I think there is nothing wrong with having armour and clothing that is realistically shaped but also looks good. Armour should be protective but not make you look like a walking scrap heap - because that would limit your movement and survivability.

But on the other side there is also nothing wrong with having a few outfits for when you are out on the town or in the tavern or at a festival that are a little more feminine and perhaps do show a bit more. Nothing wrong with guys having such costumes either.

A little realism for armour and costumes would go a long way. I know this isn't real life but you do want to feel that sometimes it might be - immersion sometimes really matters and clothes/armour/costumes are a big big part of that.

Slurg wrote: »

BabeestorGor wrote: »

Not sure how ZOS pay attention to it specifically.
Not all women want the same thing from games anymore than all men do.

^^This!!!

If this thread is supposed to be about all girls wanting pretty clothes or something, I will be offended. Not all females want the same thing out of this game. We are not of a hive mind. I want more playable game content and to be treated in game like any other player.

As a man who definitely wants more pretty clothes, I'd be offended, too.
Offended, I tell you!

Regardless, despite the angled tone of the article, even they mention the genres adult women mostly play:

Casual computer games, mostly. The report ranks online and mobile puzzle games, board games, trivia games, and card games as coming in second to the boom in social games, which more than doubled in popularity between 2012 and 2013.

So I'm not sure how this relates to ESO specifically or MMOs in general - although I will say that from my experience, MMOs have a larger female demographic than many other genres. I'd also like to know how one would address this supposedly huge female demographic in ESO. As others have said, neither men nor women are of a hive mind.

As a female gamer this has been the best MMO experience I've had, and I've been playing MMOs for about a decade now. People are generally mature and friendly, there is not much "a g-g-g-girl?!" whenever a female reveals her gender, and there are enough choices of both "sexy" and "conservative" armor and costumes for whatever one would like to play.

IMO, there is nothing to add or even address. Both the game itself and the community are wonderful to women.

If I had to pick a change that would be considered "stereotypically feminine", though? Forget costumes, I want more hairstyles and design choices at character select.

Should be an option for more skin less skin, completely client side.

Personally i'd love to see more skin in the game. I know some are against it, but if only i can see it, whats the harm.

Khumbu wrote: »

As a female gamer this has been the best MMO experience I've had, and I've been playing MMOs for about a decade now. People are generally mature and friendly, there is not much "a g-g-g-girl?!" whenever a female reveals her gender, and there are enough choices of both "sexy" and "conservative" armor and costumes for whatever one would like to play.

IMO, there is nothing to add or even address. Both the game itself and the community are wonderful to women.

If I had to pick a change that would be considered "stereotypically feminine", though? Forget costumes, I want more hairstyles and design choices at character select.

Alllllll of this. I do get issues from other sexist players (and trolls) but the Devs are brilliant. They've not been sexist nor ignored female gamers. I don't want that to change

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

Not trying to be inflammatory, but is there something specific this comment is supposed to address?

Are you referring to the OP or to one of the comments? If you are referring to my OP, I posted it because too often it is CLEAR that MMOs (including this one) are still being geared to a young male audience. Look at the Five Companions. Only ONE woman among them and she's a busty blonde. Oh and of course Tharn is always pointing out how dumb she is. Granted, he's disdainful of the rest of them as well but he saves most of his "you're clearly an idiot" schtick for Lyris. In the animated trailers for this game, which look pretty awesome, there is ONE female character. And, ironically, she shows plenty of cleavage and upper thigh..while you make most of the actual armor available in the game stuff a nun would wear and have actually REMOVED some of the PRETTIER light armor.

The issue of character customization, which is huge with all players but I might argue is ESPECIALLY dear to female players as a general (though not ironclad) rule continues to be largely ignored. Ditto player housing. Female players often want a more immersive world, which means there needs to be more to it than JUST killing things (as much fun as that is!) but this, like every other MMO on the market, is almost the sole focus.

You made us an astonishingly gorgeous world...but you don't let us "live" in it yet. There is so little we can interact with aside from mobs. So what I'm saying is that your devs need to start giving some serious thought to what female gamers might like to have instead of just trying to knock off what has traditionally already "sold" and just doing it with better graphics. We womenfolk are demanding. We want more. And we're happy to pay for it when you make us happy.

THAT was my point.

EDIT: And after scanning through some of the comments now...no, there was no question involved. The article was meant as a "heads up" for ZOS. And as a subject for discussion.

