The Half-Naked Elf Problem

[Vampire cat]

Honestly, I find that everyone in Tera is relatively sexualized, not counting the overweight dog/cat/skunk class. The clevage-to-sixpack ratio seems to be somewhat consistant, with almost every race, class within the race and gender at the very least have the option to show at times absurd amounts of skin.

And I'm not bothered by any of this to be honest. Sure it would be nice if people got the option to be fully clothed as well as barely at all, but at least this time the males are not as far off as in most fantasy RPGs... The female with no pants under her armored chaps dont look so silly anymore next to a stunningly sexy high elf that left his plate body at home.

I have only played for a couple of hours though. If the female outfits remain skimpy while the male ones get progressively more armored I think they kinda sold out, but should the nudity be upheld... I don't mind anyway to be honest X3. Sexy is awesome.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Honestly, I find that everyone in Tera is relatively sexualized, not counting the overweight dog/cat/skunk class. The clevage-to-sixpack ratio seems to be somewhat consistant, with almost every race, class within the race and gender at the very least have the option to show at times absurd amounts of skin.

This line of reasoning really annoys me. Over-sexualized characters look absurd in a sad way regardless of gender, and whoever decided to sexualize underage-looking characters in Tera can go fuck a garbage disposal. Equal-opportunity suck is still suck.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

I dont see a problem. >.>; My wife actually loves it. When she plays Skyrim, all she runs around in is either the Forsworn armor, or the Saviors hide. She isnt even skilled in light armor, she just think they look way more bad ass then the others.

While yes, i will say its a little tasteless, its not like nobody wants to see it.

Actually that is the issue. Don't get me wrong. We should not get rid of armor that is too sexy or lude, but it should be chosen not forced on to the players. You said it yourself. Your wife picked the sexy armor because she thought it was bad ass (and it so is by the way). However, the problem is more when men and women don't get to chose.

I mean I didn't even see one outfit in the game Shamus is talking about that didn't make the girls look like they weren't walking around in their underwear. Yes, there are people who do want to do that, but that should be their choice.

For an opposite example; if I want my male character to go around in Skyrim in underwear like armor I can. Though I think girls get a slightly better selection for that.

But honestly I don't think Skyrim has the best weather for a guy to show off (if you get my meaning).

 

[Lunar Templar]

image snipped

not every game has this problem ... just sayin

You're joking, right? She's wearing metal stockings and suspenders :/

This sort of thing is more appropriate:

image snipped

not every game has this problem ... just sayin

Oh yeah, metal thigh-highs, open sided tops, no pants and almost visible underwear just screams "ready for combat" to me.[/quote]

but she not exactly but neked ether, hell she's more covered then anything i've seen outa WoW (not that i dress my characters like skanks anyway, yes, that one is mine)

also, where the hell are you seeing suspenders? if anything they're Plate thigh highs

also, no undies are visible at all in that set, i noticed that to, upon closer inspection she is in short shorts unless you wanna get on my for the times I'm not waring armor at all [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb8AqV1BKpI]

 

[verdant monkai]

Honestly I don't see the problem here, if Girls don't like this kinda fantasy rpg, they can go play fable 2 where you can wear loads of clothes. This is obviously a rpg aimed at dudes (I mean boob jiggle physics!), so you have got to expect this sort of thing.
...
People can complain about loads of stuff developers do but the bottom line is they do a lot of it to sell their Games. In short BOOBS SELL GAMES.

I have no idea what sort of wretched, neckbearded creature actually buys games because they have tits in them. I mean, seriously, if you really must look at pictures of boobs while you play vidya gaems, the internet is full of that stuff. Bonus: you don't have to see the creepy pedo shit bluehole put into their game to pander to a different demographic.

Whether you like it or not mate Games with sex appeal sell take Bayonetta for example, do you think that Game became talked about because it had great combat?

Also a great example of boobs selling fantasy is the guild war games cover art.
http://www.gamersbin.com/game-wallpapers-f137/cover-art-guild-wars-eye-north-%5Bgw-en%5D-wallpaper-cover-art-wallpaper-24169/
Do you really there is another reason her tits are so big, other than to draw the eye and sell the Game?

