Can we get a heavy armored, heavy gunner woman?

Battleborn Battleborn General Discussion
#41

If that’s the case then pls remember that even though gearbox does try to fit everyone wants, they can’t. The fact is that if you want a heavy gunner they and they don’t end up making a female version of one, that doesn’t mean you can’t just use the male versions. When gearbox says for every kind of badass they aren’t meaning graphically as much as they mean overall play styles. Personally I would rather have character play styles more than i would character looks.

I say this but I do agree with you that it would be pretty cool to have breaking of typical gender laws in more games and i think this would be a great way to do it. I tend to play as female characters more myself, but I won’t be upset if there is no certain kind of female character as long as my play style still appears, and in this case it does.

Thank you Gearbox for trying. Waiting to see what you do next.

#42

But I don’t -want- to use the male characters all that much, and I don’t -want- to have to to access anything remotely their play style, but it looks like I’ll have to.
I’m just sick of it, bluntly, having to do so for a very long time in my time gaming. It’s not Gearbox’s fault that the predecessors didn’t break the mold, but my enthusiasm to be someone that has to run, and hide every time something challenging yet some guy character can handle it sort of fight comes along turns my stomach.
I’ve gamed for decades, and the trope, the tiny box that people cram female characters into is just always there. It’s kinda what turned me off of Borderlands. Always seemed to be stuck in the rogue/healer roles while the guy characters had all the fun in focusing on doing damage without much care in the world.

Furthermore, I’d like to see them break away from the typical roles women play in team based games. The 3 times they seemed to have was to make them ALL melee focused types in Galilea, Phoebe, and Shayne, and I don’t know how durable any of them are going to really be when the heavy gunners, and hard hitters appear, so I don’t know if they really did break the mold, or just make glass cannon assassins that have to get the drop on people to be worth the damage they do because they may have questionable staying power once enemies focus on them.

What if I’m in a group that likes playing female characters? How many of us are going to be in overlapping, if not utterly redundant roles? Maybe not so badly in 3 players, but what about 5?

Well, it seems like the last 2 characters were revealed. If my request happens, it’ll be DLC, I guess. I am disappointed, bluntly. Not surprised, though.

Don’t mind me too much, just frustration talking.

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#44

Well I see where your coming from but the character models don’t bother me to much. What I have to say though is that if your comparing it to BL2 or TPS your sorely mistaken BL2 Maya was the biggest damage dealer there was as well as her being prob the most playable solo and tps both Athena and Nisha were op like nothing else.

Female characters in video games I agree have not gotten the best look in the past but have been getting better both mass effect and Halo have done that well for years plus there are other games like mirrors edge that also give female characters positive light. Major events are changing becoming equal for both genders. It may take a little time but if you give the feedback like you did at the creation of this thread. (Polite and Understanding) Devs tend to listen and try to make things look and play better for everyone. Just give it time in a few years 2 at most I would guess Females Protagonist with strong characters will be prob the leading thing in the industry.

#45

I think its also worth mentioning evolve’s lennox, who was an assault class and was an old woman in a mechsuit

#46

@zarzar_96 Mass Effect botched up towards the end with the multiplayer, and fell into a similar trap, IMO. I mean there was all of one female in the soldier class, the default human one, even with all the DLC it had. Most women were still glass cannons at best with low to mid health, and a good bit of reliance on DoT abilities over weapons, and few had much of any serious weapon synergy leaving most reliant on powers, and special equipment. Power creep pushed a lot of the female characters into lower tiers.
Yeah, the series gave us iconic characters but multiplayer felt like the idealistic route it was taking was going away with multiplayer. It leaves me uncertain of how Andromeda will turn out. I just don’t quite have the same faith I used to in the series. It’s a bit of a sore spot for me.

Maya just didn’t seem all that interesting being a healer, and really reliant on locking down enemies before shooting them. Neither are my idea of fun coz I get burned out being support, and watching people have fun doing the shooting, ad heavy lifting. Most of the other characters seemed far more straight forward, and frankly, more pone to being able to mow enemies down. They were certainly more diverse. BL2 didn’t hook me enough to even know about Athena thanks to Maya seeming to fit in that box of stereotypes that i really don’t like, and TTGs didn’t hook me with their borderlands game.

I really do want to do my best to be polite, but, well, there’s limits, I guess. I’m only human. I get frustrated, and stuff. That happens because I care about the game, and want to see it succeed. I’m sure it will with or without my input, but that won’t stop me from caring, and wanting to give input.

