Why does gender only have to be asthetic?

[Vault101]

well I'll answer the question right now

time and rescources of coarse

anyway this is NOT inspired by brink or anythign else like that, no its somthing else Ive been thinking of

now I know in most games that offer double genders there are differences, and usually its not changed where gender doesnt matter, whichis good I guess, equality and all that

anyway I was thinking about a game like fallout New vegas, what if the gener difference went a little deeper?

for example, females...just all round are weaker, less strength and they will never be strong as males

and people treat you differently more..a little more "realisticly" (note the comma's)

for example, you simply couldn't go near the powder gangers without them trying to capture and...well rape you, mabye if you have a high enough speech skill you can convince them otherwise and/or do the quests for them

and the legion? forget about it, you cant ally with them (I dont know how it works in NV I havnt tried that)

you attacked more in freeside, it would be harder to talk serious buisness with the casino bosses and other stuff like that

the reason Ive been thinking this is because I guess it could add another tactial way of doing things, and change the experience, I know that the fallout universe is pretty much eaqual opertunity for obvious reasons, But I dont know, mabye another universe?

anyway Im not saying theres anything wrong with how its done now, its just a thourght

 

[veloper]

The women would complain about that.

It's been done before, but mostly with just a few ability points added and substracted elsewhere. Example: the eder scrolls series.

 

[The Apothecarry]

Someone somewhere will play the sexism card. Some games like Mount & Blade: Warband take gender into consideration as being more than cosmetic, but for the most part is does come back to the factors of cost in time and money as you mentioned.

 

[Vault101]

Someone somewhere will play the sexism card. Some games like Mount & Blade: Warband take gender into consideration as being more than cosmetic, but for the most part is does come back to the factors of cost in time and money as you mentioned.

that is true...but Im female and I think that would be awsome, it would make it more imersive and..well not just skin deep

also It doesnt mean you cant kick ass, mabye it would make the ass kicking all the more satisfying as you would have to rely on your wit more

 

[Dense_Electric]

I would like the idea of physical size and muscle mass influencing things like strength, speed, etc., but I would have it be determined by a system in which the player can customize their character's body. Trying to decide it black-and-white by gender seems a little backwards at best, suggesting all men are the same and all women are the same. You have a good basic idea, but a flawed execution.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

You haven't noted any way in which Males will be handicapped. And that IS what you'ce suggested by the way; 3 different ways to have female characters handicapped in New Vegas. I see no benefit in limiting player choices. All quests should be open to both genders except, like, Romance sub-quests, I guess. But that already happens so...

 

[Hristo Tzonkov]

People will play the sexism card.Games usually avoid that.

There was a difference in Arcanum which makes a bit of sense.Women had more constitution whereas men had more strength making a point that men work more manual labor jobs while women are more resilient as they get sick less often.

 

[Vault101]

You haven't noted any way in which Males will be handicapped. And that IS what you'ce suggested by the way; 3 different ways to have female characters handicapped in New Vegas. I see no benefit in limiting player choices. All quests should be open to both genders except, like, Romance sub-quests, I guess. But that already happens so...

hmmm perhaps interacting with charachters, like for what ever reason some wont trust you as easyly (Makes me think of the hooker sidequest in NV)

I guess the "physical" side of things is definetly flawed but as for interacting with charachters and their reactions...yeah thats what Im getting at

 

[Danceofmasks]

I've been playing Mount and Blade: Warband, and it totally sucks to be female.
Although, being able to take offence when various lords are being jerks so you can duel them is hilarious.

 

[darth.pixie]

Because you'd limit the game for certain characters and that would be bad. They wouldn't get quests, wouldn't see locations, wouldn't talk to certain people and they'd miss out on the game.

And no one wants that, because as a gamer you'd be frustrated (and personally I'd just start killing everything...like with legion) and as a developer you'd have to add a lot of different scripts and triggers and dialogues (with VO thus more expensive) and not everyone would see your work.