 

[Eamar]

but she not exactly but neked ether, hell she's more covered then anything i've seen outa WoW (not that i dress my characters like skanks anyway, yes, that one is mine)

also, where the hell are you seeing suspenders? if anything they're Plate thigh highs

also, no undies are visible at all in that set, i noticed that to, upon closer inspection she is in short shorts unless you wanna get on my for the times I'm not waring armor at all [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb8AqV1BKpI]

No, she's not naked. Nakedness is not the point. The point is she's wearing "armour" that has clearly been designed with sex appeal as the primary goal. That's what we're complaining about. If I'm playing a female tank, I want her to look as tough and solid (bulky, even) as her male counterparts. Elegance and sexiness are not at the forefront of a lot of women's minds in this situation, contrary to popular belief.

 

[RandV80]

Yeah I don't really like it, but I'm not going to complain about it. It's kind of a matter of self entitlement... gamers have a lot of different tastes, and while I like boobies as much as the next guy I'm not a fan of the cartoon style and don't like games trying to get my attention by shameless pandering to my gender. On the other hand, there are people that do like that stuff, even loli's as bad as it is. So rather than try to make every game conform to your tastes, or at least to a sort of mass common collective, what you need is a diverse variety of games that cater to different peoples preferences and tastes. So as long as their's alternatives out there let the people that want it have their string bikini elves and pant-less loli catgirls.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

image snipped

not every game has this problem ... just sayin

You're joking, right? She's wearing metal stockings and suspenders :/

This sort of thing is more appropriate:

image snipped

not every game has this problem ... just sayin

Oh yeah, metal thigh-highs, open sided tops, no pants and almost visible underwear just screams "ready for combat" to me.

but she not exactly but neked ether, hell she's more covered then anything i've seen outa WoW (not that i dress my characters like skanks anyway, yes, that one is mine)

also, where the hell are you seeing suspenders? if anything they're Plate thigh highs

also, no undies are visible at all in that set, i noticed that to, upon closer inspection she is in short shorts unless you wanna get on my for the times I'm not waring armor at all [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb8AqV1BKpI][/quote]The point is she very obviously isn't dressed appropriately. You don't wear thigh high boots, sideless shirts and short shorts into combat. It's very clearly designed to be sexy and THAT'S the problem. If you want good gear, you gotta look like a stripper dressing up for a kinky customer. You don't have the option to wear the gear with those stats and look like an actual warrior.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Honestly I don't see the problem here, if Girls don't like this kinda fantasy rpg, they can go play fable 2 where you can wear loads of clothes. This is obviously a rpg aimed at dudes (I mean boob jiggle physics!), so you have got to expect this sort of thing.
...
People can complain about loads of stuff developers do but the bottom line is they do a lot of it to sell their Games. In short BOOBS SELL GAMES.

I have no idea what sort of wretched, neckbearded creature actually buys games because they have tits in them. I mean, seriously, if you really must look at pictures of boobs while you play vidya gaems, the internet is full of that stuff. Bonus: you don't have to see the creepy pedo shit bluehole put into their game to pander to a different demographic.

Whether you like it or not mate Games with sex appeal sell take Bayonetta for example, do you think that Game became talked about because it had great combat?

Also a great example of boobs selling fantasy is the guild war games cover art.
http://www.gamersbin.com/game-wallpapers-f137/cover-art-guild-wars-eye-north-%5Bgw-en%5D-wallpaper-cover-art-wallpaper-24169/
Do you really there is another reason her tits are so big, other than to draw the eye and sell the Game?

Now, nowhere in my post did I imply that the gaming community is absent of wretched neckbearded creatures that see this sort of thing as a selling point. It's just that I don't understand why they have that preference in the first place.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Yeah I don't really like it, but I'm not going to complain about it. It's kind of a matter of self entitlement... gamers have a lot of different tastes, and while I like boobies as much as the next guy I'm not a fan of the cartoon style and don't like games trying to get my attention by shameless pandering to my gender. On the other hand, there are people that do like that stuff, even loli's as bad as it is. So rather than try to make every game conform to your tastes, or at least to a sort of mass common collective, what you need is a diverse variety of games that cater to different peoples preferences and tastes. So as long as their's alternatives out there let the people that want it have their string bikini elves and pant-less loli catgirls.

