Anyone think classes are slightly gender stereotyped or aimed at certain genders?

[Noellessa]

Hi all,

Just had a thought this morning about classes in B&S.  I have a few classes (WL, FM, Assassin, BM) that I created using a fairly standard female character model (no outlandish sized breasts or anything -- mostly what would be normal on a real person w/out too much surgery).  While I am female, I understand that many guys like having attractive and/or sexy characters with oiled up bodies and amazing no-need-for-bra push-up breasts, and there's nothing wrong with that.  But I noticed after making a summoner yesterday that the class is just completely OMG CUTE!  I mean, it is the most adorable class I've ever played in any MMO (coming from FF11, FF14, TERA, GW2, ESO, Wildstar).   I mean, it has a rose petal type some kind of big breezy shield, has a dandelion to go stealth, has a totally cute companion cat that you can dress up, and uses a sunflower as I think the best attack [that or bumblebees...both equally cute].

 

Is it just me, or does anyone else think NC created this class to cater to women and/or girls who like adorable and cute things?  It is really great that it is really easy and relaxing to play, to the point of seeming a lil OP to me after getting WL to HM4 and leveling assassin and blade master.  On the flip side, how do any guys who play summoner feel about the really cutesy "girly" type attacks and animations --*cheerleader Huzzah and all*?  

 

To me, I think certain classes seem to be a lil biased towards certain genders -- summoner to female, and maybe destroyers to male?  I don't know - I always think all destroyers are guys IRL just like I usually think most hyper sexualized characters are [not that women can't be like that - that's completely fine too!].  Thoughts?  

[DomiSotto]

My first character was a destroyer, that I had a gamegasm over, and would have kept playing if he was not level 18 when the levelling event hit. Then I picked up summoner as it was the easiest class for the levelling event. I did not want it in the first place despite preferring healing roles, because the excessive kawaii. I also only play male avatars because I find the presentation of females in the game so over the top sexualized and in such a juvenile way, that I'd be stuck in Bamboo village rolling my eyes instead of playing.

 

my third char is a warlock, but I should have made a force master (I like ranged that move a lot). I also want to try a sin.

 

i am also not sure about playing my destroyer, because despite loving the style, I love my escapes if I goofed up, and I don't think destroyer has any.

 

i do feel that force master is driven towards Yun, as Gon is an odd choice over Jin for a male character.

 

i am a female, my normal preference in any game is grab the easiest to play ranged class or a healer. Normally I'd play female toons, but mmo changed that to preferring males (more content, look better)

[Sithaer]

I was kind of interested in playing a Blade Dancer but the entire Lyn thing is just way too 'cute/childish' for my taste so I passed on it.

But yea I kind of get what you mean and it could be possible that it was done on purpose like you said.

 

I have a Sin and a FM,my FM is a Gon but I tried to keep her look  more or less 'realistic' so shes not a giant nor has oversized tits,its even on the small size actually.

 

Btw im a dude,I just have my preferences when it comes to playing classes in mmos/rpgs.

Like I always make mages/ranged Female and warrior types Male.

[Displeased]

Pretty sure it's just your imagination :p

 

In all seriousness though, I'd only consider it a bias if there were any differences with regards to skill effects, damage, and survival. As for opinions on aesthetics, I'd chalk that up to flavor visuals that pertain to each class's in-game lore as well as Korean culture in general (seriously, watch any typical Korean drama and you'd be led to believe flower petals = being really cool/awesome). 

 

As for claiming costumes are designed heavily towards female characters... That goes without saying. 

[FaeQueen]

I am man and I have a female summoner which I think is extremely adorable. I do think in a way it might be geared the way you stated however I know plenty of men that find the Lyns very adorable. I am happy NCSoft made the Lyn race.

[Lorelei]

18 minutes ago, Noellessa said:

Hi all,

Just had a thought this morning about classes in B&S.  I have a few classes (WL, FM, Assassin, BM) that I created using a fairly standard female character model (no outlandish sized breasts or anything -- mostly what would be normal on a real person w/out too much surgery).  While I am female, I understand that many guys like having attractive and/or sexy characters with oiled up bodies and amazing no-need-for-bra push-up breasts, and there's nothing wrong with that.  But I noticed after making a summoner yesterday that the class is just completely OMG CUTE!  I mean, it is the most adorable class I've ever played in any MMO (coming from FF11, FF14, TERA, GW2, ESO, Wildstar).   I mean, it has a rose petal type some kind of big breezy shield, has a dandelion to go stealth, has a totally cute companion cat that you can dress up, and uses a sunflower as I think the best attack [that or bumblebees...both equally cute].

 

Is it just me, or does anyone else think NC created this class to cater to women and/or girls who like adorable and cute things?  It is really great that it is really easy and relaxing to play, to the point of seeming a lil OP to me after getting WL to HM4 and leveling assassin and blade master.  On the flip side, how do any guys who play summoner feel about the really cutesy "girly" type attacks and animations --*cheerleader Huzzah and all*?  

