Yes, you're right in a way. I was just trying to put across that character actually adds depth enough to someone's personality that'd i'd be able to ignore them physically. I usually get attracted to someone as I talk to them, no matter their appearance, and slowly they look better to me because their personality has appealed to me. That's my reasoning for being alright with good characters no matter their look. When a character comes off as bland and paper thin whilst attractive, i'd call them a mannequin. They're there to look good and nothing more. I can ignore shoddy game design if the story is great, or ignore a bad plot if it's fun to play. But games that lack both feel like a struggle to me. Hopefully that explains things. Have to get my kicks somewhere, and random discussions are usually a good place. Don't worry bout it.
I chose games I remembered that were Japanese and had women like that. I'd also argue a couple you've shown are still big titted and wearing sexualised clothing. It's because it's an obvious trend we've all noticed. It's not like it's a conspiracy theory about Area 51, for years people have called out the over sexualisation of female character in JP games and thy keep churning them out. You've given three games I think I gave eight or so. You have a point that the west does it too, I never denied that, but I claimed it was disproportionate these days, with the west generally moving past it on a wider scale. Duke Nukem is an outdated concept, that's why the latest failed, because it had outdated design and themes. Mortal Kombat was released 22 years ago. It's outdated in todays world, and the latest does misrepresent women badly. Then again, it too had a terrible story that was stemming from its whole origins as a tournament fighting game. Should I even note the obvious anime origins in Skullgirls? The game was inspired by old arcade beat em ups, especially King of Fights, Street Fighters, DoA, etc. Most all of the characters I posted pics of came out in the last 5 or so years. I avoided posting pics of games older than that if I could, because that's what the JP market is still flooded by. You bring up another really bad and bland character misrepresenting men as sexist sex hungry violent muscle men. I'm not a fan of them either. I could link to several websites about the merits of good writing and when writing's bad, but no one seems to trust anything but their own opinion that what they like and is just fundamentally 'good' in writing. I love Kingdom Hearts, even the story in a away, but I know it's badly written and the characters are bad. I don't need to find the writing great to love something, it has other charms, but even I wouldn't ever merit it for being good when it's not, not even for bias reasons. You're missing my argument. This isn't about appeal, this is about representation and reinforcement of stereotypes and how they are wrong. You can find rape games on the web, because that appeals to some, but that doesn't mean it should be allowed or supported. No one should get money out of exploitation. Which is again sexualised. You think real armour or fantasy armour for a guy would show so much skin? What's their child pornography industry like in Angola? Is it as common as the Japanese market? I doubt it, considering Angola's internet coverage and general media accessibility is behind the widespread nature of Japan. About 0.7% of their population had used the internet in 2010, which by now has probably risen to 2.5% as an estimate. You missed my point when I was talking about child porn, not the age of consent, which I used as context. It's legal to own child porn there, that means twelve year olds and under. That's porn of people who have not even reached sexual maturity being treated as sexualised beings. Even if they've not experienced puberty, that's fine by Japanese societal laws. Please don't get me into the child sex industry and trafficking out there, because I think the point should be obvious here. Read the article and my actual point. I didn't say it was the cause of all rape, I said it caused an increase in them according to some reports. And if they are everywhere, show me some examples of rape porn that's popular around the world and the criminal reports of rape in said region. Proportions are higher in Japan than most every country, though. Why? One argument is as you've explained like in one of the articles I linked, which I guess you didn't look at. Another argument is porn and video games fulfil desires of growing populations who prefer the safety and financial security of digital availability. Both are probably true, compounding on each oher. It's not like your point or mine counteract each other they could easily work together to support this. What are the best possible examples of this sort of thing? No i've judged them on their sex industry and video game development. I respect a lot of Japanese figures and a number of writers. I'm encompassing the media industry mainly. Stop making sweeping generalisations of me whilst telling me to stop making generalisations of a country. I honestly don't get how disregarding my linked articles and points and saying 'everyone does it' excuses the generalised misrepresentation of women. You're avoiding or redirecting causes and reasons. You don't sound knowledgeable on the subject, and claim I don't either.
