It’s no secret that female armour in games can sometimes be ridiculous and unrealistic. The Repair Her armour Tumblr recently put together a list of thirteen types of ridiculous female armour you come to expect in MMORPGs — the commentary being less serious than it is for fun.
“Don’t take it too seriously,” they write. “But I am getting tired of these outfits, though.”
While you should visit the site for the full list, here’s a smaller selection:
1. The classic Bikini Armor. If you’re lucky you might get an actual shoulder-pad! If the designers even bother doing something more than just a regular bikini, you might get some accessories with stilettos! Exactly what I want in battle. For a extra nice touch; cameltoe.
2. The Lingerie ”Armor”. There’s absolutely nothing that protects you, but it looks really uncomfortable and nice in bed battle! Complete with some feathery, useless shoulder pads!
3. The ever so Stylish Swimsuit! This is usually the armour you get before you get the upgrade Bikini armour. Bonus points if a choker, thigh-high boots/stockings and a half mask is included!
4. The Abstract Art. Yes, we’re all wondering how the hell that works; how does that thing stay on, how does she walk with those shoes, how on earth is that supposed to protect her and why is half of her naked? All those questions is a part of the costume! They say art say more than thousand words.. or something!
5. The Dominatrix and/or Slave outfit! For those kinky players out there! Complete with leather or latex, fishnets, chains, chokers and whips! Bonus points of the stilettos are sky-high!
6. The Stereotype Shaman or Barbarian! Because she’s clearly so wild and ~exotic~ that she doesn’t need clothes! Best worn with tiny loincloth and underboob-straps!
Clothes I’m forced to wear in the majority of MMORPGs [Repair Her Armor]
Comments
21 responses to “Thirteen Types Of Ridiculous Female Armor In MMORPGs”
its the heels I can’t stand….(was that a pun?)
All pics links have become blocked with the “Kotaku” default image displaying (At least for me…)
But yes there are many silly looking kinds of female armour in most MMOs… comes down to trying to sexualise the female avatars to increase the interest of males – and to a degree probably male developers designing the armour…
Me too. Makes the article funnier.
I incidentally came across the linked post yesterday and read it. I personally found the illustrations amusing too. Too bad these examples are all pretty accurate for a bunch of games, although I’m glad to say that since I don’t play MMOs like Tera (I think Tera is one of the really bad ones for this? Excuse me if I’m remembering wrong here) my exposure to some of the really dumb ones has been limited 😛
lol yeah my memory of Tera is the the same, I didn’t play it for more then a couple of hours though so I could be wrong.
This would be a lot better if they were screenshots than just drawn pictures.
Come on Patricia, that was just lazy. At least you could have written several thousand words about how this is offensive to you. I feel let down.
Cosplayers seem to like it though. 😉
The “Barbarian” and the “Why?” are my faves 🙂
-from the original site.
Number 8 “The Why?” may be my favourite (of terribleness I guess?) cause the armour is so chunky and huge, then it’s just like “I’ll bare all my skin around my vital organs.”
Also it’s not so much mentioned in this article, but since I’ve read about how foolish it would be in real life seeing characters in boobplate armour makes me cringe a bit. Although at least they got some sort of fully covering armour? I dunno :p
Meanwhile…down the bottom corner of my screen – ACROSS OUR NETWORK – POPSUGAR – David Beckham’s Hottest Shirtless Soccer Moments!
I thought it was only males that objectify females?
Now, I won’t be naive and say that there’s equal objectification of both sexes, but objectification does occur on both sides.
An aside to that – people get angry at how girls are sometimes portrayed (in video games/comics etc) as helpless princesses that dress provocatively and wear a tonne of make up…yet the fashion oriented magazines targeted at younger girls generally encourage this!
/end rant
You are right. I don’t disagree, but the fact that these things bother you or stand-out so much for you really says something.
Really says what? That they notice ridiculous character design that ignores sense in favour of sexualizing female characters?
well if you disagree with something why advertise it? I agree the designs are ridiculous and usually avoid the subject, since every time I see it its always the same thing with exactly the same scenario with the same arguments. If you dislike it, perhaps another action can be made to stop such events. Sometimes no action can be better than any action.
though as someone earlier said Patricia just needed to write something so she did her usual thing like other writers. Perfect example is mark serrels, he usually writes a lot of the same/similar stuff. Though there are quiet a few really good articles he does, which pop up every now and then.
I don’t mind reading stuff that Patricia writes, I like Some of her articles though constantly writing something the same thing loses taste and interest. anyway screw it whatever.
Though I am very curious if you feel offended and if so, why? The tone sure does sound like you have been offended.
At the risk of sounding slightly racist, here is a simple rule of thumb to those that are overly offended by fanservice in MMOs:
If it’s developed in the West, you’re in the clear.
If it’s developed in Korea… you’re going to have a bad time.
Remember: you can’t spell “breast” without “east”.
I hate these outfits, too. But, unfortunately, not for the socio-politically trendy reason.
I remember there was a thread about how actual female armour should be almost no different to male armour.
It also centered around a woman who wanted her armour to be more revealing because “she felt sexier” in it, the black smith himself said he was concerned that if she fell over, she might do more damage to herself.
This will never change. And that makes me happy.
Neverwinter seems to be bucking the trend on this so far…I mean, the launcher has a woman with a boob-window cut into her mail leaning forward, jelly-spined, to show off her cans, but the actual in-game armour seems to be reasonably practical, from what I’ve seen.
What else would guys look at?
I’ve been banging on about this for years. https://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/12/should-gamers-be-penalised-for-choosing-barely-there-outfits/