So now it's "entitled" to not want pedo shit in vidya gaems?

 

[A Weakgeek]

Actually I find the male characters just as sexualized as the female ones.

 

[AppleShrapnel]

I thought this topic fell by the wayside ten years ago... slow news day, Shamus?

I feel it should be mentioned that the screenshots of the Elin presented earlier aren't accurate to what is seen in the US release; believe it or not, they were somewhat censored. Their tummies are now covered and they all wear hotpants instead of smexy panties... I was disappointed with that, as was the vast majority of Tera's playerbase. Some shielding themselves with the "censorship is bad" or "compromising original assets is an insult to the Korean artists" argument... but as for me, I just wanted scantily-clad loli cat/fox/rabbit girls. /:3

Anyhoo, if excessive skin and jiggle physics are enough to scare you away from a game with fun gameplay mechanics... well... more power to ya. As a blatant perv, I just don't understand prudes like you. XD (this isn't directed at anyone in particular, this is just a general "you")

As to the topic on the whole, I see little reason for this to be brought up, nor do I think it warrants an actual discussion. Different games have implemented different means to address the issue (in various ways), and Korean-developed games will continue to sexualize and objectify both male and female characters- that's just the way it is. Revisiting this old hot-topic after such a long span will solicit more opinions, sure, but it's utterly pointless to speculate on "solutions" or trying to "fix" something that isn't really broken... that's how I see it anyway. 9_9

@Kahunaburger: Dude, lay off the rage, man. It's unbecoming... XD

But to answer your burning question; people like me love having skin and overall smexy-ness in games because that means if we get switched on while playing, we don't have to alt+tab or exit the game and go to the internet to complete the process. It's like multitasking. And multitasking in almost any form feels pretty awesome.

 

[chadachada123]

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

I do think that there's an argument to be made about having children in MMOs, though. I think that the outfits go a little bit far (well, they could at least wear a skirt or something), but I, personally, would pick a child avatar in a fighting game over an adult one because it feels badass. I think that this can be achieved without trying to sexualize the characters.

Case in point: In Ninety-Nine Nights, one of the characters is a twelve-year old sorceress that can summon giant tidal waves that kill basically everything, and the game doesn't sexualize her despite giving her a "normal fantasy"-type outfit.

Spoiler

I for one would love to play as a loli-fox, because it'd be hilarious to beat other people while playing as one. That said, I agree that the outfits need a redesign to not sexulize the foxes.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I feel it should be mentioned that the screenshots of the Elin presented earlier aren't accurate to what is seen in the US release; believe it or not, they were somewhat censored. Their tummies are now covered and they all wear hotpants instead of smexy panties... I was disappointed with that, as was the vast majority of Tera's playerbase. Some shielding themselves with the "censorship is bad" or "compromising original assets is an insult to the Korean artists" argument... but as for me, I just wanted scantily-clad loli cat/fox/rabbit girls. /:3

...I don't know what to say, besides "reported." This is literally the worst thing I have seen posted on the Escapist. Take a bow, man.

@Kahunaburger: Dude, lay off the rage, man. It's unbecoming... XD

It's okay to be angry at pedophilia. That's the normal human reaction.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Case in point: In Ninety-Nine Nights, one of the characters is a twelve-year old sorceress that can summon giant tidal waves that kill basically everything, and the game doesn't sexualize her despite giving her a "normal fantasy"-type outfit.

Spoiler

I think that's still pretty problematic, albeit much less so than the outright pedo shit in Tera.

 

[Taunta]

I thought this topic fell by the wayside ten years ago... slow news day, Shamus?

