Break the Bingo – A CONTEST! (less than 4 days left! + updates)

Deadline UPDATE: The submissions must be sent till 11:59 pm CET on March 31 2015!

FAQ answer UPDATE:

  • Edasypogon commented: I saw that multiple versions of a single design were permitted, and was wondering how literally one is to design *an* armour (as opposed to ‘a few’). That is, is it intended that a *single* design checks the whole card by itself, or could I submit a few variations that cover different or event mutually exclusive squares? i.e. variant A has a full boobplate, variant B covers just enough to technically avoid being indecent, so neither gets 100% but together they tick all the boxes. 
  • Hm, your proposition meanders the rules a bit, but yes, SURE, we encourage creative solution to how self-contradicting the bingo card is!
    If you feel like using different squares on different levels of the same armor and then combine all of them in one bingo card, go for it!

Prize UPDATE: There might be additional surprise prizes, so don’t forget to enter in time!

~Ozzie

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– wincenworks

bikiniarmorbattledamage:

bikiniarmorbattledamage:

As a sendoff for the site’s and Female Armor Bingo’s anniversary, we prepared a little something for you guys: a Female Armor Bingo art contest!

We’ve been noted numerous times by our readers how tempting it is to design an “armor” so absurd that it crosses out ALL the Female Armor Bingo squares. So far no commercial work we tested the game on succeeded at that (though some came dangerously close), so how about we actually DO take this challenge?

The challenge: Design a skimpy female armor that covers every single possible point of the Female Armor Bingo.
The contestant MUST be the author of submitted art. Any type of art may be submitted, as long as its contents are clearly readable and presented as a standard web friendly file (jpeg, png, etc).
Already existing art is fine, as long as the contestant formally submits it, as per rules.

The contestants: To take part in the contest a person needs to have either tumblr account or deviantArt account, as we need legitimate way to contact the winners and track back their artwork. The contestant must either follow BABD on tumblr or BikiniArmorBeDamned group on deviantArt.
Anonymous submissions to tumblr are automatically disqualified!

The deadlines: All submissions have to enter via Bikini Armor Battle Damage’s submit box as image posts (with a “Contest entry” note in description) or to BikiniArmorBeDamned dA group’s Female Armor Bingo CONTEST folder before 31 March 2015.
The winners will be announced on bikiniarmorbattledamage 5 April 2015 (the Easter Sunday).

The prizes: 3 winners will be chosen and 3 prizes are offered. 1st place winner gets to choose the prize first, second one chooses after them, third one gets whatever prize is left. The available prizes are:

If anyone’s interested in contributing more prizes, please contact us!

Keep in mind some bingo squares are directly or indirectly contradictory (a boobplate that covers only nipples?). We’re counting on your creativity with overcoming that.
Bonus points if you manage to score both the bingo 1.0-exclusive Cameltoe and 1.1-exclusive “How does it attach?!” points!

~Ozzie

– wincenworks

Additional rules FAQ: 

  • kinsoliloquy replied: ??? why don’t we have a contest to design armor that doesn’t cross any of the bingo categories? 
  • Because that would be neither funny nor challenging. 
    We KNOW how a good female armor is supposed to look, but we don’t know yet how far the worst of female “armor” can go.
    So, as we’re all in on the joke about bikini armors being awful, why don’t we try to consciously break the bingo in the most amusing ways? 
  • teaandinanity repliedIs ‘Looks Nothing Like the Male Version’ a free space for the purposes of this contest? 
  • The choice is up to contestant: they are free to leave out the square (without getting any negative notes for that), but inclusion of a male version for comparison is definitely appreciated as additional effort. 
    Using a stock image of male armor just as a placeholder for comparison is good too. 
    Similarly for the ‘More advanced level = skimpier’ square. Depicting more than one version of the same armor counts as additional effort, but showing just one level of the armor is fine
  • Ettid commentedSince there’s ‘Looks nothing like the male version of the same outfit’, would it then be okay to find a male armour from a game/movie/cartoon/something and then design the skimpy armour based upon that?
  • Sounds okay to us. Our advice is to make the skimpy version’s design have no more than two or three elements in common with the good original (like, only the color scheme and some ornamentation), so that it’s more ridiculous and arbitrarily related to it. Just like in real games/comics! 
    It’s okay to not show male version of the submitted armor (this won’t be judged negatively, we’ll just assume male armor would look cool and protective), it’s also totally acceptable to use a stock male armor for comparison. The ideal option is to design both regular male armor and ridiculous female “equivalent” for it from scratch, but it counts as extra credit work and not necessarily required of the contestants
  • Robert J Brien commentedDon’t they need to design multiple versions? Like a Male and a lower level to get the full card? 
  • We encourage creativity in conveying the comparisons. So long as it’s clearly conveyed we’ll accept it whether it’s by multiple versions or narrative
  • NuttyNuti commentedIs it possible to send more than one entry? I have two design ideas and I can’t make up my mind with which one to use. 
  • We don’t see why not. Obviously, only one of multiple entries from the same person can win. But sure, submit as many designs as you wish
  • HystericalMellotron commented1) Is there a problem if it’s a traditional art entry?
    2)I also would like to ask if I can submit my entry as a 2~3 panel short story >_.
  • Neither is a problem! As the rules say, any type of art is good 🙂 
  • albino-ottsel said: I’m working on my submission to your Break The Bingo contest and my dad came in to ask me something and I had to scramble to hide what I was drawing. Mission accomplished?
  • jasamludarobota said: I was working on my entry for your contest and someone came up behind me and asked if I was designing a body pillow. So I think I’m doing pretty good.
  • Yup, we think you guys are doing it right. Good luck with explaining what were you actually doing XD

