Sexy fantasy armor...

[Mid Boss]

I. personally, don't think the chain mail bikinis are attractive. I can't get over how horrifically impractical they are and how utterly stupid the woman must be to wear it into battle. Stupidity is not attractive.

It's particularly bad on the covers of books.

So, you've compromised a character of your story, placing her into attire she would never wear, so that you can slap a picture of her on your book cover to arouse my cock and pry away my money. Not only is that vaguely insulting to me, you've destroyed my faith that you'll handle your characters properly and you've done it all in an utterly ham-fisted attempt to arouse me sexually. Not to mention that I've seen art of warrior women in practical armor that still looks sexy. It takes time and talent to pull it off. So the chain mail bikini is nothing more than utter laziness.

 

[DementedSheep]

I. personally, don't think the chain mail bikinis are attractive. I can't get over how horrifically impractical they are and how utterly stupid the woman must be to wear it into battle. Stupidity is not attractive.

It's particularly bad on the covers of books.

So, you've compromised a character of your story, placing her into attire she would never wear, so that you can slap a picture of her on your book cover to arouse my cock and pry away my money. Not only is that vaguely insulting to me, you've destroyed my faith that you'll handle your characters properly and you've done it all in an utterly ham-fisted attempt to arouse me sexually. Not to mention that I've seen art of warrior women in practical armor that still looks sexy. It takes time and talent to pull it off. So the chain mail bikini is nothing more than utter laziness.

To be fair if it's a book a lot of the time the author doesn't get to control the cover, the publisher dose. So its not always the authors fault and you regularly get books where the character on the cover is completely different from the actual description in text.

 

[wulf3n]

No it's not. If you believe being able to fly around in jet fighters in Skyrim makes for a more believable and authentic experience is "purely interpretation", then... well let's just say your idea of authenticity is very different from the general consensus.

Well yes it is, but more believable and authentic than what? I mean warcraft has fighter jets and gyro-copters, is that any more unbelievable than dragons and magic?

edit: to clarify the "Well yes it is" is referring to the "let's just say your idea of authenticity is very different from the general consensus."

Or perhaps, since you frequently make posts like these, you're just arguing for arguing's sake.

Not really an argument as I never made any. I was simply pointing out the absurdity of expecting others to provide evidence for their assertions when providing none oneself.

Only in sexism-related debates in game forums are you asked to prove a common sense statement

That's a good point. Let's defer to the person who first brought up the burden of proof as it were...

You claiming otherwise doesn't make it so.

Oh.

like "many creators are trying create believable, authentic worlds". No, I'm not playing this game. That's too stupid.

Not really common sense. if we break it down:

We have the initial premise "many creators are trying create believable, authentic worlds." Ok, makes sense.

Then we have essentially what this threads about, "Plate bikinis as the only armour option for women isn't believable or authentic." I agree with that.

Which leads to the conclusion "The inclusion of Plate bikinis means the creators failed at their goal of creating believable, authentic worlds."

Now with the prevalence of the battle bikini this reasoning is suggests that many creators are effectively failing to achieve what they set out to do and have shown no indication of actually addressing the cause of the failure.

Essentially that creators who include battle bikinis are so stupid that they legitimately believe that a little bit of metal over the breasts and crotch is as effective as full plate.

Now my faith in humanity is pretty low, but it's not that low.

What seems more likely to me is that believability and authenticity play second fiddle to aesthetics.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Which leads to the conclusion "The inclusion of Plate bikinis means the creators failed at their goal of creating believable, authentic worlds."

Now with the prevalence of the battle bikini this reasoning is suggests that many creators are effectively failing to achieve what they set out to do and have shown no indication of actually addressing the cause of the failure.

Essentially that creators who include battle bikinis are so stupid that they legitimately believe that a little bit of metal over the breasts and crotch is as effective as full plate.

Now my faith in humanity is pretty low, but it's not that low.

What seems more likely to me is that believability and authenticity play second fiddle to aesthetics.

They're failing at creating believable, authentic worlds, yes, but their failing is not due to inability, but, as you say, due to a more-or-less deliberate decision - choosing pandering over internal consistency.

 

[wulf3n]

Which leads to the conclusion "The inclusion of Plate bikinis means the creators failed at their goal of creating believable, authentic worlds."

Now with the prevalence of the battle bikini this reasoning is suggests that many creators are effectively failing to achieve what they set out to do and have shown no indication of actually addressing the cause of the failure.

