So I wanted to start off by saying, I think the development team has done a pretty great job with the cast of female hero's in Overwatch. They are diverse, interesting, and compelling. From Mei to Zarya to Widowmaker the female cast reflects a large spectrum of personalities and player fantasies.
With that being said, lets talk about Tracer. From a marketing standpoint, she's the star of the show. She's a great hero. When we look at the way she's portrayed in promotional media, lore, and art in game we know a few things about her..
She's Fast.
She's Silly.
She's Kind.
She's a good Friend.
Her body seems to be comprised of about 95% spunk.
Almost all of her art reflects this. She's got cool skins: http://static.mnium.org/images/contenu/actus/Overwatch/Heros/overwatch_skin-tracer_11_hd.jpg
She's got fun poses:
http://cdn.blizzardwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Tracer_waving_header.jpg
She's got amazing victory animations:
https://youtu.be/MFbXd3KIvhQ?t=224
All of this art reinforces the great character you've built around tracer.
Then out of seemingly no where we have this pose:
http://overwatch.blizzplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/tracer-victory-pose-2-over-the-shoulder.png
WHAT? What about this pose has anything to do with the character you're building in tracer? It's not fun, its not silly, it has nothing to do with being a fast elite killer. It just reduces tracer to another bland female sex symbol.
We aren't looking at a widowmaker pose here, this isn't a character who is in part defined by flaunting her sexuality. This pose says to the player base, oh we've got all these cool diverse characters, but at any moment we are willing to reduce them to sex symbols to help boost our investment game.
Getting art into a triple A game isn't a small task, it has to go through an implementer, a team lead, an art director, and a creative director. This is a team effort. And I believe the team is responsible for upholding the great example overwatch can set to the rest of the industry for creating strong female characters.
I have a young daughter that everyday when I wake up wants to watch the recall trailer again. She knows who tracer is, and as she grows up, she can grow up alongside these characters.
What I'm asking is that as you continue to add to the overwatch cast and investment elements, you double down on your commitment to create strong female characters. You've been doing a good job so far, but shipping with a tracer pose like this undermines so much of the good you've already done.
With that being said, lets talk about Tracer. From a marketing standpoint, she's the star of the show. She's a great hero. When we look at the way she's portrayed in promotional media, lore, and art in game we know a few things about her..
She's Fast.
She's Silly.
She's Kind.
She's a good Friend.
Her body seems to be comprised of about 95% spunk.
Almost all of her art reflects this. She's got cool skins: http://static.mnium.org/images/contenu/actus/Overwatch/Heros/overwatch_skin-tracer_11_hd.jpg
She's got fun poses:
http://cdn.blizzardwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Tracer_waving_header.jpg
She's got amazing victory animations:
https://youtu.be/MFbXd3KIvhQ?t=224
All of this art reinforces the great character you've built around tracer.
Then out of seemingly no where we have this pose:
http://overwatch.blizzplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/tracer-victory-pose-2-over-the-shoulder.png
WHAT? What about this pose has anything to do with the character you're building in tracer? It's not fun, its not silly, it has nothing to do with being a fast elite killer. It just reduces tracer to another bland female sex symbol.
We aren't looking at a widowmaker pose here, this isn't a character who is in part defined by flaunting her sexuality. This pose says to the player base, oh we've got all these cool diverse characters, but at any moment we are willing to reduce them to sex symbols to help boost our investment game.
Getting art into a triple A game isn't a small task, it has to go through an implementer, a team lead, an art director, and a creative director. This is a team effort. And I believe the team is responsible for upholding the great example overwatch can set to the rest of the industry for creating strong female characters.
I have a young daughter that everyday when I wake up wants to watch the recall trailer again. She knows who tracer is, and as she grows up, she can grow up alongside these characters.
What I'm asking is that as you continue to add to the overwatch cast and investment elements, you double down on your commitment to create strong female characters. You've been doing a good job so far, but shipping with a tracer pose like this undermines so much of the good you've already done.
Is this thread a joke? I hope this thread is a joke. It's a video game. This game is not made exclusively for your young daughter. I like the pose, and so do many others, and just because your weirdly rigid views on sexuality prevent you from appreciating it doesn't mean they should take it out of the game to accommodate you.
Blizz, please don't listen to people like this. Next she'll be asking you to take away McCree's cigar because she doesn't want her daughter to see people smoking.
Blizz, please don't listen to people like this. Next she'll be asking you to take away McCree's cigar because she doesn't want her daughter to see people smoking.
I think you have a point about it being out of character. Like you said it seems like the kind of pose you'd expect from Widowmaker.
Seems pretty reflective of a lot of what's out there in the World today. There's a lot of girls that seem pretty proud of their butts and post pictures of them all the time on social media. They seem to be doing it willingly, no one is forcing them to do it. If you don't want your daughter to see this stuff, she pretty much should stay away from TV and the Internet.
she's not weak because she has a toned !@#. I see nothing wrong with the pose. All the lore they gave tracer and cool points they gave her arn't thrown away because she has a toned $%^. They named it, looking over the shoulder, in my opinion its a goofy pose. I think assuming its "undermining" her character is not something that most people think when they see this. I think people who see a video game characters -*! in a jumpsuit and think sexual thoughts are actually the ones thinking inappropriately while the developers were just making her goofy and silly. Her being a heroic character isn't thrown away because she stays in shape. She is still a good rolemodel.
