The female characters in Overwatch...look pretty darn cool

[Fox12]

The females do all have the same hourglass figures. I actually thought when I saw the trailer that there'd be sexism posts within the first few hours because of that. The male characters range from dwarf to gorilla to middle aged dude to young buff black dude but most of the women just look like reskins of the same model with changes to the height, breast and butt sliders. But apparently since one girl has power armor everything is okay. It's like when I'm disappointed with the lack of diversity, the usual people that I recognise that are disappointed have this double standard because they like it.

If you look at the wallpapers, there are some male characters that haven't been announced yet, so I'm hoping it's the same with the females and we'll get some more diversity in body shape, and age.

I'm not sure you can have it both ways as far as sexualized characters is concerned, since it ignores the underlying issues of the debate. People who find it offensive are still going to find it offensive. It's not enough to have a 1:1 ratio for sexualized and none sexualized characters.

thankfully I don't think that's a problem here. None of these designs are particularly offensive. I like the art style and character designs so far. It's nice to see bright, light hearted designs coming back into vogue. We can only have so many brown and grey shooters. I'm not usually a blizzard fan, but I may pick this up in the future. It looks really good so far.

Personally, I'm fine with equal sexulisation, it's not a bad thing when done equally, unless people think that sex is bad..

Well, my point is, if a character is incredibly sexist, or sexualized to the detriment of her character, then the prescence of a non sexist female character isn't going to balance that out. It's not a zero sum equation. After all, dragons crown had non sexualized female characters, and we all remember the controversy there. It's not about being anti sex.

But as I said, I don't really get that here. And the designs are certainly an improvement over former blizzard titles.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

ACTIVATE BUTT ENHANCEMENT (Widowmaker)

Seems like an animation error rather than anything intentional.

It looks like the model was recently changed and then they just forgot to update the masked form. I am going to guess that widow as originally more curvy and then they slimmed them down to give a more distinctive look or you know to avoid the sexism thingy.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Meh, they're alright, but people shouldn't be praising a game simply because it has playable female Characters. Yes, in this day and age where certain developers say "Women in games don't sell" (Or some ridiculous equivalent) it's nice when companies like Nintendo and Blizzard do go out of their way to add women into their games. But the Women themselves should not be the main focus, the game itself should. Overhead itself looks like a more confusing version of TF2, what with about 12 classes, with many that seem to have similar, if not the same, abilities (The Black woman and the Dwarf are both Engineers, for example). It's nice that they have more characters and more Women then TF2 (Which might not even have one woman, unless you count the mysterious, gender-unknown Pyro), but I think I'll be sticking with TF2 because it's much more simpler and (to me) is simply more fun.

 

[halisme]

]

Well, my point is, if a character is incredibly sexist, or sexualized to the detriment of her character, then the prescence of a non sexist female character isn't going to balance that out. It's not a zero sum equation. After all, dragons crown had non sexualized female characters, and we all remember the controversy there. It's not about being anti sex.

But as I said, I don't really get that here. And the designs are certainly an improvement over former blizzard titles.

I wasn't meaning you in my former statement, and I mean having a one to one of sexulised characters gender-wise, not every other of the same gender, its not a zero sum, more a balanced equation, if you have two women who are sexulised, then it should be the same with male characters. Everyone should be served equally, that means catering to others to those who have less, not removing it from others.

And I agree, the character designs are great.

 

[major_chaos]

You know I didn't actually believe the first one in the second spoiler (Tracer) was female until I looked at the website. I'm not sure if that says something about me or about videogame character design in general. But my mind went "hum, its Ezeral from LoL but less feminine... wait, your telling me that's not a dude?"

As for Overwatch I love the ascetic overall, so its a shame that it sounds like something I could never enjoy gameplay wise. The amount of TF2 comparisons being made is not a good sign either. That said I hope it does well just to reward blizz for taking a risk and making something unrelated to their big 3.

EDIT: And having looked at the website a little more, the attempt at story feels really weak. It doesn't matter much considering what kind of game it is, but it just seems odd that they would bother to give the game a backstory that makes no sense. These people are apparently all heroes, why are they trying to kill eachother?

EDIT2: Ok I somehow missed the two people who are incredibly evil but my point remains.

