Guild Wars 2

Attention: This request was brought on on guildwarsguru but the thread was closed due to the insulting behavior from some users opposed to the idea. If you object to this suggestion, please do so in a respectable manner.

During the betas, numerous people, myself included, went to preview the armors available in the game from the PvP locker. I was quite happy to notice the happy medium between the fully functionnal armors and the skimpy ones. Those that wanted to wear practical armor that covers the whole body entirely had numerous armor choices, as well as those who wanted to display the more revealing armors.

Wheter you prefered one or the other, you had the choice.

At release, a few armors were censored, most notably the heavy arah armor, now some of you might be wondering why, as all there was no censorship for the more revealing light and medium armors.

Why am I focusing on the Arah armor ? Well it’s because there is eight dungeon armors, they are most probably the most time consuming pieces of equipement to obtain, and Guild Wars 2 endgoal is basically to acquire the best looking/most sought out armors. Of these eight, only the Arah armor was skimpy, all the others are in the practical armor category. Those that enjoy this type of armor are rejoyed of course, but those that don’t are left behind.

Dungeon armor skins beta: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/uploads/gallery/album_197/gallery_3318_197_23334.jpg

There are of course, other skimpy heavy armors in the game, but they have no “prestige” like the dungeon armors, as they can either be crafted, or obtained for really cheap on the trading post.

Some might say that the change Anet implemented to the armor is very minor, but as one user mentionned in the guru thread, the change might be small, but it is very noticeable, with the beta armor, your eyes are immediately drawn to the chest piece area, which is the whole point of skimpy armors, to turn your eyes to the partly covered private areas of the female body. With the new version of the armor however, you are not, nothing special catch your attention in comparison to the original.

Beta: http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e159/Ashariel/Heavy91.jpg

Release: http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e159/Ashariel/gw108.jpg

Of an artistic point of view, it also seems worse, as the armor was highly unsymmetrical, which made its charm, but with the change, it seems more bland, less wild and savage.

On a final note, a lot of people will read this thread and feel this request is trivial and not worth the time, they might even object to having skimpy armors in the game but the fact is, you can’t change it, there is already. You might be annoyed of the impractical nature of skimpy armors in general, but the vast majority of heavy armors in the game covers the entire body, is asking for only one so bad ?

Revealing armors are very popular, suffice to look into a character screenshot thread to notice.

In the end, I just don’t understand the reason for this change, as there is still a lot of skimpy armors/clothing in the game, why change this one in particular ? The only skimpy dungeon heavy armor ?

So here is my request Anet, please revert back to the beta skin to the heavy arah armor.

Thank you.

Addendum: As mentionned in the first lines of the message, if you are opposed to the idea, you are very much free to voice your opinion, but let it be in a civil manner, there is no need for those who like revealing armors and those that dislike them to fling insults to one another.

While I disagree that we should have skimpy heavy armor (because it doesn’t make sense)…

I think that the art style is slightly… Ruined by the additions of hiding things. Like it was said, it looks less savage or in my own words raw and powerful.

I vote for your suggestion, I think it’s good to have options.
However I would prefer if they make revealing armor for males first. You females already have a ton of options, having one less (though this one is still plenty revealing) won’t really hurt your options. Males however, are terribly lacking.

Haha lora, fair enough, although my suggestion is simple to change it back to the original version it was during the betas. But I would not disagree with your request, if the female characters can have the choice between practical and skimpy armors, the same choice should apply to those who play male characters, should they want to use these kinds of armor themselves.

lorazcyk.8927:

I vote for your suggestion, I think it’s good to have options.
However I would prefer if they make revealing armor for males first. You females already have a ton of options, having one less (though this one is still plenty revealing) won’t really hurt your options. Males however, are terribly lacking.

Agreed. It just baffles me that every angle of a female’s breast can be shown by certain pieces of armour (aside from the nipples) and yet male characters are forced into being ‘flat’ when it comes to their intimate areas. Why there’s a lack of bulging leather, underwear and large codpieces is beyond me. I’d want it done tastefully, but I do admit that it’s irritating when I see every other female in skimpy attire only to see male characters limited so severely.

