The Video Game Model Rant
Tropes ahead! There, you've been warned.
Now, with that out of the way: I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to certain race concepts, model designers for electronic games just can't win.
First, the male models. If they're heavily built and not distinctly tapered, people will call them "fat." If they're heavily built and V-shaped, people will whine that they're top-heavy...and probably still call them "fat" anyway. If they're instead relatively lightly built, people whine that they're scrawny.
On top of this? While being pretty (or at least what I like to call "prettyweird") is generally the first order of business for female characters, any attempt to make male characters attractive is greeted with hysterical screeching from insecure little boys. (See: the whole blood elf fiasco.)
Female models are a great big can of worms all on their own. I'm going to try to dodge the biggest bullets here as much as possible (although I've already brushed against one of 'em by mentioning Cute Monster Girl Syndrome). But let's say the males of a given race are in the aforementioned "heavily built" category. If the females are slender, people will gripe about the dimorphism. But if the females are themselves solidly built, people will (again) call them "fat," accuse them of being "masculine," just generally insist that they're hideous, or some combination of two or more of the above. (And heaven forbid the race is only marginally dimorphic at all, as per Guild Wars 2's charr...)
And...okay, I lied about dodging the biggest bullets. If female characters are not absolutely stacked, people whine that they're flat-chested. And yet, there's still this persistent (and unfounded) rumor that female draenei have ridiculously huge tits.
It should be noted, however, that this still doesn't excuse pitifully half-assed work like female worgen. After all, if you worked very hard on twenty-three other models, there's no excuse to turn around and do a slipshod job on the twenty-fourth. But the sad part is that the very same people who trot out all of these other complaints will defend such half-assed work to the ends of the earth.
Now, with that out of the way: I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to certain race concepts, model designers for electronic games just can't win.
First, the male models. If they're heavily built and not distinctly tapered, people will call them "fat." If they're heavily built and V-shaped, people will whine that they're top-heavy...and probably still call them "fat" anyway. If they're instead relatively lightly built, people whine that they're scrawny.
On top of this? While being pretty (or at least what I like to call "prettyweird") is generally the first order of business for female characters, any attempt to make male characters attractive is greeted with hysterical screeching from insecure little boys. (See: the whole blood elf fiasco.)
Female models are a great big can of worms all on their own. I'm going to try to dodge the biggest bullets here as much as possible (although I've already brushed against one of 'em by mentioning Cute Monster Girl Syndrome). But let's say the males of a given race are in the aforementioned "heavily built" category. If the females are slender, people will gripe about the dimorphism. But if the females are themselves solidly built, people will (again) call them "fat," accuse them of being "masculine," just generally insist that they're hideous, or some combination of two or more of the above. (And heaven forbid the race is only marginally dimorphic at all, as per Guild Wars 2's charr...)
And...okay, I lied about dodging the biggest bullets. If female characters are not absolutely stacked, people whine that they're flat-chested. And yet, there's still this persistent (and unfounded) rumor that female draenei have ridiculously huge tits.
It should be noted, however, that this still doesn't excuse pitifully half-assed work like female worgen. After all, if you worked very hard on twenty-three other models, there's no excuse to turn around and do a slipshod job on the twenty-fourth. But the sad part is that the very same people who trot out all of these other complaints will defend such half-assed work to the ends of the earth.
