340 réponses à ce sujet

[Bob from Accounting]

You should have just said so in the beginning. We could have avoided all this.

[Kimarous]

...meanwhile, on-topic:

 

I'm male and I've never had any issue playing male or female. It's hard to say I even have a preference on the matter. Most initial playthroughs of mine are male, and usually designed as close to my actual appearance as possible, but sometimes I play a female character for any number of reasons. Admittedly, it often boils down to aesthetics - either for something appealing to look through the playthrough, but also sometimes due to abhorring the male options. Yes, there have been playthroughs where I've played females purely because the males looked too ugly/stupid for my liking. I mean, can you blame me playing a fem Night Elf Druid when THIS is the alternative? o_O

 

The majority of the time, regardless of my choice of in-game gender... the actual GENDER part very rarely factors into things. My Light Side fem!Revan was more "Light Side" than "fem", and while there were some cute interactions with Carth, it ultimately just meant "I'm playing Light Side Revan and she just happens to be a lady." It was a very strange experience when I was playing FemShep in Mass Effect and how much of a bond I formed with Kaiden. As male Shepard, he just seemed bland and expendable, and I had intended for my FemShep run to be Sentinel + Liaramance; from the start, Kaiden was pegged as "least important member of the team." Over the course of playing, however, I formed an emotional bond with Kaiden that I NEVER expected - from a story or personal perspective - and I felt really bad about my original intentions and didn't feel like I could go through with them. Never did finish that run.

[Direwolf0294]

Jumping on the talk of female appearance and armour, it's always bothered me that even if female versions of armour actually cover them and don't have cleavage windows and the like, it still tends to be perfectly sculptured around their breasts. That's one of the things I really like about the Souls series (and I'm not really a Souls fan), the armour for females looks fully practical with no needlessly exposed bits of skin or perfectly fitted around their frame as though it was painted on. 

 

Re: Vivienne; I don't care if she wants to wear loose fitting, exposing robes while lounging around in Orlais, but you come adventuring with me you're putting on some damn pants and at least a lightly armoured shirt that protects your chest and stomach. Same for Varric. I don't care what gender you are; you come adventuring with me, you come prepared.

 

I really hope practical clothing is an option for Vivienne.

[Abelas Forever!]

That's part of the problem, men in games are portrayed as "thieves and brute warriors" as well as physically weak scientists, rich old men, dashing pirates, chubby shop owners, heroic space marines, etc...why are women restricted to only being portrayed as a "feminine figure and silhouette" in most games no matter who they are, what they like, what they believe in, etc...Why is the woman who is supposedly a battle hardened and experienced warrior wearing a metal bikini that doesn't protect her in the slightest while the male equivalent is wearing full armor and helmet that makes sense and protects him? Why is the male scientist someone with average or below looks and again, practical attire but the female scientist looks like a playboy bunny version of a scientist (complete with mini skirt and blouse unbuttoned to her navel)with glasses on? Why does the male always get something that showcases his personality and is effective for his profession yet the female is shown as nothing more than a themed pair of boobs?

 

This is a problem. This is something that prevents men and women alike from identifying with female characters.

When I see those kinds of  female characters who wear almost no clothes I get the feeling that those games are targeted to male audience. Because majority of video game players are male and I think that men want to see women in mini skirts or wearing other revealing clothes. This is just a guess because I'm a woman. I don't know for sure. So I treat those games as some kind of male fantasy. I don't see any bad in that because fantasy is a fantasy. I wouldn't buy those kinds of games because I don't like to play as character who is some kind of sex object. That's why I would like to see more normal and stronger  women in games. And one reason why I like so much about BioWare's games is that I can play as a strong woman in them. I can be heroine.

 

I think that the clothing problem could be solved in RPGs if you could choose the companion armor and how much it covers without affecting the stats. That way I could put more clothes on women (I would have wanted to put more clothes on Isabella in DA2) and men who would like to see women in lesser clothing would be able to do it.

[Kimarous]

That's one of the things I really like about the Souls series (and I'm not really a Souls fan), the armour for females looks fully practical with no needlessly exposed bits of skin or perfectly fitted around their frame as though it was painted on. 

 

Err... care to clarify what you mean by "Souls series"? First thing to come to mind was the Soul Edge / Soul Calibur series (typically just called the "Soul" series) and... well, Hilde is kinda the exception. So either you're talking about something different or some sarcasm flew WAY over my head. o_o

[Hanako Ikezawa]

I find it acceptable during the occasions where that is part of the character though. The best example of this is Cortana from the Halo franchise. She chose the avatar of a nude woman(though hid the naughty bits) to gain an advantage on any human, male or female, who talks to her. If they are distracted for even a brief moment, that gives her enough time, being an AI, to gain control of the entire discussion. 

[Rusty Sandusky]

Err... care to clarify what you mean by "Souls series"? First thing to come to mind was the Soul Edge / Soul Calibur series (typically just called the "Soul" series) and... well, Hilde is kinda the exception. So either you're talking about something different or some sarcasm flew WAY over my head. o_o

Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II.

[Bob from Accounting]

Huh. That's kinda weird, but whatever.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

Huh. That's kinda weird, but whatever.

What is?

 

Also, offtopic: Nice Jack McCoy avatar.

[Topsider]

Re: Vivienne; I don't care if she wants to wear loose fitting, exposing robes while lounging around in Orlais, but you come adventuring with me you're putting on some damn pants and at least a lightly armoured shirt that protects your chest and stomach. Same for Varric. I don't care what gender you are; you come adventuring with me, you come prepared.

 

I really hope practical clothing is an option for Vivienne.

