Somewhere during the past week, my boredom with Star Wars: the Old Republic waned a bit and I started feeling the force again. This time, it pulled me towards one of my favourite occupations when new (group) content output is low: playing warzones with friends.
My friend Marinka was having a hard time playing scoundrel DPS, so I decided to roll one myself for the baby PvP bracket. What better way to torture the enemy than hunting them down with two giggling scoundrel girls? I still had a female body type 4 character on my wishlist (never made one*), as well as someone to wear Calo Nord's jacket, which I bought ages ago. I always thought the jacket makes you look a bit fat from the back, so I decided to embrace the look rather than be bothered by it. I also made her look really cute, and guess what, I adore this character! I don't know why I waited with making a body type 4 character for this long. So today I present to you: Ravinne, my cute, naive and slightly silly curvy scoundrel.
Unfortunately, she isn't wearing the right gloves and leggings on the good-looking pictures, because I didn't have enough basic commendations yet to buy them. You'll have to do with the crappy preview window ones if you want to see what they look like, sorry!
On the top right picture, Ravinne isn't using Flashy. Seems they use a default blaster for everyone in that shot - lazy devs.
The set
Calo Nord's Jacket (adaptive)Trainee's Gauntlets (adaptive)
Scout's Leggings (adaptive) (unify colours)
Flashy (blaster pistol from the smuggler storyline)
The cool thing is that you can wear this outfit on starters because there's no level requirement.
Calo Nord's Jacket is a random drop from the Archon's Contraband pack and Galactic Legends Armor Pack, so you'll probably have to stalk the GTN if you want to get your hands on this. It's going for 950k credits at the moment, which could be worse. I think I bought it for about 800k several months ago. There's also a brown version called Outlander Observer's Jacket.
The Trainee's Gauntlets and Scout's Leggings can be bartered for basic commendations (20 or so each) in the Supply section of the fleet. The Trainee's Gauntlets are black by default; the Scout's Leggings brown (which also looks good with the jacket), but they change into black when unifying colours.
I'm still looking for the perfect belt (preferably a leather one) and boots. Perhaps I'll just go with the rest of Calo Nord's set, since it looks pretty slick. Other suggestions are welcome.
Do you have a preference for a certain body type for your characters? Or are they pretty mixed?
* Even though I'd like to play characters as varied as possible in an ideal world, I've found that I enjoy playing characters I identify well with most. Male characters, very short characters or characters with a different build simply don't get logged in, so I've given up on creating them. When it comes to Star Wars: the Old Republic, this has resulted in an over-representation of characters with body type 1 (anorexic) and 2 (normal) at the expense of 3 (athletic giant) and 4 (curvy).
I guess my preferences depend on the type of class I play. If it is more of the physical fighting type then someone who is fit. If it is more of the mage-y type then someone skinny.
ReplyDeleteFat is something I rarely considered probably because it is so dang rare in video-games and I wouldn't know what would go well with that. Probably some kind of merchant class.
That's a really good point and something I consider, too, when creating new characters. Ìn SWTOR, jedi knight and sith warrior classes are the least fit for body type 4, in my opinion, because their fighting style is very energetic and defining of their job (also, you're pretty much a jedi or sith 24h a day). You have to be physically fit to pull that off. I don't see how mage-y type characters would have to be skinny, though, unless it's in a game where magic is addictive and you'd imagine the result of usage to be similar to drugs in the analogue world.
DeleteThe main reason for going with fit avatars is that our characters seem to be always busy with activities that require movement. This is unrealistic, of course: most people would get burnt out when the only thing they'd do is work, work and work. I imagine my characters having days off when I'm not playing them: after all, I assume they wash themselves, eat, drink and use the toilet, too, when I'm not playing.
Mage-y characters being skinny are more of a trope thing. The trope that powerful mages are always some old, bearded guy that looks frail but has more power in his fingertips than the muscle-bound barbarian that wields a giant axe.
DeleteAnother way you could see it is that they don't do much exercise. Might not even properly too as they are too busy studying magic. Hm. Now with that kind of lifestyle they could go well with a fat body type too.
And yeah, I can imagine my characters having day offs too... When they are done saving the world for the gazilionth time. I mean, we can joke all we want how the villains in games are so nice that they will wait for us to do all the side quests and whatnot until we decide to tackle them out. But for our characters they must be trying to do everything they can think of to stop the villains plans, only taking breaks to sleep, eat and do other necessities.
