Author Topic: Romance-in-gaming article  (Read 35543 times)

Offline JPS

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #50 on: June 09, 2004, 06:39:03 PM »
As much as I dislike the chainmail bikini, I think it should be pointed out that quite a lot of historical armours have a rahter generously-sized metal codpiece. I don't know if this was meant to distract the opponents or to boost the confidence of the wearer, but still...

I couldn't find any good examples with a quick search, so this will have to do.
"Attempts to find the gibberlings' lairs have inevitably led back to subterranean passages, where the trail is eventually lost in the deepest rock-floored recesses of the caverns."

Visit the Gibberlings Three!

Offline nurgles_herald

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #51 on: June 09, 2004, 06:41:26 PM »
Neriana got to the point.  That's just one of the pervasive (and perverse) problems of capitalistic America: they treat us like trash.  It is a scientifically proven point that if a child is told that he/she is "stupid" or "a liar", he or she will turn out being so.  The same is true for opposite remarks, as long as they are backed up with intellectual stimulation, love and kindness.  Corporations teamed up with the media and the government to convince all Americans that they were useless, stupid trash-mongers.  I hate to say it, but Bush didn't start that.  The government has been playing we citizens as pawns for at least a good hundred years (I believe it started around the birth of the "two party system", but others might disagree).

Regardless, I think that some of the exploitation of the "human" body can be derived from the fact that sex and the human body is a taboo subject in the US.  That is, of course, derived from new-Christianity, which rejects love as the defining element of humanity and embraces violence (the crucifix is their icon?!  Who came up with that idea!) as a much more humane thing.  European Christianity sux0rz, because it brainwashes us to believe that the natural human body is bad, unless it is split open in a sacrifice for God (the Crusades?).  Personally, I think that just about any Asian religion is far better, even EOC (eastern orthodox christianity).  I am a strong Buddhist supporter, though not a Buddhist myself, because it rejects violence for violence's sake (and, in the perfect cases, altogether) and embraces humanity for what it really is: part of this planet.  See Philip Glass movies, Anima mundi in particular, for an example of what I'm talking about.  Our planet is truly a living thing, we are part of it, and we are what we are.

Hinduism also provides a good example of non-violence, at least in theory, and provides a better example of Asia's (India's, in this case) acceptance of the natural human body.  Works of physical art (drawings, painting, but primarily sculptings in this case) frequently depict the actual human body, not the idealized human body, in its natural state.  Hindu art work also depicts sex as being a perfectly fine and good thing, which resulted in India being far more accepting of the human body, as it is the human body that is the instrument of human sex.

I am, of course, aware of the severe economic problems in India, but that can be contributed to the bad parts of Hinduism (the caste system).  And to think it could've all been avoided if the Indians had only listened to Gandhi in the first place...

@ Domi- I've concluded that Ben Stark is that one wight who helped out our Craven Sam.  Is this correct?  I can't remember them saying that out right, but it is pretty strongly implied.  Do you have any idea how that happened (i.e. how he kept his mind and isn't just a walking corpse)?  Ar.
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Offline Ruben

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #52 on: June 09, 2004, 09:04:34 PM »
That is, of course, derived from new-Christianity, which rejects love as the defining element of humanity and embraces violence (the crucifix is their icon?!  Who came up with that idea!) as a much more humane thing.  European Christianity sux0rz, because it brainwashes us to believe that the natural human body is bad, unless it is split open in a sacrifice for God (the Crusades?). 


What in the heck are you on. I would really be appreciative if you would keep you opinions of my Religon to yourself. This is NOT a board to bash peoples religions.

A) The Crusades were a grave mistake and have NO actuall backing in the Bible. Like many wars throughout histroy, INCLUDE Asian religions they almost ALL have been misused or used and an excuss for violence against another religon.

B. The entire premise of the Cross is that ONE person died so that ALL can live.

C. I'm not going to even start to list all the versus that Christianity is base on love.

I believe that the Human body is special as it was designed by God and that it is to my continual annoyance as a person who likes playing video games that most programmers have such a narrow minded approach and tend to focus in on the body parts that are associated with sex or sexual acts.


