Guild Wars 2

Please forgive the long wall-o-text but if you are interested in variety of armour sets then my thread is probably worth a read. I have been put off for a long time from playing a heavy armoured profession due to finding all of the armour available too masculine and lacking in detail and choice. I mean this for all races in the game, and though I do not play Asura or Charr their females are badly misrepresented.

I am not asking for it to be a bikini, though I in no way object to the addition of it for the sake of variety. You can argue whatever, if seeing a perfect body in a bikini offends you, go work on your self esteem and don’t blame the game for it. I feel the lack of variety is making people bored.

What I want is only what I feel is missing, which is all available in the other armour choices.

I am talking about details, engravings, bows and ribbons. I am talking about high heels on some boots, shoes or sandals. I would like to see some variety please, instead of bucket on foot and head. I would like to see masks/gems/crowns. I think you need to get some more women working on designing the heavy gear :P

I need armour fitted to the female form, elegant and graceful. Something that a dextrous woman would wear to battle. Personally I wouldn’t wear anything that slows me down too much.

I also feel that from the very start of the game heavy armour looks way too plain. I hate to wear it, I would rather fight mobs naked and be a papertank until I get something somewhat pretty. Light starting set is so gorgeous I can’t help but think why these starting sets are within the same game.

If anyone from Arena Net reads this thread, please consider my suggestion. Adding choice for people will not kill the game, only the lack of choice will damage it. If someone dislikes a feminine looking set, you have already made sure to add plenty of alternatives that they can wear. I don’t want to hear complaining in this thread about issues I have already mentioned. You can tell me as much as you want that you’re a woman and you find skin offensive, that’s your opinion and it will never, ever, ever be my opinion. We are all beautiful and artistic, let us express ourselves and express yourself how you want.

I would like to finish it off here by saying that I am a female, my style is a huge part of me and I like to feel elegant no matter what I’m doing. I believe that anyone, male or female, can be beautiful as long as they are happy in themselves and confident. Just personally, I would love for my character to look similar to how I am in real life, mainly meaning my style. Expressing myself like this is one of the things that makes me happy. I understand my style is not for everyone. This is only a suggestion, I hope you like it.

well, there is the arah armour, the heavy norn t3 armour, and others. you just need to find it. i recommend going to pvp and accessing the lockers to find what you need.

I have seen the sets, they are in no way feminine in my opinion. I’m talking about some features that Light Armour has. I dont want to look like a walking cheese grater in arah gear, and in any case it will take me another 64 levels before I can even think about using it.

If you would read my descriptions above, that’s pretty much what I mean. As for the norn t3 armour, I find it’s not fitted very well and it’s chunky in parts where it should be more fitted.

when it’s heavy it cannot really become too feminine, it has to be armoured too. the mix of colours can change things like that, though.

you are also not tied to using just one set, you can mix up as you like until you find something for you.

Just because it’s heavy doesn’t mean that it can’t fit properly? Or is that a new rule?

I think any armour should be fitted to the body shape of the wearer, that seems to make sense to me. However we are talking about a game with dragons, plant fairies and magical powers. Don’t tell me I can’t wear what I like here. XD

I appreciate your suggestions but it’s not like I haven’t played this game since launch. I am well aware of every single set in the game looks-wise I have probably spent more time previewing different sets together than killing stuff.

I think there’s a huge difference between “feminine” and “skimpy”.

Just looking at this: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Human_female_heavy_armor
…I’d say only the Whisper’s armor is feminine and that forces a personal Storyline investment you might not have wanted.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heavy_plate_armor …is also close without needlessly involving “skirts” that some people are really sick of. …and if you like a flowing skirt, there’s always Draconic which is the default 80 crafted… It’s not so much feminine as it might be called “Canthan” but probably the majority of armor sets I saw females preferred in Gw1 were also Canthan. (maybe we’ll get more of that content back eventually?).

ilr.9675:

I think there’s a huge difference between “feminine” and “skimpy”.

Just looking at this: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Human_female_heavy_armor
…I’d say only the Whisper’s armor is feminine and that forces a personal Storyline investment you might not have wanted.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heavy_plate_armor …is also close without needlessly involving “skirts” that some people are really sick of. …and if you like a flowing skirt, there’s always Draconic which is the default 80 crafted… It’s not so much feminine as it might be called “Canthan” but probably the majority of armor sets I saw females preferred in Gw1 were also Canthan. (maybe we’ll get more of that content back eventually?).

You are on my wavelength. I actually really like the way the whispers set is fitted As we are on the subject, I also really love the heritage set. On female Norn especially, it’s really well fitted. Sadly I never played gw1 and I’ll probably never have time for grinding it even if I wanted to.
Still something a bit prettier, do I dare use the word girly? Hmm.
There are even bikini sets for both medium and light armour, they are just incredibly elegant and well made. I love it. Please something like that for heavy, that’s all I ask. And I NEED HIGH HEELS. Yes, I would wear heels into battle. x)

i can agree that it isn’t exactly feminine any of it, but areanet just focused in the zone of what looked practical, rather than what looked feminine. despite being a fantasy game they did want to add in a realistic, working armour. that said, there may come new armour in the future with possibly more feminine sides.

