There is nothing wrong with having stripperific outfits in game. Many people like them. Just don’t make them the default option. I logged into the GW2 beta, and of all the female norn default appearances, only the engineer has invented the “covered midriff.” We justified half-naked norn by their tendency to turn into bears, so they can’t be encased in metal … except that the men are. The human women seem to be a good mix, mostly with reasonable outfits, although we have the Asian lass in the orange bikini with some sort of metal exoskeleton floating around her. Except for the mesmer, the rest are great, classically stylish. (The charr look silly, clothed, but silly. The furred race uses more cloth than the giants?)
If people really like the stripper outfits that much, put them in the cash shop. This benefits your bottom line and your first impressions. League of Legends had people lined up to demand the chance to pay for a bunnygirl outfit for Riven. I have no idea how much money Riot made off that, but it seems like a wise business decision. Give people pants for free. Make them pay to take them off.
: Zubon
Best suggestion I have ever read for cash shops. You should get a prize.
“Give people pants for free. Make them pay to take them off.”
lol
Quote of the week material.
I’m not sure what to make of this. I immediately went to “want this woman to look more titillating for you? Start throwing money around!” Which is not a concept I would be comfortable with a game reinforcing. But maybe that’s my own baggage.
As a marketing move? Obviously it’s brilliant, for the same reason using sex to sell everything in our culture is effective. And I agree that you’d avoid chasing people away at the character creation screen, though it won’t be long before they stumble on a bunch of /dancing, mostly-naked female characters near a mailbox or whatever.
I do concur that all forms of characters and outfits should be offered in games; the more the better. I love the idea that default outfits should be cool in a gender neutral way, and you can offer paths to customize costumes – whether that be to take the pants off or add spikes and metal plates – further from there.
It might be my hatred of F2P games, but I would want the cash shop and in-game collecting to be alternative routes to the same end results.
EDIT: “Give people pants for free. Make them pay to take them off.†Yeah, that was pretty amazing. :)
+1 internets points for use of the word “Stripperific” in a blogpost, and have it fit contextually.
Argh, the Mesmer outfits are horribad. A Norn in high heels with her buttcheeks hanging out. /disgusted
Then again, I think most of the female outfits are bad — no woman wants to pay that much attention to her hips, designer dudes!
That reminds me of what they say about design: it’s not done when you cannot add any more, but when you cannot remove any more.
Brilliant idea for a cash shop item. Nobody can really complain. It isn’t Pay to Win.
If your game has an appearance tab, its even more brilliant.
-Michael Hartman
@frogdiceinc
http://www.frogdice.com
I agree with this so much! What I wouldn’t give to be fully clothed in a game! And rotund, even the biggest character models were really skinny. But I’d settle for being fully clothed first.
Just make sure to repair in time. Otherwise you’re out in the wild without pants again…