As a globalised community, we have to be accountable to each other. Especially for Japan,, whose business relies extremely on foreign trade, their exports are one of the biggest causes of growth in their economy. I live in London, a cultural melting pot and we have issues with traditions of other countries leaking into ours and yadda yadda bull stuff. Games have to be accountable no matter where they come from, and especially when they're internationally available. And there are constant debates and outcries about the gun laws in America, where thousands a year are killed by guns or in Europe where 'Neck-nominations' recently killed a handful of people who poisoned themselves on overconsumption alcohol. If you read that article about sex and violence, you'll see the increase and normality of violence against women in such countries where exposure to media, and specifically porn here, correlates with each other. I will call out bull when I see it, and this is something I see plenty of. I liked Suda 51 till his release of Killer is Dead, which had the main character seduce a girl at a bar by staring at her breasts when she wasn't looking and buying her diamonds or **** an then sleeping with her, getting an upgrade of something before moving on to a new girl. I liked his concept ideas of the Alice in Wonderland world that I saw, but after that I just couldn't respect him designing the game. Not purely because it's sexist, but also because it's ripping off porn flash game available since early noughties. Like Flappy Birds being considered and original idea. I never said that any western game was exempt or right. Lara Croft has been reimagined form her original sex symbolish self, but for her time she was an icon of a female character fighting back and as the lead character. She still holds that even in the latest game. Grand Theft Auto has also shown many, many varieties of women, and actually i'd argue has some of the most grounded female characters in gaming. Of course some are hyper realised versions of stereotypical American society cliches of women, but thinking of Katie McCreary or Kendra and I see some good characters there. I wouldn't say women are less prevalent, i'd say silent protagonist or create your own protagonists are. Fallout, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, are western RPGs that allow you to be who you want, that means as a man or woman, an equal match there. Even in the bromance of Gears of War, we had about three female playable characters in the third game. Remember Me, as much as I dislike it, showed off a female character as the lead with building control over her own life as the story progresses. CoD allows female avatars to use in multiplayer now. Like I said, almost half of online gamers are women now, though I should point ut those are stats for North America. The west has progressed a lot in the last 10 or so years. It's badass because it made it in the game? The meaning lacks clarity and is just not a great line. If I say 'Fate is Fate' it's pretty weak. I mean I thought it was saying how bad destiny is or something, since Lightning is suppose to be fighting against it, but if we both don't know then something's wrong. Even 'Destiny must fail' would've been better, since it gets the point across clearer in the same amount of words. So big companies should stick to the brodude mould of shooters and every male playable character should somehow have a name relating to stones? Indies are being praised for their willingness to push stuff, and the more we fund and love indie games doing these changes, the bigger companies will have to take notice, and design their games accordingly. We should not just accept the stagnation of the industry, we should be pushing it. According to a pole of white men in their 20s? Because that's the demographic of FF7 players in the west I believe. Bit sexist to say, but that reinforces my point. If all women see are skimpy role models, that's what they'll try to copy. If they were shown a greater variety, there might be more women you'd see who aren't socialised to just be that. Yes, but their fetishes are more mainstream and popular than in the west. Our society's religious persecution compared to their lax of religious constraint on the matter of sex has allowed them to develop as such, according to some theorist of Shinto vs Christianity restrictions. I said i'd be more willing to let her fetish outfits slide if she had some real depth of character, but she doesn't so I can only see her as a character exploited as a sexual object. She's another nail in that she's another half arsed character made to wear stuff that appeals to blokes and make them wank over her.
Do I by chance have to defend my choice of avatar as a gentleman? I'd keep my current of Varric Tethras, form Dragon Age II, if I may. He is gentlemanly in my mind.