I'm not here to attack anyones else religon as I just like to read and talk about the subjects everyone else does.

Offline Ghreyfain

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #53 on: June 09, 2004, 09:19:30 PM »
If this degenerates any further into a religious debate, I'm going to plunder your riches, burn your homes, kidnap your women, and grind your bones into dust.  Clear?
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Offline discharger12

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #54 on: June 09, 2004, 09:33:54 PM »
If this degenerates any further into a religious debate, I'm going to plunder your riches, burn your homes, kidnap your women, and grind your bones into dust.  Clear?

Wouldn't it just be simpler to choke hold them?

Offline neriana

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #55 on: June 09, 2004, 09:40:50 PM »
JPS: True, but they got to wear more than just a codpiece. Armor fashions were often quite strange in general from following clothing fashions.
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Offline nurgles_herald

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #56 on: June 10, 2004, 05:25:31 AM »
This post has been deleted by Ghreyfain.

Guy, did you not think I was serious about no religious talk?  There's enough controversy around this place as it is, and we don't need holy wars, too.  Let's just say that everyone has an open mind and all religions are equal and be done with it.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2004, 08:20:31 AM by Ghreyfain »
"It makes far better sense to reshape ourselves to fit a finite planet than to attempt to reshape the planet to fit our infinite wants."

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Offline melora

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #57 on: June 10, 2004, 08:29:36 AM »
quite a lot of historical armours have a rahter generously-sized metal codpiece. I don't know if this was meant to distract the opponents or to boost the confidence of the wearer, but still...

i suspect it was the latter.
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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #58 on: June 10, 2004, 10:11:07 AM »
To clarify - the said quote was relevant to a female NPC. My understanding is that giant codpieces were for *display* armour; it is my understanding that any other type of armour avoided any sort of things that could be hooked at by say a flail and throw the wearer on the ground openning him for an attack. Also it is my understanding is that seams always were considered the weakest point - and an aim for an opponents weapon - of any armour so making them to accomodate certain female curvy areas in the vital breast region would endanger her and put her at a disadvantage.   Providing that heavy padding is necessary to wear any armour - including chain (again to the extent of my very poor knowledge) - I would guess that for her own safety the female would be "flattened" with padding and then fitted to the plate. Chain-mail is not a cashmir sweater either... lol.

Here is a link to a more realistic picture of a female in a body plate. As one can see, the curves are well... not there.

http://amoka.net/eng/gal/asoiaf/bri.JPG

P.S: From what I have heard it is almost an agreement that it was indeed, Benjen Stark on the elk. But we will have to wait for another year or so untill the next book... alas.

Offline JPS

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #59 on: June 10, 2004, 10:42:33 AM »
To clarify - the said quote was relevant to a female NPC. My understanding is that giant codpieces were for *display* armour; it is my understanding that any other type of armour avoided any sort of things that could be hooked at by say a flail and throw the wearer on the ground openning him for an attack. Also it is my understanding is that seams always were considered the weakest point - and an aim for an opponents weapon - of any armour so making them to accomodate certain female curvy areas in the vital breast region would endanger her and put her at a disadvantage.   Providing that heavy padding is necessary to wear any armour - including chain (again to the extent of my very poor knowledge) - I would guess that for her own safety the female would be "flattened" with padding and then fitted to the plate. Chain-mail is not a cashmir sweater either... lol.

As far as my somewhat limited knowledge goes; yes, you're right. Any ponts and angles on a suit of armour should be there to deflect attacks from the wearer (the front ridge on your picture and on lots of historical armours is there to make it harder for an attacker to strike the armour at a 90 degree angle, which is pretty much the only way to penetrate that kind of armour with a sword or spear. But I digress, and technically this is no more relevant to the discussion than the post that was already deleted...), so the form-hugging suit of armour would be very dangerous (not to mention very uncomfortable).
"Attempts to find the gibberlings' lairs have inevitably led back to subterranean passages, where the trail is eventually lost in the deepest rock-floored recesses of the caverns."

