Where is FFXIV headed in terms of sexism?

[Charmin]

A lot of good points have been brought up in this discussion and I was happy to eventually see the "vanity slot" option be brought up. At the end of the day this is a game that takes samples of real life and distills them into bite-sized pieces of mind or eye candy for easier consumption. Being the owner of a game/comic shop this topic comes up now and again and you can generally see trends that occur as time passes. In presenting an idea through (to stay on topic I'll just refer to FFXIV though what I say can be true of card games, comics, etc.) the game many times an idea is reduced to something rather dramatic for conveyance. Most of the time when we are frustrated we may only physically get flushed cheeks and a bit of a scowl. That subtly doesn't get picked up well in media like this so we must also have the balled fists, a stomp, a huff-and-turn, or the like. Look at the /laugh command and just how "animated" it is.

So, actions and emotions aside, this translates to concepts of gender identity and conveying ideas that way so that they can be consumed easier without a lot of actual attention needing to be paid. Even earlier in this thread there was a good but lengthy post written that made good points. However, following it were a few "tl;dr" statements that proves that content aside the presentation wasn't suitable for consumption. When making an 8.5"x11" flyer for a club, business, or announcement you need to design it as such that you can convey all the information over the span of 2 seconds from about 6-10 feet away. Because that is our attention span regardless of gender. You need to get the idea across.

These comments are not including swimsuits, coliseum gear, or basic underwear as those are the exceptions to what we are discussing but at the same time exactly prove that they catch the attention of those who are running through town, etc.

As bards were brought up we'll compare them to white mages to further make the "quick distinction" example. All (standing) white mages look alike. It is a wall of white and red especially in the end of days. White mages are important, and I love playing one. But I was simply a face in a crowd and there was nothing exceptional or even slightly unique to break the monotony (something that, landscape-wise, was an issue in 1.x changing in 2.0). Switch to bard and it's a slightly different story. Yes, the shoulder reveal and the way the AF sits is different. It makes it different, breaks the pattern if only slightly. Dragoons, particularly female ones, with bellies shown. It is something slightly different that plays into a comfortable role our brains quickly filter for consumption and understanding.

This is the same reason why anime characters came to have wildly-different hair colors and why there are very obvious differences in builds because otherwise they'd look the same and you would have a lot harder time trying to figure out who is who (especially in senshi style ones). When the brain encounters effort it is only willing to put so much into it before you say "what" or "tl;dr". Not even the Green Lanterns looked wholly the same, nor Borg for that matter crossing into Star Trek because we can't handle too much sameness.

So the marketing and psychological distinction of it pointed out, it comes down to you, fellow players in how you decide to accept the content shown. One man's trash is another man's treasure. It is your acceptance and comfort level with how the game is presented that determines if you take offense to the developers or how other players may make ignorant statements. It is your brain and how much you allow it to take in what is presented. For most of us who play this game, as we are a community and there is context from the past and expectations in the future, it tends to be more comfortable to run around in underwear in front of other players. A real life presentation of this would be the use of the "n-word" among people. Why is it you can say that to your fellow nerf-herder friend but if someone you don't know calls you a nerf-herder you get offended?

Context plays a large part in the physical and mental intimacy and just how open we are to the messages presented by both developer and fellow player.

[Ricky]

Japanese culture is entirely different from Western culture so your topic won't even be addressed by them
They always design with Japanese in mind first

[Rhomagus]

You were the one who started off by saying how she dressed was not empowering. I spoke specifically to that. If can get you a fan-base which, in today's world, is just about all the power you need. I'd say that 200k people liking your facebook page is pretty empowering for anyone looking to have notoriety.

Now you may not like it, but that is how the world works.

You didn't read my post. That's fine.

You are the one who thinks money = power. If you read my post you'd agree to this. That combined with this most recent response only solidifies this point. That's fine, but that isn't how the world works and I showed you how it really just creates an invisible ceiling but you didn't pay attention to any of that as you didn't not respond to it.

Correlation is not causation. I already addressed you and your positions in that post. You have not made any counter argument worthy of notable response that I haven't already stated, i.e. quote mining doesn't work.

We're done. You've objectively forfeited the argument.

