Why I won't play ArcheAge after opening the Character Selection Screen

[Montem]

Hey guys,
I was really excited to try your game. This game has a similar problem for me and my wife (who love to play games together) that a lot of games share and I thought I'd tell you why we won't be playing your game. Do with it what you will.

On character creation the female characters are all sexualized. Full plate has a massive tummy whole for no reason, you can see multiple of the characters underwear, and their stances and armor are ridiculous and sexualized. Now, this many be great for some men who want to play male characters or for some women who like being overly sexual in games (they may exist?). However, I'm married and I don't want skimpy women across my screen constant while playing a game with my wife. My wife can't play this game and have the same power fantasy that men playing the game can.

I'm not saying you can't have overly sexual characters, but not every single one should be. And if you are going to do it, maybe have the alternative male character also sexualized?

Anyway, I immediately uninstalled after seeing the character selection screen. I only came on here to let you know in the hopes that someday this trend changes in games and the genders are more equal. I was really looking forward to trying you game.

[Adelphi]

lel and more lel any1 else lel

and this is an adult rated game, as a girl it doesn't bother me i think the characters are beautiful are they sexulized maybe depends whats in ur own mind doesn't it, for me they are not. The female toons are no more sexulized than any other game quite frankly does it bother me nope. yup i exist lel all my toons are female

i think u should talk to ur wife about this and i don't think it should stop u playing a gorgeous game....

[Adelphi]

https://imgur.com/4swe1r9


not sexual and beautiful romantic sunset.....

[Montem]

That was hard to read, but I think I get your point. Of course I've talked to my wife about, she's hates (is there a stronger word then hate?) this trend in games. I'm glad you found something you like, but hopefully you can see that this type of art will drive away some people. It certainly will drive away more women. It would be hard for me to believe that you don't understand that on some level.

[Turambaredolas]

I didn't bother answering to your post at first because I thought you wouldn't have a look at it again.

The character customization of Archeage may have a lot of room for improvements but it's still good. You can buy, craft and grind for costumes and you also have the option to not use a costume but customize each single part by putting an image on them. This leaves you with over 100 costumes and thousands of combinations of gear.
You merely saw a small fragment of your options when you checked the character creation.

There are tons of players in this game who try to make their character look as beautiful as possible. You may meet really toxic players but when you try to talk to them about their character design, they become pretty docile and take their time showing their character and explaining where to get the items, etc.
So please don't underestimate everyone's affection for their own characters.

While my main characters (both on Legacy and on Unchained) are male, I always have second character who is female. And guess what? I also don't like them to wear a lot of the costumes. My legacy female (a Nuian) is wearing a costume (Dark Shaman Rayments) which actually shows some skin but she looks so badass with it that I am amazed by her beauty (and not turned on or anything). My unchained female character (a Firran) is wearing a customized built which is a fullbody suit of plate armor so the only part of the body that is not covered in armor is the head (because I am not displaying it - displaying her helmet turns her into living knight armor).

And a final word on male characters:
I have always struggled to find a good look. Even way more than most of my friends who played female characters (on a side note: 80%-95% of female characters are male players).
A lot of male costumes are either hideous, "unmanly" (in my point of view) or simply don't fit my character. But guess what: I found a few costumes and customizations I DO like so I wear them and can be happy about it. It's not so much about being unhappy with all the other costumes you don't like but finding the one you do like.

[wooglemoogle]

I'm not saying you can't have overly sexual characters, but not every single one should be. And if you are going to do it, maybe have the alternative male character also sexualized?

Anyway, I immediately uninstalled after seeing the character selection screen. I only came on here to let you know in the hopes that someday this trend changes in games and the genders are more equal. I was really looking forward to trying you game.

It's up to you on how tolerant you are about the game's sexualization. But I think your judgement here is a bit hasty. I can see that you did exactly as you said and uninstalled at the very beginning of character creation. Because while it is true that many outfits displayed there are sexualized, there are also a number shown at character creation that aren't or are not overly sexualized. I just wanted to point that out.

Examples:






But if the amount shown in the other outfits is a dealbreaker as you've noted, then yes, this will probably not work out for you.

If you only cared about you and your wife's characters, it would not be a problem because the game allows for a good deal of customization in armor (you can swap armor pieces, you can wear a costume, you can give an armor piece the appearance of a completely different armor set, etc). But many other players want their characters to be attractive in their preference, so you will still see lots of skimpy characters.

For full transparency, I will also note that some of the sets at character creation are no longer available or are difficult to obtain in-game. Many sets have been given some level of sexualization over time to appeal to the core audience (there are also cases of male sexualization as well). But the game's art direction was originally very grounded, so there are still several sets that have no sexualization at all.

[Deflow]

It is ok buddy for some men in relationship they are the sub. It is ok to be a soyboy. However it is ok for the rest of us men to be interested in half naked women. Not all of us have a wife who wears the pants.

[Colthoron]

That was hard to read, but I think I get your point.

Priceless.

Montem,

I play with my girlfriend and she has the same feedback you do. But, as other posters point out, there are plenty of costumes that will fit your (and her) style. That being said, if you think the costumes are bad, I wouldn't follow Nation Chat. It's downright disgusting at times.

There are plenty of reasons to play this game, it is unique. However, I'd shop around before committing to this one. It's player base is small and toxic, there are bugs everywhere, the grind is unprecedented, and the developer simply doesn't care about delivering a quality product. Those of us playing for a few years are somewhat more committed, but for you, I'd look elsewhere.

Colt

[themightythree]

There is way more to this game than char creation.. i wouldnt let that put you off the game before you've even give it a try

[Doodler]

The gear on the main screen is only a sampling. I have three characters and my Blighter has heavy armor from head to toe, my second one wears leather which also has good coverage and my little one is magic and wears a dress with stockings.

There really is a fair amount of gear in this game - but you might be seeing screenshots of a few costumes which might be skimpy. They do have swimsuits also, but my girls wear one-pieces which - has coverage.

Stop and play a little and see.