Everything_Xen

Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha

I had points left over from buying other stuff (Costume slots, enhancement trays, yada yada) and, judging from the reports of other posters who got the 24 bundle stuff, of close to, I figured it was worth the risk. I was right.

That still doesn't detract from the point that I'm not buying anymore. That's it. That's the one off shot they had. So good luck to 'em.

Originally Posted by McCharraigin

March 16!!!! I have time to ask off!!!!! Yay!!!!!!

I am putting in my vacation request first thing in the morning

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Originally Posted by Quasadu

It's 25% only lasts an hour and doesn't work while you're defeated.

It is in no way a substitute for Double XP Weekend.

Originally Posted by Zombie Man

Spelling fixt.

And it's not about the midriff. It's about the bikini bottom being so out of place color-wise when you have a midriff. If you noticed, two of my example recolorings kept the midriff. Nobody is against a bare belly. They're against a bare belly *for that outfit*.

As is, a bright red zippered bikini over a bright white tights and a bare belly is problematic not because it's slutty, it's a problem because it's a fashion disaster.

Originally Posted by SlickRiptide

Firstly, let's dispense with "underwear on the outside" when talking about Superman-style of uniforms. That's a modern-day schtick. His uniform was created in the 1930's when nobody at all would have thought of it was "underwear on the outside" and any WOMAN wearing something that looked like underwear would have been viewed as a vixen, at best.

Superman and the heroes who copied him are based on a circus strongman's outfit. The shorts (not underwear) are a caricature of the clothes worn by body-builders even today and the tights was just an excuse to make him look muscular while still having him be less-than-naked.

A golden-age heroine's costume would never look like "underwear on the outside". It would have been inspired by a one-piece swimsuit or an evening gown and more likely to have a skirt than to have any piece that was obviously meant to look like panties.

Penny's outfit looks just fine when drawn that way, as some of the photoshopped examples in this thread show.

Is she risque? No, not really. Is she gratuitous? Yes, most definitely. The question is, "Why?". What's the point of drawing that attention, to the point that they even paint her panties on her trousers?

I say "they" because Penny is a fictional character and ultimately some designer at Paragon Studios is the one who made this decision.

She wears a uniform made of some shiny, apparently rubber-like material that one assumes is intended to be protection of some sort. Why then have an exposed, unprotected midriff? That seems downright silly. I assume the weird belt holds up her pants in much the way a garter belt holds up stockings. Seems like a clumsy arrangement,really.

However, teen Penny also wears a short jacket. Maybe she just likes the feel of air on her belly. *shrug*

"Underwear on the outside" serves a purpose, however antiquated, on the Superman-inspired styles and it was never intended sexually, nor would it have been perceived that way by the people who were initially exposed to it. The circus strong man style would have been well-known and recognized for what it was.

I don't think you can find any examples of a woman wearing a lingerie-style of clothing that doesn't involve at least a deliberate display of her assets, when it doesn't involve outright intent to pander to male sexual desire. If you can name any, I'll be interested to hear of them.

A character like Swan has her place in the pantheon. She's a Victoria's Secret hero. That's fine and dandy because she doesn't make any bones about it. In fact, there's a certain intimidation factor from dressing like that - a criminal who is accosted by a hero in nothing but lingerie has to ask himself what defenses this hero has that he's not seeing.

Penny's outfit is basically pandering. She's wearing a protective uniform that covers her up and that could have had thousands of different patterns imposed onto it that would have been cool and unique. Instead, the pattern that was chosen was to literally paint her underwear onto her uniform since we couldn't see it under the uniform.

If anything, the one thing that actually offends me about the design is not the sexuality of it. It's the idea in some graphic designer's head that the only way that I, the player, can recognize this character as female and appreciate her as female is to spell it out and clobber me over the head with it, as if I'm too stupid or loutish to appreciate anything other than lingerie on a woman.

Originally Posted by Zwillinger

Guys...guys...guys...

One word.

Flambeaux

Originally Posted by OneFrigidWitch

I like redside stories more tbh. But the blueside rewards are sooooooooooooooooooo much better.

Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake

Zwill, thanks for your responses, and rest assured, i know you guys respond to feedback, and have defended paragon often in the past(been called a kiss up by professional malcontents ) but Can you answer me one question, have you ever received a post asking for grab bags, Did somebody ask for them? I have never seen one, but I'm not everywhere. And finally, do grab bags get the company a significantly higher profit than buying costume sets?

the basis for those questions is just that here and in a similarly themed game, grab bags have been received in an overwhelmingly negative sense, I just cant see anyone actually wanting them, and just a few accepting them. Now i realized from a business standpoint that they give repeating revenue, but are they that much more profitable than costume sets on the market, I understand that paragon requires a steady stream of income, its why i have bought almost every costume part offered. but are costume sets as they are on the market just not bringing in the cash and we needed this? I want the game to stay profitable because thats how we get new things and talented people, so is it really a situation where we needed them? Anyway, the die is cast, and we will deal with the results, I want paragon to stay healthy, and am glad to do my part, but I completely hate this and it feels forced on us against strenuous opposition.