In a more serious note, i think female characters in videogames are there to please the male fan base: most of them are dressed in a revealing way (look at most tyrande's skins in hots: some of them show the whoke leg up to her asss). Always revealing clothing (cleavage, legs, tight clothing), even when some are supposed to be wearing armor (compare Nova to Raynor and Tychus) abd even the armors have to contain breasts, so as to identify that they are women. The only strong female characters i can think of (there may be more), and by strong i mean equal to men are Johanna and Sonia from Diablo 3/hots; Sonia shows skin because the male counterpart shows skin too, even more since his chest is fully naked (they are barbarians after all) and Johanna wears a full body armor (maybe even with no marked breasts) and unleashes the power of Zakharum (or however it is spelled) as a crusader (which is also the name of a fantastic Saxon song).
Then we have women cosplaying, some of whom choose characters with revealing costumes to attract attention and make a living out of it. Not to mention the twitch streamers who show cleavage or try to be cute or in general exacerbate their femineity to attract attention.
The objectification of women in videogames has to stop: we are all equals and we are all here to enjoy being taken to fantasy worlds where the rules of our society do not exist and our earthly genders are of no importance.
Now if you excuse me, im off to laugh about the newest Hunter epic lolololololol.
For the love of god people....Stop spreading this bs plz...I know you mean good but this sj bs has the opposite effect.And the objectification of women in games is non existant.Game designers just try to make the most appealing characters they can(in the inside and on outside).Lets just see the male characters in gaming.Aren't the most of them super goodlooking and badasses?Are they objectified for the female gamers?Jeez
I think you raise some valid points:
Game designers just try to make the most appealing characters they can(in the inside and on outside) Whereas I agree with this: they do try to make the most appealing characters, I think the problem lies with the fact that women are more often objectified than men, so game designers act accordingly on video games, in order to make them more attractive to the bulk.
Lets just see the male characters in gaming. Aren't the most of them super goodlooking and badasses? One of the most popular male character ever is Mario. I do not believe he is particularly good looking; he is a badass, tho, but does not have the looks. Samus Aran is super badass as well. and she is a woman; people did not objectify her before the caracter design without the suit first appeared in Super Smash Bros Brawl. Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy are badass as well, but I do not believe they are particularly good looking (maybe Redfield in RE5). Maybe some of them are good looking, but are not defined by their looks to fulfill their in-game goals, nor are they looks their main defining quality (visually and in terms of gameplay).
Are they objectified for the female gamers? I think there is few data about this, since the female gaming community is less numerous than their male counterparts.
On the contrary: I believe we have to talk about this subject in order to raise awareness. I do not think you rose enough points to prove that my arguments were, as you called them, "bs", but I like that we are talking about this.
It's really good that they introduce more female characters but they are only elfs... Hearthstone doesn't representate a lot of the other races. There are almost no trolls, undeads or taurens... Almost all the humanoid characters in this game are humans, elfs and some orcs. I want my trolls, we are awesome.
Side point on race: all if the human characters (and most other humanoids) are light-skinned with modern-day European features. This is a nice step towards gender diversity, but some racial diversity would be nice too.
Also, for everyone saying that male characters are also idealized, this is an issue which has been discussed extensively. A powerfully-built man is a male power fantasy, just as a scantily clad woman is a male fantasy. Most of these designs are not made with a woman's gaze in mind, but to give the male gamer a vicarious sense of strength.
"Tit lady" in a gender-equal world should have a male counterpart "bulge dude": a grave robber who uses pants so tight you see his large bulge, which in the PS1 was a pyramid but then became more round.
"Tit lady" was just the word my sisters used (puppedame in Norwegian) and really don't think "bulge dude" is the counterpart, but rather something like "muscle man," a stereotype which tend to be equally overrepresented in games compared to IRL. My point was that they LIKED that Lara was the lead character, and her cartoonish sexual appearance was not a hinderance, but rather the opposite.
If you ask me if i like any of these new charecters better than Gul'dan, Jaina, Anduin or Garrosh, I will say to you, i don't care aboutthese new female legends as sentimentaly like Gul'dan. Gul'dan has a story, i know what he has done and for what cost, HE HAS PERSONALITY.
See here in lies the problem. A strong person of either gender will have some form of sex appeal. Strong people, whether physically strong, mentally strong or both are general attractive: in other words confidence.
Even Mario can be turned into an example; RL Mario =s Ron Jeremy. Ugly fat and mustached yet the most successful male erotic actor of all time.
The thing is that in the real world most people who train - study, workout, lead an active lifestyle with hobbies and interests have built confidence in themselves and are more attractive. Some people like Ron have such strong personalities it over comes their physical attributes. However, at a carnal level physically attractive people demonstrate they are healthy, fit and take care of themselves - our animal instinct is to find the best to mate with and physical qualities are a primary indicator of that.
Men and women alike are glorified in video games and entertainment. Anyone saying otherwise is really just trying to place a gender gap into the issue when there isn't. Yes video game objectify women, but they do it equally to men as well.
