I see you have played Kingdom Under Fire. Great game terrible outfits. Though at least it dresses up the most muscular guy there in basically a loincloth and 2 massive shoulder pads.Shamus Young said:
The Half-Naked Elf Problem
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
I think a lot of players are missing the point of this whole article.
It's not that there are skimpy armor options, it's that there isn't much customization when it comes to armor options. The look of "the best" armor in games won't be something that everyone likes, so it can put off some players. Saying that the stripper armor options shouldn't exist isn't exactly a good thing, and is probably just as bad as having to wear stripper armor in-game just because it has the best stats.
It's not that there are skimpy armor options, it's that there isn't much customization when it comes to armor options. The look of "the best" armor in games won't be something that everyone likes, so it can put off some players. Saying that the stripper armor options shouldn't exist isn't exactly a good thing, and is probably just as bad as having to wear stripper armor in-game just because it has the best stats.
How about the fact that most women who play these games either don't mind the skimpy stuff, or actually enjoy it? Because frankly, skimpy outfits and sleeze are somewhat normal in Fantasy content, with Lord of the Rings being the only exception that I can think of.
I know a lot of women who play these games and like to dress their character up in fancy outfits and collect those. You know why they don't feel objectified by a pile of pixels? Because their character is NOT them, which is what roleplay is all about. You are PRETENDING to be somebody else.
I don't know any woman that wants to pretend she had an average figure and was wearing average clothes. Pretty much for the same reason that I don't want to play a roleplaying-game in which I am a bored office clerk.
I know a lot of women who play these games and like to dress their character up in fancy outfits and collect those. You know why they don't feel objectified by a pile of pixels? Because their character is NOT them, which is what roleplay is all about. You are PRETENDING to be somebody else.
I don't know any woman that wants to pretend she had an average figure and was wearing average clothes. Pretty much for the same reason that I don't want to play a roleplaying-game in which I am a bored office clerk.
After watching some vids I am not at all interested in Tera. The controls aside, the jiggling and moaning of the toons is pretty exaggerated. I'd almost want to play as an Elin just to look unslutty. Rather look like pedo bait than I'm from DoA.
Or a popori so I could be a badger or something.
Or a popori so I could be a badger or something.
To use an analogy, the European and North American localizations of Tera are the equivalent of someone doing odd jobs on the weekend in order to supplement their weekly wage that they're earning in the South Korean market.
The fact is that they probably just don't care that some people will be offended by the inability to play a female character that doesn't resemble a tart. As they're making the safe bet of keeping their localisation costs to a minimum and marketing the game unashamedly as the South Korean MMORPG that it is rather than putting it back through development for what is undoubtedly a questionable gain.
The fact is that they probably just don't care that some people will be offended by the inability to play a female character that doesn't resemble a tart. As they're making the safe bet of keeping their localisation costs to a minimum and marketing the game unashamedly as the South Korean MMORPG that it is rather than putting it back through development for what is undoubtedly a questionable gain.
Reading the title I got a picture in my head of a garden infested with hundreds of shirtless elves running around ruining everything, and a guy with pesticide trying to get rid of them... don't ask me why :-/
Anyway, back when I was playing Warhammer Online they used the same system for gear. There were some restrictions, but it worked pretty damn smoothly. I could fit my orc berserker (I think the technical term was "Choppa")with the latest best gear while still making it look like he was wearing his trusty lvl 1 loincloth. Because the one thing that beats a half naked elf is a half naked orc!
I always thought there was a technical reason to why MMOs didn't allow you more different looking gear. I got the impression that designing a new piece of gear was really bothersome and that they'd rather re-use an old model and work on something else instead. Which, if it's correct, is kind of hard to argue with. Still, I'm the kind of guy who cares a waaay too much about how my character looks, so the more games adopt smoother, more customizable systems for gear looks, the happier it's gonna make me ^^
Anyway, back when I was playing Warhammer Online they used the same system for gear. There were some restrictions, but it worked pretty damn smoothly. I could fit my orc berserker (I think the technical term was "Choppa")with the latest best gear while still making it look like he was wearing his trusty lvl 1 loincloth. Because the one thing that beats a half naked elf is a half naked orc!
I always thought there was a technical reason to why MMOs didn't allow you more different looking gear. I got the impression that designing a new piece of gear was really bothersome and that they'd rather re-use an old model and work on something else instead. Which, if it's correct, is kind of hard to argue with. Still, I'm the kind of guy who cares a waaay too much about how my character looks, so the more games adopt smoother, more customizable systems for gear looks, the happier it's gonna make me ^^
I'm just going to throw out here that as a heterosexual girl, I'm DYING to play this MMO and the character design and clothing is one of the main reasons I want to do so.
So beavers and cats and dogs are having sex with what appears to be pre-pubescent cat/bunny girls. I'm not laying down what I think on the matter, but you can clearly see why ANYONE would do a double take here. I mean.....its just......off. I wouldn't criticize someone for playing the game, but its perfectly reasonable at this point if people just want to distance themselves from this.Nurb said:It's an adult female of that fuzzy race, only with smaller boobies compared to the gazungas on the other characters. I think people are being too pedo-paranoid and games are a bit silly to get weirded out over considering most gamers have beaten and burned innocent people to death in GTA or Saints Row. But that's just me, I've never come across anything in a video game that "shocked" or weirded me out.Scrumpmonkey said:Actually i have heard of Tera, the biggest thing i heard about it is that is basically has a "Scantily Clad Loli" class. No seriosuly look;
Yeahhhh... im not comfortable with whoever designed those. Stay the fuck away from me
If anything it's more of an issue of sexual dimorphism.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BizarreSexualDimorphism
I'm really surprised that the dev's don't see that this 'male demographic' excuse is a big vicious circle. Of course women aren't going to buy your games if they are aimed at men...so using that as an argument as to why you shouldn't consider female gamers in your design strategy is pretty ridiculous.
