Scantily clad player characters..

[grombrinda]

Players that wear: Attention-seeking behaviors

 

Players that enjoy looking at a cartoon: oddly disturbing, "hands on" lol, issues

 

hahahahahahaha:D

[Blackavaar]

Actually, I think the only time a Jedi took off a robe to fight was when they were caught. Everytime after that, they never wore the outer robes again. In fact, the only Jedi who wore anything closely resembling any sort of real armor was Vader, which he was put in on the very eve of total war/domination and he wore that throughout the conflict because he both needed it to live and because he was on the frontlines fighting, while his master who sported simply black robes, spent his entire career as Emperor hiding from the galaxy.

 

And I mention Star Trek because it is so easy to make a space based saga. Others include Halo, EVE Online, Red Faction, Starship Troopers, Avatar, Aliens, Predator, WALL-E (which was FREAKING beautiful), Planet of the Apes, etc etc.

 

You know what's a hard genre to work with?

 

Weird West. The most popular one you can think of is Jonah Hex right now. Maybe Red Dead: Undead Nightmare, if you can count it. I do. Not a lot do.

 

Throughout the films the Jedi and Sith both removed their Robes before combat. Often the Jedi are not even wearing Robes to begin with and only when Sith (like Vader) are wearing Capes, not Robes, are they left on during the fight scenes, except in the case of Darth Sidious, for whom the Robe defines the character to such an extent that removing it would make him look wrong aesthetically.

 

Just watch the movies again and you'll see. Every time there is a fight scene they remove their Robes or there is a reason for them to somehow lose their Robe before the scene takes place.

 

Also, you forgot to mention Wing Commander for Sci-Fi and The Dark Tower and The Talisman for Weird West.

 

[branmakmuffin]

The other funny part is that people think it's just males doing it

The real funny part is that someone cared enough to make a thread about it.

[CosmicKat]

Yes, yes he did. But you can't change what has been written.

 

Otherwise, if I had my way, Jesus of Nazareth would have had a sweet rocket powered dirigible and eye beams that shot hot fudge sundaes into existence.

 

Now there is the greatest story ever told, amirite?

 

Jeebus played with Nazareth? I have more respect for him now.

[nateslice]

Some of my female characters wear skimpy outfits, but only if I think it suits them. And I don't think skimpy outfits really suit any of the female companions all that well. Well, maybe Vette, but she'd be about it.

 

I have one character who wears a slave bikini, a Pureblood Sorcerer. The small bits of gold that make up the outfit look really nice against her red skin. And, per the class story, she was once a slave. Her rivals like trying to rub her face in it, so she wears the outfit both to strip those taunts of their power over her and to annoy those foes.

 

I have two female characters in "Relaxed" style tops. Everyone else on my roster is covered from neck to toe. But if I ever get back to playing my male Pureblood Juggernaut, I think I could see him wearing a Relaxed Jumpsuit.

[Toweleeeie]

My characters wear what I feel suits their personality (I guess RP wise) best. Most to me seem to fit pretty well. It's nice to have a good mix of stuff to be able to use.

 

This is how I roll also.

[CosmicKat]

Throughout the films the Jedi and Sith both removed their Robes before combat. Often the Jedi are not even wearing Robes to begin with and only when Sith (like Vader) are wearing Capes, not Robes, are they left on during the fight scenes, except in the case of Darth Sidious, for whom the Robe defines the character to such an extent that removing it would make him look wrong aesthetically.

 

Just watch the movies again and you'll see. Every time there is a fight scene they remove their Robes or there is a reason for them to somehow lose their Robe before the scene takes place.

 

Also, you forgot to mention Wing Commander for Sci-Fi and The Dark Tower and The Talisman for Weird West.

 

 

The whole robe look is not remotely original, fitting with the setting, or particularly good in the first place. It was also created in 1977 when the Bee Gee's and The Fonz were the epitome of cool.

 

SW fans should learn from BSG fans. A lot of what you hold sacred is going to be totally changed, sometimes that is a good thing. The lightsabers are the truly unique and "can't touch that" part of Jedi lore, their robes... nobody would miss them.

[nateslice]

I don't think robes are out of place in Star Wars. The Jedi were inspired by Japanese samurai movies, like the ones Akira Kurosawa made. I can never remember the exact name of the genre off the top of my head, but it has "jidai" in it somewhere. That's where the name Jedi came from.

