"Just go watch Porn!" (Probably NFSW, duh)

[Paragon Fury]

So this came back up again pretty strongly on several forums and little around here with the DoAX3 controversy, and it someone invariably says when it discussing anime etc. Its usually some variation of;

"Why even watch this? Why not just watch real porn! Its free too!"

Especially when it comes to anime/video games.

And I have to wonder...are people really so blind? That maybe its the fact that its not actually porn that makes people like it?

I mean, I'm a red-blooded male with access to the Internet. I've seen porn. But I don't really like it. I feel its incredibly fake, and most of the time people aren't actually enjoying themselves. Add onto that the women in porn for the most part don't...look very good. Like at all. Add on that unless you want to pirate or torrent them the good stuff has cost that is absolutely ridiculous. AND the sites for porn etc. are extremely skeevy and a little unnerving to say the least.

That, and it seems to ignore personal preference too; maybe someone doesn't like actual sex that much but just likes attractive women? Or prefers the people involved to look like they're actually having fun and and enjoying themselves?

I mean, it just seems...more than a bit out of line to dismiss something with that line (or variations thereof).

Oh, and since its a Paragon Fury thread here are your expected boobies. I can't disappoint my loyal fans (fan).

Spoiler

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

When people say "Just go watch Porn!" it's not because the entertainment piece has fan service, it's because to them it has nothing else besides that. The reason the DOA beach ball games gets this criticism is because that's literally the only enjoyable thing a lot of people can get out of it. why not just go online and get off of random anime art you can find on Google in about 5 seconds than paying $60 for a bland volleyball game. Something like bayonetta or the main series DOA games have more to them than just fan service. that's why they bring up that argument and for this game in particular.

 

[FalloutJack]

Captcha just told me to tell you 'signs point to yes'. I tend to agree, though with the proviso that most people just don't 'get' anime. Granted, fanservice makes for an argument in their favor because it does what it does, but it's not all that exists. Your basic ridiculous harem anime is not the same as Cowboy Bebop, Heroic Age, Fullmetal Alchemist, or in fact any show that has a real plot involved.

 

[Something Amyss]

And I have to wonder...are people really so blind? That maybe its the fact that its not actually porn that makes people like it?

If you're going to choose a hill to die on, you should probably choose one where the marketing of the series hasn't basically acknowledged that the entire franchise is spank material. Because at that point, it doesn't really make sense to question the blindness of people and insist it's not porn.

I mean, I'm fine with T&A games, honestly. It just seems like fighting what they are when an argument like this is made. So yeah, stick with the "personal preference" thing. That one at least makes sense. It's nobody's business what gets you off. But that doesn't really make a defense against the porn argument.

 

[briankoontz]

I agree with the OP that the statement is problematic, but our reasons may differ.

Porn is commercial sex without emotion - the physical image of sex without any interior reality to sell to an audience instead of relating to the feelings of each party for each other.

Titillation in video games involves no sex whatsoever. So it's much more accurate to refer people to naked *pictures* of people or videos of naked people rather than people having sex.

But there's still a big difference between actual people and digital images, which are constructed of nothing beyond computer code. Even more similar to Dead or Alive titillation is animation with titillation, of which anime has plenty, so while porn is a terrible analogy anime featuring "fanservice" is a very good analogy.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

hows that line in the Big Lebowski go?

"now that were dealing with those ameteurs, we can't invest little things like production value, story, feelings... people often forget, the brain is the biggest androgynous zone."

Theres an abundance of porn on the internet, but how many of them actually take the time to set up a scenario or even have characters? Most of it is boiled down the essential... which is fine, but sometimes ************, you just want more than that. You wanna work your brain a little bit.

Rumble Roses is a good example of that. No actual porn, but a bunch of lovely ladies, each a bunch of good characters with backstories in their own right.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Well...depends. As others have mentioned, sometimes the sexual stuff is so blatant and pointless that you may as well just watch porn instead.

OTOH, that's not to say that a decent work of fiction can't include sexual stuff without it being gratuitous.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I mean, I'm a red-blooded male with access to the Internet. I've seen porn. But I don't really like it. I feel its incredibly fake, and most of the time people aren't actually enjoying themselves. Add onto that the women in porn for the most part don't...look very good. Like at all. Add on that unless you want to pirate or torrent them the good stuff has cost that is absolutely ridiculous. AND the sites for porn etc. are extremely skeevy and a little unnerving to say the least.

Just don't watch porn then.

 

[IceForce]

I'm not sure I understand the premise. You're saying that internet porn doesn't turn you on as much as video game porn? If that's the case, then just go download some porn mods for Skyrim or something.

Spoiler: nsfw, I guess?

