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***Update 1 – 2016-12-07 – 20:40 CET ***

I have something that I would like to get off my chest, because last night I got into trouble with the mods over at Imzy.com. You see, I posted my FFXV OP post on their site (the post that you got in front of you right now). Well…Let´s just say that things didn´t exactly turn out the way that I had hoped for. First and for most, I´m pretty new to Imzy. So I had no idea that it´s a big no no to post content of the kind that we write at their house (don´t even think about publishing anything of #GamerGate, censorship, anti-SJW or anti-PC nature via Imzy). Simply put, my FFXV post got pulled shortly after that I had published it via Imzy:

I should also point out that even though I didn´t break any of Imzy´s site rules, I still ended up having my FFXV post pulled from their site. Furthermore, just now I saw these comments by mercysgaze (he or she is an Imzy user. I also believe that mercysgaze is a mod of some sort?):

Fair enough, at least mercysgaze stated that he or she didn´t like the fact that my FFXV post was taken down even though I didn´t break any rules. Even so, I have to state that I have no problem with mercysgaze opinions. However, I did not publish my FFXV post on Imzy to stir up drama and kick-off some crusade (that was never my intention). I also noticed that most of the Imzy users made it sound like they’re getting ready for war or something?

“Tbh giving your article a title that begins with “The Whine About” isn’t going to help anyone be more open to your article. If you want actual open and serious discussion about this stuff, it’s probably a good idea to drop a lot of the language that’s bound to set people’s teeth on edge before they even get to the actual article. As it is the title alone tells me where your bias lies, and I have no interest in reading a post where you basically dismiss criticism of a character design as whining. I love Final Fantasy, have since I was a teen, and I still fully intend to play FFXV. And yes I realize the FF devs have a tendency to skimp the dudes up as well, which I appreciate. That said, there’s a much bigger trend of sexualizing women, which does make Cindy’s design unfortunate, particularly because she’s one of a few female characters. (Which is also disappointing from an FF game)” – mercysgaze



Any ways, the hard truth is actually that I had no idea that Imzy is even worse than Reddit and NeoGaf when it comes to safe spaces…So what basically happened was that I published something, which is not accepted on their site (I pretty much kicked in their safe space door and started to jam anti-PC/SJW songs like crazy), and since I´ve also been told that Imzy consists mainly of the people who left Reddit because of the “Reddit toxicity”. I soon started to realize why things turned out the way it did. Sure, I can admit that I should have picked a more professional headline for my FFXV post, but even so. I don´t think that I made any personal attacks, nor that I was overly aggressive in my FFXV OP post (I don´t get the “bad tone” part?).

Nevertheless, now I know that it´s not a good idea to publish posts of this “kind” on the Imzy site. As it´s very likely that the site´s mods and community will tear the post apart. As for me, I always try my very best to improve and to become more professional with everything that I set my mind to (I have written 1,900 posts since May, 2014). However, it´s pretty much impossible to please everyone, and I hardly doubt that I could have done anything to change the minds of the Imzy mods who pulled the plug on my FFXV (at least not without changing the content and my opinions completely).

Well, I can´t change what has happened. So I´m just going to try to improve my writing skills as much as I possibly can. Nevertheless, I got one more thing that I would like to bring up. Because while I was reading through One Angry Gamer´s post on this matter (I told him about my Imzy “incident” last night”) I caught the following comment about my FFXV post:

“I’m of a mind to agree with mercysgaze, it sounds like the language and tone of the article was pretty acerbic. If you’re trying to convince people of something rely more on the logic point and try not to come off sounding so supercilious. I realize this is the definition of “tone-policing”, but i’m definitely more inclined to be open-minded to a new view when someone addresses me in a civil, respectful tone, rather than aggressive, patronizing one.” – Gerg Arata, Disqus user

I always try to be as civil and non aggressive as possible, but I honestly still don´t get why some people think that I was aggressive and had a “bad tone” throughout my FFXV post? Oh well…Personally, I agree with Billy from One Angry Gamer:

