Variety isn't the point of discussion here. It's the eye-candy factor. The dreaded "male-gaze" that needs to be stamped out while the female gaze is celebrated and encouraged - see the abundance of Halsin pictures just in this forum, is leading to female companions that, while having variety, are in varieties of ugliness. The male companions, on the other hand, while largely similar in build and race, somehow all fall within the general profile of desirable men looks-wise.
The male companions are higher on the eye candy factor than the females. In fact, someone even found it hilarious that this is the case, so let's not be intellectual dishonest by claiming that having varying degrees of ugliness is somehow easier on the eyes than men that conform largely to conventional notions of male beauty. Can we at least be honest about this?
Oh for goodness sake. People want to mis-quote me, fine. Yes, I did/do find it hilarious that men are complaining about this, and seem to want a conventional scantily clad Barbie type companion in this game too, when that archetype has been around all along. Men have had all the eye-candy options in games and fantasy illustrations for YEARS. Decades. All one has to do is look around at fantasy book covers, or just about any fantasy or game illustrations in general. While "the male gaze" is very much an art school term, its perspective has become so pervasive, so ingrained in our media that we hardly notice it, and assume it is the norm.
It's only in recent years that game designers have realised that women play RPGs too, that we've always been here, and have started to cater to that. And what is hilarious is that men, who have had their eye candy across the fantasy genre of books/movies/illustration/games all along, for decades, are now complaining about the apparent lack of this eye-candy equality in this one particular game. Why suddenly demand balance when there has never been balance in the fantasy genre, to begin with? Why can't we women have something nice for once and be allowed to enjoy it?
For me as a female, this game and its characters are a breath of fresh air. Female character armour design in this game is also a breath of fresh air. Also, while this has been a primarily "straight" discussion, I do find Lae'zel and Minthara attractive in different ways, and in fact am surprised that they are dismissed out of hand so easily.
You know what else is getting out of hand? This discussion. Probably. I'm out.
