The Daily Grind: Are you upset with how MMOs handle women?

totally unrelated to this post but I think this needs to be stated before we get another douchebag post about how "this is just a bunch of prudes who want to take the boobies away from us", I figure posting this here will ensure that most will at least read this before posting something like that anyway.

-no one who is in favor of less sexualism with mmo's has said a single thing about preventing OTHER players from creating hot chicks and then running around in exhibitionist outfits, the point is being FORCED to play as one due to lack of alternatives.-

personally, I couldn't really care what other people do, but it's obnoxious when there is no other option besides playing as a tramp. isn't the underlying purpose of a mmo self expression in a "virtual" social setting? (otherwise just play regular multiplayer games) so what's the point if mmo developers are going to adamantly restrict avenues of expression?

last time I checked no one is going to get laid off of how sexually appealing their character is in a mmo (that one chick who put out for a flying mount doesn't' count) so why is it so morally apprehensive to have a character with small breasts, big hips, and a chubby face?

@fake:

I'm going to agree, enhancing your point just a bit:

Yes, I'm in favor of players having a choice to make their characters sexy looking all the way down to the chaste school marm look.

But NOT ONLY am I pressed at female toons FORCED to look a certain way, I ALSO am pressed we can't make our male toons up with the hawtness. Why isn't there this option for the male toons?

OPTIONS = GOOD. Male AND Female MMO toons should be customizable with their looks, ranging from sexy to celebrate.

I can live with that ...

yeah i agree in wow they are fine for sure, i haven't seen anything odd ever in wow. it seems like most people that complain about it either don't go outside or notice most women around their towns. most young girls all dress that way. its just the way it is. get over it please

You forget, that young girls aren't charging into battle to fight a dragon, or go toe to toe with flesh rending ghouls. A big thing I hated about WoW was the armor designs for women. I know you have your reasons for why you think they should stay in platemail bikinis, and I also know you have you reasons to mastering playing World of Warcraft with one hand. However, some of us simply don't like it, it breaks the atmosphere.

In fact, a big reason I picked up Guild Wars finally was the designs of the female armor on several of the characters. I also found it to be a very fun game, but what took me in was my female Warrior looking like a knight. Mind you, I started with a guy, and actually bought another slot just to create a female Warrior. Before you question though, I am in fact a man.

I hate and refuse to play a majority of Korean games simply for this fact, where men get the grand awesome looking sets of crazy armor, and the girls are stuck with "Hey big boy look at my tatas aren't they shiiiiiiiny? :D". With me it's all about getting into game world and scenario. You can't do that if your tank is running into the middle of a bunch of hungry dragons wearing only strips of metal covering her chest and crotch.

I'm not by any means conservative, but it'd be nice if women got IMPRESSIVE looking armor sets that were functional, rather than what shows their chest off the best. Perhaps you like that, however, when and if I roll a female toon, I'd like to look awesome, rather than getting chased around by guys willing to pay me to stand still for a few minutes.

Funny you bring that up. I am more than willing to bet half of the female characters if not more are played by male characters.

I have two daughters and don't rely on video games, movies or music to teach my kids what is and isn't proper. So in essence, if your kids end up being sluts or criminals, that's on you not some media source.

Whether or not a majority of female characters have male players behind them is sort of not the point. This isn't a "51% wins the race" situation, but one where many of us would like other viewpoints included. Certainly, the fact that I (as an adult male) might play a female character doesn't really help with how I need to teach my daughter.

Note, I don't think the "sexy" options in games should be removed. I'm more concerned with (a) variety of choice, and (b) NPCs.

"Many MMO's have ridiculous female armor options, which tend to look more like a Boris Vallejo painting than anything practical. "

Interesting point.
And which is more "fantasy" of the two?
A Boris Vallejo painting, or a practical medieval armor?

It's just the way female armor is in this genre. The fantasy game.
Just as the male shoulders are often ridiculously proportioned (as are the muscles on the models).
Hell, the presence of trolls and taurens should be enough of a hint.

What's next? Will the dwarves be renamed to "little people"?

Sheesh.
Leave my fantasy alone. YOU go find another one.

Just for clarification:
I'm pro-choice.
If the developers add both types, fantasy as well as practical, great.

If you find practical armor in the game, wear it.
Just don't complain if it happens to have a negative agility bonus... Especially if you played the ("but it's just not REALISTIC with a bare midriff in a chest armor"-card)

It's funny you should mention Boris Vallejo's artwork as an example of "unrealistic" women. Google for photos of Boris Vallejo working, and you'll find out that Vallejo and his wife were both competitive body-builders, that many of his male figures are self-portraits and she's the model for most of his female character portraits. To say that Boris Vallejo's paintings are "unrealistic" portrayals of women is to deny the existence of some actual women.

It's also funny, to me, that for the image above this article they picked a miniboss from the Carnival of Shadows in City of Heroes, as if that were representative, when they could just as easily have picked any of the characters from the Knives of Artemis, who dress in form-fitting but full-coverage commando gear and just as truthfully said that /that/ was how City of Heroes "portrays women."

What the two examples have in common is that if you pick and choose only the examples that prove your thesis and ignore counter-examples, you can prove anything.