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[oni-link]

No, but I've been in a relationship with the same person for almost a decade. If she asks me for an honest answer, I give her one.

"Do I look nice in this"?
"those shoes don't match, wear these ones, otherwise yes''

Etc. Don't bullshit the person you love.

It's almost as if honesty is a good thing to have in an adult relationship

Most people in a healthy relationship wouldn't fly off the handle if you said you would date a few fictional characters either

But yeah he totally lied to dodge a night sleeping on the sofa, amirite?

 

[MrDoctor]

Ulala - Persona 2
Shanoa - Castlevania: OOE
Riviera - Growlanser II
Judith - Tales of Vesperia
Lissa - Fire Emblem: Awakening
Caster - Fate/Extra

Bam. Interestingly, all of my favorite games seem to have cool female characters. Maybe you want to say they aren't prevalent, but there are many examples to find. I think this is all kind of subjective, though.

 

[Jeronimo Jones]

Maybe I'm a weirdo for not having a running mental list of female video game crushes...
or maybe she's right and I haven't encountered enough good female characters to make an impression.

 

[Innolis]

We don't need fewer "sexy" characters, we just need more characters that are defined by more than being sexy.

 

[Jathaine]

Ulala - Persona 2
Shanoa - Castlevania: OOE
Riviera - Growlanser II
Judith - Tales of Vesperia
Lissa - Fire Emblem: Awakening
Caster - Fate/Extra

Bam. Interestingly, all of my favorite games seem to have cool female characters. Maybe you want to say they aren't prevalent, but there are many examples to find. I think this is all kind of subjective, though.

All Japanese games, maybe that's the key to it.
Also is probably why waifu culture exists. Those Japanese sure do know how to make some endearing female characters.

 

[LPride]

Maybe I'm a weirdo for not having a running mental list of female video game crushes...
or maybe she's right and I haven't encountered enough good female characters to make an impression.

Some people are just more susceptible to the whole crush phenomenon. Look at all the people who cant stop shipping thier favorite romances in TV and comic books and what not.

 

[SturokBGD]

It's depressing how many people are saying "He's definitely just dodging the question, exactly like I would."

It's depressing how many people are so binary about every little thing.

 

[mantidor]

And now people are stuck in the little anecdote she mention which isn't even the point of the article. As she mentions she did ask other people, jeez...

The question wasn't "which female character you consider attractive?" because that is pretty simple, the question was "do you have a crush on any character?". Big difference.

 

[SerTapTap]

Sounds to me like her fella wisely ducked a loaded question. That dress looks great on you and I don't fancy anyone unless they have an amazing personality like you dear. No I wasn't looking at her breasts, merely admiring that lovely brooch she had.

I'm kinda feeling that too. I feel there are plenty of female characters with interesting personalities/backstories/etc. I kind of feel like there's always a degree of selective omission in stuff like this.

This was actually the only one that came to mind. Intelligent, friendly, family orientated and determined. She's not sexed up like many other characters are, but she's still attractive... I'd take her out!

Alex and Eli are kinda creepy though. Understandable due to the whole post-apocalypse situation but...still a bit creepy back here in the real world. I like them as characters still but I'd have a hard time holding up Alex as a great example. Though gameplay-wise they did a great job of integrating her into Episode 1

All Japanese games, maybe that's the key to it.
Also is probably why waifu culture exists. Those Japanese sure do know how to make some endearing female characters.

Western games have an unfortunately strong focus on male characters, moreso than Japanese. Not that Japanese games don't have their own issues with gender.

 

[akidnamededdy]

It's almost as if honesty is a good thing to have in an adult relationship

Most people in a healthy relationship wouldn't fly off the handle if you said you would date a few fictional characters either

But yeah he totally lied to dodge a night sleeping on the sofa, amirite?

Oh gee I guess I'd better reevaluate my whole decade-long relationship with my wife because I know what she wants to hear when she asks bullshit fluff questions like this.

 

[Wavebossa]

Some people are just more susceptible to the whole crush phenomenon. Look at all the people who cant stop shipping thier favorite romances in TV and comic books and what not.