The real issue is should videogames set unreasonable expectations of physical attributes in general. I believe the answer is yes, it's okay, since we use videogames to escape the real world. I doubt anybody wants to play "Fat Bald Guy in a Cubicle" and you level up by completing cover pages for your TPS reports, Woot! No jumping to conclusions though...
The same people that complain about this forced thing usually have no issues with characters when they are mostly male and/or light skinned. You can see this in most human-like characters in games. People tend to support a "default" type more than others. They will complain about anything that is outisde this type, even if its just a couple of characters, but mostly there is no problem when most characters fit this "default".
Game designers just try to make the most appealing characters they can(in the inside and on outside) Whereas I agree with this: they do try to make the most appealing characters, I think the problem lies with the fact that women are more often objectified than men, so game designers act accordingly on video games, in order to make them more attractive to the bulk.
We disagree on your assumption that making women attractive objectifies them.Sure dressing them like strippers with metalic underwear is overly erotic but as long as they also have strong personalities and they are not treated as trophies then i don't see the proplem.And most women in gaming are badasses and trophies is the last thing you can call them.
Lets just see the male characters in gaming. Aren't the most of them super goodlooking and badasses? One of the most popular male character ever is Mario. I do not believe he is particularly good looking; he is a badass, tho, but does not have the looks. Samus Aran is super badass as well. and she is a woman; people did not objectify her before the caracter design without the suit first appeared in Super Smash Bros Brawl. Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy are badass as well, but I do not believe they are particularly good looking (maybe Redfield in RE5). Maybe some of them are good looking, but are not defined by their looks to fulfill their in-game goals, nor are they looks their main defining quality (visually and in terms of gameplay).
While we agree on mario,he is an exception and the rest are proving my point.I mean Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy aren't gorgeous?Sorry mate but we need to question your tastes then :P .And that is coming from a man (#totallynohomo).As for the Samus...man she is one of the sexiest women in gaming ever...and that adds to her overall appeal.Finally as for whether their looks are their main defining quality or not ,is not easily defined.I mean there was a shitstrom with mass effect 1 about objectifing liara and ashley but anyone who had played the game (or any sane person for that matter)knew that was not the truth,
Are they objectified for the female gamers? I think there is few data about this, since the female gaming community is less numerous than their male counterparts.
They are not less numerous by that much,they just don't participate in outgaming activities for games.They either like gaming but are uninterested in participating in forums,expos' etc or they try to participate and are floaded by virgin 15year olds that believe that because a girl is a gamer,she should also be available for them.So they hide the fact they are females.
On the contrary: I believe we have to talk about this subject in order to raise awareness. I do not think you rose enough points to prove that my arguments were, as you called them, "bs", but I like that we are talking about this.
Look you seem to be an educated,respectful and empathetic person so props to you.I strongly believe that your attention is missplaced however.Women are facing real proplems especially in third world countries.Them being is mistreated in video games is not one them.At least they are treated 10 times with more respect than they are treated in movies,tv heck even in books....
Raising awareness in these kinda meaningless subjects takes attention away from real problems and most importantly makes legit movements like feminism,antiracism look cartoony and stupid.
Political correctness has become really stupid nowdays i mean they even tell you that is ok to be fat when that is destroying your health and quality of life lol XD
As a girl, I think that this is a nice little bit of female representation! ^-^ Of course, the gaming community seems to consist of a predominantly male audience, but I think it's nice of them to take the chance to introduce some original female characters now and then.
What do you guys and gals think?
Yeah nice try dude.Everyone knows that there are no girls on the internet.
G.I.R.L=Guy In Real Life
As a female gamer, I call extreme BS. Many women are actually famous on the internet, and not just for making certain videos which are inappropriate for the site or making sandwiches.
As a girl, I think that this is a nice little bit of female representation! ^-^ Of course, the gaming community seems to consist of a predominantly male audience, but I think it's nice of them to take the chance to introduce some original female characters now and then.
What do you guys and gals think?
Yeah nice try dude.Everyone knows that there are no girls on the internet.
G.I.R.L=Guy In Real Life
As a female gamer, I call extreme BS. Many women are actually famous on the internet, and not just for making certain videos which are inappropriate for the site or making sandwiches.
On a serious note i know bruh,eh i mean sis,it was just a joke
There is no need for this post rly ... . They dont make an article about every male out there ..
If the goal is to attract even more female players then there is a reason to include the post, especially if it actually works (And yes I know there are female players, but having more of them in a community that mostly insults female HS streamers (read youtube comments if you don't believe me) would serve to improve the community.
in my mind, I seriously put 0 thought into girl or guy characters in this game until you said something. I treated them equally up to this point. Now I'm DEing them all if I don't get the guy characters first.
Fascinating thread. This topic really brings out strong opinions in people.
