Poll: Do you hate sexy armor on female characters?

[Strain42]

For me it depends on both the game and on the character itself.

Lets use Soul Calibur as an example and compare three characters. Ivy, Sophitia and Hilde.

Ivy is a character that's clearly an example of titillation, but can you really argue that it doesn't fit her character as basically a Sedusa type character who uses a whip sword? Her costume works because it fits her character. A good mix between sexy and logical

Now lets look at Hilde. She's dressed pretty much head to toe in large clunky armor, hardly any flesh exposed, and most of her armor isn't even like tight fitting to show off her curves. Now, maybe I'm weird, but I still find Hilde to be a very attractive and sexy character, despite not showing off much of her body because again...her design fits her character. Balances sexy with logical.

Lastly we have Sophitia, who is supposed to more or less be this virtuous character who is trying to portray herself as a serious warrior character...yet basically wears a thin toga to show off the boobage and cleavage so massive it leaves an echo. Sexy yes, but not very logical. Through this thought process, Sophitia is actually my least favorite of the three characters.

That's my take on it anyway. Just kinda depends on who the character is.

We let characters like Ivy get away with stuff like this because since her conception we've known that's what type of character she is.

It's also why we get mad when you take a beloved powerful female character like Samus and have her running around in a skin tight body suit for no reason other than fanservice.

 

[Agayek]

[sub](Oh look it's this thread again etc etc...)[/sub]

Context, madam.

Context is everything.

If the game wants me to take it seriously then the ol' chainmail bikinis and whatnot are idiotic. They make as much sense as going into battle wearing clown shoes and a tube dress. For example, Samara in Mass Effect 2. She's supposed to be a vigilante warrior-monk who enters combat on a semi-regular basis. She is presented in a straight faced manner. Yet she wears high heels and a what looks like a swimsuit with pauldrens. As much as I like the character, that visual design is a bad joke. It's not exploitive or offensive, it's silly.

On the other hand, if the game is intentionally over-the-top or tongue in cheek, then I'm fine. For example, I have no problem with any of the character designs in the various Japanese fighting games. Their whole premise is already ridiculous and both the players and developers are fully aware of that. We're talking about games where a roster of invincible caricatures with super powers conduct combative fireworks displays around the world. Sticking the women in sexy outfits does not make that scenario any more ridiculous.

When all is said and done, I've never really seen the point of it. I don't play games to ogle the pixels. Its just not what I'm there for.

Exactly this. It all comes down to how it's presented and the particular work in question.

The only time I really have an issue with it is when things are supposed to be serious, yet someone walks out in 1/3 a suit of armor. It breaks suspension of disbelief so fucking hard.

 

[go-10]

do Kratos or Conan count as sexy armor?

because if it is, its safe to say we ALL love sexy armor

 

[DrunkPickle]

Yes, I don't like it. I think that it "distorts" the overall theme/atmosphere of the game. I don't support the idea of female characters wearing high heels and mini-skirts in a medieval RPG; it makes me feel like I'm just playing through a "remake" or an adaptation of the medieval setting, rather than the real thing. This is one of the reasons I don't like most Asian-styled games...

 

[boag]

Is there some reason that the escapist is so up in arms about sexism nowadays? Well anyway, I really don't have a problem with it, if it's done in a dignified manner and the woman has a strong personality I really have no problems with it. Really Femsheps armor? Pffft, that's nothing.

Now a days?

Way before I officially joined the forums and I just lurked as a guest, there has always been one or another thread talking about sexism.

 

[Erttheking]

Is there some reason that the escapist is so up in arms about sexism nowadays? Well anyway, I really don't have a problem with it, if it's done in a dignified manner and the woman has a strong personality I really have no problems with it. Really Femsheps armor? Pffft, that's nothing.

Now a days?

Way before I officially joined the forums and I just lurked as a guest, there has always been one or another thread talking about sexism.

Weird, I only noticed it recently, call me paranoid but I think the need Ashley Williams design had something to do with a spike in it.

 

[AngelicSven]

I think every female in League of Legends (at least the humans or close-enough-to-humans-that-it-wouldn't-be-illegal-to-hop-in-bed-with) is dressed as sexy as possible. French Maid Nidalee, Leblanc's Christmas skin....

Kayle, Leona, Soraka, Riven, Lux, Karma. Based off the majority of their skins.

Job's done.

 

[tmande2nd]

I honestly cant stand it.

I mean in Skyrim why does female armor have boob shaped plates?
WHY?

Or in Mass Effect 2....Miranda, Samara, and Jack never left the ship because of their brain dead armor. No get some REAL armor you clowns or stay on the ship.

 

[God's Clown]

I like a mix really. Form fitting is good, but it also has to cover most of her body. A thigh or two sticking out is fine. I don't really like Chain Mail Bikini's and overly revealing armor, at least not with games I am to take serious.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

http://kotaku.com/5873885/nerds-and-male-privilege-part-2-deconstructing-the-arguments

This.

Ah, the 3Ds. Also notice how the Ds are iterative, in that they can be used on their own arguments.

