BioWare Pits Blonde Against Brunette in New FemShep Poll

[Metalrocks]

So I take it you're super pissed every time that a muscled, stoic and gristled man is portrayed as the only type of bloke capable of saving the day? Typically a white one to boot?

I'm not being funny either, I'm literally just asking you a question.

What I will say though, is that the idea that this being the first time Bioware are trying this out, and that this experiment is with a female character, and that this is is a bad thing, is a bit of a silly argument. Nothing happens until it happens, and I take it you think that it has to happen with a male character first for it to be relevant? Why? Why can't this be done with a female first, I see nothing wrong with it.

In this whole damn fiasco, I honestly think that it's the people like yourself who need to ask themselves questions, because you seem to have a real problem with attractive women dude. People in your camp seem pretty pissed that Commander Shepherd could even *be* an attractive female, like looking good is immediately a negative when applied to a woman. Let us not forget that ME posterboy ManShep(Mark Vanderloo) is literally a Calvin Klein model.

Am I to take it that this is what men are *supposed* to look like? Should I consider myself less of a person because someone damn near physically perfect is representing men, as opposed to a slim, kind of pale guy who needs a shave, like say, me? Or someone who looks like a bit of a thug, like real world soldiers tend to?

Where the fuck was the internet vitriol when that face was put on the box?
And it's your lot that supposedly support women? with friends like you guys...

It's also completely ironic that the Sci-Fi world is giving us one MORE powerful female character, and you're getting an unprecedented level of choice in her at that, and all a lot of gamers seem to want to do is piss on her. For shame.

It's good to not be suspended anymore...

pretty much agree with you on that. it is pretty normal that protagonists are good looking in games and movies. doesnt matter if male or female. seeing always good looking people doesnt mean i feel bad or anything like that. thats the beauty of the games. to play some one you never can be in real life.
male shep was already a default design for the game and the femshep was not really planed for it. so i find it nice that they listen to the fans and that we can choose who we want. even when it mostly focus on looks and we can choose the looks. but as i said before; seeing a super hot woman kicking ass is nice to look at. because when i see a super hot woman on the streets, you see right away, that they never will touch anything that could break a nail or make them dirty.

 

[Trikeen]

Redhead is winning! Hooray!

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

I'm going with the forth dirty blond one. The red hair seems creepy.

Off topic: I would have made Femshep more average looking instead of hotifing her.

 

[freaper]

Oh wow...even the first page is filled with love for a red-shep.

Can't but agree with that fine lot, Red Hair!

 

[Free Thinker]

Still going with Blonde on this one. Plus if Ginger FemShep wins, I won't hear the end from my friend. Then we won't be able to tell as many ginger jokes. For the sake of comedy, come on Blonde...or the others who aren't Red.

 

[IamGamer41]

as of today the Red Head is leading in the voting with 17k+ votes.The closest one to her is the brunette with 11k+ votes.

 

[BlackStar42]

Hmmm.... dirty blonde for me. Sorry redheads everywhere!

 

[Neferius]

HHHHNNNNGGGG! Can't... Decide!

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

maybe so, but i still think its nice of bioware to let the fans choose who they want. how many dont agree with the default maleshep? i am one of them, thats why i have my own version of maleshep. were i tried to make him look like my self and make decision like i would do them.

letting the fans choose who they want will make many people less angry because it was made in a fair way. sure, the femsheps look attractive (as in many other games) but i see nothing wrong with a very good looking female kicking some ass. i mean, how many women who care so much about there looks, try not to even break a damn nail?? seeing a woman like this should make them think a bit that they too can kick some ass.
i find a attractive femshep (or women in general) who kick ass, are nicer to look at. this make me wish that these women would be like that.

Wait, what? Are you trying to say that voting for the design of a female character based on how hot she is (which is what this all boild down to) is actually empowering for women?

Nope. Sorry, but nuh-uh. That's pretty much the opposite of female empowerment. Female empowerment is the message that it doesn't matter what you look like, you still deserve respect, and you should still be allowed to stand up for yourself.

The way women are presented in entertainment currently, it gives out the message that only super hot women are able to stand up for themselves. Bioware are perpetuating this. This is the first time they've allowed fans to have a say on the design of a character. They didn't do this for Manshep. They didn't do it for any of the supporting characters. They didn't do it for any of the alien races. They're doing it for Femshep because they know its an easy way to promote ME3. They didn't feel the need to offer any other part of the ME universe up for fan consensus, but when it comes to their female lead, they have no problem pandering to their fanbase.

