Why is DOA such a stereotyped game?

[Brute]

I think its unfortunate that they can't put themselves out there without being ridiculed for who they are.

Well, there are certain people that would tease them for it, true (and sadly some of them are included in the "Tournament VIP" crowd). But aside from that, I think that some of them just don't feel it urgent to share their sexuality with a fighting game community. I certainly don't. And while I don't care for being judged based on my ability to play this game, I imagine many of them do, and would rather be noted for being good players rather than being "that gay guy" or whatever nutty stereotype they might be labeled, when it's irrelevant.

 

[Lulu]

Apparently all my gay male friends are pretty quiet and accept what there is.

So I imagine if they play DOA, they won't complain about why there's no cocksocks DLC for the guys.

LoL.... they're not completely left out though... the problem is its acceptable to show off more skin for the dudes than it is for the chicks.... so they have to resort to doing things like Ein's Sexy Devil outfit.... LoL... but they should definitely try the Cock Sock idea... as an experiment.... just not on Eliot.... obviously.

Well, there are certain people that would tease them for it, true (and sadly some of them are included in the "Tournament VIP" crowd). But aside from that, I think that some of them just don't feel it urgent to share their sexuality with a fighting game community. I certainly don't. And while I don't care for being judged based on my ability to play this game, I imagine many of them do, and would rather be noted for being good players rather than being "that gay guy" or whatever nutty stereotype they might be labeled, when it's irrelevant.

I know how it feels.... you work so hard to be good at something and people refer to me as that Fat Guy....

Obviously its not on the same level but I get the idea.

 

[TLEE SAID THIS:]

Mmm. Quite a pickle this series is in. On one hand, the series needs it's heavy, fun, over-the-top sexuality to survive sales, but then in the competitive circuit, professionalism. And then you got a culture that shames sexuality more so than violence. It's like if Hooters (or any worse equivalent) began sponsoring the NFL, FIFA, etc.

My only guess is that the negative stigma towards the series will always be perpetuated here by the mainstream no matter how hard the series begs for legitimacy. While players should always be welcoming and helpful to newcomers or casual onlookers, I believe that DOA should dissuade itself and become its own entity. Enjoy the series for what it is and don't be ashamed of the sexuality. It's all in good fun and games are meant to be fun.

I noticed that other forums like Tekken Zaibatsu connects with other players in South Korea, Japan, etc. It would be cool to hear their input as well for the DOA scene.

 

[Force_of_Nature]

When I was at casuals last month, just for fun, what I'd do is have fairly serious sparring matches with my friends, but when I and another person won, we'd shake the PS4 controller on LR mode. The reactions to the other people in the scene were priceless LOL. However, the difference here is that we were also able to make DOA look very legit as a fighting game, so what we were doing was mocking the fact that the feature exists in the game at all. We also did this in a manner that showed we were not ashamed of DOA5LR in the least, and embraced the game's liberal perspective on sexuality. The key is to educate people on DOA5's combat system. As soon as the play featured onscreen looks "scrubby", people will view the game as scrubby.

 

[SoftCabbage]

Conclusion: there will be people stereotyping a game, but that's because the game is actually great, they want it, but their pride say don't. (At least that's my own analysis towards the experience so far)

So who the f*ck cares what they think. We know their claim is wrong and we're having fun in different way.

So let's just keep playing and let them bugging their own head.

 

[Malibu]

i love you guys.

 

[Lulu]

i love you guys.

And we love ourselves too....

 

[Darkton93]

The reason DOA has such a bad reputation is because Team Ninja contributes to that reputation, and has since the beginning. From DOA2's promotional campaign looking like a Playboy magazine cover, to She Kicks High, to the existence of DOAX, to DOA4's endings, DOA self-destructed itself early on, and is facing the repercussions of that self-destruction.

You see, by cultivating the pervert audience, Team Ninja has excluded all others. When they tried to go back on it, the audience they had from the beginning scorned them, and they overcompensated. Team Ninja can talk all they want about how they're "Fighters", but they've always been trying to appeal to the perverts. And honestly, I only see the problem getting worse.