 

[Angelblaze]

Yeah, I'm gonna echo - 'why no non-human or fat/'ugly' female characters?' along with the rest of the thread.

In any case, here's hoping its like borderlands - but DOESN'T punish the player for flying solo.

 

[Hectix777]

But if you want, I would love to cooperate with you in an attempt to draw Blizzard's attention to this, and hopefully see this resolved. Maybe if this game updates regularly or cycles heroes like LoL, then maybe updates can introduce characters like a... German bodybuilder heroine named Blitzkrieg who deals drop AoE electric damage and a stun ability, and even supercharge other heroes to give them stronger attacks or charge their supers, and maybe she can do a speedball special with other players or use her electricity to magnetically push someone. OH OH and her special is an AoE attack where any enemy stuck in her electric field is stunned for 5 secs, but she can't move either.
Yeah I'd play that.

That sounds like a cool character. We need to get a drawfriend on this. Sounds like fun mechanically too, make her able to push or pull depending on if she targets a friend or foe. Make it happen.

Here's my attempt at it, I'm not all that good with women but I gave it my best. I think I should swap out her lower body for some ACU pants but I definitely include more exposed wires or tesla coils on the upper body to properly showcase electric powers.

Her gauntlets have sort of small conductors in them that can shoot lightning, but if you land a right button melee attack on the opponent you deal a certain amount of damage x 0.5 of the remaining clip (DMG OUTPUT= 30+(0.5*X)) or a stun attack. Her left palm gauntlet I want red and pushes players, and the blue one pulls players, I think it should have a charge power to it or just a set amount of big push. ( I think this could be really useful for when sniper characters or OP close range characters come in and you need room to breathe). She has no long range and her mid-range isn't something that would make players charge to her, you need to play her short range.

Armor color is blue and hair is blonde, she also has a tattoo of West Germany on her arm.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Armor color is blue and hair is blonde, she also has a tattoo of West Germany on her arm.

11/10 would play as.

Awesome. Awesome. AWESOME work.

See how hard was that To produce an interesting female character with a physique not copy pasted from the rest of the cast. Thats some great character design right there, proving it can be done by a studio without too much trouble.

 

[cleric of the order]

I'm sorry for the following but I'm literally going to pick a part what you said

In case you didn't catch it, Blizzard announced that they were working on a new game called overwatch, a class bassed shooter that evokes feelings of TF2. And I have to say I like what I'm seeing of the female characters so far.

There's nothing wrong with sexualized characters, just when it's all they have and/or there's a lack of alternatives, and Blizzard manages to sidestep that pitfall.

I can empathize with that sentiment but frankly I cna't care enough to most of the time.
I really have to say that this I have to wonder why the drum on sex has to be banged.
Every character here is interesting and well designed and don't feel like they were designed by committee.
Also I'd argue that variety is the strength of class based shooters and blizzard is not a shovel-ware company.
The characterization is good business practice, like valve they can sell the personae of their charterers, (I'd by some merch' of these guys, damn they got me just as GW and tf2 finally got it's claws ot of me)

And while Overwatch does have sexualized characters like Symmetra and the Widowmaker

Spoiler

http://bnetus-a.akamaihd.net/overwatch/static/media/artwork/widowmaker-concept.1EwFH.jpg

http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0gA_AW2zakQyXaQsnNIsU0Tv140=/1400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2439150/symmetra-concept-16x9.0.jpg

(Best picture I could find. She DOES show off a bit of leg)

Spoiler

Widdowmaker and Synmetra are actually my least favourite char's.
Synmetra's design is actually pretty good in gameplay terms and her clothes are something but I'd never say she was sexualized.
She's something.
I suppose the clothes fit her, she's more of a support role and an architect. While It'd be smart for her to be in Armour (for everyone actually) I think it makes her instantly recognizable as a support.
Also She really doesn't seem all that sexy, perhaps I'm wrong but I don't care that she has some leg out or nutin'

Widdowmaker on the other hand has a pretty fucked up story, poor lass.

It balances it out with characters like Tracer and Pharah

Oh, and the game just looks like it'll be really fun to play. That's a plus.

I figure this is meant to be a joke but I personally think this was out of taste.
After seeing what blizzard did to heroes of the storm I don't have a lot of confidence in them and I need this game to turn out good.
I want this game with every fiber of my being to be good.

