Larian, please consider uncensoring "sexy" armor.

[Keno the Rat]

I realize that the changes to the armor designs for the female characters was the result of the 200+ post thread during early access (we all know which one). However, I think the compromise has backfired and what we get instead are some badly censored armor designs that probably please even fewer people.

Here is a current armor design in the game:

Censored Leather Armor Design[i.imgur.com]

Here is what it should actually look like:

Original Leather Armor Design[i.imgur.com]

Those of you unaware of the censoring, after looking at the first then the second, the design of the armor suddenly makes more sense doesn't it?

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised is the original design didn't even have the straps over the bra but that would probably be overdoing it. I'm pretty sure these random layers of color were added later because I was in early access and I don't recall all the armor looking this terrible.

I would even venture to guess that those who wanted less "sexy" armors would agree that the original (with a little bit of skin showing) looks better than a (sorry) half-♥♥♥♥♥ censored design. If Larian had redesigned the armors from scratch, even that would have been better...but editing the armors quickly just to appease the vocal minority has left all of us with crappier armor designs.

Option 1: I suppose there are some people already used to the new armor designs and even some who might even like them. Larian already did the work for both designs...edited and original, so in option one, can Larian simply allow the user to choose?

Option 2: Point out where the armors are in the files and let the users mod the armors back the way they should be.

Thanks for reading.

IMPORTANT UPDATE (as of 28 comments)

It's important to note that the second image (the one I describe as the "original") is actually edited. Specifically, I took two screenshots, one with the character in her bikini and one in that armor then overlaid them and erased the "colored cloth" bits to reveal skin. This was not an intentional deception but I did forget to mention it. When I look at the armor in the first image, it seems very clear to me that the colored parts were added later and I was attempting to depict that.

That said, I wasn't completely making stuff up. I was basing it on what I knew from the armor in pre-release. Here is an image of the original armor that Scarlett wore during one point in Early Access (I think she looks great, BTW):

The Source of all the Hubbub[i.imgur.com]

I believe that armor was the source of all the hullabaloo...the brouhaha, if you will. It's entirely possible that the armor in the very first pic I linked was designed that way from the get-go, but I really doubt it. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that the second image was my best guess. Those of you playing with at least one female PC, I'm sure you've noticed the weirdness in the design of the armors too.

P.S. If you look up the censoring in Tera and Blade & Soul, I think we can agree that the tell tale signs are very similar.

(Edited: Confusing Topic Title, added one sentence after image links, added Important Update.)

[Keno the Rat]

Originally posted by Treetop69:

then it should have been better designed to begin with(meaning no skin at all to start with). But after you invest time, money, and effort into a certain design and then switch you have to do something. I mightve gone with a shade of brown the same hue as the straps in order to make it look more like armor than red paint

but i would rather red paint than skin. At least i can say "she is wearing red shirt and clothing under her armor" and make it make sense.

but to uncensor it after you censored it because reasons? nah, id rather they put that effort into making not slut armor, but that is an unrealistic expectation

Why do you want the skin to show anyways? Its not that bad of a censor job i you just think of it as clothing, and often the pops of red in gear add some color to the outfits.

If i want to jerk off to video game chars i can google pics of Rikku, or play d3 as a demon hunter, or any of a million other games.

Well, that's the problem...it would have taken a long time to design all new armors but an artist could probably censor all the female armors in one or two days (if that's all he was doing). They weren't willing to do that (design new armor from scratch) but they also wanted to show that they were listening to the fans so this was their decision.

Good: They listened to their fans.
Bad: Bad execution on the elimination of the perception of what is overly sexy.

Take a look at it from their viewpoint for a second. The game was going to ship like this and no one in the studio said anything. Suddenly, it's a 200 post issue on the Steam forums (and maybe even longer on their own forums) and so they take a look at their armor designs and ask each other, "So which of these, exactly, is too much?" To which the answer apparently was, "All of them, just hide all the skin...nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure."

I like upgrading and changing armors from time to time with my characters and yes, when I can, I usually play a female character. Part of the fun for any RPG (male or female characters) is to get new gear...I really hate getting the new gear in Original Sin because it just looks really bad. Is the game still very playable? Yes. Is the game still awesome? Yes. Does it detract from the experience...yeah, it sorta does.

(Edited: First paragraph for clarity.)

