Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-9601450-20131225183646/@comment-67.171.74.199-20140925175141

Bah. I won't contend that the armor design for Skyrim is perfect. However, all of the armors of Skyrim (with the exception of Iron, imo) have been liked or even preferred by somebody, I can garuantee. Look, you keep saying "average". From what I've seen of the gaming community, what with the oodles of mods for increased immersion and practicality, and just how popular those mods are (Frostfall, anyone?), the "average" gamer wants a certain degree of realism and seriousness to their game, unless they're playing a silly game on purpouse because it's silly.

Not to mention that not all gamers play to "escape reality". I know I don't. I play to create characters and stories, and to roleplay. At any rate, there is no rule that says we have to follow the examples Bethesda has set as far as practicality goes. There is no rule that says we have to have the same level of stupid female armor, and personally, as a person who supports sensible armor (and sensible everything else, really) for women, I would rather have practical armor for female characters.

There are lots of people - lots of women - who want to be given a fair chance at dressing sensibly in video games. Skyrim provides a fair chance - armor that has a bulge arranged in such a way that it doesn't make a shelf for the breasts, such as in the Blades or Ancient Falmer sets; or ones that are relatively flat in front like Steel. And although you may not like them, that doesn't mean that they are objectively ugly.

Also, it's not a binary trade - practical armor for good-looking armor, or practicality for fun. You can have armor that both looks good and protects sensibly. You can have a game that is both difficult and as realistic as possible...while still being fun. Masses of players play with Frostfall, Realistic Needs and Diseases, or even something as simple as mods to make weapon animations more true to life.

Basically what I'm getting at is that yes, Skyrim armors have some issues - boob shelves or boob cups, shows the midriff and/or femoral artery, etc. - but that doesn't mean that we have to do the same. Just because it's a fantasy game does not mean it has to be impractical. I'm not saying it should 100% simulate the real world only and nothing else - where would our Khajiit or elves be, our magic and our dragons? - but I am saying that it should be believable, because from the evidence of my eyes I can see that people like believable fiction. If we play to escape the real world, then what happens when we see an impractical armor or something else like that that ruins the immersion for us? We get jolted back through the fourth wall, to disappointment and annoyance.

I proposed this with the aim of not only continuing, but improving on what Bethesda already has.

And don't worry, you can have skimpy outfits without making them "armor"! Eye candy is a great thing; I'd just prefer that believability and immersion not be sacrificed so that there can be eye candy. I know that lots of gamers are really fond of having boobs in their games, and so if it can be sensibly managed then duly there shall be boobs. Dancers and bards, I can see in skimpy outfits. There is nothing wrong with skimpy outfits. But, as Ulfric Stormcloak wisely said, "Don't hand me a mug of sheep's piss and call it mead". Likewise, don't hand a woman a skimpy outfit and call it armor. I would hand people whatever they want without lying about what it is.

- WorshipsMeridia