Exactly. Some people will never ever see their video game characters like that. And some people, from the moment they start playing a game, look for the characters that have the best boyfriend/girlfriend characteristics (physical or otherwise).

I don't think this means the industry needs to change to favor one viewpoint or the other. I've never played a game and thought to myself "this game would have been better I could have imagined [insert female lead] as my girlfriend."

This is not an industry issue, its just personal preference.

 

[Northeastmonk]

Hollywood suffers less here. Mad Max Fury Road had a strong female lead, but look at who the brides were and who was providing the milk? These modern articles seem to fight video games in 2015 while Hollywood seems to blow right past them. It feels like video games are being targeted out of nowhere. Sometimes I wonder if YouTube and social media made these debates possible. Sex is sex and video game characters are always the model type. Drake wasn't a fat guy and neither was the main in BioShock. I guess you could have some sort of difference in there like a BBW in God of War right? It's still sex. I'm not exactly fat shaming because I'm not that type of person, but I guess what I don't understand is who's fighting this? This article is the first time I've ever heard this brought up. I have yet to hear an argument. I also don't understand why everyone is going back to the days of censorship. Shaquille Oneill was playing MKX and I have to wonder how parented society is getting.

Videk games now have a Hollywood feel to them. Look at all the mocap characters and designs there are. A lot of them have a movie type casts unless it comes in its own genre and in its own way.

 

[Foggy]

Lying shouldn't be considered the answer to "knowing better." That sounds like a severe jealousy issue which should be confronted and worked on.

Managing your partner's insecurities is part of a good relationship. It's basic interpersonal diplomacy. Obviously things can swing to extremes, but his response has all the hallmarks of a typical "nah, she doesn't interest me, she has no personality" kind of response. It's ubiquitous enough that many people on here caught onto it. It's really not that big of a thing.

 

[IvorB]

I went for Garrus when I played through ME but devoid of being a "lizard guy", Thane was interesting. Why ew? Lol

I dunno, he was a cool character but just always creeped me out. But I guess the author is all about dat personality.

 

[Parfait]

To the people thinking the guy in OP dodged a loaded question... let me ask you, are there any female characters you'd fancy being in a relationship with? I don't mean a one night stand, I mean someone you could spend a sizable portion of your time with and think you'd enjoy their company... I can't think of too many personally.

 

[Skinpop]

I fancy peach

 

[-tetsuo-]

I also have a crush on John Marston

 

[A-V-B]

Shanoa - Castlevania: OOE

But

Spoiler

how can you claim that one? She's stripped of her emotions and memories the entire game, and when she finally gets them back, it's the ending and whoops, "no more Castlevania for you!"

Thanks, Konami!

 

[Shin-Ra]

I love the scene in MGS3 where Eva gives Snake his m1911 pistol and then attempts to lure his attention back by strutting her open chest, but he goes on to describe the custom weapon in pornographic detail.

Eva's visual sexiness combined with Snake's awkward verbal descriptive sexiness make it really special.

 

[Wavebossa]

I fancy peach

Peach has as much personality as a goomba. If not for the Paper Mario/Superstar series, I would say that she barely even counts as a character.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Whelp... it's 10:15am and that's about enough Internet for today.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I also have a crush on John Marston

I would have liked more women. The brothel doesn't have 13 girls with a back story to each one. The female leads in RDR were strong types and enjoyable. A strong ranch owning female was awesome! I'd like more females, but at the same time mother industry can't make them more interesting if the game's solo plot is strung out the way they are.

MGS has had a strong female type since MGS1. You just have to look at the right times.

 

[RockTurtle]

Why do we need less sexy characters? Maybe more well written characters would be better but that doesnt mean you need to lower the amount of sexy!

 

[nictron]

Post of the Day.

 

[oni-link]

Why do we need less sexy characters? Maybe more well written characters would be better but that doesnt mean you need to lower the amount of sexy!