[Hydris]

Originally posted by Apocalypse:

/facepalm
Have you ever worn armor? Do you think would you want the armor directly on your skin?
Censored my ass.

The current armor looks much better, at least from the perspective from someone who actually needs to use armor. I know, I know rule of cool overrides common sense. ;-)

When you think of it, it's a video game, where you get something completely magic and/or non-sensical as fighting a giant rat that summons ghost cats, and when characters-that-barely-fit-the-stat-requirement-of-armor get debuffed their armor comes off, and they're fighting in their underwear, yet are not instantly killed by an orc with a giant sword.

Again, not really about the opinions of good/bad or making sense in a realistic context, but censorship.

[76561198097664392]

If i remember correctly, Divine Divinity has "sexy armor" as well as Divinity II. I have no idea why it's not okay for Divinity Original Sin.

At least now i know who was the ones who wanted it to be "censored" Honestly, after looking at that comparison it does look like a body paint job to me :( those colors doesn't fit at all.

[knallfix]

D:OS clearly needs the incredible sturdy Dragonmail of Protection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTGh0EMmMC8

[Keno the Rat]

Originally posted by Apocalypse:

Originally posted by Keno the Rat:

I realize that the changes to the armor designs for the female characters was the result of the 200+ post thread during early access (we all know which one). However, I think the compromise has backfired and what we get instead are some badly censored armor designs that probably please even fewer people.

Here is a current armor design in the game:

Censored Leather Armor Design[i.imgur.com]

Here is what it should actually look like:

Original Leather Armor Design[i.imgur.com]

Those of you unaware of the censoring, after looking at the first then the second, the design of the armor suddenly makes more sense doesn't it?

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised is the original design didn't even have the straps over the bra but that would probably be overdoing it. I'm pretty sure these random layers of color were added later because I was in early access and I don't recall all the armor looking this terrible.

I would even venture to guess that those who wanted less "sexy" armors would agree that the original (with a little bit of skin showing) looks better than a (sorry) half-♥♥♥♥♥ censored design. If Larian had redesigned the armors from scratch, even that would have been better...but editing the armors quickly just to appease the vocal minority has left all of us with crappier armor designs.

Option 1: I suppose there are some people already used to the new armor designs and even some who might even like them. Larian already did the work for both designs...edited and original, so in option one, can Larian simply allow the user to choose?

Option 2: Point out where the armors are in the files and let the users mod the armors back the way they should be.

Thanks for reading.

(Edited: Confusing Topic Title, added one sentence after image links)

/facepalm
Have you ever worn armor? Do you think would you want the armor directly on your skin?
Censored my ass.

The current armor looks much better, at least from the perspective from someone who actually needs to use armor. I know, I know rule of cool overrides common sense. ;-)

edit:
And to be quite frankly about it: I do not give a dime about artistic integrity of the concept artists over the artistic integrity of the game designers. Some of you make it sound like a video game is just the visual expression of one guy. It is not, its a collaborate work of many, including those that are not even remotely doing any visual work. And those were the guys who decided that the fans were right and their game becomes better when build more practical armor.

Please wear a jack-o-lantern to your next SCA (or equivalent historical re-enactment organization) outing and tell me how it works out for you.

Practical, Common Sense Helmet[i.imgur.com]

If you wear armor for actual dangerous work...please DO NOT wear a jack-o-lantern. =)

(Edited: Deleted the last post because I messed up the quote.)

[Grey]

Originally posted by Treetop69:

but to uncensor it after you censored it because reasons?

Because reasons? How about because censorship is wrong in general, artistic vision and integrity. How's that for reasons? I'm completely against censorship in all its forms, but if they are going to censor it, then they need to do it right by redesigning the armor.

Originally posted by Treetop69:

Why do you want the skin to show anyways? Its not that bad of a censor job i you just think of it as clothing, and often the pops of red in gear add some color to the outfits.

If i want to jerk off to video game chars i can google pics of Rikku, or play d3 as a demon hunter, or any of a million other games.

Wow, just wow. The argument is that the armor design wasn't changed, they just slapped paint over the skin that was showing, so yes, it is a bad censor job. If they had designed the armor to completely cover the skin in the first place, NO ONE WOULD BE COMPLAINING, and if anyone actually did complain, you would have had a point. At no point does/did "jerking off" factor into this discussion, you're the only one who brought it up, no one else even insinuated it.

