Is ff 14. Too feminine?

[Risvertasashi]

I don't think so for the most part; however, many of the caster/healer gear is pretty feminine looking IMO such as the SMN/SCH PvP set, WoD and now the astrologian.

Yes, this is the one part of the FFXIV aesthetic that ticks me off. I wish there was more balance to the healer sets. We're not completely without options but a lot of the sets were clearly designed around the whole stereotype of healers being female :/

[Antonio_Xul]

Okay not to sound mean but this post should either be changed or deleted, as it could be perceived as hurtful to players.

Oops! I didn't mean offend. If I did, I apologize. It's just my opinion and tend to be very honest unfortunately, but I do stand by what I said.

[Dyne_Fellpool]

Actually, it hasn't even been 100 years, the color dynamic of, pink for boys, blue for girls, shiftered around the 1950s. And the reason for pink for boys is because, and most people forget this, pink is just a light red. And since red was/is viewed as a male color, a lighter red, ie pink, was used to represent young boys.

This is more of an urban legend built on poor research and has been shown to be largely untrue.

source: http://www.researchgate.net/publicat...c_Urban_Legend

[Kosmos992k]

Yes, this is the one part of the FFXIV aesthetic that ticks me off. I wish there was more balance to the healer sets. We're not completely without options but a lot of the sets were clearly designed around the whole stereotype of healers being female :/

The Scholar set in Heavensward is calling out to you....

[Welsper59]

I don't think so for the most part; however, many of the caster/healer gear is pretty feminine looking IMO such as the SMN/SCH PvP set, WoD and now the astrologian.

Well that's essentially the stereotypical concept of magic that's why. Robes. That is, unless you want to go with the original concept of magic users in eastern countries, which meant they looked no different than their peers (civilian clothing or kimono-esque). Besides that, from a balance standpoint, cloth is generally going to be viewed as less durable than heavy pieces of metal armor, so you'll take hits a lot harder in cloth.

[Xenosan]

Japanese culture lesson time!
4) Japan is far more accepting of a feminine aesthetic than the west is. There's a reason they added lipstick and eyeshadow for males yet have a very limited number of beards. Even Yoshida himself dresses more "feminine" than most video game developers(note his scarf in the PAX East video) ... The line between feminine and masculine is just a little more blurry over there.

^ This

It's not just FF14, or the FF franchise. Look at all JRPGs, anime, w/e. In the west we are built off John Wayne archetypes, but over there it's not about the grit and age. Like they also got this thing for young male protagonist too (a grip I have their fiction, teenagers saving the world or like the Squall/Rinoa romance [they're friggin teenagers! they gonna last 2 months at most before breaking up!] etc etc >.> ) .

It's a valid argument/debate to have, and maybe it's something SE needs to consider if they want to push for stronger profits in western markets (altho they seem to have done the opposite, pushing FF as a jp cultural pillar)

edit:

Let's consider some of the big US/Euro Developer games

MassEffect/DragonAge, CoD/BF IPs, Witcher
--
Really the question shouldn't be is FFXIV too femine; but should SE and other Japanese developers try to jump the cultural gap, or should they stick to their guns?

[Risvertasashi]

The Scholar set in Heavensward is calling out to you....

Sadly, it will only be current for one patch cycle, and JSE isn't suitable for glamoring when the game's mostly about shared gear sets.

It's a nice thought, though. I also like the original SCH AF, minus the shoes. But it's pointless to try glamoring it.

Well that's essentially the stereotypical concept of magic that's why. Robes. That is, unless you want to go with the original concept of magic users in eastern countries, which meant they looked no different than their peers (civilian clothing or kimono-esque). Besides that, from a balance standpoint, cloth is generally going to be viewed as less durable than heavy pieces of metal armor, so you'll take hits a lot harder in cloth.

Just because it's cloth doesn't account for this. There's plenty of potential, even with cloth, to offer options that are a bit less frilly. Not one that SE seems keen on offering for any but crafters, however...

[KittytheSheGeek]

Seriously guys... whine some more. Female gamers have been dealing with super masculine designs and games tailored to male gamers for DECADES. If we can deal with our options being super muscly dudebro or wearing-barely-anything boob monster, I think you can get over having flowy hair and frilly robes.

Also, have you NEVER played an FF game prior to ARR?? Geez.

[Risvertasashi]

Seriously guys... whine some more. Female gamers have been dealing with super masculine designs and games tailored to male gamers for DECADES. If we can deal with our options being super muscly dudebro or wearing-barely-anything boob monster, I think you can get over having flowy hair and frilly robes.

Also, have you NEVER played an FF game prior to ARR?? Geez.

Played plenty of JRPGs. But, WRT healer clothing, I'm not saying there can't be feminine options. I'm resenting them being forced, which is just as valid as criticizing a game being tailored for males. I'm not saying take stuff away, I'm saying let's have less stereotypes and more options.

Other classes get this. BLM AF robe works just as well on a male as a female, IMO. DoWs (well, minus bard...) can have inch thick plate all over, or more revealing stuff, and so on.

I won't say the whole game is "too feminine", I think as a whole there's a good range of different NPCs, different options for character look, etc. But I'll happily point out that it would be nice if designers didn't assume healers would be female any more than paladins would be male.

[Shadowkept]

I think a lot of the armor designs are too feminine for male characters. I don't the game caters to female players but does cater to female characters. Which is one reason why men play female characters (yes I brought it up). Also, even the most masculine characters you can make looks like a fashion model, very meterosexual.