@Eudaemonium: Thanks for clarifying my previous post. I indeed was trying to point out that, nevertheless the in-game reasons for these outfitof these three characters, there still was an external motivation from the developers to make them prettier. Especially Ashley is the best example here. Can you imagine how hard it must be to walk around on high hells, especially during a fight? Every woman would eventually trip and hurt her ankle or foot. And some outfits are made of such thin latex that I just HAVE to wonder whether they're actually protective. Mass Effect is about a war, not about fashion shows, right? Tali's design is a bit better already on this field, but even her outfit could use some more armour parts. How the devs just copied her face from a stock image was despicable, btw.
Sorry if I hijacked your conversation a bit. I just get sick of people claiming that female characters have *reasons* for dressing the way they do as if they were real people who made those choices actively, and their backstory had not been deliberately crafted in that way, and I basically wanted to offer you some support.
At least they aren't wearing chainmail bikinis.
Ashley's redesign really bugs me because not only is it blatant pandering to the lowest common denominator, it also went against the no-nonsense soldier type that Ashley was. I though her character in ME3 as a whole was really poorly executed, though. Next time I'm saving Kaidan!
Yeah, the whole 'all the women run around in high heels' was a bit 'wait what?' It vaguely made sense for Miranda: maybe she was doing it to show off or something? (Even then, really?) Ashley was just... yeah.
Yeah, Mass Effect 3 was a bit worse in that regard (different teams, go figure). I think part of that comes from trying to play in the sci-fi action drama, which, as Star Trek Into Darkness recently reminded us, has its own problems with representing women.
Oddly enough what really irked me about the Ashley redesign was the voluptuous flowing hair, the woman is a soldier, and it makes no sense that she'd have her hair done that way in a combat situation.
And Into Darkness has lots of women issues, most of them sadly typical of Hollywood (minor roles, only relevant in that they are tied to male characters etc.), but then there is at least one gratuitous scene of a character in her underwear for literally no reason.
EDIT: Oh an to be slightly more on topic I have no issue with Isabela being a sexual being, but in DA2 I can't accept that her wardrobe would even hold together in a stiff breeze let alone a fight.
I'm glad that some other people are of the same opinion as I am. I can understand how sexy female characters cause more sales, but really... Never expected it from a company like Bioware... I'm just getting tired of the whole 'bare-a-boob-get-one-more-sale' mentality.
Oddly enough what really irked me about the Ashley redesign was the voluptuous flowing hair, the woman is a soldier, and it makes no sense that she'd have her hair done that way in a combat situation.
And Into Darkness has lots of women issues, most of them sadly typical of Hollywood (minor roles, only relevant in that they are tied to male characters etc.), but then there is at least one gratuitous scene of a character in her underwear for literally no reason.
The long flowing hair is actually what I was really referring to, that and the more obvious make-up on her face. Her armour might be 'sexy' but it is basically the same as femShep's and is thus a problem shared in female armour in ME in general, rather than Ashley specifically. (they also put Kaidan in power armour, presumably because he wasn't manly enough or something XP).
I can understand how sexy female characters cause more sales, but really... Never expected it from a company like Bioware... I'm just getting tired of the whole 'bare-a-boob-get-one-more-sale' mentality.
Even that idea is pretty dubious, sex sells...if the buyer is looking for sex, it is pretty inconsequential if you are just selling a typical power fantasy. Sometimes we envision marketers as advertisement gurus when really they just rehash what they think works.
@Eudaemonium yeah Kaidan definitely gets the Ash treatment too, apparently his hair and light armor weren't cool enough for the Reaper invasion.
@Eudaemonium what now, we don't like power armor'd men? :P
Nah but seriously, watching a picture of that armor, I can't help but notice : WHY NOT put an American Flag tint on it? Even better - confederate flag. That guy would just roll on with popularity I tell you that!
Well, I already dare bet Dragon Age III will have about 5 DLCs... Excluding armour packs and other trinkets, of course. Looking back on the huge amount of DLC the Mass Effect games had... Hmm. At least it's not as bad as with the Sims games.
I was exceptionally sad that DA2 never got its expansion pack. I thought DLCs were of rather high quality, certainly a lot better than DAOs (which had terrible DLC), and sadly a lot better than the main game.
Now I will never see Carver shack up with Merrill, or Bethany with Sebastian. Or see Seb call an Exalted March on Kirkwall to hunt Anders down.
You should be prepared to see micro-transactions in DA3, apart from DLC.
CONGRATULATIONS - you completed an obnoxiously hard quest, through many dangers and tedious caves to unlock the BEST SWORD IN THE GAME! - now pay 2 bucks for it, you idiot! - taking micro-transactions to the next level.