[cjwasright]

Perhaps it should be "uncensored" for the Asian release. Us people in the west just can't handle it maturely. Half would twist their knickers over a bit of skin, and the other half would whine about "women objectification".

But then again our Japanese friends take it too far, and are never satisfied with "plate armor" model on females being anything more than a metallic g-string and some nipple tape. Perhaps in the long run, mods would suit everyone's cup of tea. Right now Larian needs to focus on bug fixing and balance issues.

[Lakibro]

there should be option to turn it off and on, in my opinion it is crap just purely done uncensored versions are far better.

[Keno the Rat]

I'm going to get philosophical for a moment because I think the heart of the issue is that some people feel the need to apologize for the video game industry's portrayal of women.

There are those who talk about how there is no gender equality in female video game characters but I think that's a whole lot of malarkey. The movie and music industry portray women as sex objects...as sex workers and possessions and status symbols for men as...let's face it, as the norm. It's actually normal. Comparatively, video games are far more progressive in a far shorter time span.

Video games? Man, video games have HEROINES. Women who are brave and strong. Women who are charming and intelligent. Women who kick all sorts of butt. Women...who are awesome. Literally, AWESOME. You stand in awe of their accomplishments. As far as I'm concerned, the Dragonborn, Shepard, the Arisen, The Grey Warden, and the Saints Row Boss? All women. I can't even imagine them as men.

(Edit: Changed a censored word to avoid confusion.)

[Kexin]

Shouldn't there be some Steam Workshop going by now?

[Songbird]

Don't worry gender mainstreaming is on its dying breaths as the old generation begins to slowly die and we can soon have freedom back (:

[Navel Lint]

This is heartbreaking. If running some earlier version armors as a mod gets rid of the horrible neon spandex and vanity glow tube armor parts, I'll gladly suffer a bit of skin showing.

I don't care a whit if armor is revealing or puritan, I just don't want it too look like horrible neon placeholder art.

I ended up rolling an all mage party just because the robes didn't suffer such a horrible last minute art pass.

[child of the girth]

Originally posted by Keno the Rat:

I'm going to get philosophical for a moment because I think the heart of the issue is that some people feel the need to apologize for the video game industry's portrayal of women.

There are those who talk about how there is no gender equality in female video game characters but I think that's a whole lot of malarkey. The movie and music industry portray women as sex objects...as sex workers and possessions and status symbols for men as...let's face it, as the norm. It's actually normal. Comparatively, video games are far more progressive in a far shorter time span.

Video games? Man, video games have HEROINES. Women who are brave and strong. Women who are charming and intelligent. Women who kick all sorts of butt. Women...who are awesome. Literally, AWESOME. You stand in awe of their accomplishments. As far as I'm concerned, the Dragonborn, Shepard, the Arisen, The Grey Warden, and the Saints Row Boss? All women. I can't even imagine them as men.

(Edit: Changed a censored word to avoid confusion.)

Mainstream cinema most definitely suffers from that blatant portrayel of women as objects, but there's also a lot of stuff out there with strong female characters too.

Western video games in particular have long suffered from an affliction of portraying both genders as physically stereotypical. The guy is 90% of the time bigger than a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ oxen, and the women are scantily clad with titties the size of the dudes biceps. But let's face it, it's not a big deal. When it comes to the way the characters are portrayed, video games allow such a variety by the fact that you can have so many characters, which means rarely do you portray any one gender as one archetype.

The SJW thing is the most retarded thing on the internet.

[Metsakurat]

Originally posted by Shu-Woon:

this game doesn't take itself seriously anyway so I don't really care, but in serious games women should cover up.

Not really. In serious game women SHOULD NOT cover up. If you're a rogue then wearing full body armor would make no sense.
You want to move fast and freelly. You will wear as few and as light clothes as possible.

The way spartans dressed in the movie 300. I hate that movie. I really do. But they got the "armor" right. Movement was important for spartans.
It's not sexist. Her lacking clothes when being a rogue/mage is only making sense. It's rather logical.

Also, men get sexualised in video games aswell. Hell, half-naked men with uber-unrealistic muscles is rather a must be. But damn, if a woman shows a bit of skin in video game then it's suddenly a big problem.

Men can have unrealistic bodies, rough voices, smoke and be half naked - That's fine.
A woman has slightly bigger boobs and shows a belly button - OMG THIS IS FOR PERVERT NERDS

[Kerfur]

I don't like the censored armour either.

+1 for the old stuff back.