That is literally what the article says

That’s what I’m asking for: characters whose sexuality makes sense and who have different things to offer. I don’t want fewer attractive women in games, I want more of them.

Is it really that hard to read the OP?

 

[Steel]

Ew... the lizard guy? That's nasty.

What's ew about him? It's pretty damn obvious from his design he's made for eyecandy.

 

[Shai-Tan]

Sometimes when watching movies I will be really into the face someone has (sometimes even men) but I'm a little bit uncomfortable with the idea that we should "fancy" a character outside of admiring a character because they are well acted, well written or they carry themselves well (in some genre it's a exercise in cool. that's fine - it's central to the appeal of fantasy). However it shouldn't be about someone you want to date. I think narrative suffers when characters are written to either be a surrogate for the target viewer or an object of fantasy even when that fantasy isn't completely base, a "mature" idea of what an ideal partner would be. Let it be about the characters not your relationship to them. This isn't mutually exclusive with being into a character but there's that and there's pandering.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

Or you're considerate of their feelings and understand that sometimes people ought to be careful what they ask for, lest they get it.

It's different for everyone. If my missus asked which game character I'd most like to slip one, I would answer 'Rachel from Ninja Gaiden' in a heartbeat. If she asked which of her mates I most wanted to hop on, I'd duck that shit like George Bush in a shoe shop.

Would she ask that if she didn't want the answer though? That's kind of the point for me. If she is asking something like that then presumably they want to actually know. In this context it was a point of discussion surely? The assumption it's some kind of trap to enable a person to get upset at something they asked for is odd to me. If a person is asking because they are insecure, then that needs attention I think. I just wouldn't want to spend my life with someone that lied their asses off to me because they didn't want to hurt my feelings. Lying to me is worse, it shows a complete lack of respect.

 

[UFRA]

I fancy Eva from MGS3.

 

[MrDoctor]

But

Spoiler

how can you claim that one? She's stripped of her emotions and memories the entire game, and when she finally gets them back, it's the ending and whoops, "no more Castlevania for you!"

Thanks, Konami!

That's just a generic plot device. It doesn't really change anything as far as the player knows.

 

[IvorB]

Ha ha! This sh*t still takes the cup for me, man. The Japanese are out of control.

 

[A-V-B]

That's just a generic plot device. It doesn't really change anything as far as the player knows.

Spoiler

She spends parts of the game reminding us about it. "I'm not moved by this. I don't have any emotions."

We know next to nothing about her, except that her brother's sacrifice at the end made her sad, the betrayal confused her, and she's really good at slaying Draculas.

I mean, by tradition, Castlevania games can be pretty sparse on story, and I don't hold OoE as an exception. That's just the style.

 

[RockTurtle]

That is literally what the article says



Is it really that hard to read the OP?

Wrong. I read that as "i want more characters whose sexuality is explained or important or "tastefully endearing" that I find attractive".

Not "eye candy for the sake of cheesecake fun fan service"

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Desperate sexy is not sexy.

Dragon's Crown is ostentatious hilarity.

Well-made characters, plot, and dialogue make for connectable personalities.

I guess that just about covers it?

Pretty much, lol. I wonder if she's letting on less then she understood at the time.

 

[Skinpop]

Peach has as much personality as a goomba. If not for the Paper Mario/Superstar series, I would say that she barely even counts as a character.

leaves more space for imagination

 

[redcrayon]

If your wife asking you about any video game characters you might have a crush on is a trap question, then you married the wrong fucking girl. Jesus are some of you really dating people that would throw this shit at you then actually get mad if you answered truthfully? Goddamn I feel sorry for you guys..

Pretty sure I married the right girl, but thanks for your analysis of my marriage based on one line. Humour, how does it work.

 

[RDreamer]

Apparently nearly everyone are in relationships with crazy people. I cannot wrap my brains around people saying this question is a trap. Seriously who the fuck are you guys dating? I've never dated anyone in my life I would need to lie to for a question like this. I feel bad for all of you and question your relationship if jealousy and arguments could come from this.

Wow...

