Guild Wars 2

The first time it caught my attention was when someone posted a screen shot wearing an outfit styled with a hood and long coat that I really liked. They didn’t list what pieces they were using, and since it was a pretty old post, I just logged in my character and looked for it, found the hood but the chest piece – no luck. I thought that perhaps it was cultural armour – but it wasn’t.
I looked at different items on wiki, and finally found it -

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sneakthief_armor

What in the kitten?

I looked at store outfits and saw the same pattern repeating. My biggest disappointments were:
Noble Count outfit
Fancy winter outfit
Ancestral outfit
(Newly added) Hat of the Ringmaster

DISCLAIMER:
If you like these looks on female characters, that’s fine. I don’t mind that people like
these styles for whatever reason and I am not criticizing that.

What am I asking then?
To give those of us who like really (I MEAN, REALLY) dislike these outdated styles but
absolutely love the male versions, to be able to choose whether we want f/m version
for each toon, regardless of that toon’s gender. I know it’s perfectly possible, because on
Asura, for example, the Noble Count’s outfit looks the same on either. There’s a precedence for it – so what I am hoping for, is that Anet will open it for all races. Just add a sort of check box when you put an outfit / accessory on, that lets you choose
which version you want on your character.
This way, we can all enjoy our characters, and present them, how we want.

Water.9734:

What am I asking then?
[…] to be able to choose whether we want f/m version for each toon, regardless of that toon’s gender.

That would be truly awesome.

Asura and Charr have the same body structure for both males and females, this isn’t the case for the other races. Fundamentally, it would be like designing a new set of armour altogether (and apparently, that is a ton of work for the designers).

This topic has come up often enough that going forward, there has been much less disparity between armour and outfits for each gender, but I wouldn’t hold out hope on any ‘retroactive’ changes

Unless you want a female body along with the outfit, you can’t simply put the female version on a male character. Each armor has to be fitted to the body type.

To start doing this, they’d no longer be designing male and female sets, but rather one or the other. If they wanted to make a dress for example, it’d be for both male and females, while what would have been the male equivalent would now be a different set. Asian MMOs have been doing this for a while.

Jahroots.6791:

Asura and Charr have the same body structure for both males and females, this isn’t the case for the other races. Fundamentally, it would be like designing a new set of armour altogether (and apparently, that is a ton of work for the designers).

This topic has come up often enough that going forward, there has been much less disparity between armour and outfits for each gender, but I wouldn’t hold out hope on any ‘retroactive’ changes

Healix.5819:

Unless you want a female body along with the outfit, you can’t simply put the female version on a male character. Each armor has to be fitted to the body type.

To start doing this, they’d no longer be designing male and female sets, but rather one or the other. If they wanted to make a dress for example, it’d be for both male and females, while what would have been the male equivalent would now be a different set. Asian MMOs have been doing this for a while.

I appreciate all the comments.

Some thoughts:

Sylvari – except for the 2 larger Sylvari male, their body structure is quite similar:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Sylvari_male_physique.jpg
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Sylvari_female_physique.jpg

Humans have more variation between each other, however the smallest male is not too dissimilar from the average female:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/4/4b/Human_female_physique.jpg
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/d/de/Human_male_physique.jpg

Both Norn females and males are in a kind of category of their own:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/5/5f/Norn_female_physique.jpg
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/e/e8/Norn_male_physique.jpg
But here is the thing – the largest human male is similar to the smallest Norn male, but otherwise, all Norn males are significantly bigger and bulkier in structure, and yet they share many identical outfit designs. To name a few:
Bloody Prince’s
Monk’s
Mursaat Robes
Crystal Nomad

I do see how it can potentially be too much work to make change for already existing outfits, but all the above was to point out that there is precedence for outfit sharing even among different body structures (*so they can do this in the future).
If nonetheless it’s too much work for retroactive changes, it can then be asked to make the f/m version checkbox option available for future outfits, if designers already go to work with that in mind, which would be as @Ashantara said, awesome.
Another option is as @Healix said, designing new outfits which are identical for all genders. They can create any flavour or style (dresses, robes, full cover/thin layered etc.) so there is still a large variety, but without making them gender restricted so we can all enjoy.

Water.9734:

I appreciate all the comments.
snip

Its not about the size of the male or female. Size scaling is actually the easiest thing to change. Its about the fact they use an entirely different model. The armor cant just be ‘copy pasted’ over like it can with charr. Nothing can be done about this whatsoever. It is impossible to fix.

It has to be done from scratch, so if they want unique looks for female and male, they would have to create 4 sets under your suggestion rather than 2.

“Aw man, this armor looks really awesome on my male mesmer, it’d look great on my female necro aaaaaaaand now it’s a tube top”

almost every single time

Theege.9783:

“Aw man, this armor looks really awesome on my male mesmer, it’d look great on my female necro aaaaaaaand now it’s a tube top”

almost every single time

Yep. This.

zombyturtle.5980:

Water.9734:

I appreciate all the comments.
snip

Its not about the size of the male or female. Size scaling is actually the easiest thing to change. Its about the fact they use an entirely different model. The armor cant just be ‘copy pasted’ over like it can with charr. Nothing can be done about this whatsoever. It is impossible to fix.

It has to be done from scratch, so if they want unique looks for female and male, they would have to create 4 sets under your suggestion rather than 2.

If they can use the same model for male Norn and male Human for example, why could they not then use the same one for females as well (in terms of outfits)? At least in the future. Multiple games don’t have armour restrictions by gender, Anet could implement that as well. The ability to choose sums up my request / suggestion.