If only more big game publishers could focus on making good games again. I know it's hard to create something mind-blowing nowadays, but I don't think most gamers are asking for much. I mean, in my case, a game doesn't have to blow me away in its creativity. Sure, that would be awesome and more than welcome, but it's not necessary for me. Just give me a good story, some enjoyable characters, and a bunch of customization options for my character. Dragon Age: Origins didn't feature the most original of stories, yet it is easily one of my all-time favourites. I started playing it when I was ill, and I will always remember how I got slowly sucked into the game and its imaginative world. In my eyes, it was a worthy successor to the Baldur's Gate games.
@ajwz the armors look exactly the same - but I believe I saw only the generic 'massive armor' on whatsherface... Cassandra or something? And Varric doesn't do laundry apparently.
Morrigan looked to be in a Gothic dress or something? Granted, it was colorful, but still, not exactly her... style?
I mean, the presentation wasn't about 'explosions' or 'bloody gore' or stuff like that. So that's at least ok, they aren't aiming for it. But it looked kinda generic to me.
The trailer immediately reminded me of the opening scene in Dark Souls. The narrating voice is almost the same, there's a war zone, a barren land shown... The only thing that boggles me mind are the aliens from the sky. Maybe they were summoned by Morrigan's child? Remember he/she's practically a half-god and must have grown a bit ever since Origins...Not counting the Witch of the Wilds DLC as canon, of course. @ajwz: I actually liked the armours in Origins.
Time to get cynical again! This is my favorite time by the way.
Things we have learned from the "super reveal that will blow us away" :
1) It's coming fall 2014, like, almost one and a half years from now.
2) Morrigan, Varric and Cassandra will be seen again. Yay... not -.-
3) There's no number three, everything else was known before, from hints of the books about what the inquisition would be.
Oh and @Cheesebely, man, that would be damn hilarious, the pc to be Morrigan's child.
I will still wait to see what i can play as, as in, actual class/specs etc.
Bioware claims this is actual in-game footage, no cgi. The graphics are better than DA2 obviously, but nothing amazing, for all the hype we had for Frostbite 3. I see the dull art direction and armor design is kept as well.
I'm one of the weird folks who liked DA2 pretty well, flaws and all. Still, there's a ton of potentially great rpg goodness coming in the next year or two. I'll probably get it when it comes on sale.
Comments
I should stop typing down stuff early in the morning. >.<
At least they aren't wearing chainmail bikinis.
Ashley's redesign really bugs me because not only is it blatant pandering to the lowest common denominator, it also went against the no-nonsense soldier type that Ashley was. I though her character in ME3 as a whole was really poorly executed, though. Next time I'm saving Kaidan!
Yeah, the whole 'all the women run around in high heels' was a bit 'wait what?' It vaguely made sense for Miranda: maybe she was doing it to show off or something? (Even then, really?) Ashley was just... yeah.
And Into Darkness has lots of women issues, most of them sadly typical of Hollywood (minor roles, only relevant in that they are tied to male characters etc.), but then there is at least one gratuitous scene of a character in her underwear for literally no reason.
EDIT: Oh an to be slightly more on topic I have no issue with Isabela being a sexual being, but in DA2 I can't accept that her wardrobe would even hold together in a stiff breeze let alone a fight.
@Eudaemonium yeah Kaidan definitely gets the Ash treatment too, apparently his hair and light armor weren't cool enough for the Reaper invasion.
Nah but seriously, watching a picture of that armor, I can't help but notice : WHY NOT put an American Flag tint on it? Even better - confederate flag. That guy would just roll on with popularity I tell you that!
Now I will never see Carver shack up with Merrill, or Bethany with Sebastian. Or see Seb call an Exalted March on Kirkwall to hunt Anders down.
They might be putting additional armor models through the microtrans as well.
'nuff said.
Morrigan looked to be in a Gothic dress or something? Granted, it was colorful, but still, not exactly her... style?
I mean, the presentation wasn't about 'explosions' or 'bloody gore' or stuff like that. So that's at least ok, they aren't aiming for it. But it looked kinda generic to me.
@ajwz: I actually liked the armours in Origins.
Things we have learned from the "super reveal that will blow us away" :
1) It's coming fall 2014, like, almost one and a half years from now.
2) Morrigan, Varric and Cassandra will be seen again. Yay... not -.-
3) There's no number three, everything else was known before, from hints of the books about what the inquisition would be.
Oh and @Cheesebely, man, that would be damn hilarious, the pc to be Morrigan's child.
I will still wait to see what i can play as, as in, actual class/specs etc.
Bioware claims this is actual in-game footage, no cgi. The graphics are better than DA2 obviously, but nothing amazing, for all the hype we had for Frostbite 3. I see the dull art direction and armor design is kept as well.
Looking good... not.