Essentially that creators who include battle bikinis are so stupid that they legitimately believe that a little bit of metal over the breasts and crotch is as effective as full plate.

Now my faith in humanity is pretty low, but it's not that low.

What seems more likely to me is that believability and authenticity play second fiddle to aesthetics.

They're failing at creating believable, authentic worlds, yes, but their failing is not due to inability, but, as you say, due to a more-or-less deliberate decision - choosing pandering over internal consistency.

But doesn't that inform Aaron Sylvester's initial point? That realism in fantasy isn't that important to a lot of people? or were you referring to a different point and I've wasted everyones time?

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Which leads to the conclusion "The inclusion of Plate bikinis means the creators failed at their goal of creating believable, authentic worlds."

Failed only as far as your opinion is concerned, keep that in mind. Anyone can label any game as a "failure" should they please.

Now with the prevalence of the battle bikini this reasoning is suggests that many creators are effectively failing to achieve what they set out to do and have shown no indication of actually addressing the cause of the failure.

Perhaps because they don't consider it a failure and neither does most of their consumer base...did that possibility occur to you?

Essentially that creators who include battle bikinis are so stupid that they legitimately believe that a little bit of metal over the breasts and crotch is as effective as full plate.

Or they legitimately believe that they are creating fantasy worlds in which everything is built of pixels and code, not metal and skin. Games where armor-sets made out of CLOTH can withstand arrows, battleaxes and swords and people do all sorts of unrealistic/impossible things.

What seems more likely to me is that believability and authenticity play second fiddle to aesthetics.

Believability and authenticity are whatever someone claims they are are.

They're failing at creating believable, authentic worlds, yes, but their failing is not due to inability, but, as you say, due to a more-or-less deliberate decision - choosing pandering over internal consistency.

What was internal consistency again? Oh that's right, if the females wear skimpy armor then the males should too i.e. 100% equality.
But hang on, why does pandering even exist to begin with? Because it's an easy sell to the predominantly male audience.
Why would developers NOT want to give males skimpy armor for the sake of "equality"? Because they realize that said armour sets would go largely unused and would be a waste of time/money designing. It would cater to an audience that barely exists and would only be done for your imaginary standard of "equality" i.e. political correctness in a FICTIONAL WORLD...and for no other purpose.

And the worst part about this is that you're making it sound like an issue that exists in a significant proportion of games when it is in fact quite isolated to either very old titles or the rare Asian fanservice game.

 

[wulf3n]

..snip..

I think you should go back and actually read my post, because the things of mine you're saying are wrong, are the things I'm deconstructing to show they're wrong.

You're effectively responding to my posts that are saying it's wrong by saying "No, it's wrong".

I got that, hence why I was saying it was wrong.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

..snip..

I think you should go back and actually read my post, because the things of mine you're saying are wrong, are the things I'm deconstructing to show they're wrong.

You're effectively responding to my posts that are saying it's wrong by saying "No, it's wrong".

I got that, hence why I was saying it was wrong.

Now I'm really confused. I think I need some sleep.

 

[wAriot]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I'm sure someone has already said this: it all depends on the game. Bikini armor in, say, Demon's Souls, is pretty fucking stupid, because it doesn't make sense in that kind of world. In Skyrim, not so much, since it's pretty silly overall.

In any case, the solution is NOT removing the armor (if it makes sense, that is. Again, it depends on the game). Removing assets because some people feel offended is never the solution. If they are complaining because of "equality", just add the same armor for both males and females. That is, full plates and bikini armor for both.
Also I'm pretty sure the male bikini armor wouldn't go unused. I myself would use it, even if only for how silly it looks.

 

[DrDuckman]

Personally, if it's armor, it SHOULD be armor. With very rare exceptions like extremely zany(like Kill la Kill) or comedic settings, most fantasy, even the high kind, atleast TRIES to approximate reality in a basic sense. Hence why male armor is almost always protective. Thus, the whole chainmail bikini idea really does not fly, even in high fantasy settings. Even in "everyone is a supermodel" settings like Guild Wars, male armors protect. There is no excuse for the skimpy female ones.

The extra sad this is, ofcourse, that you dont need to sacrifice protection to make a character sexy. I always come back to the example of Chris, a character from Suikoden 3.

See? Form fitting, beautiful armor that is also practical and is not a death trap. Just dont point the force straight to the sternum... it's not hard.