 

[Pearwood]

I like how Demon's Souls did it. Not actually moving stats around because a woman who trains as a fighter is going to be just as strong as a man because she'll develop a fighting style that compensates her having less upper body strength but having gender-only armour. That also makes more sense, men and women are very differently built and armour isn't that flexible.

 

[Pistachio101]

Someone somewhere will play the sexism card. Some games like Mount & Blade: Warband take gender into consideration as being more than cosmetic, but for the most part is does come back to the factors of cost in time and money as you mentioned.

Warband was the first thing I thought of when I read OP's post. I haven't actaully gotten round to playing as female yet but it looks like it could get interesting...

OT: Its not a bad idea but it would take more resources in terms of extra dialogue options etc. And I can't imagine that extra cost would be offset by the extra sales.

 

[alittlepepper]

I got ninja'ed by the Apothecary on this one; I was going to make reference to Warband. The game does treat you a lot different when you play as a female character; mine is easily one of the deadliest people in my little microcosm of Calradia, and I've already conquered all of Swadia, Rhodoks, and Nords, yet still none of the other factions treat me as an equal.
"You are a lady without a lord blah blah blah". All it does is annoy me though and make me go put another castle to the torch. I figure if I can't rule them diplomatically...despite all of my best possible efforts...then I'll *make* them like me.
...Anyway, tangent. I actually have never minded the differences there because it's historically accurate, but I think for something like fallout you're talking about a fantastical future that's molded on current day ideals. So while those differences the OP mentioned are probably accurate in that world, I think a lot of people (both men and women) would complain about it. Which is why I think, except in the way that Oblivion and Morrowind (and I assume the previous Elder Scrolls games) handled it, you won't find many developers willing to take those sorts of steps.

 

[Laser Priest]

We know someone would call out sexism on it.

Also, it might imbalance it or discourage someone from playing if the gender they prefer doesn't match the build they want.

 

[Woodsey]

"for example, females...just all round are weaker, less strength and they will never be strong as males"

Because people like to roleplay at the very basic level of being their own gender without being penalised for it.

 

[Indecipherable]

I like how Demon's Souls did it. Not actually moving stats around because a woman who trains as a fighter is going to be just as strong as a man because she'll develop a fighting style that compensates her having less upper body strength but having gender-only armour. That also makes more sense, men and women are very differently built and armour isn't that flexible.

I think you need to come back to reality. Men have a lot more testosterone which builds muscle. Men have significantly heavier frames. Men are stronger, more durable and physically far more dominant. Because games tend to be about this kind of thing - focussed around endurance and other physical activities - a female character in any kind of realistic setting is going to be penalised.

Just plain reality and it's not sexist to accurately depict the way the human body functions.

The idea of 'a fighting style that compensates her having less upper body strength' is utter rubbish. All forms of physical combat sports (boxing, wrestling, MMA, traditional martial arts) have weight divisions for very good reasons. Further even on equal weight, men carry more muscle than women.

 

[Pearwood]

I think you need to come back to reality. Men have a lot more testosterone which builds muscle. Men have significantly heavier frames. Men are stronger, more durable and physically far more dominant. Because games tend to be about this kind of thing - focussed around endurance and other physical activities - a female character in any kind of realistic setting is going to be penalised.

I think you're exaggerating the differences. There would be some difference but not to the point where you'd have to get into rebalancing stats. Also remember that unarmed combat rarely comes into it so talking about MMA doesn't make much sense, you can easily find a weapon that compensates for a lack of upper body strength.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I think you're exaggerating the differences. There would be some difference but not to the point where you'd have to get into rebalancing stats. Also remember that unarmed combat rarely comes into it so talking about MMA doesn't make much sense, you can easily find a weapon that compensates for a lack of upper body strength.

Most weapons are about skill rather than strength, yes.

Then again, your character is not representative of the general populace. It doesn't really matter if the average male is stronger than the average female when you are talking about people far from average.