Where does this lead? Will the next Lara Croft be designed by fan vote? Will Samus Aran be given a redesign to fit how gamers want to see her? Why wasn't Manshep designed by popular vote in the same way? Why is it that his looks are important enough to be designed by Bioware in-house, yet Femshep isn't deemed equally important.

The whole thing smacks of pandering, and it's an example of where gaming doesn't need to go. It's not an opportunity for female gamers to be reassured, as you seem to think. It's an example of why female gamers should be nervous about how developers and the industry view their gender.

So I take it you're super pissed every time that a muscled, stoic and gristled man is portrayed as the only type of bloke capable of saving the day? Typically a white one to boot?

I'm not being funny either, I'm literally just asking you a question.

What I will say though, is that the idea that this being the first time Bioware are trying this out, and that this experiment is with a female character, and that this is is a bad thing, is a bit of a silly argument. Nothing happens until it happens, and I take it you think that it has to happen with a male character first for it to be relevant? Why? Why can't this be done with a female first, I see nothing wrong with it.

In this whole damn fiasco, I honestly think that it's the people like yourself who need to ask themselves questions, because you seem to have a real problem with attractive women dude. People in your camp seem pretty pissed that Commander Shepherd could even *be* an attractive female, like looking good is immediately a negative when applied to a woman. Let us not forget that ME posterboy ManShep(Mark Vanderloo) is literally a Calvin Klein model.

Am I to take it that this is what men are *supposed* to look like? Should I consider myself less of a person because someone damn near physically perfect is representing men, as opposed to a slim, kind of pale guy who needs a shave, like say, me? Or someone who looks like a bit of a thug, like real world soldiers tend to?

Where the fuck was the internet vitriol when that face was put on the box?
And it's your lot that supposedly support women? with friends like you guys...

It's also completely ironic that the Sci-Fi world is giving us one MORE powerful female character, and you're getting an unprecedented level of choice in her at that, and all a lot of gamers seem to want to do is piss on her. For shame.

It's good to not be suspended anymore...

oh sweet jesus, thank you for putting into words what i couldn't have done better myself. The amount of times people turn every single thing involving gender into some sexist bullshit is astounding.

*insert random "sweet jesus" meme face here*

 

[Formica Archonis]

Best autogenerated thumbnails ever.

(Er, yes. I'm going for redhead. I like redheads. And that is literally the only reason why because I really have no interest in the default FemShep.)

 

[Chemical Alia]

It's hard to prefer one, when the character is so boring. I'm tired of female characters lacking any defining features and who resemble some generic 21-year-old college chick who I've seen a thousand times before.

A character can be distinctive AND attractive, or as attractive as is necessary to complement a good design. That's the kind of art direction that inspires me, and most video games fall pretty flat in that regard.

 

[Strazdas]

In order to vote, you need to head over to the official Mass Effect Facebook page

well no wonder the voting is ending up being bad, if you do it on platform that is mainly used by idiots (do i need to remind you the facebook police news here lately?) you get idiotic results.

 

[intheweeds]

At first I though "Oh, of course blonde FemShep won. She's blonde!" But honestly, maybe its the dark environment she's in, but it does look the best.

Is it just me though, or does FemShep look scarily like Natalie Portman?

 

[Pearwood]

If I ever gave her hair rather than have her butch military look it'd be redhead. Can't resist those hot tough redheads...

 

[xdiesp]

I vote for a black one with white hair.

Now if only we could get away with the military power fantasies: never happened and never will that generals, and soldiers less than ever, do save the world or actually any good to it. People solving problems usually slip through the cracks while big shots die like dogs all around.

If Star Wars had done something right, amidst the bunch, was that our heroes weren't bulky supermen strangling the Empire with the force of guns. They were good and lucky, that was enough.

 

[MarsProbe]

I went with the black-haired one, as it's the same hair colour as my own FemShep. I like the face they've picked so if it wasn't for the hair colour it might have been a tough choice.

I'll be fine with whatever one they choose though. I'm just curious where they're going to roll out this canon FemShep. She probably won't show up on the box cover art so I wonder if we'll get to see her in a cutscene.