The Gendered Single Gear Issue

[CidHeiral]

It is a very, very good thing that the game has masculine and feminine options for players, but of course players should have the option of which they would like to use. The devs have been doing a great job going back and making gender exclusive gear available for everyone and I believe eventually they will do so for everything. However, that still leaves the issue of single gear pieces that differ in appearance depending on who equips them.

One example is the Casual Attire:



The female version turns the top into a long dress with shorts far above the knee. The male version's shirt ends much further up with longer shorts. I would personally much prefer the male version which I feel suits the highlander tomboy vibe much better, and I'm sure there are many players who feel the same in either direction.

Another excellent example are the Nier sets from Copied Factory:



Again I would absolutely love to be able to use the male versions of these sets. They look so dignified!


So what is the solution? It seems like there are two potential options.

1. Split every piece of gendered gear into [M] and [F] sets like the Rathalos gear.
People who already have the gear would probably have to be forced into one or the other during the transition, then can go trade it for the opposite one if they want at the Calamity Salvager or some other vendor. The issue with this solution is how it impacts the actual drops. When you defeat a boss in Copied Factory would it now drop two of every item? Does it drop a token you turn in for the look of your choice?

2. Leave the gear as is but add an NPC or right click menu option that flips the appearance from one look to the other.
This would be the ideal solution IMO but I have no idea if it's even possible given how the game works under the hood.


What do you think? Which solution would you like to see implemented, or is there an even better one you would prefer?

[Dyans]

I think the npc idea sounds wonderful! Though it's always up in the air what can and can't be done with the game's spaghetti code, it certainly would be a lot more convenient than the alternative. (especially if the first option could only be achieved by making us have to collect the pieces again.)

I'm also especially glad you included the nier sets in your example because I've long wanted to wear the female caster sets on my character because male caster Glamour is criminally lacking in sleeveless options.

It often feels like only mnk/sam male characters have those options in surplus.

[NekoMataMata]

The first option is nicer. It'd be so annoying having to go to a npc to swap the gear over any time you wanted to use a certain glam(much in the same way of how annoying it is to run to the aesthetician any time you want to change hairstyles to match a glam).

[aveyond-dreams]

Can't say that the above examples are good for gear that I'm interested in seeing the gender lock removed from. Some stuff just looks better on the gender it was designed for.

[XiRon]

I seriously just want ungendered Neoishgardian sets and Garo gear.
The Neoish ladies tank and healer...idk battlegown are DIVINE and Id love to use them. The male tanking top has grown on me but the healer vest is so boring.
The only Garo set I particularly care for is the healers set Id have it a permanent fixture on my glam swap options if I could use that set.
I'll take the npc giving us a toggle bc while annoying I feel like it be less wasteful than doubling the number of gear in the game with rathalos style m/f sets that are ultimately the same statistically just...gendered.
Altho I would make it so one gender gear toggle npc is in each hub area to reduce any kinda lag or risk of crashing by having one npc in one place. Also put one in Mor Dhona and Horizon since we have to go to Waking Sands/Rising Stones so so often. (waking sands less so past arr but still).

[Serilda]

The only Garo set I particularly care for is the healers set Id have it a permanent fixture on my glam swap options if I could use that set.

I agree about GARO; some of the female-only headgear is gorgeous and has no business being gender-locked whatsoever. It's not the same as the items in the OP though as they're already separate items and just locked for no rational reason (and the Gold Saucer versions should really be class-unlocked too, because some of those pieces would make great accessories for different classes' looks).

I also agree that the divergent looks of some of the shared pieces which look different based on gender are annoying. "The female version always looks better on females" is obviously nonsense; the various races are more different aesthetically than most of the genders are from one another and what looks good varies from one model to the next, but the dividing line isn't always gender. And then there are lalafell. My character looks straight up ridiculous in all of the below-the-knee shorts they keep handing out whereas my female-miqo'te-playing friend is sick of having her thighs on display all of the time. The designers aren't designing with every character model in mind so why must they stop us from using the options which look best?

[Iscah]

"The female version always looks better on females" is obviously nonsense; the various races are more different aesthetically than most of the genders are from one another and what looks good varies from one model to the next, but the dividing line isn't always gender.

Absolutely. Having a collection of different characters makes it clear that gear pieces can seem underwhelming on one character but fantastic on another, depending on their proportions and stance, or even just the vibe of the character. (I have two male Miqo'te among my alt collection – logically they are identical character models from the neck down, and yet clothes that suit one of them can look totally wrong on the other.)

I would love to see separated versions of the gendered designs become available. There's a long list of things I'd like to have available to the other gender, going in both directions.

[Jojoya]

Can't say that the above examples are good for gear that I'm interested in seeing the gender lock removed from. Some stuff just looks better on the gender it was designed for.

Fashion is a game of personal taste and interest. Nothing should be denied to others just because a few people decide it only looks good on a certain body type and therefore no one with a different body type should be allowed to wear it.

[Rokke]

I'd love the option to swap between or use both sets of the Nier gear. The 9S inspired caster coat from copied factory is one of my favorite pieces of glam but I can only use it on one of my mains ;-;

[TheSuperior]

Can't say that the above examples are good for gear that I'm interested in seeing the gender lock removed from. Some stuff just looks better on the gender it was designed for.

This is why I hate the dresses on men. Not the fact that they're in dresses, but that they're ill fitting and genuinely bad especially on Roe/Hrothgar. They look like "okama" joke characters in One Piece. I've yet to see anything look bad on female models but I do recall the reason they never wanted to model the men was because it made them "uncomfortable."