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| VP • Why being male is so unsexy |
| Quick disclaimer: This is written from my perspective and my experience. This is in no way meant to shame people on their beliefs and perspectives and certainly isn't meant as a badmouthing of a certain attitude. We don't all act the same. We don't think the same. We have different ideas of how things are done and should be done here on VP. This matter is no different from the others and there is no right or wrong to it. Now before anyone goes straight to the comments and gets the pitchforks sharpened: this is a purely fashion related commentary on VP and has nothing to do with gender or sexuality or whetever else you might have thought about after reading the title. This is about the issue with the male fashion items available on VP and it's more of an explanatory blog than really a rant or other. Feel free to discuss this in the comments (civilly) and share your view or your experience on male fashion here on VP. The males of VP - a history O r i g i n s o f t h e m a l e b a s e From the very start on, VP had a male base. When the game started, there was an equal amount of sets in the game for both male and female players and the shops were regularly stocked with new items for both genders - mainly because a majority of the stuff came from DollMania and they cater to both. Then, slowly, there was a need for users to help designing. VP needed people who started creating fashion items for everyone to wear and the users were happy to provide. And this is where the problem started. W h y d e s i g n s w e r e m o s t l y f e m a l e Because most people were designing for the base they used, it was evident that most designs that came out of this were for the female base. I don't know anything about the actual gender statistics about the users of VP, but I guess a great majority of us in the beginning identified as female - plus we certainly were used to all-female communities like gSm, where most of the players from the start came from. But this is all just speculation. Fact is, that in the beginning, most designers did design for the female base. And it wasn't even that much of an issue. A p r o b l e m , t h a t f u e l s i t s e l f As there were so few male accounts on VP, the need for so many new sets wasn't there. This is a problem that kind of still lives on on the German server. We do have about 5 active male accounts, but even with male sets as competition rewards or LE codes, we don't get more male accounts and certainly don't get the sets distributed to the people. So most teams stopped bothering with finding a male set for the one person that participates in events every three months. It's a problem, that fuels itself. The whole matter started to evolve on the other servers. There were more and more users making male accounts and suddenly the need for new and more male sets was born. Being male today And this leads us to how the situation is at the moment. Even though teams try to provide the males with limited edition sets every now and then, there is a significant lack of male sets compared to the amount of female sets that get created every week. So naturally, those sets have to come from somewhere. And here it gets tricky. W h y i s t h e r e a l a c k o f s e t s ? Even though it shouldn't be like this, the teams of VP and the site itself kind of slipped into a little war. There certainly are enough female sets to have everything covered, but male sets are rare and both sides want to have them. And I honestly get why it seems like the teams get their chance to pick first. W h y d e s i g n e r s m i g h t c h o o s e t e a m s o v e r V P Though, let's be real, it's the designers that pick in this case and decide themselves whether they want to use the set as a code for the teams or give it to VP. And in a way it definitely is more rewarding giving the set to a team than just VP, because you have a bit more leverage when it comes to what your set will be used for and you don't get taken for granted as easily. When it comes to sets that come from VP, people expect them to get in game. People are like: Yes, this is the bare minimum, having at least one set in the shop every week. When it comes to codes ... they're definitely nothing people feel as entitled to. And yes, the irony of talking about a shop update once a week while ranting about the issues with male designs is clear to me. T h e n e w s t a t u s q u o s u c k s So all in all, males do have less opportunities to get new fancy sets and it has created a new status quo for them. And I kind of feel bad about it, when I read male accounts say, that they are so happy about a single item, because it's been ages since they've had one. Or that they feel like they should celebrate getting a - from a female perspective quite mediocre - set, just because they usually get nothing. I do get, that having certain expectations as a male user definitely means you're going to get disappointed every single week. But seriously, the bar has been so low over the last couple of months, I feel like this really warrants a new way of handling things - and a new way of thinking. What changes can be done? Now the biggest question is: What can we change to make this better? And I hate to break it to you, but at the time being, I don't really see how things can get better. Let me explain. V P ' s s i d e o f t h e d e a l From a VP-perspective, there is basically everything done, that could help with the issues. People get special rewards for designing for males - which if you think about it, is basically the biggest reason most of us design, what is the point in making something if you don't get anything in return? - and it is strongly encouraged to work together. With the expectations of the male community being so extraordinarily low, it is even easier to get designs done that they will like. Because remember, most of them get near-ecstatic when they get a single item in an LE code when the females get a whole set - it's all kinds of wrong, but it's how it all evolved over time. Also, with the new rules that the badged designers have to comply to, you have to make male sets every now and then (the rules differ a bit from server to server) to help provide the system with new sets. A b o u t t h e d e s i g n e r s But overall, the biggest issue is the designers themselves - badged and non badged alike. I do get that not getting your own creation as a reward for doing a job is kind of frustrating. But it also means, that a whole section of people won't get anything either. I also understand, that most of us are used to designing on the female base, as it's the base most of us are the most familiar with, but isn't learning something new and tackling new challenges something we should all apsire to do when designing? Just to broaden our horizons? I also get how the male base seems wonky and weird in all the ways that are different from the female base - and there is a bunch of people who would like to get a new male base (sorry to disappoint, but that won't happen and the reasons for this are soooooo many) - but isn't that a difficulty and challenge we had to face with the female base too? Let's just go ahead and try to defy the the laws we thought were in place and try to find new ways to make items look astounding. Some designers have already done it and they are true pioneers. How can I help? So, if you like designing and want to help change this, go grab your mouse/pen/whatever and just start. Maybe lay low when it comes to female sets for a while or at least make male versions that can go with the female ones. If designing isn't your cup of tea, help those out, that struggle to find what would work best for the community. I know many of you do this already and your dedication is truly appreciated. But it will help if more people would come out and tell the designers what they really want to have in the game and what they feel like they have enough at the time being. At the moment, it feels like we really just need to restart a proper stock of things and not get all fancy with the most extraordinary stuff. Don't get me wrong, extraordinary is more than welcome. But some feel like there is a massive lack of basics that maybe should get covered too - and people so often forget about the basics. If you've made it this far and read all of it, thank you. I really would love to hear your opinion on all of this and maybe even see if there is a point I completely neglected that you feel should be mentioned in this too? |
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