Not to mention that those ain’t even boots, it looks like just attached heels. There’s nothing there that suggests to me that those are full shoes and not just some bits strapped onto her suit like some sort of bizarre addition.
I won’t pretend that the excessive T&A in some games don’t irk me at times, but it does make me all the more appreciative when female armor in video games aim to be a bit more classy.
These are some of the sexiest sets I could find. They’re sexy because they’re badass, and show a female game character doesn’t need an exposed thong to kick some serious ass. I mean, she can wear whatever she wants to kick ass, but we all know we don’t always have a choice, and you can’t deny it isn’t as practical.
The one thing I love about the Bioware RPG operas is you you can play the exact same character as a male or female. Despite how monotonous DAII’s environments and questline was, I enjoyed the game (to an extent). Female Hawke armor is exactly the same as the male Hawke armor, so there’s no debate as to whether they over-sexualized fem-Hawke. Also it’s sexy as hell – look at that badass armored-claw!
I’m a big fan of the armor sets in Diablo III altogether; they really touched down on the personality of each class. The Monk has to be one of the most durable classes in the game, and their armor may be the most elegant. Again, the armor seems practical, doesn’t stray too far from the male version by adding extra boobage, and even looks comfortable!
The only other time you see Aela’s armor in a non-modded game of Skyrim is on any female draugr crawling around in acient tombs peppered around the map. It’s got this amazingly ancient style to it, and I love how she finishes the set off with some gritty warpaint. I always wondered how she stays warm on cold nights in Skyrim, but if you become a member of the Companions, you’ll find out.
I don’t think female dwarves get enough recognition as to just how unbelievably badass they are. They’re generally the lowest played races in most MMO’s, but can rock that heavy armor just as well as a male dwarf. I think the only reason I’d generally play a male dwarf over a female, is females don’t have beards. Slap a fancy, glittery beard on a fem-dwarf, and I’m good to go. High-level Ironbreaker gear in particular is so intricate and decorated, there’s no denying she looks freakin’ fabulous.
I know, I know, I love these guys. The unique thing about their cultural armor, is it’s a PART of them. There’s something so whimsical about sprouting your own armor…I had a hard time picking just one type to show off, so here’s a medley! I know some in the picture are male butwhatchugonnado?
Photo reply is on :p. What are your favourites?
I made it myself! Components include the hearts of my defeated foes!
– wincenworks
Not particularly refined design-wise, but I have just sheer appreciation for complete gender-neutrality of this armor.
Recently, a friend sent me this image. It had been passed on by her boyfriend; it had reminded him of me. One might expect that connection to fill me with satisfaction, that I, a game designer and writer, am instantly associated with forward thinking and feminist ideals. Instead, I felt humiliated.
This is a great article that does a good job of explaining exactly why arguments excusing ”sexy armor” are invalid and altogether ridiculous.
This awesome article not only thoroughly explains why there’s no way to logically justify sexualization of female characters in video games, but also highlights the struggles that women in the industry go through:
The thing is, in this industry, you don’t want to be “that girl.” The world has communicated very thoroughly, with Anita Sarkeesian’s death threats, with so many comments on Kotaku, and with comments in the hallways of the workplace and the podiums of conventions, that being “that girl” is bad. Real bad. Potentially end of career bad.
But it’s not just dangerous for potential ramifications on career trajectory. There’s also a social component of how “that girl” is insufferable, annoying, and should be punishable by shaming.
Many female game designers, anonymously and publicly alike, confess how they have to deal with sexist standards of the industry, just so they can keep their jobs. It’s a legit problem that men, especially the ones chanting “sex sells!” or “it’s intended for male gamers!”, are either blissfully unaware of or willfully ignorant (my bets are on the latter option, though).
Please guys, read the whole thing.
~Ozzie
People are often quick to dismiss arguments against the conventional wisdom that “sex sells” as “politically correct” idealism. But one of the most compelling argument against the slogan comes from the other side of the political spectrum.
David Ogilvy was one of, if not The great iconic Ad Men of the 1960’s. Unsurprisingly he was deeply invested in the idea of gender roles and claimed “I am less offended by obscenity than by tasteless typography, banal photographs, clumsy copy, and cheap jingles”. He also (literally) wrote the book on how to create effective advertising and measure the effectiveness of your advertising.
He was, amazingly, admantly against introducing sex to sell any product that wasn’t inherently sexual in itself for one simple reason:
All his research and experience in advertising told him it would not work.
What did Ogilvy very sincerely believed was the first step in creating effective advertising an massive sales? To create a high quality product.
That way all that was required was to sincerely show the customers why it was a great product and the rest would take care of itself.
So when developers distort their products (comics, books, movies, video games, etc) by cramming sexualised imagery into them with the mentality of “sex sells” so “more sex will sell even more” they are actually sabotaging their product’s reception, reputation, sales and it’s marketing campaigns.
At least according to an old white man from the 1960s who always assumed women should be house wives… and also happened to be one of the greatest thinkers in advertising.
