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Oversexualization of females in video games


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Let's talk about leather armor now.

 

I don't mind fan-servicey leather armor for roughish characters, nothing too excessive mind you. Same with Mage robes

Well, this is totally NOT skimpy. But I find it very sexy.

 

 

The_Only_Mord_Sith_To_Win_Richard_bridget_regan.jpg

 

 

 

edit: put under spoiler. too big.

Edited by DocDoomII
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This is such a non-issue. They've already shown that their armor design will be practical. Is it a problem if some females in the game wear revealing clothing?

 

According to some posts within a page of this one, it's "sexist" if a female rogue's leather armor shows a little cleavage or leg.

 

Do women in real life ever wear revealing clothing? Let's look at sports. A female fencer would not wear revealing clothing. A female gymnast? A volleyball player? Sometimes less clothing is worn for mobility's sake.

 

According to some common attitudes in similar threads, this is probably because of the influence of "male privilege" which dictates everything conform to male tastes. Or something.

 

A fighter wouldn't wear shorts and a tank top. A sorceress might wear heavy robes if it's cold. She's just as likely to wear something light or form fitting depending on her personality.

 

Can't have that. That's sexist. If it is form fitting, it's compound sexism.

 

I think as long as there's variety and practicality I'll be fine with what Obsidian goes with. I don't want to see fighters in bikini's, but I don't want everyone wearing turtlenecks either.

 

Turtlenecks can be sexist, if you are a turtle.

 

And on that note, I agree with you.

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*snipped rest of misogynist trolling*

 

Your insecurities are showing.

 

I'm actually offended that the only reasons you can come up with for other men to disagree with you and dislike ridiculous armors is because they are either prudes or disingenuous, and just trying to make good with the ladies. Not everyone is so dominated by their lizard brain as you seem to be.

 

It's really sad that some people on here keep on insisting that consistency = PC = a bad thing.

 

PC IS bad, games always suffer because of them. Insecurities? Nah, Just sick of these threads white knight, but your side keeps bringing them up. So I will keep responding. These threads should be closed/moved to another forum, but I think the mods like to see everybody trolling each other.

 

You're reaching the point were I'm starting to doubt if you're serious or just playing a caricature and trolling ...

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I am wasting precious minutes looking for such quotes, could you help?

 

Sure. Margaretha, yourself on page 21:

 

@Katrar sexism is not ok and as long as RPGs are sexist, there is a problem and "the people" will keep arguing against it. And sexist people will keep telling them to shut up.

 

See, RPG's are inherently sexist, and a war must be waged to stop this sexism. I guess.

Edited by Katrar
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You are guessing wrong. They are sexist as "a fact", not inherently (and so on for each of your assertions).

 

I can understand the topic of sexism in general, in videogames more particularly, and more so in CRPGs is not something you have heavily thought about. Your opinions and your misinterpretations are really bold, however.

 

[edit] I do not think most of you are intentionally trolling. Thinking that is reassuring but false. Many of you are just comfortably on the strong side of a social inequality, and never had many occasions to think about the damages you (your line of thinking) cause.

Edited by Margaretha
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[edit] I do not think most of you are intentionally trolling. Thinking that is reassuring but false. Many of you are just comfortably on the strong side of a social inequality, and never had many occasions to think about the damages you (your line of thinking) cause.

 

I guess I just didn't want to face the thought of them not intentionally trolling.

 

RxcdT.jpg

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You are guessing wrong. They are sexist as "a fact", not inherently (and so on for each of your assertions).

 

I can understand the topic of sexism in general, in videogames more particularly, and more so in CRPGs is not something you have heavily thought about. Your opinions and your misinterpretations are really bold, however.

 

[edit] I do not think most of you are intentionally trolling. Thinking that is reassuring but false. Many of you are just comfortably on the strong side of a social inequality, and never had many occasions to think about the damages you (your line of thinking) cause.