“I’m of a mind to agree with mercysgaze, it sounds like the language and tone of the article was pretty acerbic.I don’t think it’s any more antagonizing than articles from the opposite side of the view that calls people “misogynists” and “sexists” for liking characters like Cindy or the developers sexists and misogynists for making the characters.It’s the far side of the same coin. But my view is this: If one side is allowed to make inflammatory comments and criticisms, the other side should be able to do the same.I’m not really appreciative of censoring language on one side of an argument while allowing that language to flourish through social media on the opposing side just because it has a more “acceptable” viewpoint.I don’t remember Reddit, Twitter or Facebook coming down on Polygon when Ben Kuchera began censoring and banning users, calling them misogynists and sexists when people didn’t agree that #GamerGate was a harassment campaign.” – Billy, One Angry Gamer

Source:

Imzy

Archive link

One Angry Gamer

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You know. You don´t even have to be a fortune-teller or a good gambler to know what will happen when it comes to sexy female characters in games. Well, at least nowadays. As it seems like digital booty and boobs are much worse than nuclear weapons, ISIS or cancer…And as you might remember, way back in June of 2015, I wrote a post called “SJWs wants to remove Tifa´s big breasts from Final Fantasy 7 Remake“. Well, nothing much has changed since then, as it still seems like female boobs in games are a big no no for “some” people. However, if you have no idea what I´m talking about, then please allow me to fill you in on what´s been going down as of lately.

You see, just recently people started to whine about Cindy Aurum´s boobs in “Final Fantasy XV” (as seen in the pictures down below). On a personal level, I don´t get the outcry, but I will still give my thoughts on the subject. However, before I start that, I would like to point out that this is nothing new. In the matter of fact, it´s been like this for years (it´s much worse now though…). Just take games like “Street Fighter V“, “Dead or Alive Xtreme 3“, “Tokyo Mirage” and “The Witcher 3″, all of them have been accused of everything from “sexism“, “misogyny” to being nothing more than “straight male sex fantasies“.

So I can´t say that I was surprised to hear that people like Jonathan McIntosh have targeted Cindy Aurum from “Final Fantasy XV”. Especially not when it comes to Mcintosh, as he works really hard to find stuff that he can whine about (Mcintosh loves to cherry pick through every single game that he plays). That´s also why Mcintosh has become very predictable, because you can pretty much guess on before hand what he will say (toxic masculinity check, sexism check, misogyny check, and so on).

Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with Cindy´s chest or outfit. So when Adam Ellis ( Illustrator/Author/Apparel Store/Buzzfeed) stated “have the designers of this game ever met a woman“. I couldn´t help to laugh, because Saori Itamuro is the lead scenario designer for FFXV, and then you got female cosplayers like Byndo Gehk, whom has cosplayed as Cindy Aurum in the past. So I think it´s safe to say that Ellis have no idea whatsoever what his talking about. As for McIntosh and his “straight male sexy fantasy” rubbish statements about FFXV, I only have this to say to him. Have you ever heard about bisexual and lesbian women McIntosh? You do know that they love boobs and sexy female game characters as well (so do straight female Gamers). Hell, even cats love boobs! (and who can blame them really?).

I also don´t get why McIntosh (and others) complains about Cindy´s outfit? I mean, it´s not like she´s working outside in the sun in the middle of the desert or something…(*deep sarcasm*. My point would be that even though I´m not as attractive and sexy as Cindy, I pretty much always work half-nude when the warm summer comes to Sweden. As I have no desire to faint due to the super warm weather. So I hardly doubt that it would make much sense for Cindy to wear a full-size burqa, because that seems to be what “some” people want for Cindy…(not on my watch!).