 

To me, I think certain classes seem to be a lil biased towards certain genders -- summoner to female, and maybe destroyers to male?  I don't know - I always think all destroyers are guys IRL just like I usually think most hyper sexualized characters are [not that women can't be like that - that's completely fine too!].  Thoughts?  

I ****-ing love my Destroyer, don't generalize. I love kicking guys in the nuts, grabbing them in a chokehold when they fall down, and then running around with them and punching them in the face before finally piledriving them into the ground. I wish I could do this in real life without needing to take steroids or possibly deal with the inconvenience of being arrested and tried.

 

EDIT: I should note, I am a woman

[Noellessa]

Thanks for the replies - and just to clarify, I'm not trying to really generalize but to get an idea of what people think.  I think it is totally fine for everyone to play whatever they find fun/interesting and then to make their character in any way they want :)  I just was kinda interested since summoner animations and such seemed so cute and such ^^  and @Lorelei, I'm kinda new and didn't even realize destroyers could be female -- it is one of the only classes (other than KFM) I haven't tried yet -- maybe I should! @Displeased - I agree // "biased" was a bad word choice so I changed it to "stereotyped"...maybe better? But I think my thought is clear, I hope :P

[FaeQueen]

2 minutes ago, Noellessa said:

Thanks for the replies - and just to clarify, I'm not trying to really generalize but to get an idea of what people think.  I think it is totally fine for everyone to play whatever they find fun/interesting and then to make their character in any way they want :)  I just was kinda interested since summoner animations and such seemed so cute and such ^^  and @Lorelei, I'm kinda new and didn't even realize destroyers could be female -- it is one of the only classes (other than KFM) I haven't tried yet -- maybe I should!

Destroyers are super fun. They are great for venting when you're angry because you literally destroy everything in your path. I plan on starting one myself. (I played my wife's level 45 and fell in love with the chaos and mayhem.)

[Displeased]

Gotta resist the urge to shout "Checkmate! I sunk your battleship!" Every time I play my Destroyer :p

[DomiSotto]

6 minutes ago, Noellessa said:

Thanks for the replies - and just to clarify, I'm not trying to really generalize but to get an idea of what people think.  I think it is totally fine for everyone to play whatever they find fun/interesting and then to make their character in any way they want :)  I just was kinda interested since summoner animations and such seemed so cute and such ^^  and @Lorelei, I'm kinda new and didn't even realize destroyers could be female -- it is one of the only classes (other than KFM) I haven't tried yet -- maybe I should! @Displeased - I agree // "biased" was a bad word choice so I changed it to "stereotyped"...maybe better? But I think my thought is clear, I hope :P

All classes can be both genders. The restrictions are only in terms which race can pick the specific class. Yun, the race that is all-female, does not have a class that only Yun could take (exclusive class). Hope that helps!

[Lorelei]

7 minutes ago, Noellessa said:

Thanks for the replies - and just to clarify, I'm not trying to really generalize but to get an idea of what people think.  I think it is totally fine for everyone to play whatever they find fun/interesting and then to make their character in any way they want :)  I just was kinda interested since summoner animations and such seemed so cute and such ^^  and @Lorelei, I'm kinda new and didn't even realize destroyers could be female -- it is one of the only classes (other than KFM) I haven't tried yet -- maybe I should! @Displeased - I agree // "biased" was a bad word choice so I changed it to "stereotyped"...maybe better? But I think my thought is clear, I hope :P

The only race that is gender-specific is Yun (female-only). Since there are no Yun-only classes in the game currently, no class is currently gender-locked (ie, they can all be either a man or a woman). I should note that when I said "I am a woman" though I meant me, as a person, not my character in-game. Since the discussion was about, "do women prefer cutesy characters like Sum?".

 

It's also worth pointing out that Sum is actually my main, but that's more because of it's utter ease of access rather than a preference towards the aesthetics. I love Destroyer, but they're not really top-tier for most content due to endgame's extremely idiotic ranged bias. I love beating faces with it though, and I might try it in arena cuz it seems decently powerful there.

[Rokusan]

I also do tend to think the summoner class was created with target players being girls in mind. This is a Korean MMO after all and a lot of the female players even in other neighboring Asian countries, or at least the ones who do get popular or get attention do tend to lean towards using cuter effeminate characters. Also this summoner class has a group heal (support) and a cute pet cat. A lot of girls lean towards support-ish classes. Also there's an unspoken not-originally not-meant-to-offend stereotype that girls aren't that good at games so that also explains why it's such an easy class to play.

 

I'm not 100% sure because I'm not part of the staff behind BnS's creative and/or development team but a lot of factors just happen to really come together for this summoner class.