Agreed with everything you said there. Funny to think that MMO players are kind of shifting this old bearded mage guy trope: if I think about a mage character in an MMO, I'm expecting a cute blonde Elf chick avatar 9/10 over an old dude. It's getting a bit boring, really. Of course I feel entitled to play one myself, though. After all, I'm a blonde girl IRL and since I don't have a chance with a sword these days (*sad face*), I'll have to roll with a mage - useless isn't a class after all. Sounds totally legit, right... right?
DeleteIndeed. I myself think differently about mages in a MMO. It is usually an elf or a human. Maybe a gnome. All wearing robes and all more on the thin side of the scale. All in their 30-something and unbearded. Except for the gnome. A bearded gnome just seems more mage-y for me for some reason.
DeleteAnd you are right. Since I don't think I'd probably get myself cut if I tried to wield a sword not to mention unlikely to have the strength to do that, fighters are probably out for me too. I am not a big fan of mages and I am unable to have faith. So mage and clerics are out for me too. I am too lawful and clumsy to be a rogue. So I guess my only option would be "NPC That is Too Useless and Need An Adventurer To Solve His Problems".
Most characters of mine who have been 'consistently' active have tended to be body-type 2, although I do have a couple of female characters whom I still use regularly who use body-type 1 since these characters are intended to be physically younger than their fellows and the more scrawny look suits this interpretation.
ReplyDeleteBody-type 4 (for females; for males, it's horribly impractical..!) is decent, but some very annoying clipping tends to occur with various outfits more often with this body-type which is sadly very off-putting for me. :(
I hate clipping, too. I guess I'm lucky it didn't occur with Calo Nord's jacket, then! I'm usually happy with one outfit for characters that I only login to PvP on, so hopefully I'll miss out on this one.
DeleteInteresting! I also tend to veer towards characters similar to me, which is why my main is body type 4 (gasp) but I also really like all the female body types in SWTOR (different yet attractive in my opinion), which is why my alts are spread out pretty evenly. On TRE I have four 1s, six 2s, four 3s and four 4s.
ReplyDeleteI do actually like all four body types in SWTOR (although perhaps not so much body type 4 for males, that one's so over the top that it's primarily used for joke characters). I think you've done an amazing job of spreading them out, though. To compare, I counted the bodytypes of my characters for you:
Delete1: 7
2: 11
3: 1
4: 1
= equal dividing fail
Conclusion: liking them apparently isn't enough, I need to want to play them. I mean, I *like* dwarves in LOTRO, they are awesome, but playing one never worked out for me. It's absolutely irrational, I'm aware of that.
I'm in love with her! :)
ReplyDelete💗💗
DeleteBagpuss' response to this post on Inventory Full: Who says looks aren't everything
ReplyDeleteI like to try many body times, but some do turn me off. Like SW:TOR's body type 4 is too awkward for me. It's not exactly a big body type, but a giant dwarf type. If I had to choose a less favorite, it would be a very overweight body type.
ReplyDeleteI don't think body type 4 is that bad for female characters (see above), but for males... that's a whole different story.
DeleteI think the majority of my characters are body type 2.
ReplyDeleteThe very first character I created (male Zabrak) I remember swapping between 2 and 3 for some time before eventually deciding on 2 - it just seemed more normal. To me body type 3 (either gender) can tend to look a bit exaggerated, especially with bulky heavy armour strapped over the top of it.
That said, I do use the other body types. I have a Sith Inquisitor who's body type 1, picked partly because of the slave background for that story (figured they might be a bit malnourished) and partly because I found the image of a tiny Twi'lek terrifying everyone with her force powers slightly amusing.
I have a few body type 3 males, a Warrior and a Trooper. It seemed to fit with them, imposing combatants not afraid to put themselves on the front lines. I'm not sure if I have a female type 3 or not; My powertech might be, but I know I decided against if for a smuggler because I felt they'd want to be someone who blends in, so they're a more average type 2.
I do have a type 4 female, a Consular. I believe I started a type 4 female powertech at one point, but the starting armour just looked ridiculous on her and I hated it. One of the few characters I've deleted. Maybe I could have found her a decent armour set, but robes or slightly longer coats just seem to work much better with the female type 4 to me, personal preference I guess.
