Video Game Comic and Blog
Video Game Comic and Blog


"A video game comic and blog that would have been awesome and relevant 10 years ago. Maybe." -Famous Website

Warp Zone:
Current Comic

BEAR

Et Tu, Cutie?

may 17, 2015

I've never been very fond of restrictions when it comes to gender and race requirements for certain gear in games. Sometimes, it serves a purpose to establish a look and, in FF14 for instance, each race has it's own set of starter gear that is unique; the flavor and feel of the look being intentionally designed so as to establish character for each race/gender combination, not unlike official character art would.

However, many times there doesn't appear to be any real reason for armor models being restricted to gender other than societal norms. I can understand the very real load of work it takes on the developers for them to make a model for every piece of gear and having it adapt dynamically to varying model structures, but I can't help but feel a little bit of sexism when they release a bunny girl outfit only for girls and not for guys...I mean, not even a Chippendales outfit?! Come ON Squeenix! Get. With. IT.

Granted, FF14 is more progressive than most; allowing for same-sex marriage, for instance, but there are still some things that would nice to see in the game. When a person undergoes the wedding ceremony, for instance, they are given a special tux (for guys) or wedding dress (for girls), but they can't choose - girls can't wear the special tux and guys can't wear the wedding dress.

Overall though, the push for gender identity and sexual preference recognition and acceptance has made incredible leaps in popular media in such a short amount of time that it's working out rather nicely. It just that, if someone wants to dress as Dr. Frank N. Furter from Rocky Horror Picture Show, shouldn't we just, you know...let them? At the very least, it's just kinda fun to have the options so people can do what they want and goof around; it is a game, after all.

Et Tu, Cutie?

may 17, 2015