Frankly all of them look really good, but the cherry on top is that I just find this to be a really good step in the right direction. There's plenty of room in gaming to appeal to people who want sexualized characters and the ones who want more sensible ones. We can have it both ways.

Smart I was going to chastise you for taking this whole thing to a sex place (It's sex if it's dealing with the body, mind out of gutter).
But no.
This is an example of good char design for class based shooters.
Yatzee said something to the effect of why can't more games make classes easy to determine visually. and this is the epitome of this.
Not only did blizz-Ixar make some good damn chars that are instantly recognizable, made them interesting (Tracer fanboy and proud) or sympathetic (poor widowmaker) they also did that for both teams and even better they made each class function in a way that fits their role of attacker or defender.
Better yet they know that interesting and well characterized classes helps build the community and fells the gape that game-play leaves.
This isn't a step in the right direction, this is just good work.
They weren't lazy, they weren't sloppy and they got everything together.
I'm surprised there weren't more male chars, I saw a couple in the backgrounds of the trailers that I wanted to see make the cut (the gunslinger) but frankly I could care less, the chars we have now are great.

I'm frankly annoyed we have to keep having this sort of discussion.
I just want to play the game....BADLY.
This game has me enamored and I want to see it come to light well and the further you talk about things like this the more complainants are going to come.
People could find fault with anything more or less and good art is one people should not take offense.
The game is well worked and well designed just like a lot of the chars.
Frankly I think it would serve better to not point out the female chars becuase they are just chars. Hell even widowmaker's key defining trait is not that she's a woman.
This Seems a bit much overall.

 

[Jon4]

The game looks really cool, I am excited to play a FPS from Blizzard. If they do as good a job as they do with their other games it will be awesome

 

[Hectix777]

Armor color is blue and hair is blonde, she also has a tattoo of West Germany on her arm.

11/10 would play as.

Awesome. Awesome. AWESOME work.

See how hard was that To produce an interesting female character with a physique not copy pasted from the rest of the cast. Thats some great character design right there, proving it can be done by a studio without too much trouble.

Thanks! That actually really means a lot. I guess I should give those ideas of a super tall & thin robo meister (her outfit will be shaped like a beaker but not look like it) and psycho-burned pyromancer a go (heavily burned face), then.

But again, I am not all that mad at Blizzard. In my eyes it's kinda like," why didn't you take the freeway if you knew that rush hour would clog the surface roads," because I didn't think of it at the time, and this is the route that usually gets better results, and I never got that many complaints about it in the past.

But gamers are changing now, variety is a thing to us and now we want more of it from our developers. We shouldn't be criticizing them, talking is always better than yelling in my book. I'm more than open to organize some kind of campaign where fans create diverse female characters and send them to Blizzard or even stating our opinions (OPINIONS, not mad ramblings of hatred) to them. Developers are basically doing what they always wanted to do at the end of the day, and sometimes they're so focused on the fact that they're doing what they dreamed of doing since they were kids, they don't really focus on that.

Again: I don't find Blizzard at fault, see the road trip analogy above.

 

[halisme]

Here's my attempt at it, I'm not all that good with women but I gave it my best. I think I should swap out her lower body for some ACU pants but I definitely include more exposed wires or tesla coils on the upper body to properly showcase electric powers.

Her gauntlets have sort of small conductors in them that can shoot lightning, but if you land a right button melee attack on the opponent you deal a certain amount of damage x 0.5 of the remaining clip (DMG OUTPUT= 30+(0.5*X)) or a stun attack. Her left palm gauntlet I want red and pushes players, and the blue one pulls players, I think it should have a charge power to it or just a set amount of big push. ( I think this could be really useful for when sniper characters or OP close range characters come in and you need room to breathe). She has no long range and her mid-range isn't something that would make players charge to her, you need to play her short range.

Armor color is blue and hair is blonde, she also has a tattoo of West Germany on her arm.

Might I recommend changing the armour colour to yellow with black details and hair. That provides a nice contrast, and none of the current characters have yellow armour.

Ability wise, I'd give her some sort of shield, if she's short to midrange she'll need something to get her closer, otherwise she's just less agile version of Reaper with a pull and push mechanic, which wouldn't be useful against groups.

