Bioware, Please Make A Plus-Sized Female Dragon Age Character!

[Beliyal]

Could you perhaps have a bra but have it colored/painted into the skin tone, since you'll be going blue anyways? The appearance of no bra, but the actual support and presentation of a bra.

My other thought was that the bra could be unusually shaped/built in to the outfit so as to offer support under the costume.

I'm thinking like, the approach one might take to cosplay Movie Mystique, only much less drastic.

Yeah, it would probably be possible to have a colored bra, though it would still be visible probably. I guess the best would be to use some special types of bra that are made specifically for use in revealing clothing (like dresses). Though, there's a limit here too; some women simply have too big breasts to comfortably use minimalist bras as they don't really offer the best support after a certain breast size. They usually come without straps for example and can't stay on for all sizes.

It's certainly possible to do something in most cases, but then again, it's all very individual. Some people will simply not be able to do anything or will not have the means to do it (material cost could get really high if you need to modify the costume heavily). That's where some variety and more practical original clothing designs would probably help, but there's always people who will be able to pull off even the most ridiculous of designs. For others, it may be genuinely impossible.

 

[Areloch]

To be clear, by "plus sized" it sounds like you're just talking about average sized women with larger cup-sizes and clothes that make sense with that ratio. Is that all the request is? Put larger breasts on regular women rather than only petite? In which case hell yeah, get some healthy people in there and what reasonable man would be opposed to larger (but not joke sized) breasts?

Or, are we talking about obese characters like comments in this thread seem to be thinking? Because I even find obese males in fighting games to be a joke. Not only are they generally non-existent too but I find the notion of someone being fat when they workout vigorously all day to be hilarious.

I don't cosplay and wouldn't even if I didn't look like the offspring of Jon Stewart and a mountain troll.

That actually sounds like even more of a reason for you to cosplay...

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...us+sized+women&btnG=Search+by+image&oq=&gs_l=

This is what Google thinks "plus sized women" means. It also jives with what stores I've seen that target "Plus Sized" people have. Plus Sized means, as far as I and Google can tell, to mean someone that is overweight/fat, but still curvy.

The context of her article seems more ambiguous as to what she meant by that. It seems to focus mostly are large cupped breasts moreso than body type.

Yeah, I think that's where a lot of people's confusion is coming from. Plus-sized carries(as far as I can tell) a fairly specific meaning, so saying 'plus sized' and ONLY meaning having big breasts is not the same thing. Since the article is kinda ambiguous about what she's really referring to (because she also mentions having a curvy shape) is really making it hard to tell what her intended message is.

 

[chocolate pickles]

To be honest, i find this whole 'fat shaming is wrong' thing stupid. Should we be pointing obese people out on the street and giggling at them? No. Should we be telling people that it's ok to be fat? Not really - it's unhealthy.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Justified or not, this amount of anger and vitriol is what most women are linked to or draw on when they say they don't want to play games because they are afraid on how they will be treated.

First off, do you all completely fit your 'clothing size'? That was Plus Sized is. It's 'Big and Tall' for women. I'm not particularly big. I'm not particularly tall (6'2), but XL and above is the only thing that will fit my body and not choke me. That makes me Big and Tall, even if you wouldn't say that's what I look like. If Liana has to buy Plus Sized simply because of her bust size, she's Plus Sized. Take your pre-conceived notions away and focus on the facts.

None of you have a clue what it is like to have breasts like Liana. Here's a fact. I know absolutely dick all about women's clothing. I had to google to find this out According to PLUS Model magazine; "In the fashion industry, plus size is identified as sizes 12-24, super size as sizes 4X-6X and extended size as 7X and up".[1] The article continues "Susan Barone [...] shared, 'Plus sizes are sizes 14W - 24W. Super sizes and extended sizes are used interchangeably for sizes 26W and above. Sometimes the size 26W is included in plus size. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plus-size_clothing].

As Beliyal said

A lot of misunderstanding in this thread seems to be coming from the simple fact that most of the people posting don't have boobs and have no idea how much of a hurdle they can be when it comes to clothing. People keep saying that she should just ignore the wrong body type and wear whatever she wants (which is a nice advice, but one that Liana addressed in her article and explicitly stated that she is not a "cosplay your body type" purist"). The thing is, sometimes you physically cannot wear whatever you want.

Now, as a non white gamer, yeah, I can feel the need to have a character that I'd like to idolize that looks just like me. We can simply go over to the Rust debacle and see that's not strictly a minority gamer thing. I get where she's coming from. The simple comment would be "So you'd design a character with bigger breasts to make a female gamer happy?!?!". The obvious answer is no. If I was a designer, I'm pretty sure breast size wouldn't come into the actual design of my character because her breast size has nothing to do with who she is during conflict.

But, if she did happen to be physically designed with an ample bust and we're going to the personality, oh hell yeah it can have a lot to do with who she is as a person. See this shitstorm as an example of what might occur to a busty woman and ponder if that would come to play in that character's every day life. That's different than creating a character to Pander. You create a character to fit a role. You then flesh out personality by who they are, mentally and physically. I don't need to make my Rangers all Busty for no reason. But if I did have a Ranger who was busty, there is a chance for that to have some affect on her character. And maybe it will be some utopian world where guys will not lose their shit over secondary sex characteristics. We are taking about fantasy, mind you.

