I think some computer games can be artistic in some cases if the developers are really trying for that angle. However, I fail to see anything artistic about saying "Oh, and this class only consists of females because reasons."
Or in the case of the valkyrie, "Oh, and this class is a valkyrie, a traditionally female-only class, because we're too uncreative to come up with our own original class". What's so artistic and lore-unique about copying and pasting some public-access myth that's been copied and pasted a hundred times over?
DMKano said:
I've never played a male character in a MMO.
If I am going to be staring at my characters behind for countless hours might as well enjoy it.
Why are people so comfortable saying this? As though it's a respectable excuse that makes sense, and not a most pathetic thing to do? I don't find myself staring at my character's butt when I play a game. I didn't start a game to stare at my character's butt while I play for hours.
Isn't the intended point to insert yourself into a fantasy world?
I thought it was intended that you play a role, in a role playing game. What ever that role is, doesn't mean it has to represent you personally. Let's face it, none of us are axe wielding dwarves or magic flinging elves.
Some of us like to get so far from ourselves in these games that the characters we play are nothing like "us", so no, I never insert myself into a game. My characters are not me, they don't look like me and they don't act like me.
As an example, take Warhammer online. I'm not an elf or a witch or female, yet if I wanted to play a Witch Elf, I'd have to play a female character. If you fancy running with daggers and stealth then you had two options, do it as a Witch Elf or don't bother. Seriously, what's the big deal?
The thing that makes me laugh so much when people bring this up, and rant about playing the opposite gender, is that most of those same people have no problem playing Tomb Raider. And yes, it's exactly the same thing. It's a gender locked, female character that you have to play.
Edit: The reason I used Witch Elf as an example was to show that it's not just Asian games that do this and that it's not something new.
As an example, take Warhammer online. I'm not an elf or a witch or female, yet if I wanted to play a Witch Elf, I'd have to play a female character. If you fancy running with daggers and stealth then you had two options, do it as a Witch Elf or don't bother. Seriously, what's the big deal?
Well, one big deal is that maybe people will choose the "don't bother" option. It's not like Warhammer Online was very successful, after all. Granted, there's no "Warhammer, now without gender lock!" for us to compare it to, but at the very least you should probably choose an MMORPG that thrived instead of died if you're looking for an example of an MMORPG that did okay in spite of being genderlocked.
I am trying to find a list of all current classes in the other versions of the game. So far it seems like NA will be missing the Blader/Plum and the Archer (male ranger). Is there no male sorcerer in the other versions? That class looks really appealing, but if I can make a male toon of that class in a few months then I really don't want to bother making a female one right now.
The arguments that gender-lock is great, because male players can stare at a female butt all day: If gender-lock is removed, you can still make a female character and stare at her butt all day. You lose nothing.
The argument that gender-lock is great 'because of the lore' only applies to roles that have a gender-specific lore, such as a Valkyrie.
The argument that "if you're comfortable with your own sexuality, you don't have issues playing the other gender" is a matter of opinion, but again, nothing prevents men who WANT to role play females from doing so, even with gender-lock off. No one loses anything.
Gender-lock creates a restriction where none is needed. If it's removed, people who want to role-play that gender/class combination can continue to do so. Those who don't want to, can choose the gender they enjoy playing AND the class they enjoy playing. There is no downside, no one 'loses' when choices are open.
The only reasonable argument is that there are costs involved in creating new models. Given.
But considering all that was put into this beautiful game already, is that really such a stumbling block?
The arguments that gender-lock is great, because male players can stare at a female butt all day: If gender-lock is removed, you can still make a female character and stare at her butt all day. You lose nothing.
The argument that gender-lock is great 'because of the lore' only applies to roles that have a gender-specific lore, such as a Valkyrie.
The argument that "if you're comfortable with your own sexuality, you don't have issues playing the other gender" is a matter of opinion, but again, nothing prevents men who WANT to role play females from doing so, even with gender-lock off. No one loses anything.
Gender-lock creates a restriction where none is needed. If it's removed, people who want to role-play that gender/class combination can continue to do so. Those who don't want to, can choose the gender they enjoy playing AND the class they enjoy playing. There is no downside, no one 'loses' when choices are open.
The only reasonable argument is that there are costs involved in creating new models. Given.
But considering all that was put into this beautiful game already, is that really such a stumbling block?
Exactly. I feel like those of use that see this point are beating a dead horse with all these so called "Roleplayers". They seem to forget the meaning of it. They lose nothing at all by accepting that gender/ age lock is unnecessary. They can still play the way they want, and so can we.
Gender locking is annoying as hell to me because of the fact that you can wait years for an alternate gender of a class to come out and then it sucks compared to the other so you're stuck with it anyway. This tends to be the class in a LOT of Korean mmos with gender locking, there's two versions of a class and one is the "right" one.
Comments
Or in the case of the valkyrie, "Oh, and this class is a valkyrie, a traditionally female-only class, because we're too uncreative to come up with our own original class". What's so artistic and lore-unique about copying and pasting some public-access myth that's been copied and pasted a hundred times over?
Some of us like to get so far from ourselves in these games that the characters we play are nothing like "us", so no, I never insert myself into a game. My characters are not me, they don't look like me and they don't act like me.
As an example, take Warhammer online. I'm not an elf or a witch or female, yet if I wanted to play a Witch Elf, I'd have to play a female character. If you fancy running with daggers and stealth then you had two options, do it as a Witch Elf or don't bother. Seriously, what's the big deal?
The thing that makes me laugh so much when people bring this up, and rant about playing the opposite gender, is that most of those same people have no problem playing Tomb Raider. And yes, it's exactly the same thing. It's a gender locked, female character that you have to play.
Edit:
The reason I used Witch Elf as an example was to show that it's not just Asian games that do this and that it's not something new.
The argument that gender-lock is great 'because of the lore' only applies to roles that have a gender-specific lore, such as a Valkyrie.
The argument that "if you're comfortable with your own sexuality, you don't have issues playing the other gender" is a matter of opinion, but again, nothing prevents men who WANT to role play females from doing so, even with gender-lock off. No one loses anything.
Gender-lock creates a restriction where none is needed. If it's removed, people who want to role-play that gender/class combination can continue to do so. Those who don't want to, can choose the gender they enjoy playing AND the class they enjoy playing. There is no downside, no one 'loses' when choices are open.
The only reasonable argument is that there are costs involved in creating new models. Given.
But considering all that was put into this beautiful game already, is that really such a stumbling block?
This tends to be the class in a LOT of Korean mmos with gender locking, there's two versions of a class and one is the "right" one.