What I want is high heels that actually make your character taller.

What we have in all MMOs that I’m aware of are high heels that keep you the same height, but make your legs shorter to compensate for the heels.

Red Renegade.3824:

i can agree that it isn’t exactly feminine any of it, but areanet just focused in the zone of what looked practical, rather than what looked feminine. despite being a fantasy game they did want to add in a realistic, working armour. that said, there may come new armour in the future with possibly more feminine sides.

But how can you say this? They have very obviously taken a very feminine and impractical approach to armour in Light Armour and I love it. There’s full skirts, corsets, tiny lingerie like detailing and heels, bows etc etc. Sorry but I think the evidence is there, they want to take the game in that direction and I have seen some of my favourite sets of clothing ever within this game!
To me it looks like they assumed females wouldn’t play heavy armour classes or something?
What I am hoping for is actually new armours in the future with feminine sides. I don’t even mind having to buy them from store, it’s very reasonable that if they take the time to design something amazing that we show our support.
I can hope that Anet decide to redesign some of the plainer sets, but I am not sure if they would do that to be honest.
Thank you for your feedback Red, hugs.

Heavy armour needs to cover a lot of the body I guess.. and actually look heavy

SnoodBeAR.5286:

Heavy armour needs to cover a lot of the body I guess.. and actually look heavy

Dragons and magic. Sorry we’re going for accuracy? xP

I’m not asking for skimpy but well fitted. If I wore armour that is supposedly heavy and didn’t fit me, you would soon see it down on the floor.

My guardian runs with the heavy Vigil armour and I love it (though I swap out the shoulders and gloves). It’s still heavy looking in concept but is still very much feminine and shapely.

Why any sane woman would choose to go into battle in heels I cannot begin to imagine. I’ve fenced, done kendo and arnis, been in medieval reeanactment groups … the only activity where heels have helped was Victorian waltzing.

Of course I won’t wear heels anyway thanks to bad arches, but I definitely would want a good center of balance for any combat.

I understand that realism isn’t the controlling factor in MMO armor and weapons, and I am not demanding that popular fantasy armor be nixed. Still, I do think one can be feminine in full plate while still looking like one could survive for more than two seconds.

Realism is generally not an extremely important factor in an MMO, however, GW2 is realistic in a lot of ways, every single race in the game has a somewhat coherent explanation regarding how they operate biologically, Light Armour is meant to look cosmetic (because realistically, it offers no protection whatsoever), Medium Armour tends to look like it can protect you from the weather, and Heavy Armour is meant to look like your character’s vital organs are protected, but it tries not to look extremely impractical, you’re asking for high heels and other extremely impractical stuff.

I’m not saying it would look bad, but it would be absolutely ridiculous, how the hell do you expect someone to dodge roll with high heels? You’d never get back on your feet after dodging, or at least you’d be dead before you did.

It would also be pure fanservice, and ANET isn’t known for promoting that, just look at female Charr and Asura.

Sorry but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.

Donari.5237:

Why any sane woman would choose to go into battle in heels I cannot begin to imagine. I’ve fenced, done kendo and arnis, been in medieval reeanactment groups … the only activity where heels have helped was Victorian waltzing.

Of course I won’t wear heels anyway thanks to bad arches, but I definitely would want a good center of balance for any combat.

I understand that realism isn’t the controlling factor in MMO armor and weapons, and I am not demanding that popular fantasy armor be nixed. Still, I do think one can be feminine in full plate while still looking like one could survive for more than two seconds.

I don’t know but Light Armour wearers go into combat in heels all the time in the game. If that’s not realistic for you, get them to remove it eh? It’s not like they stand still without running around/dodging/jumping just like the rest. I am not talking about killer stilettos, I just mean heels like the rest of the game has. And hell yeah, I can run in heels just fine. Short heels like the ones for Light Armour I can probably do anything in that I can do in normal shoes. If the heel is not too thin, balance is not affected. Realistic enough?

The issue here is that there is not the choice available for those of us who do want it there.

As for armour looking sturdy, or like you could surive some hits, did you even read any of my posts? I ask for feminine and elegant sets not for a biniki/dress made of metal. I think it’s reasonable to assume that a realistic feminine armour would be somewhat lighter and more fitted since females in the game tend to be lighter and smaller.

And if I had no hope that a woman could look elegant in full plate, this thread would not be here. I just think all the current sets are plain.

Balsco:
If I were to dodge in heels in real life, I certainly would not start rolling on the floor for a start. Just move to the side. That is realism.

You’re not going to like me I think, so I’ll just go at it. I just want to say that, while I respect your opinion, I also respectfully disagree. I’m going to respond to what you said that I think warrants a response… which is most of it. Let me sum up who I am: I am a guy gamer who takes the subject of sexism and its role in video games very seriously.

