Sexy fantasy armor...

[lucky_sharm]

I think its good to be aware of it, and sexy fantasy armor is indeed silly and degrading. but I don't believe its worth drumming up so much controversy over, like with Dragon's Crown. There's plenty of media, stories, and games with practical armor designs for the ladies so its not as if the fantasy genre is saturated in sexy wardrobe.

 

[Erttheking]

I think its good to be aware of it, and sexy fantasy armor is indeed silly and degrading. but I don't believe its worth drumming up so much controversy over, like with Dragon's Crown. There's plenty of media, stories, and games with practical armor designs for the ladies so its not as if the fantasy genre is saturated in sexy wardrobe.

Ok...I'm not sure what discussion value is to be had here. Seriously, you just made a claim and that's it. How are we supposed to respond to it?

 

[Ninjamedic]

Ok...I'm not sure what discussion value is to be had here. Seriously, you just made a claim and that's it. How are we supposed to respond to it?

Well we could make this into a Moral Crusade and never ending echo chamber.

Or, we could calmly discuss this concept and consider the possible unintentional implications of fanservicey/revealing outfits versus the escapist nature of the games where this normally happens.

Seriously everyone, lets try to make this another good conversation to discuss some ideas and not another sling fest.

Spoiler

 

[Paragon Fury]

Ok...I'm not sure what discussion value is to be had here. Seriously, you just made a claim and that's it. How are we supposed to respond to it?

Well we could make this into a Moral Crusade and never ending echo chamber.

Or, we could calmly discuss this concept and consider the possible unintentional implications of fanservicey/revealing outfits versus the escapist nature of the games where this normally happens.

Seriously everyone, lets try to make this another good conversation to discuss some ideas and not another sling fest.

Spoiler

TO HELL WITH THAT.

Spoiler

LET THE RAGE FLOW!

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

For me, I like good looking armour that is actually practical (and no, even if it's full plate, boob plates aren't practical) and could properly work. A lot of designers don't seem to understand that there are plenty of examples of proper historical armour that both looks visually appealing or is exotic that could work in fantasy games. You don't need silly, over-the-top designs that only people who can suspend the largest of disbelief could get into.

Of course, if you're into purely fictional armour, that's fine, to each their own. But to me, there has to be at least some degree of practicality to it for me to take it seriously. Same goes for weapons.

 

[Zhukov]

What if I find practicality sexy? Huh? What then?

Doublets and correctly shaped cuirasses totally turn me on.

So where's my gratuitous practicality fanservice?

 

[InsanityRequiem]

I say it'd all dependent on the world/setting. If every one is wearing sexy and skimpy and death-armor? Go right ahead! If the world has full plate mail and normal non-skin armor for one gender and a battlethong as the armor for the other gender? Forget that shit, my huge disbelief suspension maker thing just says "This is stupid."

 

[Soviet Heavy]

What if I find practicality sexy?

Doublets and correctly shaped cuirasses totally turn me on.

Speaking of the cuirass, there's very little in the way of late medieval or Renaissance fantasy out there, is there? I can't really think of too many apart from Discworld or Warhammer Fantasy (Empire is the Holy Roman Empire). It's a shame too, because the armor at the time was really pretty. Full plate was at its most ornate, even as it fell out of favor to the simple Cuirass and Morion.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I just love me some good design. It might be sexy, it might be practical, it might be both. But the problem is that very often sexy armor just looks plain stupid!
<spoiler=This is simply stupid armor><img src=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0e/Ivy_Valentine.png>
<spoiler=This, on the other hand, is both sexy and well designed><img src=http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/feaw_cordelia_thumb.jpg>
<spoiler=And this is both practical and sexy. Well, at least I find it sexy. I find her sexy><img src=http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/005/4/5/dota_2___tresdin__the_legion_commander_by_dariadesign-d6zyn3y.jpg>

 

[Thaluikhain]

For me, I like good looking armour that is actually practical (and no, even if it's full plate, boob plates aren't practical) and could properly work. A lot of designers don't seem to understand that there are plenty of examples of proper historical armour that both looks visually appealing or is exotic that could work in fantasy games. You don't need silly, over-the-top designs that only people who can suspend the largest of disbelief could get into.

Of course, if you're into purely fictional armour, that's fine, to each their own. But to me, there has to be at least some degree of practicality to it for me to take it seriously. Same goes for weapons.

Exactly, you don't need to be tacky and useless to be stylish or sexy.

 

[Michael Legault]

What if I find practicality sexy?

Doublets and correctly shaped cuirasses totally turn me on.

You've got it all wrong, it's the aketons my friend. When it's 3/4 unlaced you can almost catch a glimpse of neck!

 

[MCerberus]

For me, I like good looking armour that is actually practical (and no, even if it's full plate, boob plates aren't practical) and could properly work. A lot of designers don't seem to understand that there are plenty of examples of proper historical armour that both looks visually appealing or is exotic that could work in fantasy games. You don't need silly, over-the-top designs that only people who can suspend the largest of disbelief could get into.

Of course, if you're into purely fictional armour, that's fine, to each their own. But to me, there has to be at least some degree of practicality to it for me to take it seriously. Same goes for weapons.

