"...a realignment of company focus"

[pandora114]

giant lemon boobies and camel toes so deep they rival the Grand Canyon..yup...anyone who buys that game will have a hella time playing that because it's sort of difficult to play an MMO with one hand.

ick..

[Victoria Victrix]

Wow....just....wow.

Yes, I am ALL for putting this spin on it.  In fact, I am ALL for sending press releases to that effect directly to news outlets (anyone can send a press release on anything, you know).

Are you sure the name of this game is Blood and Soul and not Boobs and Sluts?

[downix]

Question is, did it earn that rating from the violence? Or from the T-n-A so blatantly shoved in our face? I like to look at sexy ladies as much as the next guy, but B&S just...wow. Geez.

I checked, it is Rating Pending, *minimum* M, which means it might be A. As for reasons, won't get that until it is finalized.

[dwturducken]

Gotta say, I'm with VV on the "wow." And this is from a former sailor who donated a tidy sum to the Exotic Dancer's College Fund in his misspent youth.  I think Blade and Soul is one I would play after the wife goes to sleep. With the lights out.

[Atlantea]

Wow....just....wow.

Yes, I am ALL for putting this spin on it.  In fact, I am ALL for sending press releases to that effect directly to news outlets (anyone can send a press release on anything, you know).

Are you sure the name of this game is Blood and Soul and not Boobs and Sluts?

I've been calling it Boobs and Shame for awhile now. But either way...

LEMON BOOBS!! 

I think we have a new meme to spread! :D

[pandora114]

no kidding VV.  As a parent I would NOT allow my kids to be in the same ROOM as us as we play this game.  (like we were ever gonna buy it *sarcastic tone*)

That whole game turns my stomach.  I mean, I'm not a rampant feminist railing against the objectification of women, nor am I someone who cries for all women to be in Burquas because that's the only way to be "modest".  There is just something about that game that rubs me the wrong way.  If it offends a moderate woman like myself...I hate how those on each end of the spectrum would react to it.

NCsoft wants to cater to Weeaboo neckbeards in their mom's basements (A smaller 'niche' than City of Heroes players) then let them.  It'll be their downfall.  Just get them to get their greasy claws out of City of Heroes first.  Then they can burn.

[TheFlea]

Thing that gets me about this?

The whole Eastern MMO to the West schtick?

It's been done. They called it Perfect World. They did it about 3 years ago.

Oh you, NCSoft. Oh you.

[DrakeGrimm]

no kidding VV.  As a parent I would NOT allow my kids to be in the same ROOM as us as we play this game.  (like we were ever gonna buy it *sarcastic tone*)

That whole game turns my stomach.  I mean, I'm not a rampant feminist railing against the objectification of women, nor am I someone who cries for all women to be in Burquas because that's the only way to be "modest".  There is just something about that game that rubs me the wrong way.  If it offends a moderate woman like myself...I hate how those on each end of the spectrum would react to it.

NCsoft wants to cater to Weeaboo neckbeards in their mom's basements (A smaller 'niche' than City of Heroes players) then let them.  It'll be their downfall.  Just get them to get their greasy claws out of City of Heroes first.  Then they can burn.

Yeah. I'm not at all a "zomg women should cover up" type, but B&S just turns my stomach. Even Tera's scantily clad women folk were more decently attired.

[Victoria Victrix]

Thing that gets me about this?

The whole Eastern MMO to the West schtick?

It's been done. They called it Perfect World. They did it about 3 years ago.

Oh you, NCSoft. Oh you.

Isn't the entire Final Fantasy franchise essentially this?

[pandora114]

btw Seg,  I borrowed the pictures for my blog

I hope you don't mind :D http://littledinobug.blogspot.ca/2012/10/breasts-and-camels.html

[WanderingAries]

Wow....just....wow.

Yes, I am ALL for putting this spin on it.  In fact, I am ALL for sending press releases to that effect directly to news outlets (anyone can send a press release on anything, you know).

Are you sure the name of this game is Blood and Soul and not Boobs and Sluts?

Blade, a personable weapon of choice that allows for Sensual kills.

Soul, the Naked you.

;-)

Also: "She Kicks High!"
Edit: Just a thought, but considering the "average" gamer who may end up watching said Fox news show, are you sure you want to draw that to their attention (assuming they didn't Already know about the game)?

[P51mus]

I dunno, I'm used to the kind of fanservice commonly put in anime and manga, and this game is extreme even to me.

There's more egregious pictures of the game around than the two you've used though.

[Vulpy]

This is one thing I keep coming back to. I like a lot of 2-D fighter universes. I like the larger-than-life characters, the theatrical battle movements. Heck, some of them even have really awesome stories. But I see Cammie's battle thong, or Taki's assets, or Mai Shiranui's...everything...

The genre as a whole would be better off without such blatant depictions. The same could be said for B&S, I believe.

[Atlantea]

Isn't the entire Final Fantasy franchise essentially this?

Not really the same thing at all. Final Fantasy is more of a traditional manga or anime artstyle - at least in the character designs and full render cutscenes of the older games. (Only since Final Fantasy 10 in 2001 were they able to consistantly render the same intricate character designs in-game that were designed for the promo artwork and CGI rendered cut-scenes of earlier games).

Final Fantasy has the occasional scantily clad female character that is appealing to the lowest common denominator, but far more often they have strong female characters who are dressed more or less sensibly for their roles.

Here's a few of the better examples of the various artstyles that Final Fantasy games have used. Each game has been designed by different artists. So Final Fantasy 7 had a completely different artstyle from FF8 and FF9 was different yet again, and so on.