Pretty sure I married the right girl, but thanks for your analysis of my marriage based on one line. Humour, how does it work.

In that case either everyone's stumbling on the same bad (and partially sexist) joke or someone's not joking. Sincerely hope everyone is...

 

[Northeastmonk]

Dragon's Crown was taken way too far. There's people in this world with large breasts. It's not like they aren't noticeable, but everyone treated it like it was the first time it ever happened. Being afraid of Dragon Crown's content to me is taking things far too severe. It's done and over with for one. As a male you can't always comment on breasts and it's also hard because a lot of guys enjoy seeing breasts.

I don't think they should be blamed for that. I didn't mind her chest size. It's not problematic because you get over it.

 

[IvorB]

If your wife asking you about any video game characters you might have a crush on is a trap question, then you married the wrong fucking girl. Jesus are some of you really dating people that would throw this shit at you then actually get mad if you answered truthfully? Goddamn I feel sorry for you guys..

I don't have any firsthand experience but judging from how my straight mates go on about it I have to say that entrapment questions are real. Maybe you are one of the lucky ones...

 

[RDreamer]

I don't have any firsthand experience of it but judging from how my straight mates go on about it I have to say that entrapment questions are real. Maybe you are one of the lucky ones...

I wouldn't even remotely dream of dating someone who would even think of doing that, I guess.

 

[Beerman462]

Anyone mention Bonnie MacFarlane from Red Dead?

 

[Fbh]

But these are the characters that always get mentioned. No matter how many interesting female characters you indignantly list in response to this observation, there are a hundred male characters for every one of them.

Are there?
I mean, she has a point in that a female character with actual personality is allways going to be more atractive than one whose personality is basically "I have large breasts and use a bikini armor", which is something we sadly see too often in videogames.
And yeah, games more often tend to have a male protagonists so of course there is a higher selection of them.

But are there really that many interesting male characters? Because most of them are just generic action heroes.
I mean, she says the few female characters her friends mentioned are "the ones that always get mentioned", but out of this universe of hundreds of male characters her own personal list is made up of literally the same ones I allways hear when the topic comes up while talking to my female gamer friends: Leon, one or more characters from Mass Effect/Dragon Age (Alistar in particular) and Link (this one doesn't even have a personality).

 

[Kinyou]

Dragon's Crown was taken way too far. There's people in this world with large breasts. It's not like they aren't noticeable, but everyone treated it like it was the first time it ever happened. Being afraid of Dragon Crown's content to me is taking things far too severe. It's done and over with for one. As a male you can't always comment on breasts and it's also hard because a lot of guys enjoy seeing breasts.

I don't think they should be blamed for that. I didn't mind her chest size. It's not problematic because you get over it.

The thing is, Dragon's Crown was also bonkers all over with crazy characters. This wasn't a perfectly crafted world that engaged you emotionally. I understand that people would find it jarring if the sorceress suddenly shows up in Last of Us, but the games that are emotionally gripping usually don't do this.

She describes it as an issue that those characters persistently show up in these games, but I can't really think of an emotional gripping game that introduced jarringly sexy characters.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Anyone mention Bonnie MacFarlane from Red Dead?

Really great character.

 

[SmokyDave]

Would she ask that if she didn't want the answer though?

Sometimes people don't know they don't want to hear the answer, until they hear it.

That's kind of the point for me. If she is asking something like that then presumably they want to actually know. In this context it was a point of discussion surely? The assumption it's some kind of trap to enable a person to get upset at something they asked for is odd to me. If a person is asking because they are insecure, then that needs attention I think. I just wouldn't want to spend my life with someone that lied their asses off to me because they didn't want to hurt my feelings. Lying to me is worse, it shows a complete lack of respect.

Little white lies here 'n' there can be a good thing. 'Honesty is the best policy' is broadly correct, but not always.

Apparently nearly everyone are in relationships with crazy people. I cannot wrap my brains around people saying this question is a trap. Seriously who the fuck are you guys dating? I've never dated anyone in my life I would need to lie to for a question like this. I feel bad for all of you and question your relationship if jealousy and arguments could come from this.