Visit the Gibberlings Three!

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #60 on: June 10, 2004, 11:33:13 AM »
Well, to get it back to the topic, a clever romance writer can use this to avoid in his/her texts playfully slapping an armored butt or selecting a picture for a paladin who is dressed in her faith alone or telling that armour detracts little from sexula appeal... Looking into your lover's wonderful eyes or bitting his earlobe is also better achieved after removing the full-faced helmet or even a halfhelm with a nosegurad etc... *Giggles*  :)

Offline jcompton

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #61 on: June 10, 2004, 12:54:50 PM »
All of those things are an incredible pain in the neck to try to code for. It just so happens that you're always flirting when somebody's cleaning their helmet or stretching or whatever. :)
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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #62 on: June 10, 2004, 01:36:08 PM »
Oh, does not need to be coded... but inclusions in the texts maybe quite alluring :)

Offline JPS

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #63 on: June 10, 2004, 02:12:25 PM »
Or you can do it the easy way and only make mods where the romanceable NPCs are wizards or sorcerers :P

(yes, I know that "make mods" and "easy" usually don't appear in the same sentence without at least one negation...)
"Attempts to find the gibberlings' lairs have inevitably led back to subterranean passages, where the trail is eventually lost in the deepest rock-floored recesses of the caverns."

Visit the Gibberlings Three!

Offline julwise

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #64 on: June 10, 2004, 09:24:07 PM »
Kind of coming full circle here but I actually once read an article on the history of the codpiece. (I had seen the word and couldn't remember what it was so I looked it up) It actually started out as a practical accessory since they didn't have boxer shorts and what not. It serves a similar purpose as boxers, but they later got more prominent for "fashion" reasons.   

Offline jcompton

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #65 on: June 10, 2004, 09:39:40 PM »
I'm afraid full-circle would require actually referencing the article and/or premise. :)
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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #66 on: June 10, 2004, 10:09:42 PM »
Or you can do it the easy way and only make mods where the romanceable NPCs are wizards or sorcerers :P

(yes, I know that "make mods" and "easy" usually don't appear in the same sentence without at least one negation...)

Alas, for an in-game  romance (yay! I made it on topic!) I have a preference of warrior type... and I am guessing that by now pretty much everyone is aware of what particular class Domi goes starry-eyed about  ;D ;D ;D

Offline julwise

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #67 on: June 10, 2004, 10:52:51 PM »
I'm afraid full-circle would require actually referencing the article and/or premise. :)

Hey I said "kind of." ;)

I don't think romance in gaming is really good or bad. It's not necessary if the game has a solid enough story and good gameplay IMO. I think a good game is a good game. But I also believe it's unnessary for games to have the overt sexuality they sometimes(often?) have. In fact, i'd almost prefer a game with no romantic or sexual content. While I think romance content does substantially help flesh out a role playing game and serves as a great bonus as long as other RP aspects are well-formed, I'm not going to buy a game because of it. Ultimately, I don't play games for their romance, love, or titilation content, I play them for fun!

And for anyone whose interested here's a more informative history of the codpiece: http://www.r3.org/life/articles/codpiece.html (And the least graphic I could find!)
« Last Edit: June 10, 2004, 11:32:53 PM by julwise »

Offline Ruben

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #68 on: June 11, 2004, 11:07:54 AM »
Yeah I can agree their but for me having the Romance option has always add replayability, and it ushually deepens story development. Wether you like the Final Fantasy series or not one of the reasons its so crazed is that is has always had romance plots in the story line. (yeah their still just liniar stories and FFX-2 does not count, cause it was just a bad excuse to draw 3 girl chars in scantily clad clothing)

Wether they add romance or not, I would like them to cut down on all the exploiting they do. You can have an attractive female character without needing to give them unrealistic porpotions. To me seeing some of those characters that they create now sicken me more than attract me.

