Women and Armor!

[Edellis]

I feel this is an issue in pretty much every MMO on earth...but FFXIV is probably one of the weakest offenders of this issue. Most of the armor sets between males and females are PRACTICALLY identical, save for maybe the dragoon AF armor?

The video makes perfect sense, but only the most hardcore of complainers would turn this on ARR. You have to literally try to show skin on this game, and if you are, the male outfits are showing just as much, if not literally the same amount.

[Aegis]

Except that both are catgirls, there are not many similarities.
It could be something like: "FF XI have catgirls. Let us put also catgirls into FF XIV. A different type of catgirls"


So long it have no edge in the middle that would kill her if she fall.

Are Roegadyn not that similar to Galka?
Are Lalafell not that similar to Taru Taru?
Are Elezen not that similar to Elvaan?

Bit disingenuous to claim that they aren't based on Mithra when every race in this game is based on a corrollary in XI

Miqo'te are just Mithra with a higher polygon count.

[Edellis]

nevermind, this thread is stupid.

[LineageRazor]

Except that both are catgirls, there are not many similarities.
It could be something like: "FF XI have catgirls. Let us put also catgirls into FF XIV. A different type of catgirls"


So long it have no edge in the middle that would kill her if she fall.

I was rather disappointed with FFXIV's "A different type of catgirls", to be honest. Mithra were a lot more beastial, and gave a real feeling that they are a different race than humans. They had catlike noses, blunt fingertips that hinted at retractable claws, a battle posture that had them hunched over like some kind of predator, and orange skin or fur (arguing whether it actually was skin or fur was the source of many a flame war; some folks are REALLY sensitive about the possibility of being seen as a "furry").

Miqo'te, on the other hand, are stock-standard anime-style catgirls; perfectly human in every way, but with a couple of cat parts slapped on. Kudos to SE for giving the male Miqo'te an animalistic sitting posture (and for having catBOYS in the first place!). I was quite disappointed, and it's a large part of the reason I decided not to roll as a Miqo'te even though I spent ten plus years as a Mithra in FFXI.

[Felis]

Are Roegadyn not that similar to Galka?

Galka are beastlike with a tail. Roegadyn are not a bit beastlike. They are just big with no tail.

Are Lalafell not that similar to Taru Taru?

only in the size.

Are Elezen not that similar to Elvaan?

standard elve type

[Amused]

Even if the female armors are the only ones that are bikinis it is STILL not misogynistic. It is STILL not objectifying.

mi·sog·y·ny
noun \mə-ˈsä-jə-nē\
Definition of MISOGYNY

: a hatred of women

ob·jec·ti·fy
verb \əb-ˈjek-tə-ˌfī\

: to treat (someone) as an object rather than as a person

The only people here treating the female characters as objects are the ones insisting that they're being objectified simply by wearing the revealing armor.

[HakuroDK]

snip

I still think the gaping holes in the DRG/NIN AF armors are stupid.

[Amused]

I still think the gaping hole in the DRG/NIN AF armors are stupid.

You're entitled to that opinion, but it doesn't make them misogynistic, it doesn't make them objectifying, and it doesn't make them bad designs any more than all the spikes on the DRG AF does.

Personally I think the revealing parts of the NIN armor are fine, and make sense.

[HakuroDK]

Personally I think the revealing parts of the NIN armor are fine, and make sense.

How do you figure they make sense?

[Aegis]

Even if the female armors are the only ones that are bikinis it is STILL not misogynistic. It is STILL not objectifying.

mi·sog·y·ny
noun \mə-ˈsä-jə-nē\
Definition of MISOGYNY

: a hatred of women

ob·jec·ti·fy
verb \əb-ˈjek-tə-ˌfī\

: to treat (someone) as an object rather than as a person

The only people here treating the female characters as objects are the ones insisting that they're being objectified simply by wearing the revealing armor.

You don't think dehumanising someone because of their gender is misogynistic? To treat someone as an object is to reduce their value as a human. You look at them and don't see a person, you see an object.

A woman can't wear the same piece of armour as a man (example: the Ninja AF) without being forced to expose their chest. A sexual element is introduced that is not present for the man. That's objectification. That's reducing someone to their physical characteristics. I don't care if you don't accept that or even if you don't understand it. It just is.

It might be harder to see with XIV because the examples are fairly modest. Consider Tera or Scarlet Blade or whatever. A guy in plate mail is a guy in plate mail. Functional (disregarding ludicrous spikes and pauldrons), deadly. A woman in the same gear is a walking pair of boobs and backside. There for titillation and, let's face it, fap material. That's objectification. No question.

In XIV the examples are more modest, but it's a quantitative difference, not a qualititive one. The difference is a matter of degree.

Galka are beastlike with a tail. Roegadyn are not a bit beastlike. They are just big with no tail.
only in the size.
standard elve type

So it's just a coincidence that the gender exclusivity was also carried over? Only female Miqo'te, only male Roegadyn? They were based squarely on XI races. How can you argue otherwise with a straight face?