Wow...

Eh, I'm married to an incredible woman that I have had the privilege to call my partner for more than a decade. I love her from the bottom of my heart. She's a great wife, an incredible mother, and I'm much richer for having her in my life.

I'll still gladly tell her a little white lie to protect her feelings from time to time. Simple as. I'm extremely honest and frank with my wife about all manner of things, but I know when to placate someone for their own good.

Edit: for what it's worth, the line between me and my wife falls far beyond fictional characters or celebrity crushes. Doesn't mean that's the case for the dodger in the OP though.

 

[Sagely]

I wouldn't even remotely dream of dating someone who would even think of doing that, I guess.

Agreed that such questions are a sign of low self-esteem, which can be problematic for healthy relationships. However, low self-esteem is incredibly common and so we can't all be so intolerant of it. For the record, I also have a very low tolerance to such behaviour, but I wouldn't judge someone who was willing to put up with it and help their partner become more comfortable with themselves.

Something about Dragon's Crown which I actually appreciated was the variety in body types for the women. If I recall, the archer had a modest chest and powerful thighs (and this was brought up when folks started berating the sorceress too much). I'd like to see more of that!

 

[Shai-Tan]

Dragon's Crown was taken way too far. There's people in this world with large breasts. It's not like they aren't noticeable, but everyone treated it like it was the first time it ever happened. Being afraid of Dragon Crown's content to me is taking things far too severe. It's done and over with for one. As a male you can't always comment on breasts and it's also hard because a lot of guys enjoy seeing breasts.

I don't think they should be blamed for that. I didn't mind her chest size. It's not problematic because you get over it.

The style they adopted in that game is right out of fetish drawings that have intentionally exaggerated proportions e.g. overly muscled up woman so it's not surprising that some people find it weird or a little too overt

 

[RockTurtle]

Agreed that such questions are a sign of low self-esteem, which can be problematic for healthy relationships. However, low self-esteem is incredibly common and so we can't all be so intolerant of it. For the record, I also have a very low tolerance to such behaviour, but I wouldn't judge someone who was willing to put up with it and help their partner become more comfortable with themselves.

Something about Dragon's Crown which I actually appreciated was the variety in body types for the women. If I recall, the archer had a modest chest and powerful thighs (and this was brought up when folks started berating the sorceress too much). I'd like to see more of that!

we need more hometown

 

[redcrayon]

Apparently nearly everyone are in relationships with crazy people. I cannot wrap my brains around people saying this question is a trap. Seriously who the fuck are you guys dating? I've never dated anyone in my life I would need to lie to for a question like this. I feel bad for all of you and question your relationship if jealousy and arguments could come from this.

Wow...



In that case either everyone's stumbling on the same bad (and partially sexist) joke or someone's not joking. Sincerely hope everyone is...

So, my wife is crazy, jealous, argumentative, I'm partially sexist and married the wrong girl, and you have doubts about our relationship, all based on me (half-jokingly-Ackbar rarely implies a serious response) saying that I'd be looking for the hidden subtext in my wife asking which computer game characters I fancy?

Wow indeed.

You're making sweeping judgements about people you will never meet based on sod-all info here. It's fair to say that a two-minute conversation about my hobby isn't the bedrock of our happy, long-term family life.

I found brutal honesty is great when I was young and dating, and only saw my gf a few times a week. When you're settled down, approaching forty with kids destroying your sleep pattern, both of you are exhausted after work and your wife is worried about her figure after childbirth, sometimes discretion is the better part of valour if it's late and you're both shattered.

If you think people are crazy for telling the odd white lie in order to maintain harmony in a long-term relationship as the years roll by and they know their other half inside-out, then so be it.

 

[Aikidoka]

Seems many people only bothered to read the thread title. The author knows that being sexy is not exclusive to having a personality - that actually is her whole point. She wants female characters to be both sexy without that being their defining character trait.

Also, whether or not the boyfriend was lying for whatever reason is pretty irrelevant to the validity of her points.