(As an aside, I will never look at Njada Stonearm in the same way ever again)

 

[Superbeast]

I get what you mean, but I find it funny that you've said you find porn with (presumably) real people "incredibly fake" and prefer a video game that bases its titillation around entirely non-existent (i.e. fake) things.

I largely agree with the "just go watch porn" crowd, whether it be games or anime. I want something with good gameplay/immersion and a strong plot or with novel concepts. Heavy amounts of fan-service in anime or a game like DOAX3 (or a 3DS game I found the other day that part of its marketing was "blow on the touch-screen to lift the girls' skirts) just seem...pointless when I could be playing/watching something I personally feel is "better" and then watch porn if I want the titillation. Light fan-service I have accepted is largely a reality of the entertainment medium in anime and eroticism done well can be extremely strong in films/shows/even games. I just don't get it with these types of games, or anime like the one you've linked in the spoiler.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I'm not sure I understand the premise. You're saying that internet porn doesn't turn you on as much as video game porn? If that's the case, then just go download some porn mods for Skyrim or something.

Actually, yeah, that's a point. Why is it that nude mods are so popular when there's porn everywhere?

Mind you, I like mods, even pointless ones that may or may not work very well. Even if it's a skin that looks worse than the original, then it's a choice of something different.

 

[IceForce]

I get what you mean, but I find it funny that you've said you find porn with (presumably) real people "incredibly fake" and prefer a video game that bases its titillation around entirely non-existent (i.e. fake) things.

Yeah, that's the reason why I don't really get the OP's complaint.

Complaining that IRL porn is "too fake" seems like a really odd complaint for someone to have when they immediately turn around say they prefer porn of compltely fake people (as in, people who are not real).

 

[IceForce]

I'm not sure I understand the premise. You're saying that internet porn doesn't turn you on as much as video game porn? If that's the case, then just go download some porn mods for Skyrim or something.

Actually, yeah, that's a point. Why is it that nude mods are so popular when there's porn everywhere?

Speaking personally, I find it a bit weird when pornographic...ness is inserted into a setting or environment where it wasn't originally intended to be. However, I can understand that some people may find that kinda thing intriguing or titillating.

Each to their own, I guess is what I'm saying.

 

[josemlopes]

I think that there are much better arguments then yours to defend the game agaisnt that particular argument.
Just say that DOAX is already watching porn for specific characters that you want to jerk off to.

Also, you have bad taste in porn or barely know any if you think all porn is what you described.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Different strokes for different folks. I can't hate on anyone who gets their freak on in a non-harmful-to-others sort of way (or consensual harm so long as it has as safe word enforced).
All in all I understand when people have a fetish for something, and don't like something else as much as their fetish. Its cool, just don't let it get in the way of a healthy lifestyle. And finally, fuck people who get down on you for having a preference they don't like or understand.

 

[CeeBod]

Actually, yeah, that's a point. Why is it that nude mods are so popular when there's porn everywhere?

I personally use many adult mods when playing Skyrim. That doesn't mean I play the game with one-hand on my cock! One of the reasons people game is to engage with a fantasy world. Most games involve extreme power fantasies, and hero fantasies where we often play a character who is literally the saviour of the world, some address killing and gunplay in a rather fetishized way, and nobody has a problem with any of them. Why is it that when we include even a little on the sexual fantasy side, the reaction is "Why not just watch porn?" Surely sexual fantasies are way more common than any of these other fantasies, and yet we're not supposed to have any in our game, because porn exists? Erotic art and literature have existed since forever and are not just wank material, so why is any game or anime that includes boobies instantly dismissed as just bad porn?

How about sexual identity/dimorphism? For those who feel trapped in the wrong body, who have a long road of horrible stuff ahead of them if they want to transition, how powerful can it be to switch on a game and virtually be the beautiful babe/hunky guy they really wish they were?

Personally I like (some) porn, but that satisfies a very different itch to what I get from using sex mods in Skyrim or watching fanservicey anime, or playing fanservicey games with extra boob-jiggle for that matter. So the "Why not just watch porn?" line which gets trotted out pretty much every single time you get so much as a glance of side-boob is pretty much like saying "Why don't you just go out hunting?" to anyone that wants to play an FPS game - they both involve guns right, so apparently that makes them equivalent?

 

[Barbas]

Actually, yeah, that's a point. Why is it that nude mods are so popular when there's porn everywhere?

Because alt+tabbing out of most Bethesda games tends to cause crashing.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I get what you're saying. It's titillation versus the full monty. It's why a lot of times a woman (because let's face it, that's what we're talking about when we mean 'porn' and 'sex in games') is sexier in a bikini then when being completely naked.

Sometimes it's nice to just watch two people doing it, and sometimes it's nice to only really have that anticipation, eventhough you know it won't lead to anything a.k.a. 99% of fanservice in anime. I'm glad I at least have a choice in that.