 

What side of social inequality am I on? Let's see... if my female Paladin is going toe to toe with an ogre, I'd like her to be in well fitted, fully protective plate or mail armor. But I don't mind if my rogue, slinging arrows from the back row, wants to show a bit of cleavage. That's sexist? Let's say I have a female monk, neck to ankle covered in fluid, black (stealth supporting) linen. Doesn't even show any ankle, thanks to those boots. That's fine? But my female elven mage, who sits back and tosses fireballs, not minding a mage robe that might possibly show a thigh, that's sexist? See, your interpretation of sexism - if its the same as that displayed by others in these threads - is overbroad and a caricature on its own merits. Sexism is a prejudicial attitude, sexism is NOT the availability of fantasy armor that doesn't meet the Taliban's strict moral codes.

 

I haven't seen much sexism here, in fact I've seen a lot of people saying they hope for range and choice. Not minding the risque DOES NOT EQUAL SEXISM.

 

[Edit] You know, I'm actually a bit pissed that you felt comfortable pulling this sexism card. It's unfounded by the content of this thread, irresponsible and inflammatory.

Edited by Katrar
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You are guessing wrong. They are sexist as "a fact", not inherently (and so on for each of your assertions).

 

I can understand the topic of sexism in general, in videogames more particularly, and more so in CRPGs is not something you have heavily thought about. Your opinions and your misinterpretations are really bold, however.

 

[edit] I do not think most of you are intentionally trolling. Thinking that is reassuring but false. Many of you are just comfortably on the strong side of a social inequality, and never had many occasions to think about the damages you (your line of thinking) cause.

 

Our evil patriarchial privilege is showing through, by not wanting every character in a video game to be christian wholesome and every female character a shining example for feminism.

 

It has to be purged by embedding feminist ideals deep within the game, making lots of characters gender neutral and making every female a woman's woman while the males can assume the position of slave driver, racist NPC #1, 2, 3 and preferably every single bad guy to reveal and uncover the viciousness of the patriarchal regime oppressing all of womynkind, then it shall change the world and elevate all of womynhood to their rightful place of ruling class of this world and everything will be great.

 

pm7j9.png

Edited by Furiku
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The first time I played Baldurs Gate(II) I didn't realize that my PC was running around in a thong. I thought she had pink legs to show that she was a girl. It wasn't until I put that armour on Anomen that I wondered why his legs were shiny instead of blue (what! I was still learning stuff!). So I played switch the armour. On my pc, both armours had pink legs. On Anomen, he had shiny legs.... Facepalm. I thought it all terribly funny, and kept on playing, I didn't worry about it until I hit the desert in ToB. All that sand bothered me. ^^

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Let's talk about leather armor now.

 

I don't mind fan-servicey leather armor for roughish characters, nothing too excessive mind you. Same with Mage robes

Well, this is totally NOT skimpy. But I find it very sexy.

 

 

The_Only_Mord_Sith_To_Win_Richard_bridget_regan.jpg

 

 

 

edit: put under spoiler. too big.

this made me sad, reminded me how much they mutilated the book.

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Let's talk about leather armor now.

 

I don't mind fan-servicey leather armor for roughish characters, nothing too excessive mind you. Same with Mage robes

Well, this is totally NOT skimpy. But I find it very sexy.

 

 

The_Only_Mord_Sith_To_Win_Richard_bridget_regan.jpg

 

 

 

edit: put under spoiler. too big.

this made me sad, reminded me how much they mutilated the book.

Well, I didn't say I liked the TV series...

Still I'm sorry to have brought back such bad memories!

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4dreye_20120328_drew.jpg

Photorealistic skulls. Also I would replace text under first 2 ladies with "eastern fanservice" and "western fanservice"

 

My opinion remains unchanged. I think boobarmor looks ****ing retarded, but I don't have any problem with gender unequal societies appearing in game, nor I do have with skimpy/sexy clothes if there is a reason for that(prostitutes/succubs/one character trying to gain attention of other character/etc)

Edited by Chrząszczyrzewoszyczanin
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Nice article here:

 

http://www.wizards.c...4dreye/20120328

 

4dreye_20120328_drew.jpg

 

Article summary/precis:

 

"Armor should look appropriate to the culture, environment, materials available, and technology, first and foremost. If the armor doesn't pass that test, then it doesn't matter whether it is being worn by a man or a woman.