[Laiferr]

While I may not have been overly sexualized I was still reprimanded verbally and textually in my early XIV gaming, so sexualization truly does go both ways.

As a Highlander who leveled GLA, MRD, and PUG I was inclined to wear the harness set in the beginning stages of my leveling career. I liked the extra DEX on the subligar and how all the pieces fit together as set. They were all around the same level as well and I could upgrade them every 10 levels. Because I wanted to keep my inventory down while still maximizing my effectiveness across classes, I felt that this set would best suit my needs.

I was not taken seriously by my fellow players. I was the goofy "gay" Highlander who always wore subligar. I had people make fun of my character in ventrilo. I literally had someone reprimand me in /sh at an Aetheryte in disgust because I was a Highlander wearing subligar. I was also denied party invites because of it. Sexualization isn't always flattering and when you tie stats to certain gear, making that sexualized gear better needlessly encourages you to look a certain way in front of others.

I'm personally not gay, nor do I have a problem with gay people. I don't like being looked at as something I'm not and I don't think I should have to sacrifice my efficiency needlessly when the developers could implement a vanity option. I mostly don't agree with the people who made the comments or acted the way that they did. I personally think they were at the core of the over sexualization but I can't say it was completely unexpected. I wasn't necessarily aesthetically proud to put that subligar on at the time but the set favored the classes I wanted to play and I liked the stats. I can feel for the female gamers that probably have many more instances of this when leveling their characters.

It's not the look aesthetics so much as the negative reaction from the community. If the community is going to predictably act in such a manner we as players should have a method to counter it in my opinion.

Wow, that really sucks! I certainly didn't mean to dismiss male avatars, but as I don't play one, I don't have much experience with this. It's really sad to hear about this sort of perceived 'homophobia' (I can't believe people would exclude you from parties...). Your situation is exactly how I feel. When picking out new gear, I had to try and find an alternate to the coatee, even though it had the best stats - because I just didn't want to bring in the predictable comments I'd seen others receive. I don't want to start a fight with people for making comments about it. If I even politely tell people I don't appreciate it, you get told you're a prude. I'd rather just avoid it all together. I don't want an issue made over my avatars clothes. You are exactly right, it's finding a way to avoid the unwanted reaction from the community. I love the sound of the vanity option.

Again, for the record: No problem with people who want to wear this gear. No problem with people who like that sort of attention. I just hope we don't see more examples like this where we're 'forced' to wear 'sexy' gear. Again, for the record: No, it's not the end of the earth, no it hasn't happen much, just saying I hope this doesn't become a trend.

[Yellow]

Has anyone else noticed that there's no religious white knights in here?

I wonder why the objectification of women is less important than in-game marriage.

I'm a bit concerned for it, however this game isn't like TERA, and I think the developers have some taste when making gear :P

[Elexia]

Like my brother said:

"As long as it's not like Korean games where you breasts pivot around while you stand still, there's no problems."

Also no one is forced to wear anything besides small clothes so our characters aren't reverted to their nude base models XIV uses.

[strallaalaa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmZs4hMeM0U morz of this please.

and this lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2eRE2ohGf8

[Colvin]

We're done. You've objectively forfeited the argument.

oh clearly....

[Rhomagus]

I don't know why you felt offended. It seems like you could have just as easily been ok with being the goofy "gay" Highlander. Sounds like you actually were disturbed by being called a little fruity. Im a terribly large man and I dressed up as a school girl once for halloween. You should learn to get the comedy in it instead of taking it seriously.

If more people would just let that stuff be funny instead of taking insult to so much stuff, the world would have much less arguements and issues with people's feelings.

Seriously you aren't reading. Some weren't just joking, they denied me from joining their party. That's where sexualization needlessly effects gameplay. Let's say that I even liked the harness set, what's the difference between my Highlander and Leonidas from 300. Let's say I was actually gay, I shouldn't have to feel like less of a person for being so.

Sometimes it's just not funny. Especially when you hear it a lot and it's never really welcome. If you're dressing up purposefully as a school girl on Halloween for comedic effect your doing that because you want to. It's not like your job is forcing you to dress up as a school girl or that you're given a pay raise for dressing as a school girl.

Consider reading.

[syntaxlies]

I didn't read the whole op, but I don't have o to know its dumb.