(For the purposes of this thread, the use of the words 'curly' or 'textured' are used in reference to the hair you might see on your average African American, and not, for example, the curls or waves you might find on a ginger or a dirty blonde, though they are also lacking decent options)
I've made a post like this before, but it didn't really get much traction. It's been a couple of years, so I figured I'd refurbish it a little with more information.
I am guilty as charged as one of those people who likes to design their character in RPG games after themselves. I'm not a Roegadyn, obviously, but I am tall and broad enough to be closer to it than the average person. So, Negative here is pretty close to what I look like in real life, clothes and maybe the occasional odd proportion nonwithstanding.
When playing east-Asian RPGs, however, it's a trend (or dare I say, a trope) for them to have god-awful options for people like me, and I am thankful to XIV for letting me get as close as I have. We're mostly past the days where every RPG just had 50 shades of paper-white to sandy-peach for skin color, with one option for jet black for the odd blerd (2010s Mabinogi will never not catch strays from me for this), but we're not really at that point yet with hair... which XIV is guilty of as well.
Most RPGs I play (and especially MMOs), it's all just variations on the same straight hairdo, with some odd hair gel nonsense here and there, and maybe a bald and wavy hairstyle. But black textured hair? Only as a joke.
There are so many possibilities for textured hairstyles. Not every black person walks around wearing a '70s doo (well, I do, but that's besides the point). Afro puffs, cruddies, coils, shape ups, short and long braids, waves, fades, sisterlocks, twist outs, frizzing...
You might have your own opinions about hair like this, but many people find it beautiful, stylish. For some people, their hair is what largely defines their style. Like me!
So many things you can do with textured hair. Unfortunately, XIV seems to think otherwise, as all they've given us is...
...the Disco 'Fro.
I do remember being new to this game and seeing that the game had an Afro style unlockable in the Saucer, and being excited, only to find out that it's this no-forehead monstrosity of a hairy orb.
I understand why this is the only textured hairstyle in the game; it's a meme, and it's funny, plus these east-Asian developers probably thought it wasn't worth the time to implement anything actually realistic because their primary audience at the time (Japanese MMO players) wouldn't care. Plus they probably don't really know what good textured hair looks like, on account of Japan being famously (or infamously depending on who you ask) homogenous...
But it's possible. For instance, World of Warcraft, which has taken leaps and strides in terms of inclusivity in recent expansions, has these examples for much more respectable textured hairstyles...
...proving that it can be done in a lower-poly, resource-sensitive manner.
Now, not having these hairstyles doesn't kill the game for me. No, a number of other things are already doing that. But if we can constantly make adjustments to Lalafell armor rigging, would it be at all possible to add some hair I can vibe with without having to reroll to a Hrothgar?
Thanks.
Continue reading...
I've made a post like this before, but it didn't really get much traction. It's been a couple of years, so I figured I'd refurbish it a little with more information.
I am guilty as charged as one of those people who likes to design their character in RPG games after themselves. I'm not a Roegadyn, obviously, but I am tall and broad enough to be closer to it than the average person. So, Negative here is pretty close to what I look like in real life, clothes and maybe the occasional odd proportion nonwithstanding.
When playing east-Asian RPGs, however, it's a trend (or dare I say, a trope) for them to have god-awful options for people like me, and I am thankful to XIV for letting me get as close as I have. We're mostly past the days where every RPG just had 50 shades of paper-white to sandy-peach for skin color, with one option for jet black for the odd blerd (2010s Mabinogi will never not catch strays from me for this), but we're not really at that point yet with hair... which XIV is guilty of as well.
Most RPGs I play (and especially MMOs), it's all just variations on the same straight hairdo, with some odd hair gel nonsense here and there, and maybe a bald and wavy hairstyle. But black textured hair? Only as a joke.
There are so many possibilities for textured hairstyles. Not every black person walks around wearing a '70s doo (well, I do, but that's besides the point). Afro puffs, cruddies, coils, shape ups, short and long braids, waves, fades, sisterlocks, twist outs, frizzing...
You might have your own opinions about hair like this, but many people find it beautiful, stylish. For some people, their hair is what largely defines their style. Like me!
So many things you can do with textured hair. Unfortunately, XIV seems to think otherwise, as all they've given us is...
...the Disco 'Fro.
I do remember being new to this game and seeing that the game had an Afro style unlockable in the Saucer, and being excited, only to find out that it's this no-forehead monstrosity of a hairy orb.
I understand why this is the only textured hairstyle in the game; it's a meme, and it's funny, plus these east-Asian developers probably thought it wasn't worth the time to implement anything actually realistic because their primary audience at the time (Japanese MMO players) wouldn't care. Plus they probably don't really know what good textured hair looks like, on account of Japan being famously (or infamously depending on who you ask) homogenous...
But it's possible. For instance, World of Warcraft, which has taken leaps and strides in terms of inclusivity in recent expansions, has these examples for much more respectable textured hairstyles...
...proving that it can be done in a lower-poly, resource-sensitive manner.
Now, not having these hairstyles doesn't kill the game for me. No, a number of other things are already doing that. But if we can constantly make adjustments to Lalafell armor rigging, would it be at all possible to add some hair I can vibe with without having to reroll to a Hrothgar?
Thanks.
Continue reading...