For the sake of a mustache norn in wedding dress.

Edit: i would agree but as some body said they should work again on all outfits. Then i doubt this is going to pass.

Water.9734:

zombyturtle.5980:

Water.9734:

I appreciate all the comments.
snip

Its not about the size of the male or female. Size scaling is actually the easiest thing to change. Its about the fact they use an entirely different model. The armor cant just be ‘copy pasted’ over like it can with charr. Nothing can be done about this whatsoever. It is impossible to fix.

It has to be done from scratch, so if they want unique looks for female and male, they would have to create 4 sets under your suggestion rather than 2.

If they can use the same model for male Norn and male Human for example, why could they not then use the same one for females as well (in terms of outfits)? At least in the future. Multiple games don’t have armour restrictions by gender, Anet could implement that as well. The ability to choose sums up my request / suggestion.

Because they are chosing to create the same model on norn strucure as they are on human. Both from scratch. Its a design decision. They could ofc chose to create the same outfit on male and female structures, both from scratch like you are asking for, and they have done on some outfits in the past. but for mixed outfits, it would be a choice to create either 4 outfits instead of 2, or have males with the only choice to wear dresses in some cases. This would likely reduce the revenue they receive for outfits as despite it being fun, most people probably dont want their male characters in dresses.

Shirlias.8104:

For the sake of a mustache norn in wedding dress.

Edit: i would agree but as some body said they should work again on all outfits. Then i doubt this is going to pass.

Indeed!

Even though there are many existing now I wish were available for female toons in male version, I would be glad if they started doing it for future outfits.

zombyturtle.5980:

Water.9734:

If they can use the same model for male Norn and male Human for example, why could they not then use the same one for females as well (in terms of outfits)? At least in the future. Multiple games don’t have armour restrictions by gender, Anet could implement that as well. The ability to choose sums up my request / suggestion.

Because they are chosing to create the same model on norn strucure as they are on human. Both from scratch. Its a design decision. They could ofc chose to create the same outfit on male and female structures, both from scratch like you are asking for, and they have done on some outfits in the past. but for mixed outfits, it would be a choice to create either 4 outfits instead of 2, or have males with the only choice to wear dresses in some cases. This would likely reduce the revenue they receive for outfits as despite it being fun, most people probably dont want their male characters in dresses.

Yeah, you’re making my point for me with the first half; it’s asking them to make a design choice that allows people to outfit their toons how they like without gender restrictions.
I’ve played other mmos where male toons were actually in dresses not uncommonly, however if people don’t want it, they don’t have to buy it, unlike female toons that are forced with the choice to wear dresses or outfits that barely cover anything of our character (which a lot of us don’t want), so why not change it for open choice? Besides, if they created multiple outfits like that, they would have more revenue since people would have more options, (being able to acquire more varied styles and play around with different styels on whichever toons), and I am certain that many people who play female toons would be more than willing to pay for cool outfits that were not available to us in that style before (at least not very often).

Water.9734:

Yeah, you’re making my point for me with the first half; it’s asking them to make a design choice that allows people to outfit their toons how they like without gender restrictions.
I’ve played other mmos where male toons were actually in dresses not uncommonly, however if people don’t want it, they don’t have to buy it, unlike female toons that are forced with the choice to wear dresses or outfits that barely cover anything of our character (which a lot of us don’t want), so why not change it for open choice? Besides, if they created multiple outfits like that, they would have more revenue since people would have more options, (being able to acquire more varied styles and play around with different styels on whichever toons), and I am certain that many people who play female toons would be more than willing to pay for cool outfits that were not available to us in that style before (at least not very often).

You are obv not getting the point i am trying to make. I will try to explain it differently.

You are asking them to either:
-Make 2x the armor sets, both male and female options for each outfit (double the work) for 0 extra profit
-Make outfits for males that are dresses for males instead of working on other outfits = less profit for anet because less people will buy them compared to the sales they get from the outfits they make now

I would like your suggestion too but its not realistic because it results in less money for Anet which they will never choose to do.

So much this, OP. I stopped looking at or getting excited about new skins a long time ago because so much is just the same skimpy BS that looks nothing like the awesome skins that male characters get. The last time I made the mistake was with Canach’s new outfit because I’m starved for gear that is actually desgined for sylvari. Sadly, it doesn’t really get much worse than that particular example …

Getting rid of gendered armor, letting female characters wear the male version, or just making skimpier gear for male characters to match the female skins for those who are into that, are all wishes that have been expressed over and over since launch but I doubt it’ll ever happen. For a game that is so much better at including female characters than most, it’s a crying shame that visually GW2 is very much stuck in the dark ages of near-obligatory objectification.

The charr are a way to get away from that, and they’re awesome, but finding good gear for them is a considerable challenge of its own. Which has also been mentioned time and again. (I’ll never stop grumbling about the cultural T3 light armor tail clipping.) And we shouldn’t have to avoid most races to get away from the gendered armor BS.

I’d love to see such an option added… however for more of the opposite reason as yourself… I want to see the actual female variants of various outfits and armors on my Asura…

Panda.1967:

I’d love to see such an option added… however for more of the opposite reason as yourself… I want to see the actual female variants of various outfits and armors on my Asura…

Agreed.

I honestly don’t care about any "but it’s more work’ excuses. My asura want to look feminine. They complain to me every time I’m forced to dress them in unisex/male clothes.