the good fight. I did. Till I got told by the Sandal Lord himself that I should maybe step away and take a break from Ashes if their decisions concerning cosmetics were upsetting me.
That's a flawed argument, imo. If we're to start a new life in this world, then we need options to live a fulfilling life. If the devs truly believe that, then there's no need for a robust housing system either. Why waste time decorating when you should be out adventuring. No need for a marriage or family system either. The reality is, once you establish your basic needs (food, water, shelter) in this dangerous new world, it's only logical that you will begin building a home and family and expressing your creativity. That's how life flourishes.
There's definitely a huge middle ground between Bikini armor and Brienne of Tarth. You can have fashionable armor that covers most or all of a character. I would suggest taking a look at Aion's Chain armor sets for Cleric/Chanter over the years. They've been incredibly creative in making armor that looks like armor but still looks attractive.
Some quick pics I found while searching (note: These look better in game but I can't find real screenshots right now!):
The thighs are a bit ugly on this second one but the rest of the set is nice.
Agreed. I'd also say GW2's armor is horrendous as well. There's no middle ground between ugly and lingerie armor. In both cases it just screams "lack of creativity" to me. If someone whose job is literally to be creative cannot come up with an interesting middle ground with armor concept art (like the Aion screenshots I posted above), then I have to ask why they were hired.
They look awesome and i wish i could buy them, but i didnt even know the game existed up until april? i think.
And now im excluded of this and cant buy it. Im really sad..
So, I really hope that you guys take this into account and great consideration, because someone might want to create a male character with some makeup on and/or some feminine features, or create a female character with a harsh or "masculine" complexion, or just straight up create an androgynous character, any of those would be fu**ing cool too, to create a character that is not "usual" and at the own desires and image of each person, just like in real life. It's entirely up to ANYONE who wants to create a character like that. That's the purpose of an amazing character creation tool!
Now, again, I do hope that the character creator is not the only thing that is THAT diverse, but the whole game too in a lot of different aspects of it.
Much love xoxo
Yeah just look at the current shop gear skin that you can buy now its horrible as a style for the female, if you didnt have the male standing next to the female for comparison you wouldnt know if the character was a female.
absolutely agree. I think a good real world example is how clothing works with real men and women. A suit looks very different to a Dress as far as formal attire goes. I'm not asking for bikini armor. But when I look at a py'rai female I want to be able to instantly tell is a female. The armor right know is incredibly masculine looking even on the female models. As a female player I would not use 90% of these on a feminine character. I even mentioned today that you wouldn't be able to tell without the side by side