If you guys have any more questions about the contest or want to donate extra prizes, make sure to contact us!

~Ozzie

“Do attractive female fighting game characters in skimpy outfits bother you? Then meet Killer Instinct‘s latest combatant, Hisako. You’ll like her. She’ll break your bones from the inside.”

2015 is the year we are not only being treated to women with killer guns (both kinds) but also ones that are utterly terrifying without being sexualized!?

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It’s an exciting time to be alive! Or undead!

– wincenworks

Wow, a fighting game that actually asked itself a question “What if we made a female character genuinely intimidating?” and reached out to folklore and horror movies for the reference, instead of Playboy magazines or 90s superhero comics. How rare!

~Ozzie

We’ve been noted by several watchers that Blizzard, in response to Overwatch female character designs criticism, added a new heroine to the game’s roster, Zarya.

paganpaladin said:

What are your thoughts on Zarya from Overwatch?

shswildcat59 submitted:

i noticed this wasn’t submitted yet. i could totally be wrong. but Blizzard’s new game Overwatch just released a new character and i think she looks fairly decent. the boob/sleeveless shirt is a bit meh? but hey its probably supposed to be form fitting/Underarmour type shirt so maybe its supposed to look like that http://us.battle.net/overwatch/en/heroes/zarya/

Sas Alexander submitted:

So, I have seen Overwatch mentioned here before, and I just found Blizzard added 2 new characters to the game. One of them is Zarya, a muscular, Russian woman in a pretty cool armor. And why? Because the fans asked for diversity! She still have a booblate, but it’s at least a progression.

kureijiatisuto said:

I’m curious if any of you have seen the new female character announced for Overwatch. Her name is Zarya. She isn’t perfect, but I think it’s a step in the right direction. Thoughts?

Gotta admit, she looks glorious. Not as glory-ous as Joe Keatinge/Sophie Campbell Glory, but close, and we sincerely hope she’s a start for more genuine body diversity among Blizzard’s heroines.

Still, why the boobplate? And why couldn’t they do this in the first place, without the need to be called out on bingo-worthy designs and the disturbing gender dimorphism in Overwatch?

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With Blizzard’s less-than-stellar track record, Zarya is merely a baby step. A step in the right direction, but nonetheless a baby step.

~Ozzie

In isolation, I have to admit those guns alone make her pretty awesome despite the boobplate.  However, much like with another “band aid” female character, Bellona – I can’t help but see a lot of issues with this:

  • Maybe it’s just the haircut, way they’ve stylized her features and the gorget… but I can’t help but think she reminds me of a certain man and if he was a visual inspiration it’s all kinds of problematic.
  • Fans asked for diversity, so they got the muscular Russian, heavy gunner stereotype.
  • All the problems that were in Overwatch before are still there now
  • Blizzard have a history of saying they recognize a problem, they’re going to fix it, making a token effort to look like improving and then going back to their old ways.

If someone promises to do something, delivers trash and then says they’ll fix it – it’s kind of nice if they bring you a little gift… but only if they actually fix what they promised.  Blizzard hasn’t done that, they’ve just done a rush job that’s broken them out of “all women are skinny” mold.

They haven’t gone and fixed the original designs, they haven’t admitted they made some major design mistakes or fixed anything in the line up aside from add a new female character.

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I mean don’t get me wrong… I’m thrilled that they decided to make a female heavy weapons expert and I hope that this helps every studio get over their fear of creating female characters that don’t look like Barbie – but it doesn’t fix any of the other problems, or show any willingness to.

– wincenworks

more Overwatch on BABD | about double standard in Overwatch character design | more about character design on BABD | more about double standards on BABD

edit: Changed Sophie Campbell’s name accordingly in my comment. Thanks to starryeyeddowner for the heads up!
edit 2: fixed the link to above artist’s Glory gallery

~Ozzie