News from PAX

On the subject of high-heel boots: I think we need to draw a distinction between a boot with an elevated heel and a stiletto. A higher than flat heel is not uncommon, and in even most male boots have one. Females have about five times the heel height, but even then, the ordinary Smooth boot still looks like a practical boot because it gives the foot at least some degree of surface area with which to provide grip, stability and support.

A stiletto, by contrast, has a very narrow heel that has almost no surface area. The problem with his is - and I've seen this countless times - that such heels sink in soft soil. All of my school years AND my university years were spent on a lovely locale just outside of town where paved surfaces weren't always available, and the soil around those paved surfaces was always covered in a sea of stiletto heel holes in the ground. If that's not enough, there wasn't a gap between two sidewalk tiles around the university building that didn't have at least one stiletto heel hole in its filler soil.

I don't want to question the aesthetics of "needle stilettos," but the simple fact of the matter is that these are only really useful on paved ground or inside vehicles. Taking these kinds of shoes off the beaten track just makes them sink in the ground. If we're talking about a wedding pack, we're talking about outfits that are mostly useful inside buildings or on city streets where the floors are hard. If we're talking Steampunk, we can conceivable speak about people who mostly ride vehicles or fly on impossible contraptions. But if we're talking Barbarians, these are people who would spend a great deal of time on foot in the wilderness, walking on grass, soil and mud.

Realism notwithstanding, giving them shoes that at least look like they could walk through these terrains without sinking in should be a priority. Even sandals or bare frikkin' feet would be more believable. Remember that one mission from Harvey Maylor about his missing reporter? In her notes from the clue where you find out she went to a cave, she has a note to herself: "Wear comfortable shoes."

*edit*
It occurs to me that perhaps when we as a community say we want something but neglect to mention we want it FOR WOMEN, the art team immediately assumes we want it just for men and then give women something else that's vaguely in the same general theme. That's a very scary thought for me, since most of my costume requests from the last... Five years? All of them have been FOR FEMALE CHARACTERS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

As Sam points out, we're really talking stillettos. I hadn't felt it necessary to make the distinction between "high heels" and "stiletto heels" since they mean the same thing to me, even though I know that boots have raised heels as do assorted other sorts of shoes. (And now I know more about the history of shoes than I ever imagined I'd want to know *laugh*)

I jumped back to the first post in the thread just to verify. The "barbarian" in question is definitely wearing stilletto heels, albeit a bit thicker than typical pump heels because she's wearing boots.

They'd be impractical for the reasons that Sam states and they're fashionable today for the reasons I stated earlier. People wearing elevator shoes to avoid getting their togs dirty while sacrificing a bull doesn't really alter that basic fact. heh. I WAS surprised by the magazine article that (tongue-in-cheek) credited stilettos to Da Vinci. The man WAS a genius!

Heh, if you want a fleeting laugh, check out these hiking heels

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Almost all my toons wear heels. Some in the form of platform heels, I'll grant you, but they are heels nonetheless. I consider the wearing of such as bona fide proof of Super Hero-ness. "LOOK! Stilettos! And I'm RUNNING! And... NO BLISTERS!" Spandex? Pfft! Anyone can wear spandex. Stilettos and Super Speed? Now THAT is a Super Human!

There is a shoe museum in Europe I saw on TV, with shoes of the ages. Royal courts were wearing them in the 18th century, with buckles and bows and gee gaws. Naturally, I loved them. But these were a type of a stacked heel, more like a cowboy boot, than what we now consider high heels. The stillettos are a relatively new invention, because they are a complex engineering marvel. In order to have a very slim, very tall heel, which could remain structurally sound while 120+ lbs. of female (usually) was rocking on it (think of the heel-to-toe step we take) repeatedly, they had to have a reinforced steel alloy heel-through-sole, which was molded in one piece, since no glue/nail/rivet/weld would ever survive such a beating. They calculated the number of pounds of pressure per minute, but I can't recall it - in the thousands, though.

And what does this mean, other than I remember too much irrelevant trivia, but do not probably know where I put my car keys? It means we are playing a pretend game, in which we dress our pretend people in pretend clothes, that's what! If I want realism, I'll go clean the toilet. I do not want a "realistic" barbarian. I would prefer to play a character who has all their teeth, thank you.

Thus, I rather think the issue is not one of heels, or historical minutia. It's the circa-1950's stereotyping that is offensive. It reminds me of a guy I met a few years ago who told me all his tanks and scrappers were men, but all his support toons were female. He did not add the obvious next line "because it's the female's job to support the man who is doing the real work." I felt sort of sorry for him, that he was that "programmed" into out-dated gender roles. Not enough to talk with him again, mind you. But yeah, pity was involved.

There is nothing wrong with a cute, frivolous female costume. Neither male or female barbarian costume is remotely offensive to me. What is dreary is that there are no alternatives, not for either gender. There is nothing light-hearted for the male, and nothing that says "I will kick your ***" for the female. I don't know anyone who is interested in unisex looks (I'm not, certainly), or knee-jerk political correctness, but this costume set, like some of the others, feels to me (subjective feedback) just the way I felt talking with that man. Men are the heroes. Women support the men being heroes (and look darn cute doing it).

I have not found this attitude anywhere else in the game, unless it's making fun of that mindset (like Skulls and Skull girlfriends). Not in the dialogue, not in the story lines, not in any comments from any dev. Ever. In fact, I got a girlfriend into the game, and one of the draws for her was my telling her it really IS girl-friendly here! And once she started, she agreed. It is not the testosterone-fueled game she figured it would be. It's JUST in the costumes.

Why?

I am saddened that my many PMs to rednames with the suggestion to name the VIP-only server "Uncle Touchy's Naked Puzzle Basement" went unheeded.

What I think is funny is that people are interpreting one out of focus screenshot from a teaser slide show as representing the ENTIRE range of options available for a costume set.

I'd wait for the official preview before spending all my energy writing long rants about it.

LOL...Slick is 100% correct. (I am a fellow Washingtonian.) I've even seen thiis, from time to time: