Author Topic: "...a realignment of company focus"  (Read 159378 times)

Segev

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #60 on: October 06, 2012, 01:38:59 PM »
Here's my attempt at a press release based on what we've got in this thread. I have quoted people from here and from other threads, and provided links to the blogger who used the OP's images and to Titan Forums' "Save the City" subforum. Anybody who would like their quotes taken out, please say so! I've named no names (though the blogger's blog is linked, so that's not exactly secret for her).

Reviewing for content is also requested. I'm trying to keep this as "news-y" and "neutral" as I can, using "others'" words for the opinion-slanting things. I am a little concerned that I might have stung too hard with too much innuendo at the end, so comments one way or the other and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Obviously, if I've got any grammar errors, please note those as well! Thanks!
Quote
NCSoft to Customers: "We Are No Longer Producing Comics For Your Kids; We Hope They Enjoy Their New Subscription to Playboy!"

City of Heroes is, according to the official announcement that was the shocking first word of its impending closure, the "first and greatest" superhero online role-playing game. Employees of the studio producing its content and fans alike were stunned by the announcement from NCSoft, the company which publishes and owns the Intellectual Property rights to this family-friendly comic-book themed game, because by all measures it was a profitable product that more than pulled its own weight.

Explanation from NCSoft cites a "realignment of company focus" that was incompatible with City of Heroes. What is the new focus? In June of 2012, they released in Korea a new game called Blade and Soul, prominently advertising the art and style done by Hyung-Tae Kim in designing all of the visuals, particularly graphical exaggeration of the female characters that is extreme even by the standards of the Korean "manwha" style that already emphasizes their sexuality. Though the release date of this new game in the West is yet to be announced, it will almost certainly come in the fiscal year which starts with the final shutdown of the servers for City of Heroes (on Nov. 30, 2012).

As one person observed, it seems this realignment of focus is to replace this:


...with this:



While comic books have always had a spotty reputation with regards to their heroines' state of (un)dress, they have also had a reputation for wholesome messages and even the most swimsuit-model-esq super heroine was still an empowering figure, inspiring many girls as much as the muscle-bound heroes with their underwear outside their tights inspired boys to fight for truth and justice. Even four-color villains are good, clean, cathartic fun, with plans so over-the-top that they're only taken seriously in a fictionalized context.

In the choices for which games to open and which to close in NCSoft's "realignment," some are concerned that they close the family-friendly game which attracts and empowers girl gamers as well as boys even as they open a salacious new title that objectifies women in extreme and unrealistic ways.

One blogger wrote, "As a parent, I will not be buying this game.  I do not want my children exposed to this kind of material.  I had no problems with them playing City of Heroes/Villains, but I refuse to allow them to even get a glimpse of this game.  I'm far from a prude, but this is just too far." Her blog referenced these two images, created by a fan of City of Heroes to emphasize the point:



City of Heroes brings together fathers and sons; one player is particularly upset because he had to recently ground his child from the internet, which means they will likely miss their last chances to enjoy this game together.

Another player has cited the game as the only place he and his father (who is fighting cancer) can really spend time together. "I really hope we save this game because he loves it sooooo much and he doesn't get to see me except on it most of the time," he wrote in a forum post on a site dedicated to saving their game, "I don't live down the street and haven't had a car in years. This is the world we connect in and where he's a hero, not sick."

The sentiments from those who use this game as a community to connect with family and bridge the generation gap seem unanimous: comic books are a great way to bond, but this "soft-core porn" (as one player termed it) sends them, at best, "to their bunk." "What?" said one player somewhat shamefacedly, "It's evil, but it's sexy evil."

It is clear, however, that City of Heroes is, to its players, more than a game. It is a community. A community that crosses gender and generational lines in a way that would be inappropriate to impossible for them to share with the new "realigned" focus of NCSoft's products designed to be enjoyed but a narrower and more grown-up masculine demographic...in private.

