Seriously, If You're Only Going To Create Designs For Women, Just Genderlock

[MoroMurasaki]

Firstly, thankyou for the compliments on my Elezen.

(Snipped for length)

I think (at a 'just a hunch' level) there also may be an imbalance in the game of more male fantasy-setting-appropriate gear and female modern-fashion gear?

100% agreed. Honestly I feel like by the end you had kind of already answered your own query about male-specific outfits being bad business. I would also say it would be a good idea if they would see use, the issue right now is that if they made something exclusive to male characters they're locking out the majority of their players. It will, by it's very nature, see considerably less use.

The feedback loop you bring up may very well exist, I certainly wouldn't argue against it. In fact I distinctly remember alluding to the same issue back during The Great Male Bunny Suit Debate. The question then becomes are we going to break the loop or trust that SE will? Because I don't see them taking the initiative. I know it won't happen but if a majority of the playerbase fantasia'd to male characters I am certain we would see an uptick in masculine glamour. As it stands they're a business playing to their key demographic.

I think the disparity between the adventuring (good way to phrase it! I was trying to come up with a word to categorize this but couldn't) and fashion is also important. People want masculine fashion gear but I don't think we will be getting feminine battle gear because it doesn't really make much sense. It just so happens that this is the way the cookie crumbled but I can't help but think masculine and feminine aesthetics lend themselves to adventuring and fashion gear respectively.

Overall if my posts a struck you as me saying that I think men's fashion is a waste of time for the game I apologize that I didn't properly articulate myself. I think it could be cute, I just don't think from SE's perspective that the demand is there because... well... look around. Not a lot of male characters.

But it's Eorzea!

And Eorzea, like the real world, has two genders called male and female with distinct (If not slightly blurrier) aesthetics. If it had three genders or eighty genders or no genders this would be a moot point.

Either way my point is about the irl position of the dev team, not Eorzea. They live in a world that restricts men from crossing into women's fashion far more than the inverse. That's going to color their opinions whether we like it or not.

I'm not saying I agree with this or I feel personally that clothing (or glamour) should be gendered, I'm saying it's harder for your average person to conceive of an outfit that's too masculine for a woman to wear than it is for someone to come up with things that are too feminine for men to wear. If you want to argue that point go ahead but it's a losing battle.