 

[cleric of the order]

Armor color is blue and hair is blonde, she also has a tattoo of West Germany on her arm.

11/10 would play as.

Awesome. Awesome. AWESOME work.

See how hard was that To produce an interesting female character with a physique not copy pasted from the rest of the cast. Thats some great character design right there, proving it can be done by a studio without too much trouble.

Thanks! That actually really means a lot. I guess I should give those ideas of a super tall & thin robo meister (her outfit will be shaped like a beaker but not look like it) and psycho-burned pyromancer a go (heavily burned face), then.

But again, I am not all that mad at Blizzard. In my eyes it's kinda like," why didn't you take the freeway if you knew that rush hour would clog the surface roads," because I didn't think of it at the time, and this is the route that usually gets better results, and I never got that many complaints about it in the past.

But gamers are changing now, variety is a thing to us and now we want more of it from our developers. We shouldn't be criticizing them, talking is always better than yelling in my book. I'm more than open to organize some kind of campaign where fans create diverse female characters and send them to Blizzard or even stating our opinions (OPINIONS, not mad ramblings of hatred) to them. Developers are basically doing what they always wanted to do at the end of the day, and sometimes they're so focused on the fact that they're doing what they dreamed of doing since they were kids, they don't really focus on that.

Again: I don't find Blizzard at fault, see the road trip analogy above.

I like you.
Despite not seeing eye to eye on the same perspective:
>But gamers are changing now, variety is a thing to us and now we want more of it from our developers.
I straight up fail to see how we never stopped wanting variety, we always have, in gameplay, art styles and characters, this is not some new event.
I also Don't see why FEMALE chars need to be driven home: total of male chars = 2 Reinhardt, Hanzo (the others are an ape, specter McEdgy and A dwarf.... An actually honesty to god Norse dwarf)
Blizznizz the shizz will make what they want when they want and All power to them, they have to balance the world and the gameplay and frankly I think It's too soon to judge if the game does not have diversity (I saw a number of charterers that did not appear) and that it seems kinda dumb to have everyone represented in one game.
That being said.
You've taken steps to provide alternative, that is my main problem with these sorts of conversations, no body gets anything done and it smells like I stepped in tumblr.
that is what I like to see and even if this doesn't get picked up she could end up with a cult following, one could mod the game to add her and other community made chars in and the sort.
If I could suggest something.

I'm not sure how much of the writing/design for her you've attempted but If i could I'd like to throw some of my two cents in.
You said she had a west German tattoo on her arm but I do know that Reinhard's base of operations is in Stuttgart (south west Germany) and it might be good to include a relationship (perhaps mentorship or contrast) between the two especially because I figure that "Blitzkrieg" would not be a defending class (I'm pretty sure thy might have divided the classes into the attacker and the defender from the game-play videos I've seen) and Reinhardt appears to be.
That's something I've been mildly annoyed with, the writing of the game so far. Only Winston and Tracer have some sort of relationship even though these people worked together heavily (barring reaper, widdowmaker, Zenyatta and bastion). Co-operation on this sort of matter breeds comradery or at least familiarity. But it's to early to make full judgement on that, the mercs show their relations on the battlefield and not their website blurbs but even then it's something to think about.

 

[deathbydeath]

Granted, what I've seen is limited to this thread, but I'm not really impressed by the designs from either viewpoint (design or asexual-ness). There's too much visual noise and they're all bland and without personality.

My general gold standard for this is Urban Rivals, so here are some of their characters for comparison:

-Kalindra [http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120620230555/urban-rivals/images/7/7f/Tumblr_m5v0u5CsNf1qidc2po5_1280.jpg], leader of the Frozn tribe of humans and yetis and adoptive mother of Tiwi (the yeti on her shoulder).

-Angie [http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110517051304/urban-rivals/images/f/fd/085---Angie-04.jpg], a girl with good rhythm and enjoys hitting things.

-Ruru [http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140822212658/urban-rivals/images/7/7c/FROZN-RURU4.png], a survivalist from the Frozn tribe.

-Raven [http://www.ultra-book.com/users_2/j/u/julien-carette/img_/nouvelle_image__684342.jpg], a woman who accidentally activated a prototype suit of weaponized armor and uses it to mimic cartoon characters.

