Females and the reverse armor rule

[Yame]

I just wanted to throw my opinion out there regarding this issue and maybe hear what other people have to say:

As a female player, I abhor the reverse armor rule in MMOs. I imagine most of you know what I'm talking about, but for those who don't what I am referring to it is the tendency of armor to cover less and less as it goes up in level. This of course seems to apply almost solely to female characters if it occurs at all.

This is relevant here because looking at NCsoft's previous work in this area (*cough, cough* Lineage), I see exactly what I wouldn't want in a game. Just to be clear, I'm talking about playing a character that has to fight mobs while wearing next to nothing: some high heels, a thong, fishnets and some nipple tassels. With Aion, at first I saw no reason to fear, as the female armors did not look too far from their male counterparts (although I would prefer that they looked the same, like in WoW). But I'm seeing that as higher levels open up, some more... "showy" female armors are showing up. I hope that this isn't a trend that will continue, and that Aion will choose the integrity of real armor over these sorts of overt sexuality.

At least armor graphics will be customizable in Aion, where you can choose to use the looks of a previous piece with the stats of a new piece if you don't like the looks of the new one, so this isn't a game breaker. Still though, I'd be disappointed to see Aion go on L2's path in this respect.



(BTW, just to put things into context, I'm not saying this as some prude feminist. I <3 hawt chix and I am very much used to baring my own midriff and dealing with other women baring theirs IRL, but I think that having to go into battle half-naked in an MMO ruins immersion and flat out makes no sense unless you look at it from a very sexist perspective)

[Mark]

Your rule didn't apply to my Warrior in GuildWars. Her plate armor would cover everything except for her eyes if I turned on the helmet. But I agree with you otherwise.

She was still sexy as hell, though. Armor can be unrevealing and still sexy.

[Yame]

Originally Posted by Mark

Your rule didn't apply to my Warrior in GuildWars. Her plate armor would cover everything except for her eyes if I turned on the helmet. But I agree with you otherwise.

She was still sexy as hell, though. Armor can be unrevealing and still sexy.

Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly how it should be. I always thought that the coolest armor sets in WoW were the female troll warrior and rogue sets, they looked all covered up and yet so sexy.

[BahamutKaiser]

I... dislike this as well, at least from that standpoint. I get over it easily, because er, I'm a guy, but it is really lame and fake looking. As celestial beings, there is a way you could say it works, but in all reasonability, with the armor skin customization, they should at least have an option, good options, for female characters to wear realistic armor which covers appropriately.

But with the whole armor skin customization option, the opposite should also be true, so if a player wants to wear a bikini with top level stats... well it's their character :P

[Nebel]

Agreed. It's one thing to wear some skimpy cloth, since cloth is not meant to be protective. But "heavy" armored characters should not have their whole stomach or thighs exposed in gear that is meant to protect well.

[Delthis]

Yeah, I agree as well. It does seem rather stupid for someone to go charging into battle naked (unless they are searching for a death wish ).

I also think that if they make armor less revealing, perhaps it would deter immature people from playing as well. *shrug*

[XRadium]

Dark Elves in L2, indeed...>_>;;
So far Elyos are pretty covered up, Asmo are more on the sexy side...(comparing sorceresses)
Still, armor customization will play a huge role in Aion so I'm not really concerned about this. Even though it's likely that we will see some perverts wearing barely nothing but still can play a role tank against bosses.

[LaSirene]

I thought the revealing armor was fun in most games, cept for the mage panties in WoW that got me so much harassment. Really I want to see a mix of both sexy stuff and heavy full on armor types. I don't want it to be one way or the other. I thought my female elvaan in FFXI was hot as hell in a lot of plate (Though she wasn't very curvy in the chest department). Yet I still think that the gear from L2, while on the extreme end, was sexy. But yes, L2 dark elf female gear was Ecchi Extreme. But the stuff for Kamael and Humans wasn't so bad while still being sexy.

We just need to find balance.

That and I'd like to see the picture you refer to as the revealing later gear in Aion.

PS: I'm playing Age of Conan next month. You think L2 is bad? This thing has nudity.

