As a male gamer, thank you for not oversexualizing every female NPC

[Kosmos992k]

It's pretty darn annoying whenever men have actual armor and girl's have metal bikinis in fantasy settings, heck it's pretty darn tasteless 9/10 times. I get very tired of people who act like NPCs and PCs with gear made by people in the real world act like there isn't some kind of either just boring or (at least a bit) demeaning factor (while the men NPCs/PCs more often than not are dressed much more sensibly or at least in an outfit meant for sex appeal) that factors into it.

Um, in case you haven't noticed, and apparently you haven't, there are male equivalents to the bikini armor that amount to little more than a metallic loincloth and cod piece. Seriously, are you honestly saying that skimpy armor is the preserve of females in this game? What I find demeaning is that you are making this fuss about female NPCs & PCs and acting as if males have no subligars or open chest shirts, or completely shirtless options. I find that demeaning because you are making a distinction between male and female that is not there, you are creating the distinction specifically to cover females. Just as you are one of those making a distinction between what you consider correct and incorrect in terms of dress for NPCs and/or PCs in a game.

Actually, plenty of adventurers could do our jobs, with the exception of fighting Ascians and primals which we can do because of Hydaelyn's blessing and the Echo.

Seriously? You're trying to argue out of suspending disbelief in a game that features magic users able to withstand primal attacks wearing cloth? The point I was making was that the look or bulk of the armor is entirely visual based on the armor sets that players of all genders can use. The Rainbow gear set for tanks is made of nothing but fabric, and yet it's supposed to be more protective against physical attack than the all metal plate and hauberk sets that preceded it? That's the point, the armor sets themselves show that the bulk, material and/or coverage of the armor our characters wear is not related to the protection it provides.

If the "bikini armor" is completely reasonable, why on earth do we see only girl PCs being made to wear it in games? Fact of the matter is in most fantasy settings men get either actual armor (Or armor made massively bulky for the aesthetic of "protective armor"), while girls get "armor" that's told to work just because of "magic" or whatever. If you create a fantasy setting where the women are all wearing "battle bikinis" then why on earth aren't the men doing the same, in fact why aren't the girls wearing actual armor while the men are? That's the immersion breaking qualities people talk about.

Who exactly is it that is making female PCs wear bikini armor in this game? For that matter who is preventing male characters from wearing the same set? It's player choice, the only 'bikini' armor set is completely optional. Oh, and let's not ignore or forget that males have the SAME choice. Perhaps you should stop arguing points that haven't been made. I haven't suggested, nor has anyone else, that FFXIV should be a fantasy setting were female NPCs and PCs alike are all wearing "battle bikinis"; that my friend is a construct of your mind.

I mean, I suppose, but it's not even that Garuda and Shiva are "moe" they're just kinda designed with "sex appeal" in mind. I can kinda get it with Shiva, but Garuda's appeared in lots of different ways..

Not sure where you or Zyrusticae are getting your definition of "moe", but based on your statements here, you have the wrong definition. Neither primal could be described as "moe", they do not fit the archetype at all.