Females and the reverse armor rule

[Midgarsormr]

Originally Posted by 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)

I've never even noticed. *Sigh*.

[Eyrie]

Removed

Everyone knows that women become stronger the less clothes they wear.

Actually that might work for males too, the greater power of manly chestmeat while wearing a nice thong and nothing else.

[Midgarsormr]

Lol that was so embarrassing to watch. It's the slop that makes people think the japanese are huge perverts.

[Disrupter]

I seem to recall the only real screenshots I saw of Lineage when it was in development were high poly count cleavage shots. That said, I just took the screenshots and never played.

[BahamutKaiser]

Japanese are huge perverts, be one with your sexuality Midgarsormr, don't be embarased. LOL

But yeah, even women expect their characters to have sexual appeal you know, Kiera Knightly was rejected from certain american womens magazines because WOMEN have a derogatory reaction to modeling women with less than a C cup.

[Taerr]

Originally Posted by BahamutKaiser

Japanese are huge perverts, be one with your sexuality Midgarsormr, don't be embarased. LOL

But yeah, even women expect their characters to have sexual appeal you know, Kiera Knightly was rejected from certain american womens magazines because WOMEN have a derogatory reaction to modeling women with less than a C cup.

omg are you seriouse? but Kiera Knightly is so hot T.T

[Kaldur]

If I want to see a sexy naked woman I'll check a real woman.
Why do you want to fantasize with a virtual creation? o.O
That's the kind of attitude that some sad virgin nerds have, that make true Gamers look like some pathetic loners, jerking off to a screen.

Armors should be armors, that's it. The Devs should be clever enough to create clothing pieces without any stats used solely for outside of battle purposes, as fashion shows, virtual Cosplay, or w/e.


@ Taerr: You must be shi*ting me man, she looks like a walking skeleton...but hey, whatever rocks your necro boat

[Disrupter]

Originally Posted by Kaldur

If I want to see a sexy naked woman I'll check a real woman.
Why do you want to fantasize with a virtual creation? o.O
That's the kind of attitude that some sad virgin nerds have, that make true Gamers look like some pathetic loners, jerking off to a screen.

Armors should be armors, that's it. The Devs should be clever enough to create clothing pieces without any stats used solely for outside of battle purposes, as fashion shows, virtual Cosplay, or w/e.


@ Taerr: You must be shi*ting me man, she looks like a walking skeleton...but hey whatever rocks your necro boat

Whoa now. I wasn't aware I was a sad virgin without my True Gamers Secret Decoder Ring. Where do I sign up for that?

My statement was merely regarding the fact it is a fantasy based title. And in said fantasy based titles, wearing metal from toes to eyelids is not necessary to imply one is strong. Its fantasy, not necessarily sexual fantasy.

Again, I could care less whether female avatars are fully clothed, half naked, or fully naked. I'm not the ESRB.

[Kaldur]

@ Disrupter:
Errmmm...where did you got the idea I was talking about your post or anyone else's? o.O (well only Taerr's lol)
Sorry you got that impression, I tend not to read beyond the 5th post in any thread around here. But hey, if you felt attacked in any way, it was not my intention. I swear I didn't even see your post before making mine lol.

[Disrupter]

Originally Posted by Kaldur

@ Disrupter:
Errmmm...where did you got the idea I was talking about your post or anyone else's? o.O (well only Taerr's lol)
Sorry you got that impression, I tend not to read beyond the 5th post in any thread around here. But hey, if you felt attacked in any way, it was not my intention. I swear I didn't even see your post before making mine lol.

Not at all.

[Mystletein]

You know, it's kind of funny. People seem to have no problems with the notion of casting spells. Killing imaginary monsters...no problem. People sprouting wings? IT'S ALL GOOD! But somehow, once we hit armor and gender issues, realism suddenly becomes important. In my opinion, it's an interesting discrepancy. For all we know, higher level armors offer better protection because they are more heavily enchanted, and metal disrupts those enchantments. As a result, there is a tradeoff between offering protection through heavy plate, or through heavy enchantments. In any case, please don't poke holes in that theory - it is simply meant to be an example of how the reverse armor rule could be explained in fantasy settings (which are clearly not based on realism).

I do agree with multiple contributors to this thread - we should be offered choices on how our characters look, and with the armor customization system, it appears that Aion will deliver on that aspect. As for equality (ie. reverse armor rule for male characters)...well, there's always the option of petitioning for skimpy male armor ;D

[Komea]

So far I havn't seen anything too ugly in any Aion screenshots. I've actually been really impressed with all of the armors on both sides. I never played lineage before, but i do remember see'ing that elf girl with nipple tassels and a thong on and thinking how horrible it looked. But every MMO has its share of ugly armors (ffxi-subligars, wow-thongs)....well except <3 Ragnarok Online <3

But I will be a very happy girl as long as the armors stay the way i've been seeing them. They are very feminine (ive seen lots of skirts and heels). Judging from this video, i can say that i'm loving all of the armors shown. None are too outrageous and all look sort of realistic.

YouTube - Aion ARMORs

[Kaey]

You know, it's kind of funny. People seem to have no problems with the notion of casting spells. Killing imaginary monsters...no problem. People sprouting wings? IT'S ALL GOOD! But somehow, once we hit armor and gender issues, realism suddenly becomes important. In my opinion, it's an interesting discrepancy. For all we know, higher level armors offer better protection because they are more heavily enchanted, and metal disrupts those enchantments. As a result, there is a tradeoff between offering protection through heavy plate, or through heavy enchantments. In any case, please don't poke holes in that theory - it is simply meant to be an example of how the reverse armor rule could be explained in fantasy settings (which are clearly not based on realism).

That is actually an extremely sufficient point. I never looked at it in that light - thanks for the post!

[Absentity]

I believe that Yame brings up an issue about respect here more than realism. Corvus brought up being able to dress similar to the "reverse armor rule," but this does not help the issue. Yame brings up the excellent point that the half-naked male appears "epic," but a half-naked female appears ... less epic, possibly due to how society has probably thought of this kind of "behavior". I have only played Guild Wars, so I haven't noticed a whole lot of skimpiness, save elementalist and assassin armors.

Currently, I'm in favor of choice for this issue. I think that it's good to hear what other people have to say about these kinds of situations and remain open-minded about them.

[Casket]

Originally Posted by Taerr

omg are you seriouse? but Kiera Knightly is so hot T.T

This is the only post I read.

First of all, you are my hero.

Secondly, Sex sells.

Thirdly, these are fantasy worlds. We don't want to see 500 pound running around because they aren't what our fantasies are made of.

Fourthly, going with the fantasy thing:

Men = Stong, Masculine, Knight in Shining Armor.
Women = Pretty, Beutiful, Damsel in Distress.