No male type 4s. It just looks silly to me. Maybe something to try one day, though, if I decide I need more characters :)
Also, sorry for the essay. :P
Don't apologize, essays are awesome! If you hang around a bit, you'll see that it's even somewhat of a tradition on this blog. Especially when it comes to individuals that are called Rakuno that post walls of text here in the comments, then run off to their own blog to transform it into a blog post! ;)
DeleteSeriously, though, it's really cool to read other people's thoughts in comments, especially if they're so detailed.
We have a lot in common when it comes to picking body types for our characters! My body type 3 character is a female powertech, for instance. I always thought the type suits bounty hunters and troopers the best.
I have two sith inquisitors that are body type 1, also because they start out as slaves. I also have a body type 1 female twi'lek gunslinger: life as a smuggler isn't easy to her. Contrary to popular thought, thieves usually aren't very wealthy, and there's a lot of running away involved.
And I do agree that robes and coats look best on female body type 4 characters. It looks much better than tight trousers and shirts. :)
I have been enjoying the refreshing new body types that mmos today are making available to play. I made my trooper in SWTOR with body type 4 and am thrilled with how he looks. I feel it is an intimidating size,like body type 3 but without the Herman Munster look.
ReplyDeleteSkyforge has a male body type that has a very noticeable belly and I like it. However they also have full and curvy bodies for female characters and I couldn't resist using that for my character. Since she carries a Canon for a living i'm glad I can give her the arms and legs necessary for such heavy lifting. Full female bodies in games are fascinating. I made my character in Blade and Soul with a full body, full arms and thighs(since her business is punching and kicking holes through people) and I gave her a waist with space enough to look like there could actually be vital organs in there. Lastly I reduced the size of her breast cause sports bras don't exist in that universe unfortunately.
Coming back to SWTOR, my sith has body type 4 and I think it fits her just right, except for her arms i'm afraid; they look a little too thin.
I'm glad you're enjoying body type 4. Your character looks awesome.
Oi, I was on holiday without internet when you commented and I totally missed it, sorry!
DeleteI, too, enjoy how new games with body sliders allow for less stereotypical "perfect" characters and how players (like you) take advantage of that. I remember being so annoyed by the breast size of female characters in LOTRO that I decided to roll an Elf over a human! I still don't generally wear dresses on humans and hobbits in that game unless the a-typical big breasts fit the character well. The game was released back in 2007 and the only way to pick another body type is by race (or gender). And now SWTOR is getting old fashioned already by having no body sliders, but at least there's the ability to pick body type, and since it also affects the faces there are many options available. :)
Finally, oh dear, now you got me thinking about "boob animations" and honestly, they annoy me to no end. Any woman with a reasonable breast size will tell you that it's completely unrealistic, because running without (suitable) bra will simply hurt. In my ideal MMO, all female characters would wear sport bras. Perhaps with an option to tick in the character creation screen saying "I'm horny as fuck and want to stare at my character's boobs going up and down", because, let's call it like it is. :P
She's freaking adorable! My scoundrel was body type 4 and I loved her! Sadly, I'm not currently playing SWTOR and haven't for more than a year now. Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) has an amazing character creation system, when compared to others. It uses sliders for everything from lip size to shoulder width to waist girth to feet length. And each race has its own body type. The same settings for one race won't look the same on another race. I'm playing WoW now and so very much wish they would provide a better character creation system. I'm not sure it's in the cards. :(
ReplyDelete*highfive* for body type 4 scoundrels! So cool that you're a fan of Ravinne.
DeleteAnd I totally agree, I love the more advanced character creation systems that the newer MMOs have! I so wish I could play Black Desert Online for that reason. But I know I wouldn't enjoy it now because I'd have to play on low graphics (my graphics card isn't top notch).
I've tried ESO and I did like the character creation system a lot, but I couldn't get into the gameplay. The same, unfortunately, is the case for WoW (although I still need to get to level 20 together with the boyfriend to help him get a Heartstone card). Even though the character creation is limited I found I *loved* creating more and more characters in WoW, simply because they are all so different and colourful (and there are so many races, it's really amazing). I think I have 12 characters now, which is kind of ridiculous considering I can't get into the game. /Sigh
Just like you're hoping for better character creation in WoW, I'm hoping for the same in another old timer, LOTRO, but I guess it's unlikely to happen in either of them.
To end on a more positive note (despite the impression I may have made with this Fashion Friday series), in the end I feel the quality of gameplay is, to a certain degree, more decisive in if I enjoy a game than what the characters look like! (Uhm, unless there's only super skimpy clothing options for female characters available, then I take everything back! :P)