I am going to be talking a lot about Japanese sexuality, treatment of women in the media and society along with the fetishes prevalent in Japan and the negative connotations of it. I may not have link or proof for everything, but please don't dismiss everything. If you really want to learn more you have the entire internet at your finger tips, the age of information, you can use it instead of me. I put some effort into this, would be nice if people read, cheers. You both play games, Japanese ones as well, probably more than me. And watch anime or manga I presume from the avatars. I assume you honestly see a constant trend in Japanese depictions of female sexualised stereotypes from Japan right, right? Street Fighter, King of Fighters? Dead or Alive is basically softcore porn. Eroge games, such a popular subsidary of games that it needed its own genre. Here are some distributed pictures in games media from a few JP games that i'm talking about, all from popular enough series that I actually know them (which isn't many) Spoiler: possibly not safe for work, I warned you Soul Calibur Sengoku Basara Ninja Gaiden Dragon Crown Bayonetta Metal Gear Solid FF XIII-2 which is basically Serah Back to Lightning all over again. I'm generalising one country, yes. I don't disagree that games in the west do the same, but these days it's not as prominent as it use to be and at a less prominent level form what i've seen. This article brings up the issue pretty much completely in games form around the world: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2424173,00.asp Note, two western female characters were mentioned compared to the other eight from Japanese games. But they fail at being cool. What does it even mean? What's the point in using one liners if their generic attempts at cool? They're generally incredibly clichéd, and sometimes they work out of absurdity or impactfulness, but when 'Destiny is destiny' comes up, I'm left going 'wtf' not 'that's a cool one liner'. I think I've already slated the writing which on the whole seems ok-ish, but it comes with stuff like this and I can't see how it even characterises her. People on KHV called back to the 'good ol days' but I hated them. IT's all nostalgia, where people want to be kids again and live in their memories of better times, but i rather we move forward and search for the next best thing. Two decades ago and today are nothing like they use to be in the video game industry, hell no. Gaming journalism has moved almost entirely online with videos and articles alike, girl gamers are now almost equal in the number of multiplayer gamers and games are now an industry to rival film, tv and book sales. With this greater audience our games need to have wider appeal. Segregating female players to think they're only role models are big titted love interests, is stupid. I'm no prude. I watch porn, some taboo stuff even. But porn is not respectable, it's just accepted in society, and I'm kinda fine with that perspective. Same with prostitution. A lot of media these days add relationships and sex scenes because it will sell. Sex sells is the old cliché. It's cheap to use, much like excessive violence is. Most of the time it doesn't add to the plot, character progression or anything that actually makes it deep. I'm up for fun slashers with a crap plot, but if i want sex I have porn not a game centred around it. I'd feel ripped off paying for porn in video games. By the third game, she's been reduced to wearing sexualised outfits. Skin doesn't equal instant sexual appeal, I never said that and a lot of people seem to think that's all it comes down to. Wearing a constricting bodysuit is extremely sexual even if every single part of the skin is covered. Again, if she was characterised better, i'd be more willing to let it slide, but she's not, she's flat and dull and akin to a mannequin in personality. So the only thing left is her visually. Effectively she is a model then. Aqua was made to 'cover up' in the western releases over concerns of skin. I thought it was stupid. But a lot of Square games had outfit changes for Final fantasy characters or just straight smaller tits. Look at how much Tifa was clothed. There is a different aim of both those games when it comes to sexualisation of characters. It was an exaggeration to be fair. Without going into details on this site... No, porn is not about being naked. Otherwise all Greek statues are porn. It's about sexually arousing you. Softcore porn is still as such porn, even if a large amount of it has clothed women, costumes and such. Japan has a lot of weird fetishes, and a lot of the popular ones are male orientated. Possession of child pornography is legal. The national legal age of consent is 13 there, so that means 12s and under porn is acceptable to own. Lolicon, centred around sexual activity with underage girls by men age 20+, is a popular sub genre of hentai. Idols. Basically they're young girls wearing outfits, such as bikinis and other tight or revealing clothes. Rape and sexual assault is another popular fetish, which according to some studies has raised the amount of rape against women since its VHS inception in the 70s ( http://www.socialcostsofpornography.com/Layden_Pornography_and_Violence.pdf ) Tentacles. Self explanatory. Japan's birth rates are below the death rates, ergo, their population is actually receding back. Many sociologists, health professionals and other scholars have wondered why this is happening. Well, another article could help argue why: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex To summarise it though, the interest in sex for Japanese young has begun to turn. Things such as video games, anime and other assorted mediums have influenced many Japanese youths. Around a million youths have a 'celibacy syndrome' which basically is the aversion to sexual activity. With the difficulties of an economical stand point and the increasing availbility of relationship games and porn, many find real relationships too tough to deal with and accept their lives as is. It's one of the reasons I believe Japanese games have such a prevalence in sexualised female characters, because over the last 40 years with the rise of home porn, the hentai industry and now the internet, the male population feel like they have enough fapping material and products to not have to worry about the real thing. You could argue otherwise, but from the amount of experience i've had with japanese media, there is little denying the obsession with giant tits, weird fantasies and sexy outfits. BUt yeah, woemn are not represented well, Lightning is another nail in the coffin from a Japanese developed game, and until I see some real women coming out of there, Japan will seem the immature sex obsessed patriarchy their appear to be. I'm no feminist, but even I can not doubt that Japanese society is a big patriarchal society. Have a good day, that's my hour gone.