In other words, a male knight in full battle dress, wading through the desert sands, is just about as silly as a female fighter, in a chainmail bikini, forging through the frozen wastes of the Iceland Dale".

 

Edit: In the above "photo realism" example I would justify that character as a succubus in hell with supernatural strength intent on using any means to subdue/eviscerate a (hetro male or otherwise) character. Does that fit the context/intent/story of the character?. So would put forward the question of whether a succubus is the oversexualization of a female, or does she/it have a serious place in a fantasy game?.

 

The problem with that article is that the writer spend the entirety of it talking about what sort of armor is appropriate, stating that his stance is 'armor should look appropriate to the culture, environment, materials available, and technology, first and foremost.' Then at the end he gives 2 / 3 examples in entertainment that do not at all abide by this rule, and fails to say a single word about why.

 

What separates the manga, fantastic, and photorealistic examples in the portraits above isn't 'culture, environment, materials available, and technology,' but artistic style. Sure, we're able to conceive of a culture and environment in which female warriors go into battle with their shoulders, midriffs, and thighs exposed, but the result is utterly frivolous - a sort of building the world to match the style - and does not describe why those characters are drawn the way they are. No manga / comic book artist ever designed armor of that form thinking that there is a culture, environment, etc. in which it is appropriate. Rather, they designed it because that's the style of art they chose to go with. An example of 'female armor' from the most popular Japanese animations of recent times shows that the style has not slowed down whatsoever:

 

6186-1152874086.png

 

Artists do this not because they are sexist, but because it sells. It sells not because it is sexist, but because it satisfies a certain artistic sensibility - the one possessed by the target market / audience. Style does not evolve independently of the connoisseur. Rather, it is the product of repeated experimentation by artists to produce what their target audiences enjoy. Of course, not all audiences enjoy the same thing. That's why there are genres of style. 'Photorealistic' is a genre of style, which for certain works - ie historical works that try to be 'accurate' to the period - is a requirement. For works of fantasy, it is a choice, and the criteria for making that choice depends on the target audience.

 

Thus, what is appropriate armor design is not, first and foremost, a question of 'culture, environment, material, and technology.' By stating that it is, you have in fact already answered, a priori, the first and foremost question, which is the artistic style of the work. A 'photorealistic' style requires that the armor design matches the culture, environment, material, and technology. A 'fantastic' / 'rule of cool' style does not. The selection of artistic style has profound impact on the overall tone of the game and how players experience it. In Borderlands 2, for example, the cartoonish style of the game is instrumental to creating the game's Monty Python mix of extreme graphic violence and absurdist humor. At the same time, Call of Duty's 'photorealistic' style is necessary to the game's goal of emulating combat IRL.

 

Armor design is not a standalone question. First you have to decide the tone of the game. Then you have to decide an artistic style that furnishes said tone. The choice of armor design is straight forward after you've decided the first two criteria.

Edited by Azarkon
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There are doors

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I'll just leave it here.

PHP479A59FBF0A62.jpg

Azmodan?

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One recent survey by a Washington-based researcher concluded that Americans were far more willing to participate in cannibalism then they have in the past hundred years. America is a nation that will not suffer abominations lightly.

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I'm going to write something innovative but whoah, 23 pages on boobplates? What the hell? Is this really a subject that need to be studied deeply when at the end of the day, it comes to "boobplates = bad", "u no fun" and "oh no not again :h2g2:".

 

Come on people, we're fighting over pixels here. It won't be a photorealistic game and won't have the technology to show the differences between plates and boobplates. Who the ****amamie care?

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