#ImAModel

 

[Force_of_Nature]

The reason DOA has such a bad reputation is because Team Ninja contributes to that reputation, and has since the beginning. From DOA2's promotional campaign looking like a Playboy magazine cover, to She Kicks High, to the existence of DOAX, to DOA4's endings, DOA self-destructed itself early on, and is facing the repercussions of that self-destruction.

You see, by cultivating the pervert audience, Team Ninja has excluded all others. When they tried to go back on it, the audience they had from the beginning scorned them, and they overcompensated. Team Ninja can talk all they want about how they're "Fighters", but they've always been trying to appeal to the perverts. And honestly, I only see the problem getting worse.

#ImAModel

Yeah, it is very unfortunate that TN's DOA promotion has been so counterproductive for over a decade up until DOA5 Alpha (then it indirectly reverted back anyway with all the fetish DLC), because it is a big factor in DOA alienating itself from the FGC. Who is to blame for DOA's state of affairs? Itagaki or Hayashi? Tecmo Koei or Team Ninja? A big problem too is that DOA was never intended to be a "serious", "competitive" fighter until DOA5 (Though DOA3 had its competitive following with 3.1).

Team Ninja can choose to embrace all the fanservice of DOA and try to continue catering to their "pervert" audience and see how far it takes the franchise, or they can do what they can to try and alleviate the stigmas regarding the franchise and cultivate the competitive scene boosting DOA's profile in the FGC. I generally refer to Smash as an example of a franchise that also has casual gamer origins but thanks to its community has become a major FGC player in its own right. A large issue with DOA is that the Western society is still incredibly squeamish with regards to the use of sexuality in something like gaming, so a lot of people avoid the franchise under the impression that the game is just a pervert haven and completely ignore the multitude of positive attributes the franchise has. Hell, by DOA2, the focus on sexuality was completely unnecessary, since the franchise already had many features that other fighting games had not implemented or had implemented poorly including: Fully 3D multitiered arenas, breakable walls and dangerzones, gorgeous 3D graphics with loose clothing, unique tag battle system in enclosed arenas, slick counter system, etc.

The focus on sexuality beyond DOA2 was not really needed by around that point. However, as with the Smash example, the community can still turn around the perception of DOA by educating the rest of the FGC on the game system and supporting the game to the fullest without reservation.

 

[SoftCabbage]

I think DOA case is somewhat the same as Japan reputation as a country in several group of people's eyes.

Japan has great culture, rich in history, beautiful land, advanced in technology, and lots of pornography. Then people only remember the "pornography" part and tag it at Japan's name.

DOA has a great fighting mechanism, smooth play experience, great character models, tons of creative costumes, and sexy girls with big boobs and ass. Then people only remember at the "sexy girls with big boobs and ass" part and tag it at DOA's name.

Oh well..

 

[Argentus]

What frustrates me the most is simply that DOA is actually relatively TAME in terms of the fanservice. Its only real fault is constantly releasing bikinis and the pantyshots (though thats just logical considering fighting in a skirt).

Soul Calibur, and King of Fighters, for example, are FAR worse with the fanservice, going straight into fetish territory. The closest DOA has to that is Rachel with her dominatrix C1 and nutstomp.

though I do stand corrected thanks to the release of the DLC characters who verging into full on fetish territory as well. So its more like DOA, with 5, is actually BECOMING what everyone claimed it always was.

 

[SoftCabbage]

"I can't deny what I believe. I can't be what I'm not. I know these costumes forever. That's all that matters now no matter what."
- Dead or Alive

 

[Intelligent Alpha]

TBF, it's not just DOA! Same is usually said for the West, too! Look at CoD/Halo - I don't know how Halo was/is since I never played it - and while I have AW, I consider BOIII to be my first game. But the last two titles (maybe three including AW) haven't been received well. (Note: CoD has three separate teams/series).

It's obvious that CoD is stereotyped and what the stereotypes are most of the time, but I have to ask, is it the individual product(s) in the genre(s) [CoD] or the genre(s) itself(themselves) [Shooter)? This isn't to say that the individual [product don't always get thungs right, but they don't always get things wrong either.