Problem: The comic book industry is inherently sexist. As is the romance novel industry, in the opposing direction.

Former is treated as "just for boys". Latter is treated as "for mature people".

The arguments are now so mixed we're reverting to Latin terms just to dismiss each other's arguments.

Way before I officially joined the forums and I just lurked as a guest, there has always been one or another thread talking about sexism.

TBF, I think sexism has been a major talking point long before any of us were even born. All we're doing now is blaming strangers for things other strangers might have once done to our relatives.

 

[LiquidGrape]

The only thing more annoying than people who insist everything is overtly sexualised are the people who claim sexualisation can't be problematic.

 

[Agayek]

I honestly cant stand it.

I mean in Skyrim why does female armor have boob shaped plates?
WHY?

Or in Mass Effect 2....Miranda, Samara, and Jack never left the ship because of their brain dead armor. No get some REAL armor you clowns or stay on the ship.

At the very least, the Skyrim example you put forth here actually makes some modicum of sense. There is some degree of logic in crafting armor that actually fits the wearer. Like it or not, women have large globes of fat on their chest that tend to get in the way of a "standard fit" breastplate.

I'm not saying that's how it would play out in real life (I'm fairly certain they'd simply make the breastplate bigger around instead of adding protrusions for enemy weapons to snag), but there is some logic there.

The ME2 examples you have here make absolutely 0 sense and are much better examples of this type of thing.

 

[Lunar Templar]

it very much depends on the design of the armor for me, like

Spoiler: this is sexy

Spoiler: while this is sluty

and i generally prefer armor designs that look like they'd actually PROTECT the woman in side rather then make her look like a prostitute

 

[s0p0g]

i don't think revealing "armour" looks /is offensive or exploiting or anything bad (for lack of a better word right now), it's just stupid, and using a bikini-plate in a kinda-sorta medieval setting or sumsuch, assuming the player won't "notice" how that wouldn't make any sense at all does feel a bit like an insult ("oh well, only fat geeks that know and will know women only from their game-posters are actually playing this game so let's add some well protected secondary sex characteristics") - if i want to see a nice midriff or (not-so-well-hidden) tits i can think of many better places to look for them than a game ^^
also, it often has a certain "we don't believe in our product so let's add tits to increase sales" feel about it

so i hate bikini-armour with a passion. kinda. something like that. ok, it's actually more of a "oh, please, not in this game, too"-feeling

 

[repeating integers]

Spoiler: while this is sluty

I believe this serves as proof that trying too hard to make a character sexy can, in fact, have the opposite effect.

 

[Byere]

Meh, I'm kind of on the fence on this stuff. I don't like to see pointless and brazen showing of flesh when the character goes into battle as, like many have said, it pulls you out of the reality that you're supposed to be so absorbed in. However, sometimes it can work depending on the background of the character.

Take for example Meru and Shana from Legend of Dragoon.

Meru is a dancer. If she wore too much, she wouldn't be so fast and it would impede her movements and make her less effective.

However, that's just clothing. If we're talking actual armour, you have Shana's dragoon form.

While she doesn't need the speed (despite being able to fly giving her increased speed), the lack of armour on the abdominal area and around her legs gives her less protection, but it's still tasteful and works well.

To sum up, female armour DOESN'T have to be completely covering and can show off the female curvature while not being as bulky as what they put males in, as long as it's done correctly.

On a strange side note, my CAPTCHA is "clothes. luktuff"

 

[loa]

It's a cliche that is almost as tired as glowy wow eyes.

 

[dfcrackhead]

I think every female in League of Legends (at least the humans or close-enough-to-humans-that-it-wouldn't-be-illegal-to-hop-in-bed-with) is dressed as sexy as possible. French Maid Nidalee, Leblanc's Christmas skin....

Nidalee and Leblanc aren't supposed to be armoured though, they aren't tanks. Whereas Leona, Poppy and whoever are well armored and it suits them

 

[RJ 17]

Out of 100 comments, I can only imagine that this viewpoint has been brought up already. But in case it hasn't, here's my take on the issue.

It depends on what the focus of the game is. Games like Heavenly Sword and Tomb Raider seem more designed around "look how sexy this action female is!" rather than the actual game itself. Yet a game like Tenchu Z, as an example off the top of my head, has some pretty sexy clothes you can wear if your character is a kunoichi...yet the game doesn't seem to revolve around her being sexy. Most of the time you're too focused on memorizing the paths and timings of the guard's as you build your plan of attack to even notice what you're character is wearing.

So in short, if the game is designed around a sexy character in sexy clothes and the game tends to very much enjoy showing off said sexy character in sexy clothes, then I just call it a bad game. I've always supported the belief that "If all else fails, put a hot chick in the box-art and your game will sell." That said, however, there are indeed plenty of games in which sexy females in sexy outfits exist, however if you find yourself admiring such sexiness a lot less because you're paying attention to the actual game then I think it's a good game that has a sexy female as just some icing on the cake...no pun intended.

 

[Seventh Actuality]

Depends. Is it presented in an objectifying way, or not? And no, "objectify" is not just a fancy word feminists use when they want to take away your fap material.