Gender identity in MMORPGs/Digital Butt Syndrome thread

[Kokuten]

A vauge attempt to drag the gender identity in MMO comments (which I am interested in) out of the teamspeak/ventrilo thread..

CoH seems a lot less biased as towards gender than many other MMOs I've played - but I think a lot of that is due to the availability of more conservative/modest fashion choices for female toons.. Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Logan Darklighter]

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the availability of more conservative/modest fashion choices for female toons..

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I've played WoW nearly as long as I have CoH/V, and I've seen pics from other games like Lineage and whatnot. I'd say that City of Heroes/Villains has such a broad range of fashion choices (running the gamut from string bikini to long skirt and trenchcoat) that COH/V is both more and less modest than any other game when it comes to costuming your character. More so than any other game, you make what you want to see.
As to "Digital Butt" syndrome. I'll certainly own up to some of that. But curiously, I tend to not go for extremes of sexy attire. In fact, my females tend for some reason towards modesty. They almost never show lots of skin. I've only recently made a couple of characters (Kara Skye, Diamond Lily) that do. And they both have decent reasons for their "provocative" attire.
Kara's standard response to people who ask her if she's cold in that outfit (it's effectively a one-piece backless leotard, boots that expose her upper thighs, and a pair of gloves and shoulder pads: "I need my back free for my wings. They're real and part of me. I can't just dismiss them. They're not made of energy or something. I can and do wear clothing with custom slits for them. But do you know how much of a HASSLE it is to get in and out of those?"
Lily has less excuse. I think - like Silverbolt, that she's a bit of an exhibitionist, but she can get away with it because she's made of translucent crystal and you can't really see anything anyway. Also, she doesn't feel heat or cold like a normal human, so wearing clothes for comfort isn't an issue for her. She'd wear something to be social if it was a big event or something. Maybe.
But if characters don't have an excuse like above, I tend to make full neck to foot outfits.
I like female characters too. For some reason I feel more attached to them more often. I'm not sure why. Sometimes I do come up with a cool concept or an homage character takes over my brain and they'll be male, (Stalnoy Volk and Cyberman 8 ) so this isn't a feeling that is exclusive to female characters. But it does happen more often with my female characters.
-Logan
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"Wake up! Time for SCIENCE!"
-Adam Savage
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[Ankhani]

A note on Gender/sex:
->Sex: What you've got in your genes(and jeans). Clear cut, black and white, no middle ground here.
->Gender: What you more identify with. Broad continuum. No defined positions, could be anywhere.
As for the fashion choices, I applaud the versatility of the costume creations. While it does give rise to some absolutely ludicrous costumes (e.g. 'Thorns' top, and 'bikini' bottom), it also give plenty of well looking, modest outfits. Tis much better than being forced into some skimpy-can't-hold-nothing-in outfit. (e.g. Lineage II)
"Nothing really exists, but really, nothing exists."
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The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[Morganite]

(Hmmm, good thing I looked in the thread index first instead of replying directly to Foxboy's post.... I almost didn't. *Curses the way that refreshing multipage threads doesn't show new posts*)
I don't know, it's always seemed to me like differentiating between gender and sex just adds unnecessary confusion to the issue.
Of course, I tend to look at things in terms of people who can switch physical gender to fit their mood. Alas, the real world is short on that. >.> Still, everyone needs a dream. '.'
And you could write a paper anyway! You just couldn't get paid for doing it. '.' But I at least would read it. '.'
Now, as for harassment/favoritism for female characters... I don't know why my experience is so atypical, but I've never seen any of it. I've sometimes got comments on my costume design in CoH, or some of my outfit selection in FFXI (which sometimes is definitely intended to be sexy). But nothing beyond a comment here and there. (I'm not counting talking with people I actually know, which sometimes goes into a variety of weird directions... but when it's people you know, it's not the same.)
I wonder if part of it could be that I don't do much socializing in game anyway. I'm not comfortable "talking" and playing at the same time, and don't spare a lot of attention for conversation. (And in CoH tend to be inside a solo door mission 90+% of my time logged in...)

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CoH seems a lot less biased as towards gender than many other MMOs I've played - but I think a lot of that is due to the availability of more conservative/modest fashion choices for female toons..

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Really? '.'
I can do a number of things I end up *liking* with the costume designer... But I tend to design costumes with the idea of "Would I be willing to wear this?" And there doesn't seem to end up being much in that gap between form fitting bodysuits and underwear. And there's certainly a lot of ways to do underwear. At least of the games I've played, CoH seems to have a lot more options for the scantily clad than any other. (Mind you, the level 1 elvaan female only armor in FFXI is a bit... disturbing.)
I do have one character who ICly would probably be willing to go around in a *lot* less than can be managed in CoH. But that's part of the injoke I don't expect other people to recognize. '.' I think I'd actually like to make some characters with really sexy outfits, but can't come up with the right character for it. It doesn't really work for Eri, with her it's either relatively modest or this-outfit-would-get-you-arrested...
-Morgan. *point* Hideki!"Mikuru-chan molested me! I'm... so happy!"
-Haruhi, "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
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