I believe in a lot of freedom, and I can see the chainmail bikini as a way of characterising an established concept of feminine that may be as unpleasant to many as Conan in supertight maille swimming trunks would be to me. The artwork would mostly be limited to people who like that expression, or find it bearable (irrelevant/tolerable).
My own tolerance for it (and my ability to enjoy cool images with lots of flow, action and zest) would be greatly increased if the context was an artwork where the rest of the art was similarly geared towards style over realism. (IE. Nobody significant wears armour that's plainly functional, unless exceptional plainness is part of that character's function; Greg the incredibly dull and responsible guy who just dons the plate and gets on with it.)
Some people bring up Conan. Sexualised? Maybe. Sexist portrayal of armour? No. Unarmoured. (I mentioned metal trunks, as the equivalent of bikini armour.) <EDIT> As I recall, Conan is sortof "adult" and sexualised through and through; so that's another thing - in that artwork the baring of skin isn't necessarily particular to genders.
In a world where all the men don practical equipment that protects most of their bodies, it seems way out of place when the highest order of armour a woman will wear hardly amounts to more than a chastity belt.
I'm not very uncomfortable playing such games, although I think it is because I am spared the men donning battle-speedos and going to war (perhaps with right shoulder, half the chest and one nipple protected as well, to draw extra attention to the unprotected heart, man-chest and nipple). I get the impression that people overlook the extent to which the females are portrayed as sex-bombs rather than fighters.
I wouldn't object to the existence artwork featuring males in armour modeled on actual provocative clothing (not merely scant), but I'd probably feel something turning in my belly and play another game. (The closest thing I've seen is the toned, glistening football-stars looming in their skintight boxers on posters around the city, or brown painted sex-dudes on Paradise Hotel adverts; they're actually somewhat sickening.)
I don't think there are many sexualised male warriors in fantasy that compare to the typical stylized warrior woman (provocative and useless armour). And we don't seem to mind the more common male stereotype of badass (butch unarmoured, or ironclad impractical yet protected).
Preemtive: I'm not saying Divinity was that bad; I haven't even seen the original cover art. I take this to be a more general discussion, especially with the deviantart entry complaining about a general movement against these stereotypes.
I think it is good to remind game makers that there are players who would like to play their game without being sexually assaulted by the art. (Many of us identify so strongly with our gender that we react to the way our gender is portrayed. So I gather anyway, and so do I.) Because it might prompt some of them to delve earnestly and enthusiastically into something that suits more/other players, because they might produce new flavours of game.
I wouldn't go much further than that, though. If they still want to draw their battle-babes, they might draw some really cool battle-babes that I'd like to see in action. These characters can be expressive, although I understand that (superexaggeration underway) having bare bellies and sexy attire being a feature of all women in a setting regardless of their circumstances and intentions (dating, dancing, fighting, travelling, conducting meetings with politicians, leading armies) suggests, possibly in a demeaning way, that all women will/must show off their bodies; that this is a defining trait of women. (Since it is independent of anything but their being women.)
Men's attire tends to seem appropriate for the situation, although there is sometimes the aforementioned badassery to their armour (bulky addons, spikes and whatnot; perhaps akin to goth/punk/metal outfits in the real world).
Or they just wear their armour/battle attire (their near-nudity) all the time.
EDIT-Just a thought: The unarmoured male shows that he needs no armour. The silly-armoured female doesn't show quite the same thing.