Seriously!? You’re complaining about a weird claw boob thing? If you want digitalkitten so bad play a med armor human female and get the underboob armor. I’m sick of people complaining about there being too few revealing female armors. There are plenty while the males have significantly less options.

SuperSpicyCurry.2415:

Seriously!? You’re complaining about a weird claw boob thing? If you want digitalkitten so bad play a med armor human female and get the underboob armor. I’m sick of people complaining about there being too few revealing female armors. There are plenty while the males have significantly less options.

To me it’s nothing about being revealing, but rather the art style of the armor. It doesn’t feel as “raw” as it used to. I don’t/won’t be playing a female warrior/guardian any time soon for it, but other players are.

Honestly, the beta version felt, well, beta. I prefer this new not because it is less revealing, but plainly because it looks a LOT better.

Im pretty sure that is a bug considering the concept art.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/2/23/Heavy_armor_02_concept_art.jpg

I wasn’t really planning to buy this armor anytime soon, but nevertheless I’m am strongly disappointed in this move, for the most part because it follows the recent tendency of the west (especially America) to revert to more Victorian aesthetic morals and debate. Given that 7 out of 8 sets are completely tame, there are plenty of alternatives for people that were somehow offended by the Orr set. It might seem funny, but the boldness of the boob grab was a breath of fresh air.
I also have to agree, regardless of the revealing factor, the asymmetry and “broken down” look made that set, which gets lost with the painted over parts.
I hope ANet rethinks this decision. (Or adds a toggle.)

@Garenthal.1480
Because the art/fashion design of the game follows real-life. It has been, for millenia, perfectly acceptable by women to accentuate and show off part of their breasts, while the same really can’t be said for males in the same setting (workplace environment, for example).
I’m not even sure why it isn’t completely evident to you why showing bulges versus showing non-explicit parts of a breast isn’t culturally and socially (and aesthetically) the same at all. It’s like explaining why you stand with your feet, not your ears.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for loincloths for varieties sake. But conjuring a false equivalence isn’t helping your argument.

I always would’ve preferred (and still do) to have the male version on my female character, because it looks much better in my opinion, but at least the skimpy option was consequent in being skimpy. Now it’s just an ugly hybrid.

SuperSpicyCurry.2415:

Seriously!? You’re complaining about a weird claw boob thing? If you want digitalkitten so bad play a med armor human female and get the underboob armor. I’m sick of people complaining about there being too few revealing female armors. There are plenty while the males have significantly less options.

While you are entitled to your opinion on the subject, you should first an foremost read the thread before replying. This thread is about heavy armor, its lack of revealing dungeon armors (ie: prestige armor) and the censorship of one of them.

Ang.2157:

Im pretty sure that is a bug considering the concept art.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/2/23/Heavy_armor_02_concept_art.jpg

I hope it was, but it had that model during the betas, it’s only at release that it was unexplicably censored.

Armour design wise, it looks more pleasing to the eye with the chest being symmetrical. (since that’s a common human trait to appreciate symmetry, the aspect is brought up in studies on attractive people) Maybe that’s why they changed it rather than the whole revealing/not-revealing/censorship debate.

With the way it looked in the beta, the design made it look unfinished on the right exposed breast (aka. a bad mod job). Actually closing it off made it look less cut out and finished.

Based on the beta pictures, looks like the breasts may actually be clipping it – maybe there was issues given characters can have different chest sizes, which made the armour not “work” properly.

Considering the concept art of the armor shows such a hole in the armor(link to the image posted by Ang), I think it is indeed safe to say the armor was modified/covered at release.

Symmetry might be more attractive in some situations, but certainly not all the time, art would be terrible if that was the case. I disagree it is in this particular case, considering the armor shoulders/arms are highly asymmetrical, which makes it seem chaotic in design, which makes its charm in my opinion. The sudden addition of symmetry in the middle area of those two pieces makes it clash.