-Troompah [http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111112041421/urban-rivals/images/d/db/Ur_troompah_by_azure_star-d4fgb8g.png], an elephant who is overprotective of her (pacifist) son.

Granted, I'm leaving out some of the midriff-baring heroines (like Lorna [http://urban-rivals.wikia.com/wiki/Lorna] and Lola [http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120922202246/urban-rivals/images/f/fa/Lola.png]), but there are still dozens, if not hundreds more characters I haven't brought up that fall on both sides of the sexy spectrum, all of whom are more interesting and varied than the Overwatch crew. Seriously, those guys have way too much visual noise going on and they are just too generic.

 

[Hectix777]

Armor color is blue and hair is blonde, she also has a tattoo of West Germany on her arm.

11/10 would play as.

Awesome. Awesome. AWESOME work.

See how hard was that To produce an interesting female character with a physique not copy pasted from the rest of the cast. Thats some great character design right there, proving it can be done by a studio without too much trouble.

Thanks! That actually really means a lot. I guess I should give those ideas of a super tall & thin robo meister (her outfit will be shaped like a beaker but not look like it) and psycho-burned pyromancer a go (heavily burned face), then.

But again, I am not all that mad at Blizzard. In my eyes it's kinda like," why didn't you take the freeway if you knew that rush hour would clog the surface roads," because I didn't think of it at the time, and this is the route that usually gets better results, and I never got that many complaints about it in the past.

But gamers are changing now, variety is a thing to us and now we want more of it from our developers. We shouldn't be criticizing them, talking is always better than yelling in my book. I'm more than open to organize some kind of campaign where fans create diverse female characters and send them to Blizzard or even stating our opinions (OPINIONS, not mad ramblings of hatred) to them. Developers are basically doing what they always wanted to do at the end of the day, and sometimes they're so focused on the fact that they're doing what they dreamed of doing since they were kids, they don't really focus on that.

Again: I don't find Blizzard at fault, see the road trip analogy above.

I like you.
Despite not seeing eye to eye on the same perspective:
>But gamers are changing now, variety is a thing to us and now we want more of it from our developers.
I straight up fail to see how we never stopped wanting variety, we always have, in gameplay, art styles and characters, this is not some new event.
I also Don't see why FEMALE chars need to be driven home: total of male chars = 2 Reinhardt, Hanzo (the others are an ape, specter McEdgy and A dwarf.... An actually honesty to god Norse dwarf)
Blizznizz the shizz will make what they want when they want and All power to them, they have to balance the world and the gameplay and frankly I think It's too soon to judge if the game does not have diversity (I saw a number of charterers that did not appear) and that it seems kinda dumb to have everyone represented in one game.
That being said.
You've taken steps to provide alternative, that is my main problem with these sorts of conversations, no body gets anything done and it smells like I stepped in tumblr.
that is what I like to see and even if this doesn't get picked up she could end up with a cult following, one could mod the game to add her and other community made chars in and the sort.
If I could suggest something.

I'm not sure how much of the writing/design for her you've attempted but If i could I'd like to throw some of my two cents in.
You said she had a west German tattoo on her arm but I do know that Reinhard's base of operations is in Stuttgart (south west Germany) and it might be good to include a relationship (perhaps mentorship or contrast) between the two especially because I figure that "Blitzkrieg" would not be a defending class (I'm pretty sure thy might have divided the classes into the attacker and the defender from the game-play videos I've seen) and Reinhardt appears to be.
That's something I've been mildly annoyed with, the writing of the game so far. Only Winston and Tracer have some sort of relationship even though these people worked together heavily (barring reaper, widdowmaker, Zenyatta and bastion). Co-operation on this sort of matter breeds comradery or at least familiarity. But it's to early to make full judgement on that, the mercs show their relations on the battlefield and not their website blurbs but even then it's something to think about.

When I was talking about variety I should have said that MANY more gamers are beginning to be more vocal (and in the few worse cases, volatile). There has been an a louder outcry for more diversity in the industry in recent months then there has been in the past few years. I'm okay with people being vocal about their wants, but you have to be calm and show what you mean, not reblog some a-holes bitching about how there are not enough black characters in Zelda or the Gerudo were caricatures of Islamic peoples. If you asked me variety for females in character design, I guess people mean less Dead or Alive and more Skullgirls.