I'm going to try to find somebody other than myself to send this release out to various news organizations. I have another that I'm working on to invite reporters to see the game, and I think this will be more powerful coming from somebody else, perhaps those who've expressed opinions included in here. Any volunteers, either to disseminate it or to find places for dissemination, are invited to chime in. We'll try to make sure all the agencies that get this one also get the invitation to play CoH on the 20th; this should whet their appetite for the "human interest" angle and the invitation should show them where they can get some meat.

Quote from: pandora114
How about

"Replacing your Kids Captain America Sub with a sub to a Hentai mag"  Because that's what it is. ;)

Then you go on describing what Hentai is...since everyone knows Good ol Cap! *Patriotism spin!*  And then ask if that's what they want their kids exposed to.

Fight the bad guys and win the day? or... Bouncy bouncy bouncy tatas.
Hm, that's a possible idea. If it doesn't get used in the press release, it might still be useful for somebody in an editorial or blog! Good thinking!

Turjan

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #61 on: October 06, 2012, 02:05:08 PM »
Good job Segev! *thumbs up* :)

I've had a bit more fun today with this concept...couldn't resist really...



*whistles nonchalantly and walks away* ;)

Riff

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #62 on: October 06, 2012, 03:18:40 PM »
The media will spin this the way they want to spin it. If you dine with the devil....

Here's the perfect example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19842704

Atlantea

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #63 on: October 06, 2012, 03:33:17 PM »
Good job Segev! *thumbs up* :)

I've had a bit more fun today with this concept...couldn't resist really...



*whistles nonchalantly and walks away* ;)

**KER-SLAM-O-RAMA-DAMA-DING-DONG-POW!!!!!!**

Taek Jin Kim and NCSoft? You just got SERVED!!!!



pandora114

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #64 on: October 06, 2012, 04:16:45 PM »
I love it!!!

Teege

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #65 on: October 06, 2012, 04:35:19 PM »
That last concept made me laugh. Nice work. I guess I didn't realize how distasteful the art is or rather, the way it depicts women and those of a certain age.
Keep fighting the good fight!

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SithRose

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #66 on: October 06, 2012, 04:51:54 PM »
"their underwear outside their tights "

I would change this line - It's not actually accurate in terms of superhero history. ;) The original superhero costumes were designed after wrestling outfits of the day, and the tights were deemed to show off "assets" too obviously. So they had the wrestlers wear shorts over those tights to maintain "standards of modesty". The comics followed those wrestling standards when designing costumes. I realize that this is slightly nit-picky, but it's one of those fun facts that shows that you researched the history of Superheroes in America.
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Knightslayer

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #67 on: October 06, 2012, 05:10:33 PM »
LOL! That's pretty epic, Turjan! Are those actual pictures of Mr Kim?
And he looks so enthusiastic in them too!  ;)

Turjan

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #68 on: October 06, 2012, 05:51:50 PM »
LOL! That's pretty epic, Turjan! Are those actual pictures of Mr Kim?
And he looks so enthusiastic in them too!  ;)
Yup, that's the man himself :)

He can afford to be enthusiastic I suppose...quite literally, given his salary ;)

eeek

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #69 on: October 06, 2012, 05:53:24 PM »
I think they could counter with a pic of Mother Mayhem and her (apparently) inflatable bosom, and Ms. Swan with her (unintentional) see-through costume and we might look a little foolish.

V-Mink

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #70 on: October 06, 2012, 05:56:33 PM »
I had some difficulty writing this.  Because I like all the options in the tailor, even the racy ones.  And some of Hyung Tae Kim's work can be quite nice when it isn't focussing on boobs and butts and bad anatomy.  I am a gamer who would like to see gamer culture start to view women -- as game characters and as fellow players -- as coequals, and not merely objects, decorations, victims, or rewards, and the goal of this angle works with that hope.  I just can't help but think this could come around and bite us very hard.

I am not a fan of the art in B&S,  I think that should be obvious, above and beyond it being held up as a replacement for CoH; this is more than a longtime CoH player's anger speaking.  The examples depicted look pretty damning to me, and if I wasn't already planning on never playing any other NCsoft game, this would have turned me off.  I'm sure that the male characters will be well-done as well, but the concern is the female characters here, and their design is... really quite awful and out there.  Hyung Tae Kim is coming off as the Liefeld of the manwah set in this.  But the other side can play this game, too, so to speak.