“I mean this for all races in the game, and though I do not play Asura or Charr their females are badly misrepresented.”
Their females are not “badly misrepresented.” If you are referring to the lack of breasts and butts, then I suppose they are lacking those, but that does not make them bad. They are their own species, they don’t need to fit a human ideal of beauty. They would be attractive to members of their own species. If you want more detail on why Anet did not give the Charr breasts, you can find it in an early design document about the Charr. The design of both races would have suffered from such a modification in my opinion.

“I am not asking for it to be a bikini, though I in no way object to the addition of it for the sake of variety. You can argue whatever, if seeing a perfect body in a bikini offends you, go work on your self esteem and don’t blame the game for it. I feel the lack of variety is making people bored.”
To assume that the viewing of a “perfect body in a bikini” is only offensive due to a lack of self esteem is a rather close minded and blatantly pretentious opinion. I would find it offensive because the hyper sexualization of women in games is already blatantly sexist and backwards as it is, and I approve of the small steps GW2 has taken in the other direction. For this reason, I have no light-armored female characters, because I don’t want a delicate flower in lingerie on the battlefield; I want a strong, powerful character that looks like she can actually take on what she confronts. For this reason, both of my heavy armor characters are women: I have a female human warrior and a female asuran guardian. I find the bikini warrior offensive because it portrays that character as an object of sexual attraction that just happens to be holding a weapon instead of a strong heroine. The bikini warrior has been dubbed the “fighting f*** toy” which I think is an appropriate name for such an insulting portrayal of women.

“I am talking about details, engravings, bows and ribbons. I am talking about high heels on some boots, shoes or sandals. I would like to see some variety please, instead of bucket on foot and head. I would like to see masks/gems/crowns. I think you need to get some more women working on designing the heavy gear :P”
High heals would be absolutely stupid. I’m sorry, but it would. It’s not practical for a person running into battle with a battle hammer. That kind of silliness belongs in other Korean MMOs, but not in GW2. I personally like it that the armor for both male and female characters look the same for the most part: I always found it disappointing when the male armor would be strong and intimidating, but then the female armor would be almost the same… except the metal somehow manages to wrap perfectly around both butt cheeks, having a cut for the cleavage, and lacks a few of the protective armor sheets that the male version had. It just makes no sense to do this, and only serves to punctuate their role as a “fighting f*** toy” instead of a real warrior to be taken seriously.

EDIT: As a side note, Anet’s lead fashion designer is a woman.

“I need armour fitted to the female form, elegant and graceful. Something that a dextrous woman would wear to battle. Personally I wouldn’t wear anything that slows me down too much. "
Trust me, if you were going into battle, you would probably want to ditch the high heels and bikini armor for something a little more masculine. I don’t mind graceful armor, but I think this could be accomplished with the sort of graceful styling of the armor from the LOtR films for the elves instead adding silly ribbons and bows and heels to armor that clearly does not benefit from the addition.

“I also feel that from the very start of the game heavy armour looks way too plain. I hate to wear it, I would rather fight mobs naked and be a papertank until I get something somewhat pretty. Light starting set is so gorgeous I can’t help but think why these starting sets are within the same game.”
I actually agree with you: the starting armor sucks, not just for women but just in general. But I actually think the light starting set for women was horrible too: early on, I tried having a female norn elementalist, and she looked so incredibly stupid in the outfit I had to delete her. Here I am as a drinking, boasting, wild-woman norn, living by the skin of my teeth on a frozen mounting, fighting the wilderness to live and I’m dressed like I’m auditioning for Toddlers in Tiaras. I don’t care what your sense of style is: that’s stupid.

“I don’t want to hear complaining in this thread about issues I have already mentioned. You can tell me as much as you want that you’re a woman and you find skin offensive, that’s your opinion and it will never, ever, ever be my opinion. We are all beautiful and artistic, let us express ourselves and express yourself how you want.”
So…. if we can all express ourselves how we want, then why do you prohibit people from complaining? Welcome to the internet!

“Just personally, I would love for my character to look similar to how I am in real life, mainly meaning my style. Expressing myself like this is one of the things that makes me happy. I understand my style is not for everyone.”
I’m going to guess that, in real life, you wear jeans, t-shirts, cardigans, jackets, stylish boots, skirts, etc etc… you know, normal people clothing. Right? Well… in real life, you’re not running around with a greatsword that is your height and twice your width. At least, I’m pretty sure you don’t. It really just doesn’t make sense reasonably for them to add in the stuff you want. Adding in bikini armor would be blatantly sexist (I would be happy to debate anyone on that point) and adding flourishes like bows, ribbons, and high heels are just kind of condescending to me. I do agree that more elegant armor could be added, but I think it can be added without compromising the dignity of the female characters that wear them.

So there is my rant: take it or leave it.