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-DELahQ67DH8%2FTZoQaGN7-0I%2FAAAAAAAABtc%2FXapEKld-xdE%2Fs1600%2Ffinal-fantasy-vii-cast.jpg

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=upload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fthumb%2F5%2F5d%2FFinal_Fantasy_8_ntsc-front.jpg%2F250px-Final_Fantasy_8_ntsc-front.jpg
https://images.weserv.nl/?url=a2.ec-images.myspacecdn.com%2Fimages01%2F72%2Fcb12cdf7c95d81ccb54c8710854751a0%2Fl.jpg
https://images.weserv.nl/?url=images1.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20100221115726%2Ffinalfantasy2%2Fde%2Fimages%2Ff%2Ff3%2FRinoa.jpg
https://images.weserv.nl/?url=1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_5iEv4_q-28w%2FTQ0Gjg56_4I%2FAAAAAAAAAL4%2F-SQe3e85IqI%2Fs1600%2FFinal_Fantasy_IX.jpg
https://images.weserv.nl/?url=nerdsontherocks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F02%2FFF10.jpg
https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.videogamesblogger.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F08%2Flightning-character-art-from-final-fantasy-13.jpg


So - Fanciful, yes. Stylized, yes. Over-the-top, yes. And some "fan-service" mixed in certainly.

But none of the FF games is anywhere NEAR the misogyny of Boobs and Shame - er - Blade and Soul.

Final Fantasy games for the most part get it right. The most recent one has a girl named "Lightning" (bottom pic up there with the red scarf, white jacket and sword) as the main character. And she's hardly running around with a lot of skin showing.

[Aquashock]

As someone known from complaining about the increase of cheesecake fanservice in CoH (Hi, Mother Mayhem revamp), B&S is far, far above and beyond anything in CoH. CoH has a large female fanbase, games like B&S, with their clear catering to the straight male gaze, are very much -not- intended for female players. A feminist angle, although probably not a Fox News one ;), would be how NCSoft's "realignment" is a shift away from a girl gamer friendly game to a girls-are-objects game.

[pandora114]

thank you for saying that Atlantea :D  You explained it way better than I could. 

[Victoria Victrix]

As someone known from complaining about the increase of cheesecake fanservice in CoH (Hi, Mother Mayhem revamp), B&S is far, far above and beyond anything in CoH. CoH has a large female fanbase, games like B&S, with their clear catering to the straight male gaze, are very much -not- intended for female players. A feminist angle, although probably not a Fox News one ;), would be how NCSoft's "realignment" is a shift away from a girl gamer friendly game to a girls-are-objects game.

Huff Post fodder!

Not really the same thing at all. Final Fantasy is more of a traditional manga or anime artstyle - at least in the character designs and full render cutscenes of the older games. (Only since Final Fantasy 10 in 2001 were they able to consistantly render the same intricate character designs in-game that were designed for the promo artwork and CGI rendered cut-scenes of earlier games).

Nonono, I meant that blatantly self-serving and untrue statement that Boobs and Sluts is meant to introduce eastern martial arts and magic gaming to the west.  I was under the impression that the entire FF saga had already done that, thenkewverramuch.

[Atlantea]

Nonono, I meant that blatantly self-serving and untrue statement that Boobs and Sluts is meant to introduce eastern martial arts and magic gaming to the west.  I was under the impression that the entire FF saga had already done that, thenkewverramuch.

Ahh I see what you mean.

Well if you're talking about eastern martial arts styled games, then their copy is STILL misleading and wrong, because Soul Caliber and even the venerable Street Fighter franchise did that long ago. (1991 in the case of Street Fighter)

As for Eastern styled magic in gaming, Final Fantasy has some, but FF is surprisingly generic in it's approach to magic. Most FF games have had more the flavor of Dungeons and Dragons than anything Eastern!

But plenty of other games from Japan and elsewhere have done the "Martial Arts and Eastern Magic" thing. Some of them have been brought to the west successfully but that's mostly been in the form of games like Suikoden and what's commonly called the "JRPG" genre.

Notably, NONE of the Korean MMOs have done well in North America. They all seem to adhere to a particular formula of mindless grinding with little or no plot (go here, kill X. Go here, kill more X) until you get to the End game, where it's NOTHING ELSE but large scale Player versus Player (PVP) which they tend to call RVR for "Race Versus Race" because you HAVE to team in nothing but large raid parties (practically armies!) to be effective. Western gamers tend to avoid those games like the plaque.

Blade and Soul is THAT kind of game, no matter what they say or what trappings it has in the form of individual character classes.

So I'm very confident that it will fail in this market just like the others have.

Doesn't mean we can't give it a little push though.

[eabrace]

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=images1.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20100221115726%2Ffinalfantasy2%2Fde%2Fimages%2Ff%2Ff3%2FRinoa.jpg

Still my favorite FF female lead.

(Haven't played the latest one, so I can't judge or compare.)

[SithRose]

This is a good direction to take things. And SithRose, as one of those "right-wing fundamentalist wackos," I assure you that we're really not anything more than patriotic, wholesome-values-loving people with a great respect and love for our fellow man.

More to the point, Fox News had more viewership than any other major network during the debates. If we're GOING to get the word out, we can't be picky about who hears it. I am as willing to trust Fox News as I am MSNBC to take a story handed to them about a community getting together to save their game and tell it in a feel-good wholesome manner. (MSNBC, I expect it to be "little guys who play the game v. evil megacorp," while Fox I expect would take a more "look at this wholesome community and all the good they do; is there nothing that can be done to preserve their game?" approach.)

Segev, if you've got and demonstrate love and respect for your fellow humans, then you don't fall into the RWWF category. ;) I reserve that category for the hypocritical ones. Just to clarify, I DO think this is a good spin overall. I think we just need to be careful about how we present it and make sure people don't bring up, say, a certain arc from WP in Grandville. Which is really about as evil as COV gets aside from some of the SSAs.