I don't particularly like it either way most of the time though not so much because of realism. A lot of fully covered armours aren't either or at least wouldn't be used the way they are. I just don't really like the aesthetic but if both genders are scantly clad its not going to piss me off and make me ditch the game unless they are also terrible with animations and camera angles. It's not just the clothing that makes this shit horrible. Even when guys are scantly clad they generally still get to look somewhat powerful and be the hero where girls often get scantly clad and weak.
People keep saying this stuff is totally ok if its justified with the characters and it can be but I don't see developers adopting this attitude resulting in less scantly clad female characters. It's more likely for them just slap the seductress archetype or "different culture" excuse on them all which would be even worse.nomotog said:It's easy to think of reasons a character wouldn't need to wear armor, but just because a character doesn't need to wear armor doesn't mean they would dress scantily. Thinking of reasons for a character to wear something like a chainmail bikini is a lot harder. If a character has a reason or motivation to wear or more not wear clothes, that is fine. It's kind of a good thing too. A characters look should reflect their character. Though some times, I ponder which comes first. Was the sexy outfit picked to reflect the character or was the character made to support the sexy outfit.Alhazred said:I'm all for armor being stylish and revealing, provided an excuse is given to why the characters choose to forgo the protection more modest armor provides.
Off the top of my head, here are some reasons why a fantasy character might wear revealing armor:
The character doesn't have the means to create and maintain a full suit of armor (a barbarian tribesman, for instance).
The character's religious beliefs cause them to reject armor, instead putting their faith in the faith in the God/s.
The character specialises in parrying and dodging attacks, forgoing armor for increased agility.
The character is so obscenely powerful that normal attacks simply cannot harm them; they can wear whatever they wish into battle.