I realize that this is an exceptionally long post, and I have tried to break it up as much as possible to avoid the wall-of-text. The first section is for general clarification, which I hope everyone involved in this conversation will read. The rest is in response to individual users and comments.

First of all, I did not come here to whine or affect a desired change. Perhaps my original post was unclear. I created this thread to show my appreciation to the developers of D:OS for making a decision that made me significantly more comfortable contributing to the creation of this game. At this point, I think their community team also deserves praise for allowing this discussion, which has a history of turning flamey everywhere online, to continue.

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I really want to clarify what the issue of sexism is here. I'm not concerned about everyone who ever plays this game being able to fully identify with the characters they control. These are not your avatars. You will be roleplaying as a particular person, whose personality you will have a great deal of control over. What I am concerned about is the distinct difference in the way the characters are displayed in the banner: one is sexualized, the other is not.

We'll talk about a double standard when the majority of game covers featuring men show them shirtless, with rippling muscles, and tight pants that clearly outline their nine-inch penises. This is the level of sexualization we're talking about here. It's not that the woman in the picture has a figure that fits a particular aesthetic ideal; it's that the outfit in the banner does nothing but sexualize that figure. The man's body is clearly muscular and large, with broad shoulders: this fits an aesthetic ideal. His armor is not torn open below the shoulders to display his manly biceps, nor is he wearing a half-open codpiece. There is an important distinction to be made between the aesthetics of design and the aspects of a character that we emphasize.

Not one person has said that something has been lost from the character based on the design change. The new armor does not make her look less like a woman or more brutish to me. Does she look androgynous or hulking on the home page to you now? Do you feel less interested or less welcome to play this game and participate in its community because of the new armor design?

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Individual, personal responses below.


J747L, if you look at my previous comments, you'll notice that I said I don't have a problem with a variety of styles of clothing for a variety of purposes existing in the game. My problem is that cover art of this nature serves to presumably attract male attention, while genuinely and actively alienating women. As I mentioned at the top of this post, I see no other benefit to the exposed armor over the covered version.

Also, based on the way the devs at Larian talk about their game, I'd imagine a designer creating a set of "sexy armor" would be a practical item that has an effect on the game itself, potentially boosting charisma in exchange for abysmal defense, or altering exchanges with characters of the same or opposite gender. This is about the developers sending a particular message, intentionally or not, and what they really want to say.

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theBlackDragon, the problem is that your juxtaposition of sexiness and badassness is inherently flawed. Sexiness is a matter of attractiveness, a matter of appealing to the opposite sex. Badassness has to do with power, the ability to handle any situation. Men and women both value their ability to appeal to the opposite sex, just as they both value independence and personal power. The issue is that women, especially in games, are constantly idealized in terms of their sexiness, while men are idealized for their power. It's not okay to do it just because women enjoy being sexy; you're essentially claiming that the most important and valuable aspect of their personhood is their attractiveness. Do you see the problem? I have no complaints about attractive character models or the existence of armor that emphasizes those traits; they have a valid place in stories (see above).

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Kein, please understand that this is not meant as a personal attack. I am trying to work through understanding your perspective, because I believe that for every participant in this conversation, there are many others who feel something similar. Please correct me if at any point you disagree with or do not believe the things that I have the impression you believe. I think you misunderstand a few things about the nature of this project and the Kickstarter campaign, which I think are worth clarifying.

You seem to be mostly upset that what was an insular, homogenous community is now being flooded with more diverse perspectives and opinions. I'm not sure what you thought was going to happen after Larian sought publicity and launched a Kickstarter campaign. The thing is, they seem to want many people to know about and play this game because they love it so much. Your love for this game, which is clear from your passionate response to this discussion, seems to be of a more selfish nature; you seem to want this game to be made for you, and for only people like you to care about it and play it. If the developers at Larian shared your perspective, I do not believe they would have turned to crowdsourcing, or asked repeatedly for the input of their Kickstarter backers. Larian has made it clear that they want this to be an inclusive, community-oriented undertaking.

You also seem to believe that they have ceded some measure of control over the shape of their game by launching a Kickstarter. The point of crowdfunding is to avoid that very thing; rather than giving creative control to a producer or venture capitalists, small studios can share their passion and dreams with a larger community and ask them to contribute to creating something special. No one can threaten to pull their funding because they dislike the direction of the game in three months. The only thing I am entitled to by contributing is the list of rewards for the tier at which I backed the project. That is all.

Larian may respond to the comments of backers in the hope of generating additional funding, or simply because they discover something worthwhile in another perspective, but that is a choice made by the developers every single time it happens. It doesn't matter if they do it in response to users in the forums here, who may or may not have backed the project, or comments on the Kickstarter itself. The developers choose what to make of their game. Not me. Not the handful of others posting in this thread. Not the other 10,000+ backers.

I think it's great that they want to make a game for a larger community and take their thoughts into consideration in so many areas. Larian has been amazingly open and inclusive since the start of their campaign. Once again, this is something they have chosen to do. Whatever problem you have with this is a problem with the developers at Larian, not the people who have taken them up on their invitation to contribute to the game. No manner of whining can force them to do anything; even if they didn't make the funding goal and couldn't expand the game the way they want to, this game would still be made. This Kickstarter has less impact on their lives and creative potential than most do, and I imagine the developers are fully capable of ignoring all of us if there is an aspect of the game that is simply off-limits for discussion.

All of this aside, I would actually like to know your opinion. If you do, in fact, have a serious reason for which the game's cover art should feature an exposed stomach and breasts, I would love to hear it.