Sister Psyche's costume of straps, Mother Mayhem and the Twins, Swan, the female walk cycle, the Penny Yin boobs-and-butt splash screen, the dominatrix Barbarian costume set....  Someone could look at all the B&S art and, with a little time, pick examples from CoH to say "But your supposedly family-friendly game does it too!"  They'd be wrong (the problem is as much one of sheer volume of data points as it is amplitude of those data points) but they'd still shout it.  And, there are enough Western gamers who want more T-and-A in their games, who have no problems with, for example, the "Attack of the Saints" video, or Rumble Roses, such that they will come out in droves to provide every counter-point above and more.

I am not saying to not go this route.  The misogyny within gamer culture is something to be squashed and not tolerated and it must be called out whenever seen.  And in this case that goal, and the goal to shame NCsoft, run in parallel.  And all else being equal, this is an excellent way to do it, because even with the blemishes of CoH they are minuscule, fixable, and/or contextualizable.  (Is that a word? It is now!)  Not so B&S, which makes it a part of it's identity such that NCsoft is stressing that they are striving to keep, in the Western release, all of the T&A in the Asian version that has so whetted the appetites of their projected target audience.

I am, however, saying that if this is becomes a Thing, a project or operation, that it will be attacked, and those attacks must be prepared for.

V-Mink

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #71 on: October 06, 2012, 06:00:59 PM »
Here's my attempt at a press release based on what we've got in this thread. I have quoted people from here and from other threads, and provided links to the blogger who used the OP's images and to Titan Forums' "Save the City" subforum. Anybody who would like their quotes taken out, please say so! I've named no names (though the blogger's blog is linked, so that's not exactly secret for her).

Reviewing for content is also requested. I'm trying to keep this as "news-y" and "neutral" as I can, using "others'" words for the opinion-slanting things. I am a little concerned that I might have stung too hard with too much innuendo at the end, so comments one way or the other and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Segev, if I may make one suggestion: It may help to instead have an in-game image of a female CoH character to provide a stronger counter-point to the second B&S image?

Knightslayer

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #72 on: October 06, 2012, 06:09:35 PM »
Quote
NCSoft to Customers: "We Are No Longer Producing Comics For Your Kids; We Hope They Enjoy Their New Subscription to Playboy!"
Didn't someone say they'll most likely go for an "M" rating?

Knightslayer

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #73 on: October 06, 2012, 06:33:33 PM »
It has some pretty decent violence in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtA1jSreK84

The video I linked pretty much starts off by a hulking brute pounding his steel gaunlets repeatedly into the face of the opponent he has pinned down. (and I'm assuming those red splashes are meant to be blood >.>)

Turjan

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #74 on: October 06, 2012, 06:59:59 PM »
But the other side can play this game, too, so to speak.

Sister Psyche's costume of straps, Mother Mayhem and the Twins, Swan, the female walk cycle, the Penny Yin boobs-and-butt splash screen, the dominatrix Barbarian costume set....  Someone could look at all the B&S art and, with a little time, pick examples from CoH to say "But your supposedly family-friendly game does it too!"

I agree entirely, someone might say "your game has that too!"

But if that's the case, you have to then ask, who is this "other side" who'd want to play that card? Someone who thinks all games are bad and they already contain too many over-sexualised characters? Then all that would do is add hurt to Blade and Soul too, yes? To suggest that CoH is the 'lesser of two evils' doesn't diminish the greater 'evil'.

How about someone who thinks all games should have moar bewbies in rather than less? Well their complaint isn't valid either because B&S does have 'moar bewbies' than CoH, and pointing to CoH's females and B&S's females simply confirms that.

Either way, attention is drawn to B&S, and not in a good way.