[Elurin]

Originally Posted by LaSirene

I thought the revealing armor was fun in most games, cept for the mage panties in WoW that got me so much harassment. Really I want to see a mix of both sexy stuff and heavy full on armor types. I don't want it to be one way or the other. I thought my female elvaan in FFXI was hot as hell in a lot of plate (Though she wasn't very curvy in the chest department). Yet I still think that the gear from L2, while on the extreme end, was sexy. But yes, L2 dark elf female gear was Ecchi Extreme. But the stuff for Kamael and Humans wasn't so bad while still being sexy.

We just need to find balance.

That and I'd like to see the picture you refer to as the revealing later gear in Aion.

PS: I'm playing Age of Conan next month. You think L2 is bad? This thing has nudity.

LOOL so funny if you were at level 80 and your armor is your nude body
'wow! defence 120! yay!'

[SoraNashimi]

PS: I'm playing Age of Conan next month. You think L2 is bad? This thing has nudity.

AoC has nudity?? >.>.... Cough.. I wonder what complaints will come from that lol

While it is true that not much armor makes that much sense lol, uhh dam what to say... Oh uhh maybe they were thinking about swiftness or about the layout of the fem body in the game. Because it wouldn't also make much sense seeing a slim Fem char wearing All Plate, unless of course she was like all bulk and buff, *shivers... It also doesn't make to much sense too, so maybe they were also taking this into consideration?

[Celestin]

Age of Conan is a bit different. It has a more survivalist feel and when you're trying to eek out a survival, going naked every once in a while is something you'll have to get used to.

But to be on topic, first off, I'm a guy and I have to say, lighten up a bit. I mean I don't approve of the thong and nipple tassel thing, but I don't see anything particularly wrong with armor that has a bit less than more. It's just eye candy. And I know that. I won't make a pass at you in game just because you're wearing a plate bikini, and even if it is objectifying, I know the differences. In real life, I'll accord you with the respect you have earned. That's right, earned. I have the respect in myself and yourself to not bend over just because you asked.

I guess, to be more accurate, I'm sick and tired of this stuff being brought up with just about every applicable game I have played, ever. It was particularly bad with Oblivion when a whole bunch of women got all ****ed that male characters tended to have more strength and endurance while female characters tended to have more wisdom and personality. I mean sure personality was pretty useless and wisdom is not as useful as endurance but all these women got all upset that the women in Oblivion were being pigeonholed as weak. It was the most ridiculous **** ever. Some guy very eloquently responded, though, with something along the lines of "what's your problem? I'm the one who should be ****ed. While your being stereotyped as intelligent and witty, charismatic and eloquent, we're being stereotyped as stupid brutes who need help putting their shoes on the right feet every morning."

-- Edit

I really don't know why the synonym for angry that starts with a 'p' and rhymes with 'hiss' has to be censored. Really makes my post look that much more angry and that much less eloquent.

[Fiend]

Not to stray too far off topic, but the discussion on having armor that doesn't really provide protection made me wonder about the limitations on the armor skin trading system. I wonder if they will make it so that you can only use the armor skin of another piece of gear of the same armor type or will we be able to apply the stats of a piece of plate gear to the look of a piece of cloth? In theory your templar could be running around in a dress and actually have maxed out tanking stats. Or an assassin that has applied the look of two polearm weapons to their two knives (crazy).

While this would allow the absolute most character gear customization, it could be really confusing in identifying opponents in mass PvP, not to mention for realism. I suppose if everyone can get past the tank in cloth look (or sorcerer in plate etc), it could just be considered further strategy in PvP...

[SoraNashimi]

"what's your problem? I'm the one who should be ****ed. While your being stereotyped as smart, witty, charismatic and intelligent, we're being stereotyped as stupid brutes who need help putting their shoes on the right feet every morning."

Lol thats like the best comment in this whole thread

[Corvus]

i dont mind the females characters running around half naked, i just wish you could do the same thing with male toons. i would totally run into battle with a plate mail thong and nipple clamps but noooo, i have to be covered from head to toe. booo!

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Corvus

i dont mind the females characters running around half naked, i just wish you could do the same thing with male toons. i would totally run into battle with a plate mail thong and nipple clamps but noooo, i have to be covered from head to toe. booo!

Seconded, man.

Seconded.