You're talking about a game made 22 years ago. The bunny a sprite. Move 22 years forward, when the game industry has started to mature a bit more, making a hyper realistic 3D model of a woman wear a sexualised bunny suit is... immature. Japanese games still aim to appeal to these teen boys who then grow up into men who obsess over fantasy characters, it's unhealthy reinforcement. Sexist because Lightning is not a deep character, she's a model to wear this clothes. One of flipping battle finish lines is literally "Destiny is destiny", how much more can you make a character sound any more idiotic or lacking a grasp of in depth thought? If the story or character development was actually up to scratch in the series, I'd be less likely to ridicule its choices, but it's just not and that leaves us with great graphics that show of Lightning in short skirts, tight clothes with big breasts. Serious games devs are not porn tycoons, why the heck Toriyama has to play like that Idk.
Pretty stale for me, i'm only getting inFamous till I can remember any other game that's worth my time.
Eh. It's not worth it on the merits of the console itself, and arguably not if you include software. But it's going to be a decent investment eventually and the price won't come down till 2016 i'd say, since Sony are exceeding their target goals, I believe. They'd only low it if PS4s weren't selling, and that ain't happening for a few years or until Microsoft kick it into gear.
Can only be golden once.
You're sweet as always Dinny. Thank you. And don't worry, I wrote this before going to bee and didn't proof read, and I ramble like an idiot as it goes on. You make sense enough. I saw an economic documentary on Bhutan, the happiest country in the world. They live in relative poverty to us, but ranked top of happiness and there were many theories as to why. Only recently they acquired TV, which actually reduced their happiness, which many theorised was because of more news coverage that show how crappy the world is. I think poverty also equates sometimes to lesser information and knowledge on subjects. Ignorance is bliss, is the saying, and it holds merit. I try to be as truthful as I can. After resolving to stop lying to people about who I am so many years ago I felt free. Lies emotionally isolate and trap you, locking away the truth reinforces the feeling that you're alone and you can't let anyone in. I try not to bullshit with anyone too, they know where they stand with me generally, and that even if I don't like them I tolerate them and would still laugh at jokes with them even though I do think they're a ****** person. If they leave me alone, they do so, if they stay then they do so. One girl whose basically latched onto and off of my friends for years and is generally a downer and uses them as friends out of desperation, i've told her how I feel about her. I don't invite her out if I organise stuff and try to have fun even if my friends invite her. I'm happy with this arrangement. But yeah, madness.
Write it in the sauce on the counter. Compose an epic poem on the wall.
A lot of people think they can tell you what your happiness is. It's getting a good job, a family with kids, a good house in a good neighbourhood. The reality of that varies differently. A good job where you're an abusive boss. A family where you cheat on your spouse, where you're overworked to see your kids much. Where your house bills are racking up with the inflation, and the neighbourhood is full of elitist bigots. One of many sorts of dystopian examples. Of course, it could always turn out perfect, but there are 7 billion people in the world, 2 billion in Western society, not all of them can fit into the mould. So they have to find happiness elsewhere. Most of the time, it's a quick fix, drugs, prostitutes, affairs, gambling, domestic abuse, something to feel comforted or in control of their life again, like they can fight against the nature of the society they live in. It's a self destructive happiness, its moreish stuff that you keep coming back to, with diminishing returns always looking for that same sort of buzz. The question is, what is happiness? The definition is obvious, the feeling as well, we all have felt it briefly. Without going into too much detail, there is great wisdom in the monks of Asia. People living simple lives, pushing their minds and bodies to the limits and further. And they are happy. For decades they are content. Surrounded by like minded friends in poverty, they can smile. This hectic modern life rushes fast so damn fast, nothing stays, everything moves and trying to keep up with it all, everything that is thrown in your way, it is hard to feel in control. Yet if you can focus on something, work, relationships, family, making them and yourself better, achieving your dreams then you can take control. I am a writer. I write, duh. I write a lot and I work to make my stuff better. It's still crap, but I have to keep going and working. Some days after working I sit back and realise the stuff i've done. It comes out of a sort of need to feel like i've done something with my life, credit to it almost. Without work, i'm a lazy slob like so many, like I use to be. I could list a lot of stuff and be content to die tomorrow knowing it. But not happy. I have aims to be happy, or at least what I think will make me happy. And if it doesn't? Then I'll keep looking till I die for more, but that's for latter. And I think knowing I don't fear death, or at least fear being forgotten never to walk this world again in this form, gives me some willingness to go ahead with my stupid dreams, ha. Whether i achieve them or are crippled by them, we'll see. Another rambling thought process that I needed to put somewhere. Maybe this will give you something, maybe not. But you've read it, thank you.