Story wise, she really doesn't have one yet. The most I thought I have was she was once a soldier in Germany and was signed up for Overwatch as some kind of handler or grunt. No clue about powers yet, I literally thought of her mechanics and aesthetics first.

 

[Hectix777]

Here's my attempt at it, I'm not all that good with women but I gave it my best. I think I should swap out her lower body for some ACU pants but I definitely include more exposed wires or tesla coils on the upper body to properly showcase electric powers.

Her gauntlets have sort of small conductors in them that can shoot lightning, but if you land a right button melee attack on the opponent you deal a certain amount of damage x 0.5 of the remaining clip (DMG OUTPUT= 30+(0.5*X)) or a stun attack. Her left palm gauntlet I want red and pushes players, and the blue one pulls players, I think it should have a charge power to it or just a set amount of big push. ( I think this could be really useful for when sniper characters or OP close range characters come in and you need room to breathe). She has no long range and her mid-range isn't something that would make players charge to her, you need to play her short range.

Armor color is blue and hair is blonde, she also has a tattoo of West Germany on her arm.

Might I recommend changing the armour colour to yellow with black details and hair. That provides a nice contrast, and none of the current characters have yellow armour.

Ability wise, I'd give her some sort of shield, if she's short to midrange she'll need something to get her closer, otherwise she's just less agile version of Reaper with a pull and push mechanic, which wouldn't be useful against groups.

Redirect mag shield or attract mag shield, she's very tanky

 

[halisme]

Story wise, she really doesn't have one yet. The most I thought I have was she was once a soldier in Germany and was signed up for Overwatch as some kind of handler or grunt. No clue about powers yet, I literally thought of her mechanics and aesthetics first.

I did a sort of mock profile.

Blitzkrieg

Role: Tank

Real name: Olga Ebergardt

Age: 58 (I hope that's okay, as none of the female characters are over forty)

Occupation: Vigilante

Base of operations: Munich, Germany

Affiliation: Overwatch (formerly)

Abilities:

Arc Gauntlets: Blitzkrieg wields a pair of gauntlets with built in Tesla weapons, smaller versions of Winstons weapon that have a higher combined rate of damage, but cannot be used as long due to cooling issues. They can also be overcharged for a poweful melee attack, briefly stunning her attacker.

Magnetic Pulse: Also built into the gauntlets are a pair of strong electromagnets,capable of pushing or pulling enemies within range.

Kinetic Converter: Blitzkrieg's armor is able to generate a sophisticated force field that absorbs incoming fire for a brief period, preventing her from receiving damage and once the duration is up, returning that damage to enemies in a small area.

Lightning War (Ultimate Ability): Blitzkrieg overcharges her armor, causing it to release waves of lightning, and adding a chain effect to her basic attack.

Story

"Bring the thunder."

Blitzkrieg was one of the original members of Overwatch, playing an instrumental role in stopping the Omnic crisis and later becoming one of Overwatch's most public figures, though the reasons were mixed. She was one of the most effective operatives, specialising in destroying any fortification placed in her way and removing any threats, however, this was not entirely without cost. She was also one of the highest causers of collateral damage, and her use slowly became more and more limited, though this made her more feared, her targets knowing that Overwatched judged them worthy of her wrath.

When investigations into Overwatch's inner workings began, she was placed highly on the list, and evidence began piling up against her, however she was adamant in her defence,of herself and the organisation. Eventually, a crucial piece of evidence was placed against her, a recording of a meeting between her and Reaper. Blitzkrieg was quickly arrested, and taken to trial, though she claimed the evidence was false.

The trial did not go well for her, and she would have been sent to jail, if not for Talon's attempt to assassinate her, and several Overwatch officers present, which descended into an open fire fight. During the chaos, Blitzkrieg managed to escape, claiming her equipment before fleeing from the event, but not before aiding her former allies.

Now, Blitzkrieg works as a vigilante, trying to discover who framed her,and take revenge, this time being careful of the cost.

 

[loa]

That's class based?
I have no idea what each class is supposed to be except that the armored one can take hits maybe.
Compare to team fortress 2 where each class has a very distinct look that also heavily hints at what it does.
So those kinda fail imo.