Like I said earlier, western comic books have quite a long history of questionable female heroines - I mentioned Wonder Woman always being tied up and carrying a whip, and I could add Power Girl and her 'assets' (created, as I understand it, as a joke by the artists to see how far they could push things before the editor stopped them...but he never did) too. However, more recently, comic book females have assumed a less glamorous and more positive role model for women...unlike fantasy MMOs which seem (if anything) to be sliding in the other direction.

If people use the "yes but yours has bewbies too!" argument, it presupposes the "too" part - i.e. B&S has to be in the spotlight as the offender before someone can wag a finger in any direction. And if that light of negativity is on B&S at all, it's bad PR for NCSoft.

Saying that CoH's "sexualisation" is on a par with that found in Blade and Soul is like saying the real reason Statesman was killed off is because Southern Korean NCSoft didn't like the fact his costume "looks a bit like the North Korean flag"...



Joking aside (assuming that IS a joke of course, and not the actual reason he was killed ;)) remember the statement "...a realignment of company focus" and the fact that however you paint CoH's heroines, B&S is still an order of magnitude more overtly sexualised.

The ironic thing is that I'd guess the statement "a realignment of company focus" actually refers to what seems to be NCSoft's intention to focus on casual/mobile gaming in future, and that, I believe, might be part of their desire to close down overseas pc-based MMOs. So in order to deny the allegation that 'realignment' equates to 'adding moar bewbies', they'd have to explain what the realignment really is...and that's something I'm sure we'd all like to know if it would shed any light on the reason why they're killing our game.

Aquashock

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #75 on: October 06, 2012, 07:02:28 PM »
One of the biggest kettles of fish to get out of the way is "company created" vs "user created" imagery. Yes, players can use the boob slider in CoH. Yes, they can create avatars that run around in string bikinis. Those are absolutely options built into the game that provide a launch pad for this sort of imagery. It's still imagery created by the player base, not directly created for marketing the game.

In terms of promotional imagery, CoH has always been better than a lot of video games -and- comic books. It's why the Praetorian revamps and the more recent changes bothered me so much -- it was turning CoH closer to the products I usually avoid.

This type of imagery is also very much geared to a specific audience  -- teenage and young adult guys who like girls. It's the marketing niche that leaves a great deal of CoH's base out in the cold --  older gamers, women gamers, gaymers,  family-orientated gamers. It tells us that B&S is "not for you," no matter what fancy words NCSoft tries to tell us.

Knightslayer

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #76 on: October 06, 2012, 07:09:43 PM »
One of the biggest kettles of fish to get out of the way is "company created" vs "user created" imagery. Yes, players can use the boob slider in CoH. Yes, they can create avatars that run around in string bikinis. Those are absolutely options built into the game that provide a launch pad for this sort of imagery. It's still imagery created by the player base, not directly created for marketing the game.

In terms of promotional imagery, CoH has always been better than a lot of video games -and- comic books. It's why the Praetorian revamps and the more recent changes bothered me so much -- it was turning CoH closer to the products I usually avoid.

This type of imagery is also very much geared to a specific audience  -- teenage and young adult guys who like girls. It's the marketing niche that leaves a great deal of CoH's base out in the cold --  older gamers, women gamers, gaymers,  family-orientated gamers. It tells us that B&S is "not for you," no matter what fancy words NCSoft tries to tell us.

Not so sure it's that one sided, the male characters seem to be rather well done too.


downix

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #77 on: October 06, 2012, 07:13:27 PM »
Good job Segev! *thumbs up* :)

I've had a bit more fun today with this concept...couldn't resist really...



*whistles nonchalantly and walks away* ;)
May I use this in an article?

Knightslayer

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #78 on: October 06, 2012, 07:15:59 PM »
Apparently B&S' artist, Hyung Tae Kim, is a fan of comics... there's gotta be some irony that...
http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/11/28/g-star-2009-tea-with-hyung-tae-kim
(Also, the orange boobs used in that "article" up top are apparently from another game of his =P)

Quinch

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Re: "...a realignment of company focus"
« Reply #79 on: October 06, 2012, 07:17:23 PM »
The female character desperately needs some armor, if for no other reason than to keep herself from accidentally removing her ribcage with those gauntlets.