 

[Brute]

What frustrates me the most is simply that DOA is actually relatively TAME in terms of the fanservice. Its only real fault is constantly releasing bikinis and the pantyshots (though thats just logical considering fighting in a skirt).

Soul Calibur, and King of Fighters, for example, are FAR worse with the fanservice, going straight into fetish territory. The closest DOA has to that is Rachel with her dominatrix C1 and nutstomp.

Pretty sure dedicated gravure movies and four breast physics settings are features exclusive to DOA, as far as fighting games go.

 

[Argentus]

Pretty sure dedicated gravure movies and four breast physics settings are features exclusive to DOA, as far as fighting games go.

As I said, doa5 worked to finally become what everyone thought DOA was

 

[Intelligent Alpha]

As I said, doa5 worked to finally become what everyone thought DOA was

Even though it stated otherwise! I believe you forgot that part!

 

[CyberEvil]

http://www.freestepdodge.com/threads/the-preferred-breast-jiggle-thread.5809/

 

[KasumiLover]

http://www.freestepdodge.com/threads/the-preferred-breast-jiggle-thread.5809/

Again, I apologize @CyberEvil . I wasn't trying to anger you or anyone. I just wanted to know what setting was the most popular. Don't hate me.

 

[Aven Kujo-Gin]

As I said, doa5 worked to finally become what everyone thought DOA was

That's the sad part about it.
For example, if you look in google images for older DOA games, you will find some screens of a what seem to be a cool fighting game. Now instead, if you look for DOA5, all you will see is a lot of girls wearing bikinis and others kind of fetish outfits. They want to make the game more popular and it works. The purpose justify the means.

 

[Jyakotu]

Here's the thing. If you've played DOA and researched the game's history, you'll know that the sex appeal has been with the series since the first game. The game was made to make itself stand out from other 3D fighters at the time, so they took the breast physics from Fatal Fury (ahem, Mai) and applied it to the 3 girls in DOA1 and ta-da. Of course as graphics got better, the sex appeal of the series was more noticeable through better breast physics and more over the top costumes. However, a lot of people who got into DOA was because of the costumes, the over the top fighting, the sex appeal, whatever the case may be. The sex appeal is part of the DOA brand and identity, and it's something that we, as players in the community, should not be ashamed of at all!

Look at the Smash community for example. One could look at that game and just see a bunch of neckbeards playing with kiddy Nintendo characters and brush it off. However, while I don't consider the series competitive in the least bit, the community does support the game fully for what it is and the numbers do not lie. Two Smash games are on the EVO line up and the FGC takes that game more seriously than they do DOA, despite its kiddy appearance of Nintendo mascots. So the question is, if the Smash community can support their games despite their outer appearance, why can't the DOA community do the same? We shouldn't have to slut shame our series because many of us knew about the history of the game prior OR have been with the series long enough that the fan service isn't an issue to begin with.

Better yet, what is the FGC's aversion to fan service in fighting games anyway? Each fighting game has some type of fan service, but DOA is unapologetic about it. The people who have been playing this game long enough have become so used to the fan service and it's not even much of a concern at this point at all. To the casual on looker, they can make all the jokes they want, but most of those casual on lookers can't even perform a simple combo in the game, let alone understand the deep and complex metagame that DOA possess at a high level. As a community, it is our job to say, "Hey, we know this game has fan service, but we also know that beyond the fan service is a deep and complex 3D fighter that is very fun to play at a high and casual level. Let me show you why by teaching you how to play."

Basically, all I'm saying is, if you enjoy DOA for whatever reason, enjoy the game. Some people like the game because of the sex appeal, some people like it because of the over the top presentation, and we all like it because of the fighting game system that is both simple, yet deep once you go beyond the superficial surface of the scantly clad women. If people do not want to give DOA a chance because of the fan service, even if you teach them how to play, you cannot really do anything about it. The greater FGC will say it's perfectly fine to not want to play DOA because of the fan service, but will probably give a person a side eye for not wanting to play Smash because it looks too kiddy or for not wanting to play MKX because the blood and gore is too much. To that, I say screw the FGC, because I'm going to continue competing in this game at future tournaments because I love all aspects of DOA, fan service, fighting system, and all!