SnoodBeAR.5286:

Heavy armour needs to cover a lot of the body I guess.. and actually look heavy

Dragons and magic. Sorry we’re going for accuracy? xP

I’m not asking for skimpy but well fitted. If I wore armour that is supposedly heavy and didn’t fit me, you would soon see it down on the floor.

I’ll never get this “we should have less realistic heavy armour because we don’t need realism” opinion, because it feels contradictory. I’m fairly certain the magic excuse was brought up before the game was released in some developer blog post, and of course it’s not like they’re the only ones to use it. In this case, why have heavy armour at all? What is the appeal of heavy armour? What is its purpose? If magic is going to defend you, why don’t we have magical shields that operate similarly to those in Borderlands and Mass Effect, and just have everyone wear normal clothing? I don’t see the appeal of armour beyond realism and looking tough and protected, and those reasons are precisely why I love armour. But to reduce the effectiveness of armour for the sake of femininity, delicacy, or skimpiness seems pointless. I wouldn’t understand how the hard plates would make them appealing or sexy in those ways.

As for “well fitting”, are you sure what you’re wanting is well fitting? Pauldrons I can understand, they literally float in this game, but there’s padding under armour, the plate’s not painted on their skin.

I….KIND of agree with where you’re going here. My mains are a human ele and a sylvari mesmer, so I got pretty used to light armor until I decided I wanted to make a norn guardian.

I have scoured through every armor gallery and have found NOTHING that appeals to me for her…I don’t know about heels and bikinis, but I’d really love some more elegant looking heavy armour…maybe something somewhat similar to armour from Aion? (I would google it if you haven’t seen it, there’s some reaaally gorgeous designs that are also remotely functional looking/modest)

I don’t think there are any masculine heavy armors for female characters. They all look pretty dainty and weak. I’m not sure what kind of armor you’re lookin for, seems to all be there already.

My sense is that you’re looking for armor sets that look like this:

http://na.aiononline.com/media/uploads/images/wallpaper/full-size/Elyos-Gladiator-1024x768.jpg
http://www.daevasreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/3-5_concept_armor01.jpg (Also from Aion)
http://www.daevasreport.com/images/multimedia/wallpapers/2-7_wallpaper_templar.jpg

If that’s the case, ArenaNet could consider dragging more of NCSoft’s Korean artists stateside. As a general difference between the aesthetics of Western vs. Eastern MMOs, Asian artists often go for a more refined look for armors and emphasize style over function.

Commentary on the thread:

One of the things about contemporary feminism is that it has no set ideological platform or rigidity. Much of the emphasis, especially with the third wave movement, is that women have different preferences and should be able to pursue these however they like.

This has interesting ramifications, where in the past several years a greater dialogue on sexism in entertainment has emerged. There are several camps (and I generalize here): people who believe that men and women should be represented realistically, and people who favor a more stylized approach that does not always reflect realism. Notice how I said people: there are both men and women who fall into these, and I’ll focus on the latter. Just as there are women who decry sexist and unrealistic portrayals of women in video games, there are women who enjoy dressing up their characters in MMO’s in ways that aren’t always “realistic.”

This brings us to an interesting conflict: You can have two feminists with starkly contrasting opinions on the matter. One feminist can support the OP because she believes maximizing choice means more agency and freedom for her as a woman. Another feminist can disagree with the OP, arguing that women in heels is sexist, unrealistic, and has no place in this type of entertainment.

What I really think is important for us is to recognize that agreeing with the OP isn’t necessarily “stupid” or “sexist” or “anti-feminist.” If she as a woman prefers more “elegant” armor in combat, even if it’s less realistic, then that’s just her choice.

I am strongly against plate bikinis and heels in battle, but I agree with OP that there could be more sets that look both practical and feminine.
Look at human cultural t3, for example. It looks like something you could actually wear into battle, but it also has this beautiful little touches to it, like wings and tunic.

Bring on more armour sets period.
—But we don’t need any more trench coats. None. Not even 1—We have enough to last til Guild Wars 4. Thank you.

For both males and females, skimpy armour is great, as is full-body-covering types. Just do it nice. Thanks.

TheKillerAngel.3596:

What I really think is important for us is to recognize that agreeing with the OP isn’t necessarily “stupid” or “sexist” or “anti-feminist.” If she as a woman prefers more “elegant” armor in combat, even if it’s less realistic, then that’s just her choice.

Yeah. Feminists are also (if female) women, and women unsurprisingly are not a hive mind. We all have differences of opinion over what’s feminine and what isn’t, and honestly everyone gets hung up on the word too much. If a woman likes it, fine. If a man likes it, fine. Who cares if it fits some vague definition of what’s traditionally associated to their gender.

I’m all for better diversity in the armour sets for both genders, although I’d point blank prefer to see much less gender imbalance in the sets. Some of the male versions vs female versions of one set are so different they could have been two completely different armour sets – and that would have given better options for characters of both genders, as well as stop locking out the male-default races from some of the prettified and skimpy sets that female characters seem to get.