I’m glad they fixed it. Sexy doesn’t have to be boobs out, and the piece of armor is still plenty of revealing and sexy. Personally, the boob out was a deal breaker for me in terms of the armor. It looked awkward, and honestly, there was a hole cut out with the purpose of having a breast pushed through. The hell? It’s much better like this, and it’s still plenty of sexy. Just compare it to the male concept art. It’s not a full-body armor. Her sides are barely clothed from knee to above the waist, just some straps. How is that less revealing and sexy than what I suppose is a very, very uncomfortable boob hole? I wince every time I think of my Norn trying to fight in that.

That aside, there is also plenty of sexy heavy armor – cultural armor (looking at the norn in particular) and also several armor skins (pit fighter, gladiator). And even then, sexy does not HAVE to be revealing. To be honest, the least sexy caster armors happen to be the most revealing. A hint of butt crack is not sexy, nor is armor that would not let my character fight without chafing off her nipples and breast tissue, thank you very much. But what I find plenty sexy is armor that shows off a curves and skin, that shows my girl is not afraid of some blades.

But pulling one one boob like a mom about to awkwardly breastfeed mid-fight… that isn’t censored, that’s been properly fixed to a much better design.

I would gladly see the beta version of this well designed piece of art.
BUT
I can tell all of you right now that this is extremely unlikely to happen. There is a huge number of people that are somehow(???) offended by this armor, even though they realize that it is not obligatory to wear it.

Those people spammed the forums in all of the Beta events and Anet (of course) had to react. In my opinion they did “okay” but I am on the OP’s side.

Indifference at boob (I personally hate this armor.) However, I don’t feel the panty is meaningful whatsoever.

The armor is already hands grabbing at boobs—I’d not complain.

Change the armor back to the way it used to be and give an option for the puritans to check some box which says potato sacks for all which would then change all armor to potatosacks.

It’s not offensive, it’s tacky.

Keep it as it is now please. My wife has a hard enough time finding decent looking armor.

Totally agreed.

It’s good that there are people who pay attention to small stuff. Details are important.

When it coems to cosmetic stuff I wish they could change the way human males hold greatswords :P Current stance is so weird.

Smelly Bookah.6957:

When it coems to cosmetic stuff I wish they could change the way human males hold greatswords :P Current stance is so weird.

It varies with profession.

I think we should have both… Problem solved, and more options for all.

Has a GM ever weighed in on this? maybe in a similar thread? I’m curious as to the reasoning behind the change from Beta armor to live versions.

I vote for the beta one!!!

Comon ANet.

Moar skimpyness for all!! Seriously.
I have to agree the beta version looked better. Impractical… yes… realistic… no. But whatever it looked good and thats what a lot of people want in game right.
Hard to find a “skimpy” armor for my fem sylvari ranger. I know the t1 med armor does show belly and such… but her back is completely covered up… I want the back to show… cause it… you know… glows. But I never get to see it.
Honestly I think I have seen more heavy (and ofc. light) armors that are revealing than medium armors. Give us some more options pls.
Also for the males, lets see them flex that muscle. :P

Beta one DID look better. I don’t even have a heavy armor character, but if I did I’d want the beta set and not the new one.

I think the less skimpy armor the better. I wish there weren’t as many skimpy options as there currently are. The beta version does look more “complete” due to the chest area being similar in nature to the rest of the outfit. It looks more cohesive. But I would prefer to cover up the current outfit more as opposed to make it more skimpy (which would make the current armor also more cohesive).

I’m probably a minority in the MMO universe, especially since I’m a male. And my opinion to it is probably a knee-jerk reaction to everyone running around as human females in skimpy clothing. But when I see them running around it feels like I’m in a gentlemen’s club in a MMO and I don’t want to go to a gentlemen’s club.

I like the asura and charr females because they are not sexualized in any way shape or form.

personally I felt that originally they had a good balance going between modest and revealing. There was something for both tastes. Although I will argue that some of the armor choices are a little redundant (ie how many different trench coats does one need to choose from?). My hope is that when future expansions come out that they will at least continue to offer a good balance of both modest and revealing styles, because whether you like one and hate the other you are just as entitled to your opinion as the next person and no one is more important than the other. As for the armors pointed out in this thread I have to say I would go with the beta version simply because there are already quite a few modest versions of heavy armor to choose from and only 3 or so that are somewhat revealing. I would however still like to know why the change so close to release.