[Monoth]

No. Because there are young (and even older) men who love it. I don't know if it is because their real life is lacking that sort of excitement, but too many love to dress up their toons in that garbage.

 

I find this statement funny.... True some guys will dress up their female toons scantily clad BUT in a lot of guilds I've been in over the years and I've found it's mostly the female players that complain that their isn't enough sexy armor or that the hooters slider doesn't go up high enough, etc...etc... More so then even guys....

Edited June 25, 2013 by Monoth

[Caelrie]

Scantily-clad female Jedi and Sith are pretty canon, so I can't make myself care.

[LeonBraun]

At least in swtor, skimpy armor can be explained away. Just say that the toon is using a personal energy shield or something like that. Armor in mmo's will always be weird and non-effective. Like someone said earlier, robes are horrible for lightsaber fights. And i'm pretty sure some of the toons can't see out of the helmets they wear. And, oh yeah, it's also just fantasy and sci-fi, so it really doesn't matter. It's not like a real person is going to go fight in a bikini, and even if they did, one shot is likely to kill the bikini wearer as much as someone wearing a uniform.

 

Not like the Storm trooper armour ever seemed to save those guys... Even from glancing blows =)

[SithKoriandr]

Scantily-clad female Jedi and Sith are pretty canon, so I can't make myself care.

 

Not wearing heavy armor, true. I've said that in another thread. They used the lightsaber as their armor. But dressed in the slave bikini. No.

 

I don't even have a problem with it myself. It's just immersion breaking when you see it so over used. If we saw it once in awhile, it wouldn't be immersion breaking.

[Caelrie]

Not wearing heavy armor, true. I've said that in another thread. They used the lightsaber as their armor. But dressed in the slave bikini. No.

 

I don't even have a problem with it myself. It's just immersion breaking when you see it so over used. If we saw it once in awhile, it wouldn't be immersion breaking.

 

http://edandmari.com/starwars/images/DarthTalon.jpg

 

Not much different, is it?

[SithKoriandr]

http://edandmari.com/starwars/images/DarthTalon.jpg

 

Not much different, is it?

 

Goes back to what I said...one in a hundred, not immersion breaking. Every other character, immersion breaking.

 

Now, if every other character in SW canon (EU included) outside of player characters, was dressed that way, then I'd say par for the course!

[branmakmuffin]

Goes back to what I said...one in a hundred, not immersion breaking. Every other character, immersion breaking.

What're ya gonna do? Can't control what other players do with their characters.

[LordArtemis]

I can understand the idea of breaking immersion and why it is bad for some folks. This was the biggest complaint against allowing any appearance options post character creation. In SWG people would run around in all sorts of horrible and frightening combinations of outfits and colors.

 

For me, personally, my immersion is broken by chat, flashpoints, XP, other players talking about gear, pretty much everything that has to do with an MMO other than solo questing...and even then I hit immersion breakers constantly.

 

For me, the only way to accomplish immersion if I wish it is to play a single player game. I really feel like immersion will be broken as long as you play an MMO, and that should not be a reason to deny a feature.

 

Sure, too much foofoo can make your eyes bleed. But at least we do not have guys running around in bikinis....that would really cause me cramps. In my brain. Painful ones.

[MeisterBabylon]

My blue Twi'lek female in a Relaxed Jumpsuit set + Revan's lower robe gets more PTSD out of a FP full of male BT3s in The Last Maiden and Regal Miniskirts than bikinis...

 

There will always be ridiculously dressed characters. Some people started playing this game because of the space **** and metal bikinis. I say, let them.

 

At the very least now there are more options that both genders can wear. For example, I'm making a brown Zabrak male BT2 Trooper wear a skank and trying, desperately, to make it work within reason. This would be using the Regal set with Black/Red dye. Looks surprisingly like the uniform variant from another galaxy far far way that boldly goes.

 

There will always be terribly dressed people, in real life and in the game. That's quite immersive already. The only thing to make it more immersive is if NPCs actually acted like they cared about how you look. Because the Smuggler trainer might be shooting looks at one metal bikini and a Sith lord roflstomping cross-dressing men and we'd feel how alive the world is.

[Caelrie]

Goes back to what I said...one in a hundred, not immersion breaking. Every other character, immersion breaking.