It’s not evenly distributed across the classes, either. Light armour needs a lot more less overtly feminine sets for the ladies, and a lot more revealing and/or sexy sets for the men. Medium armour could use more revealing options across the gender board, and desperately needs fewer trenchcoat looks. Heavy armour does better, with plenty of revealing options for men and non-revealing options for the ladies, but I could get behind some more elegant-looking heavy sets. Some of the sylvari cultural stuff for the ladies is beautiful, for example, and personally I feel like I’ve got my sylvari guardian looking almost like a ‘caster’.

I know Anet probably wanted to make each armour class distinct, but they have fallen into a rut with the design patterns for each one. More diversity within each class is desperately needed, for both genders (and available to both genders, please).

They could make it look like the armour the Claymores use in the anime Claymore xD I mean that’s fit like perfectly to their body.

“You’re not going to like me I think, so I’ll just go at it. I just want to say that, while I respect your opinion, I also respectfully disagree. I’m going to respond to what you said that I think warrants a response… which is most of it. Let me sum up who I am: I am a guy gamer who takes the subject of sexism and its role in video games very seriously.
“I mean this for all races in the game, and though I do not play Asura or Charr their females are badly misrepresented.”
Their females are not “badly misrepresented.” If you are referring to the lack of breasts and butts, then I suppose they are lacking those, but that does not make them bad. They are their own species, they don’t need to fit a human ideal of beauty. They would be attractive to members of their own species. If you want more detail on why Anet did not give the Charr breasts, you can find it in an early design document about the Charr. The design of both races would have suffered from such a modification in my opinion.”

I’m not going to answer to the entirety of your comment because I feel you completely missed the point there. However I want to clear up this point here, that I am not AT ALL referring to the physicality of the races Asura and Charr. I am only referring how their armours look identical from male to female, to me at least.
I don’t see how it is sexist to let a woman choose to do what she wants. If someone, male or female, does not like an armour set they don’t have to wear it. I just want some sets that I do want to wear.
I am a gw2 player and a female, I also believe in gender equality. Gender equality means we need to have our choice and freedom. It does not mean our clothes need to look exactly the same just incase someone gets offended. I want freedom of choice and new sets to fill a gap which I think needs filling. There are plenty of practical and masculine heavy sets for people who think a woman must look the same as a man. I love being female, I celebrate it and enjoy it. There are certain style aspects that for sure I would have on my armour if I could.

Also once again, I am personally not against plate bikini’s but in this thread I do not ask for them to be put in, I only ask for armour that covers but looks womanly. However if it’s unrealistic and I would die going into a fight in my plate bikini apparently (in a world where I can heal myself and dont get any real wounds mind), nothing is stopping me from running around fighting mobs in my underwear

Faowri.4159:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

What I really think is important for us is to recognize that agreeing with the OP isn’t necessarily “stupid” or “sexist” or “anti-feminist.” If she as a woman prefers more “elegant” armor in combat, even if it’s less realistic, then that’s just her choice.

Yeah. Feminists are also (if female) women, and women unsurprisingly are not a hive mind. We all have differences of opinion over what’s feminine and what isn’t, and honestly everyone gets hung up on the word too much. If a woman likes it, fine. If a man likes it, fine. Who cares if it fits some vague definition of what’s traditionally associated to their gender.

I’m all for better diversity in the armour sets for both genders, although I’d point blank prefer to see much less gender imbalance in the sets. Some of the male versions vs female versions of one set are so different they could have been two completely different armour sets – and that would have given better options for characters of both genders, as well as stop locking out the male-default races from some of the prettified and skimpy sets that female characters seem to get.

It’s not evenly distributed across the classes, either. Light armour needs a lot more less overtly feminine sets for the ladies, and a lot more revealing and/or sexy sets for the men. Medium armour could use more revealing options across the gender board, and desperately needs fewer trenchcoat looks. Heavy armour does better, with plenty of revealing options for men and non-revealing options for the ladies, but I could get behind some more elegant-looking heavy sets. Some of the sylvari cultural stuff for the ladies is beautiful, for example, and personally I feel like I’ve got my sylvari guardian looking almost like a ‘caster’.

I know Anet probably wanted to make each armour class distinct, but they have fallen into a rut with the design patterns for each one. More diversity within each class is desperately needed, for both genders (and available to both genders, please).

You make a very good point, there needs to be some diversity for both male and female armour sets. I would defenitely agree with you there. I was only thinking about what I would want for myself personally and trying to explain, and since I exclusively play female characters I didn’t consider the other side of the stream.
I have not researched into male sets as extensively as for females, but I do know that the medium and light options not too great, especially all the medium coats. Sometimes in LA I feel like I’m being followed by private detectives.

