Is ff 14. Too feminine?

[KittytheSheGeek]

*snip*

This then becomes an issue of forced gender identity. Why can't Ifrit be considered feminine? Or a set of badass Pally armour? I consider myself to be pretty feminine usually, but I also love all the stuff you posted. I LARP on a regular basis, and I love to dress up in armour and swing swords around. I don't think it should be considered masculine to like those things, and I don't think it should be considered feminine to like pretty hair and robes. (Not trying to pick a fight with you btw, as I do agree with your point.)

Really this is an issue of what society makes us think is feminine and masculine, and particularly that it is a "bad" thing for men to have interest in anything considered feminine. It's pretty darn messed up.

[Mugiawara]

Or maybe they are average little boys and don't like girly things? As a kid I enjoyed batman more than Barbie. Not because I was insecure.

That is why I said: I guess every little thing they may find 'girly'
Because I personally don't find a lot of things all that girly on this game lol.
They try and unisex a lot to me and it turns ugly.
See Healer sets. Bleck. If they are little boys then they're
better off playing something more....masculine?
I dare say CoD.

[kyuven]

Or maybe they are average little boys and don't like girly things? As a kid I enjoyed batman more than Barbie. Not because I was insecure.

Fun question: Which of these is more masculine?


Well, interesting thing...
They're both also this:

The yellow ranger/Zyuranger Yellow is only feminine because we say it's feminine. Meanwhile in Japan, it's masculine.
Cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity are based on what we're told.
At one point in European culture, THIS was considered manly:

[Orspeth]

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.

My paladin is female, and as a female irl, I appreciate that she has real armor that looks like it might protect her. Hope the platekini style doesn't come into play later - not quite 40 yet...
And I look damn good in my off duty outfit - best mans jacket, bridesmaids tights and specs... ;-p

[Ashkendor]

My paladin is female, and as a female irl, I appreciate that she has real armor that looks like it might protect her. Hope the platekini style doesn't come into play later - not quite 40 yet...

Give Noct armor a look. Abs for days!

[Niwashi]

Your nephews are very insecure with their masculinity.

Which, depending on their age, may be perfectly natural. I think this is why some people have been guessing that the OP's nephews are children. The emotional development people go through in childhood deals a lot with establishing their own identity, and their gender identity is a part of that. As a result, most kids go though a phase where boys won't want girl things and girls won't want boy things. (Of course, the notion of which sorts of things fall into which of those categories is highly cultural.)

Their parent(s) have no doubt influenced what they (the parent) ascribe as male and female, and have impressed upon their children (the OP's nephews) that female = bad/weak/inferior.

It's not necessarily an expression of the idea that "female = bad/weak/inferior" if they're simply expressing "female = not me".


If, on the other hand, they're nearing or have reached adulthood, and still react that way, then they're either insecure enough to still be actively establishing their gender identity past the time most people have finished that stage, or else maybe they did pick up the idea, as Noshpan suggests, that "female = bad/weak/inferior".

[AmaiHanakaze]

Or maybe they are average little boys and don't like girly things? As a kid I enjoyed batman more than Barbie. Not because I was insecure.

I'm assuming they're not "little boys" because the demographic of someone interested in playing a MMO is likely to at least be teenaged. That would be well in the age range where they'd be experiencing peer pressure and bullying for showing signs of being a "pussy" and likely to avoid anything perceived as "girly" so it's the perfect time to get it out of their heads that anything of the sort is inherently bad.

[Red_Wolf]

This is the most feminine game I have ever played.

[Welsper59]

SCH AF, BLM AF. Direwolf Healing set is almost there. The SCH AF2 preview we saw in the Heavensward stream.

Actually I'm OK with the WHM AF, though some might not be. But the Syrcus Tower, WoD and Swan sets, for example, really take it to the extreme. Not that having these is bad, I'd just like some balance. This is a healer specific criticism, as AFAICT most other classes do have a good range of options.

I don't actually mind robes (robes do not precisely share the same characteristics as dresses, despite all the jokes and naysayers). I'd kill to have a BLM AF-esque robe available to healers. Or even "Gandalf the White" would be fine by me. Following the Heavensward SCH AF2 theme, I bet there's a lot of steampunk (magitek punk?) options that could be explored.

edit to add one more: Take the PLD AF2, make it all cloth instead of having chainmail/plate bits, and that would do it too. (And still perfectly suited to female characters as well))

Wait... you're arguing to me about something that I'm not trying to say. The entire point of the post I made was about why designs are the way they are, NOT about what can potentially be done in this game (hence why I said it's not about potential in my last reply). Robes (and similar attire) are the go-to because that's how fantasy stories originated or glamorized them as in western entertainment. For example, would you be able to take the SCH AF in Heavensward, throw it into Tolkiens LotR series, and honestly think "that's a wizard"? Probably not lol. Could you do that with someone wearing robes/coats/etc? More than likely, at least more than the prior mentioned SCH AF in the expansion lol. Even the SCH AF now wouldn't fit the bill, but it fits this game because of the job description for SCH... which is completely irrelevant to my reply to that other person.

Again, the person I replied to questioned or didn't seem to understand why the design seems to be about the whole "dress" or robe idea that they fall back on. But as far as what's available is concerned, there's only so much you can do really without starting to make things look a little frilly lol. I mean even with what you mentioned, then what? Recoloring? Removing a little strap here and there? That's still only 3 or 4 art designs that you find okay in this game that's filled with far more gear sets for different jobs and roles lol. Thankfully, since the ideas are not bound to the stereotypical look, they can branch out (like the expansion look). Although... they do have to keep within a certain theme usually, and can only allow for so much design variance to be made available to non-vanity gear. If a SCH AF hat look dropped for BLM in Coil, it really wouldn't fit the part lol. Come Heavensward, we may actually end up seeing a shift from non-robe looks being normal and the robe look being rare (by the future drops design, not what's already available).

[Jandor]

This is the most feminine game I have ever played.

Yeah pretty much. Not that I really care though.