Most companies add females by adding half naked women to entice main characters. Overwatch did an amazing job of creating strong, independent characters, with tracer being the strongest female. I never thought I'd see someone complain at her being over sexualized. Even so, sexy women are strong women too. Just because someone is sexy or they are proud of their body doesn't mean they arn't strong or don't deserve respect. I just disagree so much with what you said lol.
Most companies add females by adding half naked women to entice main characters. Overwatch did an amazing job of creating strong, independent characters, with tracer being the strongest female. I never thought I'd see someone complain at her being over sexualized. Even so, sexy women are strong women too. Just because someone is sexy or they are proud of their body doesn't mean they arn't strong or don't deserve respect. I just disagree so much with what you said lol.
Assuming this is not troll thread, There is something very wrong with the position you seem to hold. Blizzard has the creative freedom to make the game they choose. You have the right do dislike the work of other people, but you should not impose what you think "ought" to be in regards to artistic freedom.
Artistic freedom is the extent of freedom of an artist to produce art to his/her own insight. The extent can deviate to customs in a certain school of art, directives of the assigner, etc.
If Blizz wanted to make a game with 100% males because of some interesting story/dynamic or what ever reason, they have every right to do so.
Artistic freedom is the extent of freedom of an artist to produce art to his/her own insight. The extent can deviate to customs in a certain school of art, directives of the assigner, etc.
If Blizz wanted to make a game with 100% males because of some interesting story/dynamic or what ever reason, they have every right to do so.
Was trying to think of a young strong female role model in real life, that has not done a butt photo. Most have.
The first time I saw that pose after a game it completely took me out of it. It was jarring. It didn't fit the character that has been established at all and seemed very out of place. Maybe the pose isn't supposed to be about her butt but that is how it turned out. That is partly because of Tracer's proportions which have never bothered me either (she does have a cushy rump haha, that's fine), but the fact remains that this pose showcases it and it is just...jarring.
Wulphy, why do you like the pose.
I have no problems with character sexuality, I wouldn't have thought twice about Widowmaker in that pose, but it was very out of place with Tracer.
Do the male characters showcase their buttcheeks in any of their poses?
Wulphy, why do you like the pose.
I have no problems with character sexuality, I wouldn't have thought twice about Widowmaker in that pose, but it was very out of place with Tracer.
Do the male characters showcase their buttcheeks in any of their poses?
A lot of characters in the game have over the shoulder poses that show off backside. The fact that Tracer has this pose and just so happens to show off some booty doing it seems more like an unintended side-effect to me, not Blizzard blatantly going "Let's make her show off some !@#."
I also wasn't aware that Widowmaker being a blatant sex symbol for the game was part of her "character." No where in her lore does it say she seduces people, she's just a really good assassin. I figured if anyone was going to be mad about females being oversexualized in this game it would be because of Widow.
I also wasn't aware that Widowmaker being a blatant sex symbol for the game was part of her "character." No where in her lore does it say she seduces people, she's just a really good assassin. I figured if anyone was going to be mad about females being oversexualized in this game it would be because of Widow.
The OP is a brave, brave, brave person.
Also probably a little naive.
Good luck!
Also probably a little naive.
Good luck!
Id be more worried about this generation's pop music/rap before i worry about blizzard's posing.
It doesn't seem sexual to me, I do see where the person is coming from though. The way I interpret her stance is a cutesy little arrogant "Yup, gotcha!" as she looks over her shoulder at the people she just dominated. The buttcheeks that are evident are simply because of her outfit. And she IS a woman so like... what do we do, remove the buttcheeks? XD
I think it's in character.
I think it's in character.
03/25/2016 09:46 AMPosted by Vinnio
I also wasn't aware that Widowmaker being a blatant sex symbol for the game was part of her "character." No where in her lore does it say she seduces people, she's just a really good assassin. I figured if anyone was going to be mad about females being oversexualized in this game it would be because of Widow.
This. I'm extremely curious why you only care about tracer being sexualized and not widow. Obviously your daughter can see her too. Is it ok for Widow to be sexy because your depict her as a "bad guy"?
03/25/2016 09:43 AMPosted by Alice
I have no problems with character sexuality, I wouldn't have thought twice about Widowmaker in that pose, but it was very out of place with Tracer. Do the male characters showcase their buttcheeks in any of their poses?
Blizzard has the artistic freedom to create whatever character they desire. You shouldn't impede their liberties.
Wulphy, how do you know Fipps is a woman? Men can and do hold similar views. The poster is right. The pose does seem to be over sexulized for the character.
Actually the part about this image that bugs me is the fact that she looks like she has a very uncomfortable-looking wedgie. Didn't sit right with me either. Who would run around fighting bad guys with a wedgie like that?? But yeah, they could have done more with the pose to bring out her personality.
03/25/2016 09:54 AMPosted by MursaWulphy, how do you know Fipps is a woman? Men can and do hold similar views. The poster is right. The pose does seem to be over sexulized for the character.
She is in a jumpsuit looking over her shoulder. Girls in track, water polo, gymnastics, volleyball, etc the list goes on, often wear clothes like this. Yes athletic wear sits close on the skin. It makes you aerodynamic. When you see a gymnast performing in the Olympics are your thoughts, "wow too sexualized!"? or "wow that was amazing"
Thinking this pose had sexual intentions is like thinking women at the gym wear their clothes to be sexy not functional. Women wearing yoga pants don't wear them to entertain you. Same goes for tracer. It's a side effect that her butt is defined by the suit and pose. Not the intention.