Let me start off with this: I’m always a fan of more armor options getting added to the game. As a dude, I have a 7/8 spread of guy characters, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t spent a decent amount of time going over all the available options for both genders.
@Nica.5829
As a man who believes enough that the best suit is one made of plate to the extent he has started making his own, I fail to see how anyone couldn’t combine some of the armor sections to make something they thought would be beautiful – be it on male or female characters. Yes, I understand at low levels it’s pretty ugly – but that’t to create a sense of you character’s growth in experience visually! If you where to be some hero starting your adventure, unless you made your own set of fancy duds chances are you wouldn’t have more than a chain shirt. It makes sense to me (so I’ve never questioned it myself), and it helps you appreciated some of the more elaborate stuff you can get later on.

I’m glad your complaint isn’t that there is a lack of bikini-suits (as there happens to be 5-ish that could be called such cultural armor aside), but it’s hard for me to grasp how High heels and bows would make the armor any more attractive. The Splint designs, for example, are a wonderful combination of leather-like scales and functional metal plates, both fitting the form enough that you can tell its a female but without going to the ineffectual trope of “boob plate.” If you wanted something more feminine from the point of elaborate designs, look at the CoE’s dungeon armor, laden with engravings, or the parts of the Whisper’s set, which is fluted to ridiculous levels. Want that more organic, form fitting whisper of enticement? TA’s plant-themed gear will give you what you want. There are enough designs (after you put the effort into getting them) that you could make your girls anything from menacing to inspiring to alluring, especially after you start getting into the multiple dye possibilities. I do, however recognize everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so c’est la vie.

Personally I mean a beautiful kind of decorative armour, somewhat like the Order of Whispers set. It’s feminine, fits perfectly. It could do with a few more touches here and there but it’s something. I just have to level up fully, finish all of the story and THEN think about buying it. Fair?

I would buy a decent set from the gem store but the ones on there are not to my taste at all.

I feel like the heavy armour is designed only by men, there is never a feminine touch like a belt or cynch/ an intricately engraved pattern/ differently shaped shoes.

I think it’s reasonable to expect such a beautifully designed game to have more than 1 well thought out set of armour for heavy. I would even like to design some myself at this point, that is how frustrated the lack of choice makes me. I wish I could add mods, even if only for my own visual enjoyment.

I’m sorry, I just can’t get past the OP continuously comparing light armor to heavy armor. Do you know why light armor has lace and heals and corsets and miles of skin? Because it provides no realistic protection what so ever. I know it’s armor and it has an armor value, but that’s because of mechanics. Realistically it is just clothes. That’s why it exists exclusively for Scholars, not Soldiers. The Magic Users where clothes because they are expected to stay back from the fight and not get hit. Soldiers, though are expected to be right up next to the carnage, so they need to be fully covered in thick heavy metal. They don’t need frilly bits, and they don’t want high heels. They are soldiers, not sorority girls.

It’s fine that you think it’s ok to have these things, and that you want them. But if your preference in a character is based on the style of armor available to them, be content with the limited selection you have, or don’t play a Warrior or Guardian. That said, my Sylvari Guardian is quite feminine in her plate armor, despite the spikes and giant shoulder pads.

I think it’s reasonable to expect such a beautifully designed game to have more than 1 well thought out set of armour for heavy.

I think your debate will benefit from not insulting the sets you don’t personally like. There are several that are well thought out, you just don’t like them.

Kal Spiro I play a ranged only guardian, I stay back in fights and support/revive. I am pretty much a mage/priest hybrid. I am in no way a soldier.

I would wear Light Armour on it if I could, but since I am not able to do that, I ask for something suitable for me.

-

Ake, if I did not feel strongly negative about the current sets, I would not feel the need for new ones.

Nothing says feminine like hands on a breastplate. (arah)

I agree with more feminine heavy armor that doesn’t include hands on the breastplate, different colour caps on the breast plates, noticeable lumps on the breastplates….

nica.5829:

Kal Spiro I play a ranged only guardian, I stay back in fights and support/revive. I am pretty much a mage/priest hybrid. I am in no way a soldier.

I would wear Light Armour on it if I could, but since I am not able to do that, I ask for something suitable for me.

You’re wrong, you play a Soldier, because Guardian is classified as a Soldier class. Mesmer, Elementalist and Necromancer are classified as Scholar and Engineer, Thief and Ranger are classified as Scout. It doesn’t matter how you play, or what you would choose for yourself, as a heavy armor character you are a Soldier. So you get to dress like one.

I just dont see it. All the armor looks like it was designed to fit a female. a very skinny female.

I assume you guys just want kittenwear, after all you are playing as a female. Its no secret as to why.

XelNigma.6315:

I just dont see it. All the armor looks like it was designed to fit a female. a very skinny female.

I assume you guys just want kittenwear, after all you are playing as a female. Its no secret as to why.

That’s a very sexist comment and also wrong, I am a woman playing a female character and I am very disappointed with the heavy armour so far.