Write, think of a story, come up with a character, or do a fanfic of your favourite series. If you look like you're writing for work, people will think you're doing a job, believe me.
We'll have to make them kiss on the playground.
He mad the crying face when I resigned. I am content.
The classes are varied, but you have to start a new game each time to pursue them, at least to more effectively use them. Dogma allows you to switch between the nine classes whenever throughout the game, with a degree of competency no matter how you've levelled up. You can use any weapon to be fair in DS, but unless you're die hard fan, a normal player will favour a weapon to use unless they get an 'upgraded' version or upgrade that weapon specifically. I know a lot of people stuck with the Drake sword for a long time because they liked it, not always because it was the better weapon. Souls fans get the most out of the games, playing it over and over, discovering new areas and new ways to have unavoidable deaths, but most people who aren't won't play it more than once, or even through once if the game beats the enjoyment out of it, like it has me. I play once in a while and make a bit of progress, but it always beats me back to not caring. I'm never going to play a magic build, nor are many other people in the world. Mass Effect surveyed the classes used throughout the third game and found that the default class, the Soldier, was the most popular at 44% whilst engineer was fifth at 5% of the total number of single player classes. I have played all classes at some point, because i'm a fan, I wouldn't expect everyone to get the joys of building an Adept with Singularity, sniping enemies from afar, or rushing as an engineer with my armour up and striking with deadly heavy melee. It's niche stuff, like DS builds. If there are more ways to tackle enemies, i've yet to see it. DS is very flat compared to Dogma. Dogma lets you scale enemies, use abilities that you learn and have three other AI players assisting you in your battles, commanding them allows for a lot of variety depending on whether the enemies can fly, are fast or huge to be scaled to get to a weakpoint. I only meant in comparison, the dodging, countering, backstabbing and/or blocking are the basic ways to deal with most enemies. The main tactic i've seen is to dodge then circle big dudes and block, quick strike smaller, faster dudes. Bosses, dodge their attacks and run in for a strike or two. Like I said, if there is more variety, i've not really seen it much or i've seen players revert back to those play styles
Dragon's Dogma is more freeing, allows you to have more open choices in the way to develop your character and in the world/enemies to tackle. They're only alike in their challenge, both require some planning and skill to successfully defeat your enemies without being slaughtered. I'd argue Dogma is the more fun game, but not in this thread. Dark Souls 2, meanwhile, encourages one style per,playthrough to complete the game, since spreading your skill is a death sentence. You're, as such, a bit more limited in your approach, you're always dodging or holding up a shield, striking when the enemy is open to attack after a long combo. These restrictions make it the challenge it is, if maybe not very creative in how to deal with enemies, depending on your class. I like both on their own ways, i'm sure you'd do too.
Why not just piss freely too? That's more natural to all life, not just females. Fluid discharge is generally unhygienic, especially in excess. Blood especially, linked to some of the most deadly conditions that can transfer through contact into the bloodstream. I'd piss myself if I have no choice, but I would like to reuse these clothes, even donate to charity if need be, rather than ruin them simply because I feel freed by it.
I, in the end, went to a lower rep school for Eng Lit and Creative Writ. One I didn't have my heart set on. But from it I've learnt more then I can bet I would've from my original aim. In the end, I don't regret the outcome or despair. The league table (coming from a student and school staff background) is total ****ing bollocks. It means nothing for you as a person, a student. It's only for management to feel good about themselves that they've rustled up and harassed students to get questions right. If they've learnt anything, that's a bonus, but that's it. If you have incredible staff, teachers, lecturers, you'll learn more from them than any league table says you should. So yeah... i'm not sure what psychology is like with degrees and course, so i'll tell you one thing. Go to Cardiff. Follow your gut, soul, heart. Especially if you've been to an open day, ten you'll know better.
You can have both, especially at different parts of the game. I imagine you start of as a tear rideen player who gets emotionally distraught before you start to actually think like a survivor and numb yourself to the morality of it all. Which would be a great commentary on war affected people. Trailer samples Omega's Gyongyhaju Iany (also sampled on Kanye West's New Slave track, took me ages to realise) which is an emotive song as is. Interesting, this could be terrific if the story ramps up the process of being a war torn survivor.