To be honest, Romance in a game may not be a buying feature for me, but games that offer features like that such as Baldur Gate II, Quest for Glory V Dragon Fire, Robin Hood Conquest for the Longbow is going to make me come back and play the game more.

Still a good and well done romance can add depth to a game. (Though games  like Grand Turismo that subsqently lack a plot all together I don't it would improve.), If the romance plot was well done in alot of games it would certinaly add more depth to any game comming out.

Romance does NOT need to be a flash of almost porgnographic flicks to catch some 13 year old males attention, but a well thought out and crafted sub plot of the story line inside the game.

(edit: Retype a line to make it make a little more sense)
« Last Edit: June 11, 2004, 06:07:41 PM by Ruben »

Offline Regullus

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #69 on: June 14, 2004, 10:26:46 PM »
It is a scientifically proven point that if a child is told that he/she is "stupid" or "a liar", he or she will turn out being so.  The same is true for opposite remarks, as long as they are backed up with intellectual stimulation, love and kindness.
 
Regardless, I think that some of the exploitation of the "human" body can be derived from the fact that sex and the human body is a taboo subject in the US. 

  Comment on Quote 1:  The interesting thing about human nature is not why we fail but why we succeed. Many very worthwhile people have come from terrible circumstances yet succeed in being viable, successful and humane people, and I do not mean only material or social success. Also, there was a study done that showed that meritless compliments did not make children succeed academically
 
Comment on Quote 2:  Sounds good but I think you may be overthinking the subject. Plenty of sex for sex's sake in the US. I think a far better comment is the search for physical "perfection" that does seem peculiarly but not exclusively, symptomatic of the USA culturally. I blame marketers. I think marketers are the boil on humanity's backside.

  But on to what I really wanted to say:

  About a week ago a friend of mine saw the name Anomen and pointed out that it was a word scramble for Noname. At first I just wondered if it was intentional or accidental, then I realized that Delryn could be re-arranged to Nerdly.

 Sir Noname Nerdly - Was it intentional and if so what does it indicate? That the writers hated Anomen or is it a slap in the face of female gamers? ???


  This is so inane that I hesistate to hit the post button.



Offline jcompton

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #70 on: June 14, 2004, 10:43:09 PM »
On the contrary, it's one of those jaw-dropping, "That CAN'T be accidental!" revelations.
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Offline Regullus

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #71 on: June 14, 2004, 10:58:13 PM »


  Coincidence???!!! Accidental???!!! The classic answer when a conspiracy stands reavealed in all its baseness!

  Actually, I thought I would get one of two answers:

1) Get a life.

2) Yeah, that is has already been pointed out 50 billion times.

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #72 on: June 15, 2004, 06:14:30 AM »
 

  About a week ago a friend of mine saw the name Anomen and pointed out that it was a word scramble for Noname. At first I just wondered if it was intentional or accidental, then I realized that Delryn could be re-arranged to Nerdly.

 Sir Noname Nerdly - Was it intentional and if so what does it indicate? That the writers hated Anomen or is it a slap in the face of female gamers? ???


 



That is SO scary.

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #73 on: June 15, 2004, 01:48:43 PM »
But on to what I really wanted to say:

  About a week ago a friend of mine saw the name Anomen and pointed out that it was a word scramble for Noname. At first I just wondered if it was intentional or accidental, then I realized that Delryn could be re-arranged to Nerdly.

 Sir Noname Nerdly - Was it intentional and if so what does it indicate? That the writers hated Anomen or is it a slap in the face of female gamers? ???


  This is so inane that I hesistate to hit the post button.


Neat... good job revealing this! Now, I think it will take only shortwhile for someone to include it in a banter :)


Offline PsyckoSama

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Re: Romance-in-gaming article
« Reply #74 on: June 15, 2004, 02:09:50 PM »
Edited by Moderator.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2004, 02:34:04 PM by Kish »