@Nica
Do you happen to have any pictures of armor more akin to what you are thinking about by any chance (be it from other games or artwork or whatnot) that you could share with a link or whatnot? I think it might help clarify things similar to XelNigma’s comment (the “I assume you guys just want kittenwear” portion).

(As I said before, I’m personally a fan of plate in general, so even a lady decked out accurately like http://studio930.com/shroudprev2.jpg is considered beautiful on my end, but with a little bit of visual aids, I think people can better get what you are asking, you know?)

TheKillerAngel.3596:

My sense is that you’re looking for armor sets that look like this:

http://na.aiononline.com/media/uploads/images/wallpaper/full-size/Elyos-Gladiator-1024x768.jpg
http://www.daevasreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/3-5_concept_armor01.jpg (Also from Aion)
http://www.daevasreport.com/images/multimedia/wallpapers/2-7_wallpaper_templar.jpg

If that’s the case, ArenaNet could consider dragging more of NCSoft’s Korean artists stateside. As a general difference between the aesthetics of Western vs. Eastern MMOs, Asian artists often go for a more refined look for armors and emphasize style over function.

This post has examples of armour that represent the look I am after. I especially love the 3rd one, it’s fully covering plate but really gorgeous and elegant, not to mention something I might actually be able to walk in compared to some of the bulky sets we have atm. I think this style would not look out of place in gw2.

nica.5829:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

My sense is that you’re looking for armor sets that look like this:

http://na.aiononline.com/media/uploads/images/wallpaper/full-size/Elyos-Gladiator-1024x768.jpg
http://www.daevasreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/3-5_concept_armor01.jpg (Also from Aion)
http://www.daevasreport.com/images/multimedia/wallpapers/2-7_wallpaper_templar.jpg

If that’s the case, ArenaNet could consider dragging more of NCSoft’s Korean artists stateside. As a general difference between the aesthetics of Western vs. Eastern MMOs, Asian artists often go for a more refined look for armors and emphasize style over function.

This post has examples of armour that represent the look I am after. I especially love the 3rd one, it’s fully covering plate but really gorgeous and elegant. I think this style would not look out of place in gw2.

To me, all but the armor in the third image look tacky and tasteless. See, opinions can differ. Can you say that yours is objectively better than mine?

Tuomir.1830:

nica.5829:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

My sense is that you’re looking for armor sets that look like this:

http://na.aiononline.com/media/uploads/images/wallpaper/full-size/Elyos-Gladiator-1024x768.jpg
http://www.daevasreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/3-5_concept_armor01.jpg (Also from Aion)
http://www.daevasreport.com/images/multimedia/wallpapers/2-7_wallpaper_templar.jpg

If that’s the case, ArenaNet could consider dragging more of NCSoft’s Korean artists stateside. As a general difference between the aesthetics of Western vs. Eastern MMOs, Asian artists often go for a more refined look for armors and emphasize style over function.

This post has examples of armour that represent the look I am after. I especially love the 3rd one, it’s fully covering plate but really gorgeous and elegant. I think this style would not look out of place in gw2.

To me, all but the armor in the third image look tacky and tasteless. See, opinions can differ. Can you say that yours is objectively better than mine?

Yes but there is already armour to your taste in the game, there really isn’t much choice for people like me. THAT is the point of this thread. I am not arguing that everyone should like what I like. I just want choices of armour for people with similar tastes to mine to use. If they added 1 pair of heavy boots with a slight heel and elegant looking, I bet you would start to see 50% of the playerbase using them, at the very least. But at the moment we do not have that choice.

nica.5829:

Tuomir.1830:

nica.5829:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

My sense is that you’re looking for armor sets that look like this:

http://na.aiononline.com/media/uploads/images/wallpaper/full-size/Elyos-Gladiator-1024x768.jpg
http://www.daevasreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/3-5_concept_armor01.jpg (Also from Aion)
http://www.daevasreport.com/images/multimedia/wallpapers/2-7_wallpaper_templar.jpg

If that’s the case, ArenaNet could consider dragging more of NCSoft’s Korean artists stateside. As a general difference between the aesthetics of Western vs. Eastern MMOs, Asian artists often go for a more refined look for armors and emphasize style over function.

This post has examples of armour that represent the look I am after. I especially love the 3rd one, it’s fully covering plate but really gorgeous and elegant. I think this style would not look out of place in gw2.

To me, all but the armor in the third image look tacky and tasteless. See, opinions can differ. Can you say that yours is objectively better than mine?

Yes but there is already armour to your taste in the game, there really isn’t much choice for people like me. THAT is the point of this thread. I am not arguing that everyone should like what I like. I just want choices of armour for people with similar tastes to mine to use. If they added 1 pair of heavy boots with a slight heel and elegant looking, I bet you would start to see 50% of the playerbase using them, at the very least. But at the moment we do not have that choice.

And I’m saying it bothers me to see tasteless things in a game I enjoy the style of.

Tuomir.1830:

And I’m saying it bothers me to see tasteless things in a game I enjoy the style of.