I feel it should be mentioned that the screenshots of the Elin presented earlier aren't accurate to what is seen in the US release; believe it or not, they were somewhat censored. Their tummies are now covered and they all wear hotpants instead of smexy panties... I was disappointed with that, as was the vast majority of Tera's playerbase. Some shielding themselves with the "censorship is bad" or "compromising original assets is an insult to the Korean artists" argument... but as for me, I just wanted scantily-clad loli cat/fox/rabbit girls. /:3

Anyhoo, if excessive skin and jiggle physics are enough to scare you away from a game with fun gameplay mechanics... well... more power to ya. As a blatant perv, I just don't understand prudes like you. XD (this isn't directed at anyone in particular, this is just a general "you")

As to the topic on the whole, I see little reason for this to be brought up, nor do I think it warrants an actual discussion. Different games have implemented different means to address the issue (in various ways), and Korean-developed games will continue to sexualize and objectify both male and female characters- that's just the way it is. Revisiting this old hot-topic after such a long span will solicit more opinions, sure, but it's utterly pointless to speculate on "solutions" or trying to "fix" something that isn't really broken... that's how I see it anyway. 9_9

@Kahunaburger: Dude, lay off the rage, man. It's unbecoming... XD

But to answer your burning question; people like me love having skin and overall smexy-ness in games because that means if we get switched on while playing, we don't have to alt+tab or exit the game and go to the internet to complete the process. It's like multitasking. And multitasking in almost any form feels pretty awesome.

You're missing the point. No one ever said remove all sexy armor from games period. The problem is that a lot of times that is the only option for women. I don't always want to play slutty characters. Maybe I want to play a no-nonsense tank character. On the other hand, there are very few options to play a slutty man character either. That's the point. There's no choice.

What if I wanted to multitask because I got turned on by someone's character dressed up like a Chippendale? Too bad, I can't.

Anyways, "that's just the way it is" is not a good excuse when addressing these kinds of things. You only see it as "not broken" because the system is in a place that currently favors you. Now you know what male privilege is.

 

[minimacker]

How about an MMO where you wear the same armour with both genders? Don a suit of chainmail, get a suit of chainmail for both the male and female. BUT THAT'S JUST PREPOSTEROUS! MOAR BIKINIS. MOAR THONGS.

 

[chadachada123]

How about an MMO where you wear the same armour with both genders? Don a suit of chainmail, get a suit of chainmail for both the male and female. BUT THAT'S JUST PREPOSTEROUS! MOAR BIKINIS. MOAR THONGS.

Dark Souls does this, albeit while not being an MMO. It does a great job for a Japanese RPG, though.

 

[Lunar Templar]

The point is she very obviously isn't dressed appropriately. You don't wear thigh high boots, sideless shirts and short shorts into combat. It's very clearly designed to be sexy and THAT'S the problem. If you want good gear, you gotta look like a stripper dressing up for a kinky customer. You don't have the option to wear the gear with those stats and look like an actual warrior.

and ... ? its still a far cry better then most females armor out there (and where this side less shirt BS you keep going on about? unless your talking about the red lizard man hide around her sides). and its not that sexy a set compared to her Shining Will set, Chiulin (the set from the pick) and the next set up, Silent Quemielle are some of her more conservative sets, actually most her sets have a pretty good balance of form and function (long as she's not waring the stuff meant for the mage, some of that's kinda trashy...)

No, she's not naked. Nakedness is not the point. The point is she's wearing "armour" that has clearly been designed with sex appeal as the primary goal. That's what we're complaining about. If I'm playing a female tank, I want her to look as tough and solid (bulky, even) as her male counterparts. Elegance and sexiness are not at the forefront of a lot of women's minds in this situation, contrary to popular belief.

so? when did 'sex appeal' for any thing suddenly become a bad thing? i mean sure, the plate mail bikini is face palm worthy, but you seirusly putting this set on par with that? just cause there's a little bit of leg showing? personally i think this whole argument is largely stupid, whining about realistic armor is largely pointless since 99% of the time it's all based on the armor's STATS not how much is covered in terms of protection. i will concede 'half naked elves' as a problem though, elves aren't that interesting to look at, but that's getting into other things

also, 'Fiona' isn't a tank. Vin doesn't have 'classes' like that (or a real threat table, which sucks some times x.x)