 

[Zhukov]

See? Form fitting, beautiful armor that is also practical and is not a death trap. Just dont point the force straight to the sternum... it's not hard.

I approve.

A lot.

See what I mean people? Correctly shaped cuirass. Sexy as hell.

 

[faefrost]

I think you all are failing to understand the benefits and practicality of female armor design. After all the enemy only swings for the shiny part

<youtube=OTGh0EMmMC8>

 

[the December King]

I think you all are failing to understand the benefits and practicality of female armor design. After all the enemy only swings for the shiny part

That was hilarious!

On topic, I'm all for sexy armor(that is, a costume that occasionally has metal bits in a 'faux armor' style, like bikini chainmail, form fitting breastplates, giant codpieces, exposed midriffs, sculpted abs, etc.), provided that there are options for both genders, if both genders are represented in game as playable, or, for consistency in representation, like the standard uniform for a town guard should be gender neutral in style, and consider defense and protection first and foremost.

Finally, if there is an individual character who is wearing an impractical costume, I like that factored into the story, or at least in his or her personality. Every instance is different and should be examined on their own merit, I think.

 

[CloudAtlas]

See? Form fitting, beautiful armor that is also practical and is not a death trap. Just dont point the force straight to the sternum... it's not hard.

I approve.

A lot.

See what I mean people? Correctly shaped cuirass. Sexy as hell.

If only more people would share your - and my - preferences. The world would be a better place... for me because my preferences would be catered to more often.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I. personally, don't think the chain mail bikinis are attractive. I can't get over how horrifically impractical they are and how utterly stupid the woman must be to wear it into battle. Stupidity is not attractive.

It's particularly bad on the covers of books.

So, you've compromised a character of your story, placing her into attire she would never wear, so that you can slap a picture of her on your book cover to arouse my cock and pry away my money. Not only is that vaguely insulting to me, you've destroyed my faith that you'll handle your characters properly and you've done it all in an utterly ham-fisted attempt to arouse me sexually. Not to mention that I've seen art of warrior women in practical armor that still looks sexy. It takes time and talent to pull it off. So the chain mail bikini is nothing more than utter laziness.

To be fair if it's a book a lot of the time the author doesn't get to control the cover, the publisher dose. So its not always the authors fault and you regularly get books where the character on the cover is completely different from the actual description in text.

I was actually going to write this. I recently read a book called "Saturn's Children" which I ended up enjoying a great deal. The American cover shows what I assume is the protagonist of the story (A robot named Freya-47) lying on her side in a rather seductive way with a jumpsuit mostly unzipped. Given that the book is about this robot who's function is to be a sex-bot, this implies a great deal about the book's content and yet the conclusions you'd be completely reasonable for jumping to are entirely incorrect. The book actually explores various ideas such as how success often requires one lose capacity for empathy and questions the relative value of being able to find a purpose for living versus having anything that approaches free will (Freya's purpose for existence is to be a sex bot for people but, unfortunately for her, people went extinct). It is, all told, an incredible book but the cover bugged me enormously.

So I contacted the author (Charles Stross) who replied with "Oh, that cover" and sent me a <a href=http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/03/cmap-6-why-did-you-pick-such-a.html>rant. I wasn't aware just how little creative control authors have over such things.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

See? Form fitting, beautiful armor that is also practical and is not a death trap. Just dont point the force straight to the sternum... it's not hard.

I approve.

A lot.

See what I mean people? Correctly shaped cuirass. Sexy as hell.

If only more people would share your - and my - preferences. The world would be a better place... for me because my preferences would be catered to more often.

That's definitely very sexy.

Until...you decide to do a face-swap and realize that there's nothing particularly "female" about that female besides her head. And if that's sexy to you, then anything could be really *shrug*.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Really? Maybe he's attracted to female faces?

Also, isn't it a good thing that there' nothing "female" about the armor? I mean, it's fucking armor. It's there to protect you first and look "good" second. If I wore armor, I'd would prefer look like someone who went to a scrap yard with a magnet on them to being fucking killed.

But that armor DOES look good. I just meant there's nothing creative about it, it basically amounts to plonking a standard male armor set onto a female with a slightly narrower breastplate. But if you personally feel that realism > everything else in a FANTASY videogame then that's your thing
Anyway if things were truly realistic, you'd be a female warrior outnumbered 1000000:1 by male warriors