I’ll usually be with you when it comes to this, but in this case I will not. You act like GW2 doesn’t already have side cleavage and It even has under boob, what is more tasteless then that? In all my time of playing Aion I have never seen THAT.

Cloud.7613:

Tuomir.1830:

And I’m saying it bothers me to see tasteless things in a game I enjoy the style of.

I’ll usually be with you when it comes to this, but in this case I will not. You act like GW2 doesn’t already have side cleavage and It even has under boob, what is more tasteless then that? In all my time of playing Aion I have never seen THAT.

There are some controversial sets, though I find them still for the most parts to be more tactful. The thing that bothers me the most about those sets is actually that the male version is very much lacking by comparison.

The underboob is a bit over the line, I agree.

nica.5829:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

My sense is that you’re looking for armor sets that look like this:

http://na.aiononline.com/media/uploads/images/wallpaper/full-size/Elyos-Gladiator-1024x768.jpg
http://www.daevasreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/3-5_concept_armor01.jpg (Also from Aion)
http://www.daevasreport.com/images/multimedia/wallpapers/2-7_wallpaper_templar.jpg

If that’s the case, ArenaNet could consider dragging more of NCSoft’s Korean artists stateside. As a general difference between the aesthetics of Western vs. Eastern MMOs, Asian artists often go for a more refined look for armors and emphasize style over function.

This post has examples of armour that represent the look I am after. I especially love the 3rd one, it’s fully covering plate but really gorgeous and elegant, not to mention something I might actually be able to walk in compared to some of the bulky sets we have atm. I think this style would not look out of place in gw2.

Link three isn’t all that far fetched than what can be made in the game already. Whisper legs for the fluted lower, a heavy plate / dark / temple chest would give an elaborate design for the chest (of course, not that specific images) and outside of the emblem on the shoulders the Splint would match those quite well (and this is all looking at the armor on Norn females, which isn’t exactly the best when it comes to how the details end up looking on models). Alternatively, if you where more aiming towards the combination of chain and plate on the legs, you could try the Heavy Plate leg design (although it is much ‘uglier’ then the elaborate fluting on the whispers set).

I highly recommend you check (if you haven’t already) www.gw2armorgallery.com for a more elaborate look on the armor sets (although I’m not entirely sure these where taken on the highest graphical settings, and it doesn’t go as far as to let you mix-and-match or play with colors, but one could use their imagination to an extent).

The first two links look mostly like what would be classified as “light armor” in gw2, and the plate armor from the first makes me think more of CoF dungeon armor mixed with the skimpy-sets, but that could just be me.

Just a reminder: I’m all for them adding more variety of armor – heck, I’ve been dying waiting for them to make the heavy guild set have more under-tabbard options since I got it – I’m just still trying to figure out what exactly is considered “feminine armor.” (IMHO, high-heels in plate just looks tacky, and I don’t see why things such as scarves/capes/or even classic “manes” on helmets would be considered feminine, because I’d want that sort of stuff on my male characters probably more-so than the single female character I have).

Tai Kratos.3247:

Their females are not “badly misrepresented.”

Yeah, I didn’t like that phrasing either. In fact I’d say they are the best-represented because 1) they’re not sexualized and 2) don’t have “LOOK IT’S A GIRL!!!!!!!” armor forced on them. I’m viciously allergic to gendered armor, so hopping on my charr is always a welcome escape from all the boob plates, boob windows, frills and garters that infest light armor in particular for women of the other species.

Good post overall on your part.

Faowri.4159:

I’m all for better diversity in the armour sets for both genders, although I’d point blank prefer to see much less gender imbalance in the sets. Some of the male versions vs female versions of one set are so different they could have been two completely different armour sets – and that would have given better options for characters of both genders, as well as stop locking out the male-default races from some of the prettified and skimpy sets that female characters seem to get.

(snip)

I know Anet probably wanted to make each armour class distinct, but they have fallen into a rut with the design patterns for each one. More diversity within each class is desperately needed, for both genders (and available to both genders, please).

Full agreement and YES PLEASE for more overall armor diversity but fewer gendered differences. A practical, imposing set of heavy plate should look as practical and imposing on a woman as it does on a man. A skimpy, frilly bit of fetish wear should sexualize male characters as much as it does female ones. And a nifty armor design should not be ruined on women by “feminizing” it beyond recognition.

(Oh, and more charr-, sylvari- and norn-themed armor please, too much of the existing gear is themed and designed solely for humans and looks really off on others. Can’t say that often enough.)

Nica, would it help if they designed heavy armor as slimmer but not to fit around curves/breasts, but instead focused on things you mentioned such as ribbons, bows, engravings, crowns, etc.

I say because the whole point of heavy armor deflecting blows not just by being hard to crack, but disguising the form of the wearer making it hard to aim for the right spots, and allow the enemy weapon to slide off in the wrong direction by being bulky and not chopping off anything. “Form-fitting” is the complete opposite of what many heavy armors are supposed to be.