Once again, I won't post a judgment on what the Author is saying, but remember this thread if you're a heterosexual male and wonder why is it so hard to find a girl who enjoys games to date. An outsider looking in will just see people attacking a female gamer, ignorantly at best.

 

[Erttheking]

To be honest, i find this whole 'fat shaming is wrong' thing stupid. Should we be pointing obese people out on the street and giggling at them? No. Should we be telling people that it's ok to be fat? Not really - it's unhealthy.

There's a difference between plus sized and obesity. Hell, it's perfectly possible to be a bit chubby and still be perfectly healthy.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I thought Bioware did design some characters specifically for cosplay? That Felicia Day elf, Tallis had reference sheets for her costume released before her DLC even came out just so people could cosplay as her.

 

[Takwin]

while the world literally dies from the effects of obesity through diabetes and heart disease.

That's a whole cocktail of Trump-level ignorance. Misuse of the word 'literally' is the least of it!

Actually, the definition of literally changed a few years ago to include the use that I used. People might not like that it changed, but it did change. Words change meaning over time and they always have.

Also, I think Trump is the most ignorant politician in the history of America. Is comparing people to Trump the new Nazi? Might be.

 

[LTD]

Yeah, what a joke. She isn't plus sized, and I find it a bit insulting that she'd give such a back-handed brag like this while trying to push the diversity card. "Oh no! Hey all you mostly male escapists, my boobs are just soooo big! Bioware ought to make fat girls btw."

Yep. The humblebrag is strong in this one.

 

[Takwin]

To be honest, i find this whole 'fat shaming is wrong' thing stupid. Should we be pointing obese people out on the street and giggling at them? No. Should we be telling people that it's ok to be fat? Not really - it's unhealthy.

There's a difference between plus sized and obesity. Hell, it's perfectly possible to be a bit chubby and still be perfectly healthy.

You have been outside in America right? Or seen it on videos? America is not a "chubby" nation. We are the fattest nation in the history of the world and it is getting worse everyday. Half of all children born today will develop diabetes. HALF.

And, less than 1% of humans have any condition that makes them gain weight, and if you've ever seen X-rays of people, there is no such thing as big-boned. Fat people get fat by making poor choices over a long period of time. Personal responsibility is the only thing not in their diet. They gorge on blame and justification, however.

 

[Erttheking]

To be honest, i find this whole 'fat shaming is wrong' thing stupid. Should we be pointing obese people out on the street and giggling at them? No. Should we be telling people that it's ok to be fat? Not really - it's unhealthy.

There's a difference between plus sized and obesity. Hell, it's perfectly possible to be a bit chubby and still be perfectly healthy.

You have been outside in America right? Or seen it on videos? America is not a "chubby" nation. We are the fattest nation in the history of the world and it is getting worse everyday. Half of all children born today will develop diabetes. HALF.

And, less than 1% of humans have any condition that makes them gain weight, and if you've ever seen X-rays of people, there is no such thing as big-boned. Fat people get fat by making poor choices over a long period of time. Personal responsibility is the only thing not in their diet. They gorge on blame and justification, however.

....And? America has an obesity problem. And? I never said America was a chubby nation, I said it was possible to be chubby and still be healthy. The world isn't divided between super models and the obese.

And yes yes, every fat person is irresponsible, they've got no one to blame but themselves, they all made poor choices and won't take responsibility, I've heard it all a hundred times and it's worn out its welcome. I've got a bit of a pot belly and all this talk about insecurities and not taking responsibility only ever pissed me off. People encouraging me to take better care of myself is what got me to give a damn.

 

[Erttheking]

Yeah, what a joke. She isn't plus sized, and I find it a bit insulting that she'd give such a back-handed brag like this while trying to push the diversity card. "Oh no! Hey all you mostly male escapists, my boobs are just soooo big! Bioware ought to make fat girls btw."

Not sure why a woman would bother bragging about her body when THIS is the response she has waiting for her. I think you're seeing things where they're not. Call me crazy.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

So, we'll assume for now she's specifically talking about breast size, but the complain focuses on the basically physical impossible/unreasonable costume for a plus-sized person. But this confuses me, because a plus-sized character wouldn't have those clothing designs anyways(or if they did, because a game doesn't need to follow physics, the issue isn't resolved). And if they had a different clothing design than the 'problem character', then you'd be cosplaying something different than Viviene or whatnot.

I'm not a 'cosplay purist' or anything, so I may be having trouble deciphering the mindset, but if the "plus-sized" Viviennne alternative would be wearing a different outfit than Vivienne anyways, why not just wear a modified costume of Vivienne's that works with the body type?

Bolding mine.

I think that's the problem in a nutshell: When you change the costume, you change the character you're cosplaying. This series has talked a bit about alternative interpretations of characters and inclusive cosplay before, and Liana has obviously come down on the side that it's a good thing. However, she also believes strongly in the power of embodying a character and the personal links people have to their costumes.