The fact that more adult females play more game overall is not exactly news.I remember the same type of result form 4-5 years ago. They specify directly that their stats include social/mobile/casual games. This is a huge and probably growing market in terms of numbers. Those type of games are not as popular among males of any age. If they would only look for the mmo,crpg , rts , fps only market the number would quite different.

"The picture that emerges from the study is one of expansion across the board. More people are playing more games of various genres across more platforms, with social games on mobile and casual games on PCs emerging as huge leaders."

That's the 3rd paragraph of the article.

"All of that means that stereotypes are breaking fast in the gaming industry, particularly the longheld stereotype of the adult woman as an outlier who sticks to mobile games and "social" games on Facebook while the more hardcore gamer, the "serious" (male) gamer, goes for console games."

That's the 5th paragraph. The article contradicts it's self in the first 5 paragraphs.

The article also assumes that a households ownship of a console indicates using it for gaming, ignoring that some households use them as a streaming devices/bluray player. Anecdotely my grandfather had a PS3 and now has a PS4 yet only used either for watching blurays and netflex.

I agree with this thread. More skin and sexy armor please

Bah!

As a female I think this is nonsense. Zos is doing a fine job. I don't see any sexism. I think the character creator is excellent. I could care less about player housing.

Yes of the original five companions Lyris is the only female but she is a warrior. If she was the healer you might, slightly, have a point. I always thought the trailer reflected the faction leaders, hence the one female. When there are 3 people and only 2 sexes there is going to be an imbalance. This is not a big deal.

I also don't think the armor is prudish or that a nun would be caught dead in it, but that is my opinion.


I'm sorry you are unhappy but nominating yourself as a spokesperson for females eso plaayers is rather offensive to me.

MornaBaine wrote: »

ZOS_RichLambert wrote: »

Not trying to be inflammatory, but is there something specific this comment is supposed to address?

Are you referring to the OP or to one of the comments? If you are referring to my OP, I posted it because too often it is CLEAR that MMOs (including this one) are still being geared to a young male audience. Look at the Five Companions. Only ONE woman among them and she's a busty blonde. Oh and of course Tharn is always pointing out how dumb she is. Granted, he's disdainful of the rest of them as well but he saves most of his "you're clearly an idiot" schtick for Lyris. In the animated trailers for this game, which look pretty awesome, there is ONE female character. And, ironically, she shows plenty of cleavage and upper thigh..while you make most of the actual armor available in the game stuff a nun would wear and have actually REMOVED some of the PRETTIER light armor.

The issue of character customization, which is huge with all players but I might argue is ESPECIALLY dear to female players as a general (though not ironclad) rule continues to be largely ignored. Ditto player housing. Female players often want a more immersive world, which means there needs to be more to it than JUST killing things (as much fun as that is!) but this, like every other MMO on the market, is almost the sole focus.

You made us an astonishingly gorgeous world...but you don't let us "live" in it yet. There is so little we can interact with aside from mobs. So what I'm saying is that your devs need to start giving some serious thought to what female gamers might like to have instead of just trying to knock off what has traditionally already "sold" and just doing it with better graphics. We womenfolk are demanding. We want more. And we're happy to pay for it when you make us happy.

THAT was my point.

EDIT: And after scanning through some of the comments now...no, there was no question involved. The article was meant as a "heads up" for ZOS. And as a subject for discussion.

Isn't Lyris' whole shtick that she's a super strong but very brash warrior who swings first and asks questions later? I'm all for more female main characters any day of the week, but let's not deny the complexity of the ones that exist. Lyris is a powerful warrior with a healthy respect for traditional Nord values like stubbornness and acting rashly. She's steadfastly loyal to her friends but very hostile when she feels she's been betrayed, even when it would be wiser to let the water pass under the bridge. Reducing her to a "busty blonde" seems trite.

Prof_Bawbag wrote: »

And yet it still doesn't fit in with your OP. You're also assuming you are speaking on behalf of all women. You don't. You're also telling us guys what our preferences are compared to your own. Again, you're assuming a lot and not actually making a point other than telling ZoS what your own personal preferences are whilst assuming you know us guys better than we know ourselves. I happen to agree with most of your first paragraph and think you do have a point, but then the rest of your argument becomes detached from that particular point.

This ^^

dday3six wrote: »

The article also assumes that a households ownship of a console indicates using it for gaming, ignoring that some households use them as a streaming devices/bluray player. Anecdotely my grandfather had a PS3 and now has a PS4 yet only used either for watching blurays and netflex.

That seems a bit excessive when you can buy a player with internet connection built in that plays Blu-ray and connects to Netflix for less than £50 LOL