Um…

The only difference is that now both boobs are fully covered up. Does this really deserve its own thread? I’m not flaming I am just legitimately wondering what the big deal is?

There is no loss of balance in the armor or anything different except for literally that 1 thing.

I’ll go ahead and support the OP’s opinion. Given the concept art and just the concept of time-worn tattered armor in general, the Beta appearance is more suited to the armor than its current incarnation. The difference might be small, but it’s the small things that are appreciated in big games.

The concept art for the armor is great. The early in-game implementation of that concept matched it as well as one could hope for. Copping out and copy-pasting the covered breast over the original concept to protect from some imaginary risk that it would offend people was premature if not immature.

So the answer is yes. You want Anet devs to invest time and resources into uncovering the left breast of the character when they can spend time on other more important issues?

That is literally the only thing different from beta to now is the one breast was uncovered and is now covered. There are plenty better (more revealing) sets if you’re looking to have a “sexy” plate wearer.

I’m sorry but I’d bet money that that breast will forever remain covered on the Arah set.

Of these eight, only the Arah armor was skimpy, all the others are in the practical armor category. Those that enjoy this type of armor are rejoyed of course, but those that don’t are left behind.

Really there are more important matters than your character looking skimpy, and as you said yourself there are plenty of other armor sets in game that can provide you with your “visual enjoyment” (why you are using GW2 for that necessity is beyond me, but to each their own).

I understand that many players enjoy and seek out "skimpy armor". That’s fine, everyone should have fun playing dress up on their characters.

But I don’t think the change was a bad idea. A very small amount of skin being removed/covered to make a breastplate look less like some kind of awkward molestation and more like an "evil"/undead armor motif was a good idea, imo.

I agree with OP, beta version is better.

XDeadzX.2581:

While I disagree that we should have skimpy heavy armor (because it doesn’t make sense)…

I hate that argument. Are you implying that swimming, running and dodging while wearing 40 kg of metal makes sense?

Ang.2157:

Im pretty sure that is a bug considering the concept art.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/2/23/Heavy_armor_02_concept_art.jpg

This should be the end of the thread.

Mkalafut.1273:

So the answer is yes. You want Anet devs to invest time and resources into uncovering the left breast of the character when they can spend time on other more important issues?

Assuming it’s not a bug they invested the time and resources to cover it in the first place so yes. Not unreasonable to ask them to undo that seeing as how the original concept is more suited to the design.

Archmortal.1027:

Mkalafut.1273:

So the answer is yes. You want Anet devs to invest time and resources into uncovering the left breast of the character when they can spend time on other more important issues?

Assuming it’s not a bug they invested the time and resources to cover it in the first place so yes. Not unreasonable to ask them to undo that seeing as how the original concept is more suited to the design.

Read my post right above yours. It was likely a bug

Mkalafut.1273:

Read my post right above yours. It was likely a bug

How can that be a bug? Have you ever heard about bug, which can remodel armor?

My bet is that they simply decided to move from original design, maybe due to whining coming from gamur gurls.

Mkalafut.1273:

Read my post right above yours. It was likely a bug

How can that be a bug? Have you ever heard about bug, which can remodel armor?

My bet is that they simply decided to move from original design, maybe due to whining coming from gamur gurls.

Except that a lot og gamer girls also like the skimpy armors.
Anyways I for one have never heard of a bug that change the look of armor like that.

Garenthal.1480:

Why there’s a lack of bulging leather, underwear and large codpieces is beyond me. I’d want it done tastefully, but I do admit that it’s irritating when I see every other female in skimpy attire only to see male characters limited so severely.

i graduated college and university games design courses, and one thing i learnt that will always remain true, it’s a male dominated format,
games with lots of feme flesh will sell better.

just look at Lollipop Chainsaw, think people bought that for the “incredible story”?
no they bought it because it had a cheerleader and gratuitous amounts of upskirt shots!

TL;DR: games will sell better with skimpy women, not men.

Beta looks better and more stylish.

The ridiculous panties they added look worse than the boob-cover, IMO. It reminds me of seeing certain women at the gym with crazy panty lines because they don’t understand what the right underwear is to wear with stretch pants.