I also think that people like Jonathan McIntosh and Adam Ellis are nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites, because the main characters of FFXV (Noctis Lucis Caelum, Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia and Prompto Argentum) are all super good-looking, buff and sexy to the max. Nevertheless, McIntosh and Ellis said nothing about that fact, they just whined about Cindy´s looks and boobs instead. Furthermore, it´s very insulting to the female Gaming community to assume that Cindy is simply a “straight male sexy fantasy” kind of character. Because who gives them the right to label Cindy as a “straight male” only kind of character? The truth is that pretty much everyone but the SJWs love Cindy (no matter their gender, race or sexual orientation). So it´s just plain ignorant and stupid to make a claim like that.

Sure, I can´t speak for everyone else now, but I honestly prefer to have sexy and attractive characters in my games (no matter if it´s playable or NPC characters). I mean, I´m not saying that every single character should look like a 10/10 super model, but when I get a chance to design my own character (s). I always tend to create a character that´s much better looking than the real me (I’m allowed to daydream right?). Because I´m not a 6.8″ tall and 300 lbs heavy guy in real who can carry a two-handed sword in each hand like it was no big deal. Simply put, I like to dream myself away from time to time, and games allow me to do that. As I can become who ever I want to and do whatever I want to (Duke Nukem 3D filled out that void for me as a teen, as I got to slay monsters, get babes and look super cool while doing it).

There is another thing that I thought about as well. Actually, it´s math-related (don´t worry. It’s the simple kind of math). You see, as I stated earlier. Jonathan McIntosh (and others) whined about Cindy´s boobs, looks, “sexism” and whatnot. Well, Cindy is one person, while the four male main characters are FOUR people. So doesn´t that mean that there are at least three times as much male sexism in FFXV by their own logic? I´m of course just pulling your nose here, but it´s worthy of a thought at least (the males are just as much eye candy as Cindy is, and I have nothing against that whatsoever). I also recall The Mary Sue stating something about “Final Fantasy XV Fans are Sexist Pigs“? And “if” there´s any truth to that, then I think it´s a pretty stupid claim. Because I hardly doubt that the FF fanbase is 100% male, and that every single FF fan is a sexist pig (no matter the gender).

Nevertheless, I can´t help to laugh at people such as McIntosh, as the guy finds everything to be offensive (“boobs are offensive. Violence is offensive. A group of male friends is offensive”, and so on). Hell, he doesn´t even seem to realize that women love game boobs and sexy females too. So why wouldn´t I like female boobs and hot game chicks as well? Well, in McIntosh mind that´s all wrong and sexist…And since I also just happen to be a white straight male, I´m pretty much the spawn of Satan himself (it´s spelled “toxic masculinity”, it´s like kryptonite for McIntosh). I couldn´t care less though, because I´m proud of who I am, and I´m not going change or feel any shame over who I am or my skin color (In my eyes, McIntosh is just full of nonsense rubbish).

So, all in all, I have come to the conclusion that boobs = Pure fear for people like McIntosh, and that it´s a weapon of choice for anyone who wants to piss them off. In my eyes though, boobs = life, and I love them no matter if they are real or fictional (as long as they belong to a female *insert your adult joke here*). It´s also worth mentioning that even though Roberto Ferrari (the guy who designed Cindy Aurum) was told to tone down Cindy´s sexiness (her breasts jiggled too much according to FFXV´s director Hajime Tabata), “some” people still whined that Cindy was “too sexy”. In other words, game developers and publishers should not cave into the loud minority voices.

Because no matter what they do, there will still always be someone like McIntosh out there that will whine about something being sexist in your game (s). As for FFXV as a whole, I´ve been told that the game is freaking awesome (we hope to give the game away for both Xbox One and PS4 in the near future, and a review will follow shortly as well!). So if you´re a fan of “Final Fantasy”, then I bet that you will enjoy the game a whole lot (that´s at least what other FF fans told me).

And with that said, what´s your take on this matter? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below!

Credit:

/Morbid_Complex.sys

Source:

Mombot

Adam Ellis

Jonathan McIntosh

Alpha Omega Sin

***Disclaimer***

This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.



Robin “V-Act” Ek

The Gaming Ground

Twitter: @TheGamingGround

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Tags: Cindy Aurum, FF XV, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XV, Jrpg, Square Enix