 

Her robes are practical clothing for Vivienne. It shows her status and how much she considers herself above the common rabble.

 

Pants and armored shirts? Haha, she wouldn't be seen dead in those. I hope the PC gets a fireball in the face if you try to change them!

[Bob from Accounting]

Thank you. And just the thing about Cortana.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

Thank you. And just the thing about Cortana.

You're welcome.

 

And yeah, just a fun fact for any Halo player in here. I forget which book she says it in, though. 

[Vapaa]

Her robes are practical clothing for Vivienne. It shows her status and how much she considers herself above the common rabble.

 

Pants and armored shirts? Haha, she wouldn't be seen dead in those. I hope the PC gets a fireball in the face if you try to change them!

 

Like I mentioned, her outfit does contain some armor.

 

And she does wear pants.

[Hanako Ikezawa]

Jumping on the talk of female appearance and armour, it's always bothered me that even if female versions of armour actually cover them and don't have cleavage windows and the like, it still tends to be perfectly sculptured around their breasts. That's one of the things I really like about the Souls series (and I'm not really a Souls fan), the armour for females looks fully practical with no needlessly exposed bits of skin or perfectly fitted around their frame as though it was painted on. 

 

Re: Vivienne; I don't care if she wants to wear loose fitting, exposing robes while lounging around in Orlais, but you come adventuring with me you're putting on some damn pants and at least a lightly armoured shirt that protects your chest and stomach. Same for Varric. I don't care what gender you are; you come adventuring with me, you come prepared.

 

I really hope practical clothing is an option for Vivienne.

We've seen pictures of Varric wearing a breastplate over his chest hair, so there's no reason to think the same can't be done to Vivienne.

[Tayah]

Viv will wear armour just so long as it is covered in 'fashionable' (and expensive) materials in a style that suits her Orlesian sensibilities.

 

Meaning you'll never be able to tell whether she's actually wearing armour or not but as a player of 'the game' that's probably just how she prefers it.

 

Note: Allan confirmed she wears armour earlier in the thread the rest is my speculation of her character from what's been revealed so far YMMV 

[Topsider]

Like I mentioned, her outfit does contain some armor.

 

And she does wear pants.

 Yeah, but not the style of pants that "adventurers" would wear.

[Vapaa]

 Yeah, but not the style of pants that "adventurers" would wear.

 

At least she not going bare-legged like Isabella

[grumpymooselion]

I think the reasoning behind some of their design decisions is flawed, yes. But on the whole, they do pretty well.

 

They may think that "Isabela needs no pants", but I doubt any member of Bioware staff has ever been stabbed in the thigh.

 

As for "appreciating beauty", I firmly believe that women, and people generally, can be beautiful without being degraded.

 

Let's ignore for a second that armor is available as a random drops, or at least easily bought, in 'most' RPGs I'm familiar with and as ask why someone might not wear armor instead. In ages where armor was available there were people in all manner of parts of the world that did not. Some because they were more primitive. Some because their status prevented it somehow. Some that did get to wear armor were given less protective armor than others. Some wore no armor at all.

 

I'm not really defending Isabela's lack of pants, more, I'm asking, within the context of the character, "What does she have against pants that might make her refuse to wear them?" Perhaps a bad experience with pants as a child, it may well be a pair of trousers jumped out of a dark alley and murdered her parents. You never know.

[XxPrincess(x)ThreatxX]

When it comes to female armour in the DA series, i never thought it was as sexulised as some other games although the female dalish armour was abit iffy with the exposed skin while the male version is covered up.

[DRTJR]

Personally I play dude 80% of the time because I usually make the characters some kind of aspect of my personality.

[Topsider]

When it comes to female armour in the DA series, i never thought it was as sexulised as some other games although the female dalish armour was abit iffy with the exposed skin while the male version is covered up.

 

The male version still had the skirt. So there was some exposed skin... and I don't think its "armor" anyway - more like hunting attire. Maybe the Dalish guys should go topless? Showing off their finely toned physique. You know, in the interests of equality?

[Gwydden]

The male version still had the skirt. So there was some exposed skin... and I don't think its "armor" anyway - more like hunting attire. Maybe the Dalish guys should go topless? Showing off their finely toned physique. You know, in the interests of equality?

Seems fair, but only if the elves' new design can convince me that they are actually capable of surviving in the wild. Or that they live in the wild at all.

[PSUHammer]

The reasoning is that people prefer fiction with 'beautiful' characters in it. I have no problem whatsoever with fiction about 'ugly' characters, but the fact is that Western media has spent over a century telling people that they should be repulsed by certain aspects of physical appearance, and now the result is that characters that display those characteristics simply do not attract audiences, because nobody wants to look at them.

 

 

Just want to point out that this is not a "Western Media" phenomenon (although they participate, gleefully, as do all marketing firms).  Focusing on beauty in art or marketing has permeated through most cultures in history.  Although, the definition of "beauty" has changed over time depending on the culture.

[Jigglypuff]

It all comes down to preference really, I mean it's fun to try all cause of the storylines.

I would like to play a fairy though, hopefully bioware will consider if i do a 10 page petition.

[Mockingword]

Just want to point out that this is not a "Western Media" phenomenon (although they participate, gleefully, as do all marketing firms).  Focusing on beauty in art or marketing has permeated through most cultures in history.  Although, the definition of "beauty" has changed over time depending on the culture.

Right, but since Hollywood pretty much sets the standard all over the world, now, I don't really see the point in pretending like any other culture has anything to do with current societal ideas about beauty.

 

I also wanted to clarify, since Bob wasn't going to, that we weren't talking about some magical, objective 'beauty' standard (which doesn't exist), but are actually operating from a culturally biased perspective.