There were people that were….offended(???) by the beta armor? Like actual living human beings with the ability to think for themselves?

This is so bizarre I really don’t know what to say to this. Cosmetically preferring the new version I could completely understand, it’s all subjective after all(I prefer the beta version however). But to be offended, I just can’t get my head wrapped around this. Can someone who was “offended” explain their reasoning to me?

Feni.4306:

There were people that were….offended(???) by the beta armor? Like actual living human beings with the ability to think for themselves?

This is so bizarre I really don’t know what to say to this. Cosmetically preferring the new version I could completely understand, it’s all subjective after all(I prefer the beta version however). But to be offended, I just can’t get my head wrapped around this. Can someone who was “offended” explain their reasoning to me?

I’m OFFENDED by people who want to push their high moral standards on me.

For me, the beta model is basically saying “It is okay to force women (and only women) to be in pain if it makes them pleasing for me to look at.”

It’s not the skimpiness that bothers me. I seriously wouldn’t be bothered if the breast was completely bare or there was just a pasty or something. I’m bothered by the fact that there are pointy metal claws digging into a breast in a way that has to be painful. (It also defies physics, but it wouldn’t be the first armor in the game to do that.)

I mean, even if the male version had a painfully spiked codpiece or something, I guess I could write it off as some kind of bizarre but non-sexist masochist set, but that’s not the case.

Urthona.3198:

For me, the beta model is basically saying “It is okay to force women (and only women) to be in pain if it makes them pleasing for me to look at.”

It’s not the skimpiness that bothers me. I seriously wouldn’t be bothered if the breast was completely bare or there was just a pasty or something. I’m bothered by the fact that there are pointy metal claws digging into a breast in a way that has to be painful. (It also defies physics, but it wouldn’t be the first armor in the game to do that.)

I mean, even if the male version had a painfully spiked codpiece or something, I guess I could write it off as some kind of bizarre but non-sexist masochist set, but that’s not the case.

A male painfully spiked codpiece is a good idea. This game should be equally sexiest towards man and women.

But really, the pointy metal claws digging into a breast is still there. Only the color has changed. I look at pieces of skin as part of the armor.

Urthona.3198:

I’m bothered by the fact that there are pointy metal claws digging into a breast in a way that has to be painful. (It also defies physics, but it wouldn’t be the first armor in the game to do that.)

What? They hold breast, not dig into it.

The design seem to have suffered a bit from the change, however in my personal opinion heavy armors should never be that skimpy. Just take a look at how many soft spots it leaves open.
But yeah, apparently people likes playing half naked chicks on the battlefield.

if its so minor then why does it really matter? you want to see half of one of your characters breast and have them wear no underwear? i think you may be playing the wrong game…

The Beta armor is covering up all the private parts. It even covers the back side with a coat.

I would however, like the option to not have the coat if I wanted on the beta model.

Linguistically Inept.6583:

if its so minor then why does it really matter? you want to see half of one of your characters breast and have them wear no underwear? i think you may be playing the wrong game…

Dodging the argument and going for personal attacks, how very cliche. Fortunately you don’t get to decide what’s minor and what isn’t for those that are bothered by the change. And that’s exactly what it comes down to, it’s a CHANGE.

I’m not sitting here complaining about TA’s heavy not being revealing enough, I’m upset that an already implemented design was changed to satisfy some whiners. In the end all I’m doing is whining too, but apparently that’s enough to get graphical changes to armor.

kitteno.8103:

What? They hold breast, not dig into it.

If the wearer holds completely still. Even the game’s physics acknowledge breast movement. With that amount of support, or lack thereof, there will be lots of edges and pointy bits digging into her flesh when she moves at a brisk walk. I don’t even want to think of what might happen during a dodge roll.

I want to stress that I’m not looking for uber-realistic armor or for everyone to be in burkas. I actually think the concept of the grasping hand is pretty hilarious, in a juvenile kind of way. I do think female armor that makes people who have had actual breasts cringe (and you’ll notice I’m not even the first one to bring that up) is a bad thing and should keep the non-cringeworthy redesign.

Unless I’ve gotten confused and I’m actually playing the Hellraiser MMO, in which case, yeah, they should change it back.