 

Now, if every other character in SW canon (EU included) outside of player characters, was dressed that way, then I'd say par for the course!

Maybe it's because I'm on a RP server, but I've seen exactly one player fighting in a slave bikini. Hardly something to get upset about.

[Ailie]

I'm amused at the number of people who even care about this subject. it's a video game. It's a video game that doesn't have any sexual content whatsoever. Jaesa kissed my Juggernaut last night (you get exp for the quests, so I do em. Meh) and the scene cut out.

 

If you're concerned about 'digital flesh' being shown, or are requesting more of it, you really need to seek help. Seriously, there has to be something wrong with anyone who even cares about the level of 'skin' in this game. If and when I play a video game that shows specific parts in detail and/or graphic depictions of things I wouldn't want anyone to see me doing, then I'll complain.

 

Some people dig this crap. It gets lonely people to play. More power to the devs. But to take is seriously in any sense of the word is just laughable.

 

Whilst true, and for the most part seeing these characters running around just shows me who to avoid , but it touches on the massive issue of how women are portrayed in media, and therefore society.

 

Whilst BW are not enforcing the 'battle bikini' models you see in most other games, the fact that you still see so many people dressing their female characters in ridicuolus outfits shows that there are still people out there who regard women lesser to men. They treat women as 'eye candy' and exist for no other purpose than to look pretty.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming Bioware for this at all, they are one of the best companies around for gender equality in gaming and it's great that they provide options for both men and women, but the prevalence of this behaviour is still indicative of a wider societal problem.

 

And that's my feminist rant for the day...

[swtonewbie]

I can understand the idea of breaking immersion and why it is bad for some folks. This was the biggest complaint against allowing any appearance options post character creation. In SWG people would run around in all sorts of horrible and frightening combinations of outfits and colors.

 

For me, personally, my immersion is broken by chat, flashpoints, XP, other players talking about gear, pretty much everything that has to do with an MMO other than solo questing...and even then I hit immersion breakers constantly.

 

For me, the only way to accomplish immersion if I wish it is to play a single player game. I really feel like immersion will be broken as long as you play an MMO, and that should not be a reason to deny a feature.

 

Sure, too much foofoo can make your eyes bleed. But at least we do not have guys running around in bikinis....that would really cause me cramps. In my brain. Painful ones.

 

You are probably going one level deeper then what most people want to go. There's visual immersion and then theres the additional stuff you are talking about. I dont RP so it doesnt bother me that there is OOC stuff going on. I want my star wars game to look like a star wars game. Not some poster or advertisment to a star wars themed strip club.

 

But see you can choose not to read chat, or you can change it to "other" and you can choose not to participate in group events or the LFG tool. You can even go to an RP server and find a heavy RP guild. But it's kinda hard to ignore the many half naked troopers, bounty hunters and jedi running around in front of me.

[SithKoriandr]

Maybe it's because I'm on a RP server, but I've seen exactly one player fighting in a slave bikini. Hardly something to get upset about.

 

Seriously? I'm on a RP server and see it all the time.

[SithKoriandr]

Whilst true, and for the most part seeing these characters running around just shows me who to avoid , but it touches on the massive issue of how women are portrayed in media, and therefore society.

 

Whilst BW are not enforcing the 'battle bikini' models you see in most other games, the fact that you still see so many people dressing their female characters in ridicuolus outfits shows that there are still people out there who regard women lesser to men. They treat women as 'eye candy' and exist for no other purpose than to look pretty.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming Bioware for this at all, they are one of the best companies around for gender equality in gaming and it's great that they provide options for both men and women, but the prevalence of this behaviour is still indicative of a wider societal problem.

 

And that's my feminist rant for the day...

 

So, a woman dresses her avatar in a slave bikini, that means the woman regards women lesser to men? o.O Or is this rant for the day saying only men who do it?

[Ailie]

So, a woman dresses her avatar in a slave bikini, that means the woman regards women lesser to men? o.O Or is this rant for the day saying only men who do it?

 

It's the comment making a generalisation of the gaming community, I don't particularly care if they're male or female who do it and no I don't think it particularly matters. To suggest that anybody would engage in war in a g-string whether they are male or female is complete lunacy, but it is still acceptable for women to be dressed like this in games.