[Lorelei]

6 minutes ago, Rokusan said:

Also there's an unspoken not-originally not-meant-to-offend stereotype that girls aren't that good at games

FITE ME IRL

[Noellessa]

@Rokusan - yep, I'm Asian, myself, and played FFXI a lot and FF14.  Many of my girl friends played healers (like I do - WHM) and also often use the cute races to do so [Lalafel and Tartaru].  I never really got into using Elin in TERA, though, mostly b/c the hips turned me off since they seemed out of proportion ^^  But I agree - as far as KOR and JPN goes, the whole "kawaii" trend and such is very strong, and looking at the census data for most any Eastern MMO usually substantiates the points you made ^_^

[ShiNeesan]

First of all: I'm a girl and and going with the summoner because I like this class itself - but I would choose the Lyn-Race everytime because they are so cute with their ears and tails... gosh! >.< 

 

But as a twink I'm also curious about the Gon because they are strong and badass... And I want - just like Lorelei mentioned - just kick some guys balls with a stronge female :D but are they all stereotyped?

 

It is striking that most of the female characters get sexy-outfits (while the Lyn are usually more cute but also got some sexy clothes) and that the breast (except the Lyn) is bouncing like hell - but sex sells, huh? 

 

I've have nothing against short skirts and frivolous lingerie - I'm peeking myself at things like this - but I wondered if there are also sexy outfits for men because it would be just fair... and... yeah, I've found some Outfits for male-characters which are designed to be sexy.

 

this for example or this (lol)

 

But back to the Lyn: I've read somewhere that especially the Lyn-Summoner was designed for girls because a) it's cute and b) it's easy to handle... :I Hmm...

 

(PS: Sorry if my english is crappy, I'm not a native speaker)

 

[DomiSotto]

The only outfit that I saw with the similar level of undress That most female ones get by default for a male was scorching desert one, and it is pricey. Heh, p2 objectify males or something. Male avatars look good though, save for being comparatively less endowed than the nubile fertility goddesses.

 

i actually had my 9 yo daughter create my Lyn summoner for me, she loves him, and keeps referring to him as ' her" she might be the target audience, I dunno.

 

i find playing Lyn embarrassing in my age, because it feels more like kids cartoons.

[DomiSotto]

They got cut by killing mobs. Magic does wonders to lower the body fat percentage. And who knows what's in those potions....

[Noellessa]

@DomiSotto haha - though, I'd have to say that if all males looked like most of the guy chars in this game, the world would be an interesting place and gym memberships would have to be off the charts.  I mean - those abs that all the guys have O.O  where do they find the time to kill mobs >.> <.<

[FaeQueen]

8 minutes ago, ShiNeesan said:

First of all: I'm a girl and and going with the summoner because I like this class itself - but I would choose the Lyn-Race everytime because they are so cute with their ears and tails... gosh! >.< 

 

But as a twink I'm also curious about the Gon because they are strong and badass... And I want - just like Lorelei mentioned - just kick some guys balls with a stronge female :D but are they all stereotyped?

 

It is striking that most of the female characters get sexy-outfits (while the Lyn are usually more cute but also got some sexy clothes) and that the breast (except the Lyn) is bouncing like hell - but sex sells, huh? 

 

I've have nothing against short skirts and frivolous lingerie - I'm peeking myself at things like this - but I wondered if there are also sexy outfits for men because it would be just fair... and... yeah, I've found some Outfits for male-characters which are designed to be sexy.

 

this for example or this (lol)

 

But back to the Lyn: I've read somewhere that especially the Lyn-Summoner was designed for girls because a) it's cute and b) it's easy to handle... :I Hmm...

 

(PS: Sorry if my english is crappy, I'm not a native speaker)

 

If the males had outfits like these I would make a male to where the nurse outfit lol. I mean why the hell not. Might as well have fun.

[Lunakitty]

You can make any race, class and gender look completely not cute or attractive. You just need to work with the sliders. Also the voices dear my. Tiny Lyn having deep raspy voice makes me laugh so hard. Seems so not suitable for those kawaii things.

[DomiSotto]

I also want to add that over two years of playing mmo I came to appreciate the profound wisdom that was won through countless hours of playing by millions of men worldwide. And that's if I have to stare at an ass for a few hours a day, it's gotta be an ass I really like.

[VirtueXOA]

I hate lyns ! burn in hell ! è__é you'r to cute to live !

[876605_1452550437]

Just curious. Why do some female posters feel the need to point out they are female?

[DomiSotto]

2 minutes ago, 876605_1452550437 said:

Just curious. Why do some female posters feel the need to point out they are female?

Because the question was if the gender of a player impacts the choice of a class in essence. If a female player is more likely to pick summoner. Hard to make an example based on your experience without quoting gender.

[Andipandi]

My Lyn Summoner is all MALE. I just like small characters and seeing I play alone a lot, the pet feels like I'm hanging out with a buddy who doesn't talk much. XD