At a certain point, you stop cosplaying as a character and start using that character as inspiration for your own costume. That's fine if you want to play "Some lady from Ferelden" but it doesn't have quite the same impact of being able to say, "I'm Cassandra, and I look good and feel good doing it."

 

[Scow2]

There's no reason why a dude who's 6'5" can't dress up as a Hobbit. So what if you have boobs that are bigger than what's considered canon? Hell, I'm sure most guys would think that's an improvement.

The problem, as she stated, is the body mechanics of large breasts - they don't fit properly in the right outfit.

And why the hell is everyone jumping onto "OMG OBESE?!" We're talking about a Power Girl-like build here, not a Rosie O'Donnel.

If by plus sized you mean Zarya from Over-Watch

Then yes, acceptable. She has a reasonable and feasible body type for an individual who undergoes large amounts of strenuous physical activity.

That is significantly larger than "Plus size"

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think we have enough beautiful people already.

This is """""plus-sized""""" Liana Kerzner.

She has the body type of every female videogame character ever made. Her personal lament is completely uncalled for. It's like having The Rock complain he can't cosplay as any Gears of War characters.

Yeah, what a joke. She isn't plus sized, and I find it a bit insulting that she'd give such a back-handed brag like this while trying to push the diversity card. "Oh no! Hey all you mostly male escapists, my boobs are just soooo big! Bioware ought to make fat girls btw."

My thoughts exactly. She has carte blanche to write about anything in one of the most frequented videogame websites in all of the internet and she goes for "my breasts are too big". What insight.

 

[TilMorrow]

I'm so confused about this article. In the title it asks for a larger female character but then in the actual content it starts talking about one with a larger bust. Isn't Shale good enough? That kinda works right? She is female you know and awesome.

 

[Areloch]

So, we'll assume for now she's specifically talking about breast size, but the complain focuses on the basically physical impossible/unreasonable costume for a plus-sized person. But this confuses me, because a plus-sized character wouldn't have those clothing designs anyways(or if they did, because a game doesn't need to follow physics, the issue isn't resolved). And if they had a different clothing design than the 'problem character', then you'd be cosplaying something different than Viviene or whatnot.

I'm not a 'cosplay purist' or anything, so I may be having trouble deciphering the mindset, but if the "plus-sized" Viviennne alternative would be wearing a different outfit than Vivienne anyways, why not just wear a modified costume of Vivienne's that works with the body type?

Bolding mine.

I think that's the problem in a nutshell: When you change the costume, you change the character you're cosplaying. This series has talked a bit about alternative interpretations of characters and inclusive cosplay before, and Liana has obviously come down on the side that it's a good thing. However, she also believes strongly in the power of embodying a character and the personal links people have to their costumes.

At a certain point, you stop cosplaying as a character and start using that character as inspiration for your own costume. That's fine if you want to play "Some lady from Ferelden" but it doesn't have quite the same impact of being able to say, "I'm Cassandra, and I look good and feel good doing it."

Yeah, that's fair, I suppose. I've done cosplay and stuff before, so I understand that some modifications need to be made in order to make any costume work, but the line in which it becomes too much is very blurry for me, but looks to be a lot more concrete with other people.

Touche, then. I still think the article could have done with a bit more concrete terminology for the root of her complaint, but otherwise it does make sense when considering a more concrete term for when changes to fit the body becomes problematic.

 

[Tilly]

I think part of the reason for the lack of body-types in gaming on the whole is probably just a desire to reuse assets as much as possible.
I'm sure your body type is quite well represented in gaming though Liana! Moreso than others. People who're in bad shape are screwed the most. Unless they're massive fat guys, then they have a chance of finding themselves as a tank character.

 

[Scow2]

To be honest, i find this whole 'fat shaming is wrong' thing stupid. Should we be pointing obese people out on the street and giggling at them? No. Should we be telling people that it's ok to be fat? Not really - it's unhealthy.

The problem is that the 'target weight' people are trying to calibrate to is too damn low. No, the people in the images of "Plus sized women" are not 'overweight' to any medical degree.

 

[Azure23]

This isn't even first world problems, this is more like zeroth world problems, and were arguing about it. I'm sure if Bioware writers have an idea for a chubbier character they will do it, and their chubbiness may even be part of their story. But asking for a character to be modeled, animated, textured, written, voiced, given an arc, an ability set, a history, all just so you can dress up as a character you might not even like strikes me as an absurd level of entitlement.

I don't think gamers understand the meaning of that word anymore. Entitlement is not asking for something, entitlement is EXPECTING something because you're just too fucking important to not get that thing. And as for the whole "we shouldn't even be talking about this, this isn't important, children are starving in Africa!" thing your post has got going on? It's a derailing tactic, nothing more. After all, why are you even on the internet posting about this zeroeth world problem in the first place? Don't you have a charity mission to Syria to go be a part of?

People are passionate about their hobbies, they discuss them, they debate over them, much like is being done right now in this forum. If you think it's not worth your time, well, I'm sure we'll manage without you.