[Jeweledleah]

Whilst true, and for the most part seeing these characters running around just shows me who to avoid , but it touches on the massive issue of how women are portrayed in media, and therefore society.

 

Whilst BW are not enforcing the 'battle bikini' models you see in most other games, the fact that you still see so many people dressing their female characters in ridicuolus outfits shows that there are still people out there who regard women lesser to men. They treat women as 'eye candy' and exist for no other purpose than to look pretty.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming Bioware for this at all, they are one of the best companies around for gender equality in gaming and it's great that they provide options for both men and women, but the prevalence of this behaviour is still indicative of a wider societal problem.

 

And that's my feminist rant for the day...

 

I kinda disagree with that, at least as a blanket statement. yes, some people dress their female characters that way because they like eye candy and see female characters as "less" but men are not the only people dressing their characters in skimpy gear, not to mention there's a variety of reasons WHY people might want to use skimpy gear that has nothing to do with trying to demean women. you see - feminism is at the core supposed to be about choice. a choice to look skimpy or fully dressed, a choice to pursue a career, or become a homemaker, a choice to revel in your sexuality, or chose celibacy and everything in between. the key is - choice. and whether you chose to be a traditionalist or an adult film star - that choice should be equally respected, not derided for being a "wrong unfeminist" choice. that's not feminism, that's just another incarnation of inequality.

 

so when I seem my character getting a choice of heavy armor or battle bikini and I'm not penalized by the game for choosing either - I'm content. I don't care if someone else chooses to wear a slave bikini. as long as its a choice. however, when the same piece of armor provides full coverage on a male, and yet becomes a sleeveless belly bearing scrap on a female? THAT's when I get annoyed. because that is completely unnecessary.

 

as for visual immersion? well... I generally have my camera pretty zoomed out, so things rarely grab sight to the point of serious annoyance. that and I've basically accepted that different people have fun in different way, so as long as they are respecting preferences of other people - I can give them the same consideration, even if I vehemently disagree and would never do something of that nature myself (like putting Elara into a slave bikini, it just doesn't fit.. but I'm that weirdo that HAD to have entire squad wear matching uniforms -specifically pilot sets that match uniform Garza and some of the other republic officers wear, because they are a military squad and it seemed fitting >_>.)

Edited June 25, 2013 by Jeweledleah

[Ailie]

I kinda disagree with that, at least as a blanket statement. yes, some people dress their female characters that way because they like eye candy and see female characters as "less" but men are not the only people dressing their characters in skimpy gear, not to mention there's a variety of reasons WHY people might want to use skimpy gear that has nothing to do with trying to demean women. you see - feminism is at the core supposed to be about choice. a choice to look skimpy or fully dressed, a choice to pursue a career, or become a homemaker, a choice to revel in your sexuality, or chose celibacy and everything in between. the key is - choice. and whether you chose to be a traditionalist or an adult film star - that choice should be equally respected, not derided for being a "wrong unfeminist" choice. that's not feminism, that's just another incarnation of inequality.

 

so when I seem my character getting a choice of heavy armor or battle bikini and I'm not penalized by the game for choosing either - I'm content. I don't care if someone else chooses to wear a slave bikini. as long as its a choice. however, when the same piece of armor provides full coverage on a male, and yet becomes a sleeveless belly bearing scrap on a female? THAT's when I get annoyed. because that is completely unnecessary.

 

as for visual immersion? well... I generally have my camera pretty zoomed out, so things rarely grab sight to the point of serious annoyance. that and I've basically accepted that different people have fun in different way, so as long as they are respecting preferences of other people - I can give them the same consideration, even if I vehemently disagree and would never do something of that nature myself (like putting Elara into a slave bikini, it just doesn't fit.. but I'm that weirdo that HAD to have entire squad wear matching uniforms -specifically pilot sets that match uniform Garza and some of the other republic officers wear, because they are a military squad and it seemed fitting >_>.)

 

I would agree with you execpt for your first sentence, there are people who still treat women with disdain. Similarly, yes whilst we now have a choice, a woman who chooses to dress their female character in a slave outfit is likely to be branded a s***.

 

My personal view on feminism or equality in general is that it's about opportunity and respect. Having the choice to do something is fine, but people are often chided for these choices. The choice you speak of is often less of a choice when the consequence is not what you desire.