WHORES AND SINNERS [Author: lum]
The Pimp Dresses on one level are not the best example for this. They’re practically an easter egg… you have to take a pre-existing item, run it to a merchant, and have them alter it (“I’d like about six inches torn off the front, K? Thx”) I’d like to think that Asheron’s Call is not going to be immediately overrun with bearded men with their tits hanging out begging for portals and motes.
I’d like to think that. I’d be wrong, but y’know, I still would like to think that.
And that’s really what Liet was saying (and what many of you ignored – why? Probably because, you know, she’s female and vaguely threatening to have your pixellated tit show taken away which tends to irk some folks.
But that’s not the problem. You want to see tits? Knock yerself out – this is the internet, pixels that arrange themselves into images of naked people are usually about 2-3 clicks away from any page you find yourself on. Or hell, here’s a concept – go on a date, be charming and suave and maybe just maybe you’ll get to see them in real life. Try not to drool.
No, the problem is that Asheron’s Call was considered a more mature, upscale habitat and a large part of that was that everyone basically looked like identical lumps of polygons. I mean, in UO you’ve got women running around in metal thongs and whips and leather and whatnot, and in EQ, well, you have w00d elves. And UO has Brit bank, and EQ has, well, EQ. Places you just don’t want to go if you don’t care for your brain attempting to crawl out of your ear out of self-preservation.
What a difference a simple piece of equipment makes. Yes, now the bumpfuzzlers are in Nirvana – they can sidle up to someone and heave their chest meaningfully! Whoo hoo! And the powergamers can all cast huge buff spells on their dresses and run around hoping someone will be horny and give them free lewt on the off chance they might actually be female! Yee haw!
No one is saying that Turbine is forcing you to run around with your tits hanging out. God forbid any company should do that. No, it’s far more subtle than that. This is just a small step in the journey of Asheron’s Call to be just like every other MMORPG, with hordes of dewds infesting the landscape harassing everyone for any reason that comes to them, up to and including anatomy.
And some people got a problem with that.