The Proper Use of Nudity in FRPG Art

[Ottergame]

To put it simply, if you put in pictures of naked men, there are going to be a LOT of teenage boys who WON'T buy the game.

And there'd be some who would!

 

[ArmoredSaint]

In the gallery Khuxan posted, I note just as many pictures of women in positions of power (commanding/riding/summoning monsters, etc.) as pictures of women being saved by muscular men. I don't think there's all that much "inequality" going on in that artwork as Khuxan thinks there is.

 

[BryonD]

Why only of the female persuasion? Let's have a little equality in the art, please.

I think equity should take a far distant back seat to supply being proportional to demand.

 

[S'mon]

As far as 'equality in the art' goes, I think that if you want Feminist fantasy like Darkover you can play a Feminist game, eg Blue Rose, and that game's art should reflect its content. Likewise If you want a Conanesque game, the art should reflect the content, so Frazetta would be appropriate. D&D is neither Darkover nor Conan, and should have its own style or styles. Not every female character depicted in D&D art should be large-bosomed and scantily clad, but nor should such art be banned from the game in the name of Feminist concepts of equality.

 

[jester47]

Bloggleblogblogblog.....

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm a guy too, and I'd rather have a healthier hobby

I'm a guy too and I'd much rather see naked women than naked men, but I'd also much rather have art in the books that more people than just me can appreciate. And that goes not just for art but rules, flavor and everything else. Unless I wanted D&D to fail completely, I'd have to be incredibly shortsighted to want it to cater only to my tastes and nobody else's.

Bully for you guys. Me and my personal preferences are not a charity. You asked your question, and I gave you the answer. (And note that my personal preferences are not up for debate.)

Again, I made quite clear in my first post that I think WotC (and publishers in general) are doing it about right for their particular target audiences. "Shortsighted"? Pffft. Please be aware that "likes" and "expectations" are two entirely different things.

 

[Ulrick]

Let's face the old cliche, sex sells.

As for nudity in Fantasy Artwork, I have no problem with it, as long as it is tastefully done and doesn't discourage women (or men) from entering the hobby. A friend of mine, a female gamer, after seeing a book of fantasy artwork at a bookstore, told me that she wasn't really offended by the nudity, but was offended by how the women were depicted. She didn't like that some of the artwork had women in various states of bondage or abuse.

 

[prosfilaes]

I think equity should take a far distant back seat to supply being proportional to demand.

Do we really know what the demand is? Furthermore, from a business sense, it's not worth doing things that make a large part of your audience a little more happy if it will totally drive off some part of your audience.

 

[Leontodon]

I think equity should take a far distant back seat to supply being proportional to demand.

Could not say it any better .
Does any one here really think that the art determines wether women will play or not? Get used to the fact that gaming is a hobby which is largely a boy domain (girls welcome) as is playing counterstrike and collecting battletech miniatures. And I would never have bought a book featuring half-naked men as the 13 year old boy who started playing.

 

[BryonD]

Do we really know what the demand is?

No, but we know it isn't anywhere near to equity.

Furthermore, from a business sense, it's not worth doing things that make a large part of your audience a little more happy if it will totally drive off some part of your audience.

Different arguement. The assumption in place before my reply was that nudity would be present and the distribution was in question.
That said, I'm not certain the net effect would be negative. Maybe. Maybe not.