Exactly, you don't need to be tacky and useless to be stylish or sexy.

The problem of course is that armor that fits the form of the wearer is a deathtrap, doubly so for fitting the breasts (any force on the breastplate and the boobie cups essentially transfer all the force onto the ribcage). Stylish can be done, but sexy gets you killed.

I dunno, maybe with scale?

 

[Thaluikhain]

The problem of course is that armor that fits the form of the wearer is a deathtrap, doubly so for fitting the breasts (any force on the breastplate and the boobie cups essentially transfer all the force onto the ribcage). Stylish can be done, but sexy gets you killed.

I dunno, maybe with scale?

Eh, simple solution is that not a lot of armour is worn, due to heat, expense, or weight or something.

Then you have sensible armour, but minimise it.

(Alternatively, go leather rather than metal)

 

[Drummodino]

snip

Although I agree with your general point, boob plate is not practical. It is decidedly impractical.

OT: I don't have a problem with unrealistic armour designs, as long as the fit the setting and actually look good. For example:

Spoiler

This is obviously impractical, but does it look good and fit the setting (Kill la Kill)? Hell yea it does. It's when their is a marked difference between male and female armour is when I get a little concerned.

 

[Risingblade]

Why even have armor? Naked all day every day

 

[MCerberus]

The problem of course is that armor that fits the form of the wearer is a deathtrap, doubly so for fitting the breasts (any force on the breastplate and the boobie cups essentially transfer all the force onto the ribcage). Stylish can be done, but sexy gets you killed.

I dunno, maybe with scale?

Eh, simple solution is that not a lot of armour is worn, due to heat, expense, or weight or something.

Then you have sensible armour, but minimise it.

(Alternatively, go leather rather than metal)

Well, the theory behind softer armor is that you have layer upon layer upon layer of it. In fact, this goes from the earliest armors (lots of cloth) to modern bullet-resistant armors. Due to the process of doing this though, it's not flattering.

Leather might work, but leather has always had a lot of issues acting as armor itself, usually taking the role of backing to metal.

edit- IDEA! What if all armor in mid-high magic settings used mystical techniques/basic enchantments in order to mitigate the issues with having form-fitting armor. That way you can still have breast-plate breastplates and male armor inexplicably molded to the shape of their 6-pack!

Exposed torso skin though, still an awful idea

 

[Zhukov]

<spoiler=And this is both practical and sexy. Well, at least I find it sexy. I find her sexy><img src=http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/005/4/5/dota_2___tresdin__the_legion_commander_by_dariadesign-d6zyn3y.jpg>

Aaaaaactually, that's nowhere close to practical.

Plate armour was not designed to just put metal between your flesh and the sharp things. That's helpful, but there's more to it than that.

It was shaped in such a way as to deflect blades and points, to make them turn off to the side rather than taking the full impact.

A boob-plate, no matter how much it covers, does the opposite. It creates a weak point right over your heart, then puts two big curvy bits on either side, perfectly placed to guide incoming blows right onto that weak point. Furthermore, any blunt impacts are going to get focussed right into your ribcage. It also creates weak points all around the edges of the boob cups.

I generally don't harp on this in games and such. I'm willing to meet them halfway and ignore boob plates on grounds of them being a step up from chainmail bikinis. But they're still hilariously impractical to the eyes of anyone with basic knowledge of armour.

 

[Thaluikhain]

<spoiler=And this is both practical and sexy. Well, at least I find it sexy. I find her sexy><img src=http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/005/4/5/dota_2___tresdin__the_legion_commander_by_dariadesign-d6zyn3y.jpg>

Aaaaaactually, that's nowhere close to practical.

Plate armour was not designed to just put metal between your flesh and the sharp things. That's helpful, but there's more to it than that.

It was shaped in such a way as to deflect blades and points, to make them bounce off to the side rather than taking the full impact.

A boob-plate, no matter how much it covers, does the opposite. It creates a weak point right over the heart, then puts two big curvy bits on either side, perfectly placed to guide incoming blows right onto that weak point. It also creates weak points all around the edges of the boob cups.

I generally don't harp on this in games and such. I'm willing to meet them halfway and ignore boob plates on grounds of them being a step up from chainmail bikinis. But they're still hilariously impractical to the eyes of anyone with basic knowledge of armour.

Also...are they just for show? Are her breasts actually in those? How does she get her breasts in, is she wearing that like a bra with nothing underneath?

 

[Rebel_Raven]

And I just stumbled across this:
http://fashionablygeek.com/womens-apparel/this-comic-reveals-why-female-superheroes-wear-skimpy-armor/

And I remembered seeing this which talks about the problems with fantasy armor:
<youtube=lIwFTU7zAbg>

Honestly, videogames, movies, etc, these things are fantasy, and I can easily suspend disbelief enough to enjoy some fanservice, nice designs, etc.

Still, expecting everyone to have that suspension of disbelief, and seeing boobs that put SNK, and Tecmo-Koei to shame is a bit much. Not everyone likes it, not everyone tolerates it, and as much as I like it, it doesn't need to be the norm as it pretty much is, still. It can still exist, though.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Spoiler: Now this is sexy armor, and it isn't even Fantasy

The Polish Hussars had some bling.