I feel like Hearthstone has had a good amount of representation of both male and female characters, as it should, but I could be wrong, I haven't done a specific study on it or anything. My opinion on it is that having gender representation is good, having a variety of women in powerful roles is great, and games in the past have sometimes not done this very well. In the end, though, the important thing is having good characters, because I think most gamers won't actually care if your character is male or female, just that its well done. Most of the time this is done by dialogue and personality, here its basically by art design and voice acting, but yeah, I think hearthstone is doing it pretty well, and its nice.
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On the contrary: I believe we have to talk about this subject in order to raise awareness. I do not think you rose enough points to prove that my arguments were, as you called them, "bs", but I like that we are talking about this.
Nice
There is no need for this post rly ... . They dont make an article about every male out there ..
Yeppers, but then you said "HS needs more representatives in those games in general.". I agree there should be some originals getting splashed around.
Um.
Ah, Kathrena-chan, not there~!!!
"Tit lady" was just the word my sisters used (puppedame in Norwegian) and really don't think "bulge dude" is the counterpart, but rather something like "muscle man," a stereotype which tend to be equally overrepresented in games compared to IRL. My point was that they LIKED that Lara was the lead character, and her cartoonish sexual appearance was not a hinderance, but rather the opposite.
Editor of the Heartpwn Legendary Crafting Guide:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/card-discussion/205920-legendary-tier-list-crafting-guide
If you ask me if i like any of these new charecters better than Gul'dan, Jaina, Anduin or Garrosh, I will say to you, i don't care aboutthese new female legends as sentimentaly like Gul'dan. Gul'dan has a story, i know what he has done and for what cost, HE HAS PERSONALITY.
See here in lies the problem. A strong person of either gender will have some form of sex appeal. Strong people, whether physically strong, mentally strong or both are general attractive: in other words confidence.
Even Mario can be turned into an example; RL Mario =s Ron Jeremy. Ugly fat and mustached yet the most successful male erotic actor of all time.
The thing is that in the real world most people who train - study, workout, lead an active lifestyle with hobbies and interests have built confidence in themselves and are more attractive. Some people like Ron have such strong personalities it over comes their physical attributes. However, at a carnal level physically attractive people demonstrate they are healthy, fit and take care of themselves - our animal instinct is to find the best to mate with and physical qualities are a primary indicator of that.
Men and women alike are glorified in video games and entertainment. Anyone saying otherwise is really just trying to place a gender gap into the issue when there isn't. Yes video game objectify women, but they do it equally to men as well.
The real issue is should videogames set unreasonable expectations of physical attributes in general. I believe the answer is yes, it's okay, since we use videogames to escape the real world. I doubt anybody wants to play "Fat Bald Guy in a Cubicle" and you level up by completing cover pages for your TPS reports, Woot! No jumping to conclusions though...
The OP forgot about Rin, the First Disciple or are old aunties not considered in this convo? xD
So, we need more female characters for girls to identify themselves.
Wait. You mean you guys identify to Gul'dan ? Uther ? Anduin ?
Sorry but, I don't play HS to identify myself. This is not a RPG, it's a damn TCG. Should I identify to Valeera since it's my favourite hero ?
We disagree on your assumption that making women attractive objectifies them.Sure dressing them like strippers with metalic underwear is overly erotic but as long as they also have strong personalities and they are not treated as trophies then i don't see the proplem.And most women in gaming are badasses and trophies is the last thing you can call them.
While we agree on mario,he is an exception and the rest are proving my point.I mean Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy aren't gorgeous?Sorry mate but we need to question your tastes then :P .And that is coming from a man (#totallynohomo).As for the Samus...man she is one of the sexiest women in gaming ever...and that adds to her overall appeal.Finally as for whether their looks are their main defining quality or not ,is not easily defined.I mean there was a shitstrom with mass effect 1 about objectifing liara and ashley but anyone who had played the game (or any sane person for that matter)knew that was not the truth,
They are not less numerous by that much,they just don't participate in outgaming activities for games.They either like gaming but are uninterested in participating in forums,expos' etc or they try to participate and are floaded by virgin 15year olds that believe that because a girl is a gamer,she should also be available for them.So they hide the fact they are females.
As a female gamer, I call extreme BS. Many women are actually famous on the internet, and not just for making certain videos which are inappropriate for the site or making sandwiches.
Bakunter for next meta
in my mind, I seriously put 0 thought into girl or guy characters in this game until you said something. I treated them equally up to this point. Now I'm DEing them all if I don't get the guy characters first.
Fascinating thread. This topic really brings out strong opinions in people.
I feel like Hearthstone has had a good amount of representation of both male and female characters, as it should, but I could be wrong, I haven't done a specific study on it or anything. My opinion on it is that having gender representation is good, having a variety of women in powerful roles is great, and games in the past have sometimes not done this very well. In the end, though, the important thing is having good characters, because I think most gamers won't actually care if your character is male or female, just that its well done. Most of the time this is done by dialogue and personality, here its basically by art design and voice acting, but yeah, I think hearthstone is doing it pretty well, and its nice.