Also it's not as difficult as you think to make something accessible for both genders. You just have to put men and women on equal ground. We don't want much different than men in a power fantasy and that is why games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Skyrim are popular with women. It's just basically a gender switch. People often confront me and say well you can see that Miranda is pandering to men! Guess what! I don't care about Miranda because she's not the woman I'm playing as. I don't even notice the other women are excessively sexy because I'm straight. It would be like straight men seeing Kaiden walk in and saying 'Wow he's a hottie!'
Of course there is a limit to how much can make women feel uncomfortable. I don't think I could play Tera without cringing a lot and I would probably think less of men who had overly naked avatars.
Also it's not as difficult as you think to make something accessible for both genders. You just have to put men and women on equal ground. We don't want much different than men in a power fantasy and that is why games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Skyrim are popular with women. It's just basically a gender switch. People often confront me and say well you can see that Miranda is pandering to men! Guess what! I don't care about Miranda because she's not the woman I'm playing as. I don't even notice the other women are excessively sexy because I'm straight. It would be like straight men seeing Kaiden walk in and saying 'Wow he's a hottie!'
Of course there is a limit to how much can make women feel uncomfortable. I don't think I could play Tera without cringing a lot and I would probably think less of men who had overly naked avatars.
*sigh*
This sort of stuff didn't used to bother me too much. I thought it was ridiculous, sure, and I'd laugh it off, but I never got offended or anything. But the older I get and the more games I play the more this starts to go beyond a joke and starts to genuinely piss me off.
For the record, I'm a red-blooded bisexual. I love a bit of boob. I've created characters who look like strippers before now. But when this becomes a major selling point of a game, and when I look at the comments on a video and see a load of comments along the lines of "LOL BOOBZ fapfapfap I LIKE TEH BOOBIES!!!!one1!!!"... yeah. This isn't even just a problem with jiggle physics or whatever, it happens on videos featuring, say, female games journalists who are wearing totally unrevealing clothing and whatever, you get my point.
Seriously, gaming*: grow up.
(*obligatory disclaimer: the vocal, juvenile elements of gaming who ruin things for the rest of us and, unfortunately, tend to represent us in the minds of the general public)
EDIT: Off-topic, but does anyone else cringe when they see the word "boobies" used in a sexual context? In my mind, it's what young kids call breasts before they're really aware of sex. Kind of like "willy" for penis. But I digress
This sort of stuff didn't used to bother me too much. I thought it was ridiculous, sure, and I'd laugh it off, but I never got offended or anything. But the older I get and the more games I play the more this starts to go beyond a joke and starts to genuinely piss me off.
For the record, I'm a red-blooded bisexual. I love a bit of boob. I've created characters who look like strippers before now. But when this becomes a major selling point of a game, and when I look at the comments on a video and see a load of comments along the lines of "LOL BOOBZ fapfapfap I LIKE TEH BOOBIES!!!!one1!!!"... yeah. This isn't even just a problem with jiggle physics or whatever, it happens on videos featuring, say, female games journalists who are wearing totally unrevealing clothing and whatever, you get my point.
Seriously, gaming*: grow up.
(*obligatory disclaimer: the vocal, juvenile elements of gaming who ruin things for the rest of us and, unfortunately, tend to represent us in the minds of the general public)
EDIT: Off-topic, but does anyone else cringe when they see the word "boobies" used in a sexual context? In my mind, it's what young kids call breasts before they're really aware of sex. Kind of like "willy" for penis. But I digress
I was thinking about slightly different approach
Allow players to modify their armor pieces (for additional cost to blacksmith/armory/etc.)
Color and shape (so that you can modify the looks of it, but other players can still vaguely tell what you are wearing)
Allow players to modify their armor pieces (for additional cost to blacksmith/armory/etc.)
Color and shape (so that you can modify the looks of it, but other players can still vaguely tell what you are wearing)
Dont you understand that because she has fox ears she's not human, and therefor it's totally okay for her to look like a 6-year old prostitute.Scrumpmonkey said:Yeahhhh... im not comfortable with whoever designed those. Stay the fuck away from me
It's like, common knowledge.
If you want to have an adult conversation about a mature issue, I wouldn't start your article with "The unfortunately named Bluehole Studio."Shamus Young said:
That's just me.
Oh, because the developer says it's not a child, it's not a child? Pfft, no. That is obviously pedo food for those among us who are sick enough to be attracted to children. It doesn't matter if they sau they are 100 or 10000--they are designed in a sexual way and they resemble children. Anyone with eyes can see through whatever excuses they wanna use there.Nurb said:It's an adult female of that fuzzy race, only with smaller boobies compared to the gazungas on the other characters. I think people are being too pedo-paranoid and games are a bit silly to get weirded out over considering most gamers have beaten and burned innocent people to death in GTA or Saints Row. But that's just me, I've never come across anything in a video game that "shocked" or weirded me out.Scrumpmonkey said:Actually i have heard of Tera, the biggest thing i heard about it is that is basically has a "Scantily Clad Loli" class. No seriosuly look;
Yeahhhh... im not comfortable with whoever designed those. Stay the fuck away from me
If anything it's more of an issue of sexual dimorphism.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BizarreSexualDimorphism
Sad fact: MMOs are a hotspot for paedophiles. Spend ten minutes reading general chat in any MMO and brace yourself for vomiting. The developers are obviously pandering to a sick, sick crowed. For that alone I hope this fails.
Honestly, the fact that vidya gaems are less willing to feature practically-dressed female characters than an HBO show never ceases to astound me.frobisher said:This kind of design for females would solve all controversies with a pinch of realism.
....564 reasons why we will not see such design in games....565, 566...