As far as female protagonists go, I feel I’m already seeing that level of change with recent releases, and up coming releases. Battleborn has some great visual diversity in characters, IMO. It’s sort of off point here, though. There’s lots of characters in Battleborn. A good amount of them are women. The issue is the combat role diversity doesn’t seem to be there. I kinda fear that’ll lead to stagnation if all the characters I like are too similar. That’s just going to do more harm than good.

As much as I hate to say it, being understanding of why female characters in games are constantly being denied the role of heavy units, and being very much the light units is something a bit beyond me. Especially in a sci-fi setting where technology, and magic should work just as well for women as it does guys, and vice versa, and should be able to level the playing fields, thus opening up possibilities of all sorts of characters.

@mattiwarden Yeah, I have noticed the mold being broken in other games as of late. Still, the reliance on PVP is a turn-off for me. I just don’t want to deal with people in that fashion more often than not, and I wanna play solo some times. The seemingly solid PvE in battleborn is really very appealing. Being able to approach it in many ways while still being a female character would go a very long way with me, and my friends.

#47

I am not talking about that though my main focus was on Shepard Herself. As Fem Shep was the original shepard a statement made by the devs confirm this. They did real well not over feminizing her but instead gave her a similar build and in no way inhibits what you can truly do in the game as the character. Other games that did this were Fallout and Dragon Age making my Hawke Warrior strong as a female was a fun aspect of that game.

Either way I do see where your coming from and I actually hope the devs do this not only because you ask for it but because it would be a strong win for females in games. All I really want you to not be too disappointed if they don’t end up doing it.

The fact that you got that response from the devs does mean its possible even if its a little bit later down the line. Don’t get discouraged you asked for what you wanted well and the devs responded right now all you can hope is that within the 5 unreleased characters one might be made because of your suggestion or that within the first couple months if a dlc drops maybe free dlc then it will be a character bundle with your idea character in it.

Personally im on your side on what you are saying I just don’t want you to not do something because at first glance it does not look appealing or because theres not something you want. Give the game and the characters chances even if you dont think you want to use them or if you think you wont like them.

Heres hoping you get your wish

#48

Here’s the thing about games like this, you don’t want to play something? Then don’t. You have a preference for female characters then play those. This game is based more on balance and having unique characters not just based on their lore/appearance, but how each one is entirely unique in his/her skill set (which is what really matters). So tossing in a random hero to empower women which is just another Montana is not only unnecessary, but absurd. You’re essentially demanding some kind of sex equality when the point of the game is to make every hero entirely different, not equal. Besides, the majority of female characters have insane DPS (Galilea even has a shield!), and you’re downplaying how great they are. I’m not saying you can’t have a plus sized or shredded female running around, I’m just saying there’s nothing wrong with the strong personality females currently in the game which I (personally) think is much more impressive and important. On a realistic note, albeit in a fantasy setting, women thrown into a combat zone/life like this wouldn’t be plus sized, they’d be athletic, slim, or muscularly toned. Kinda like the already existing characters which was the direction they went.

#49

I think you could do with reading some of the Maya guides. She’s way more than a healer. But I do understand your point about Battleborn.

1 Like
#50

Wait, what now?

Galilea: Melee / Tank
Deande: Melee / Single-Target Damage
Mellka: Melee-Range / Single-Target Damage
Ambra: Support Healer (Can Tank if specced in a certain way)
Reyna: Support Damage
Orendi: Range / AoE Damage
Phoebe: Melee / Tank-Damage Hybrid
Thorn: Long Range / Damage
Shayne & Aurox: Melee / Damage (The only redundant character)

Beside a Ranged Tank, there is every archetype.
Also, i don’t like putting Females and Males in different boxes.

2 Likes
#52

yes we can! twitch.com---->search: overwatch

#53

I tried mentioning this earlier that maya is prob one of the most damaging characters in the game, but the comment was totally ignored but thank you for trying to bring it back. :smiley:

#54

I am a super aggressive player, and Maya was my fav

#55

I don’t think Shayne & Aurox are redundant because while their role may be filled, their play style is definitely unique, and they definitely bring something new and special to the table.

#56

@zarzar_96 I agree with you about Shepard, and Hawke, and Fallout’s main character.

Thanks. 'm not completely out of hope.

@CECShocktrooper Empower women? I think you’re reading too deeply, here. I’m not saying she has to be shredded, plus size, human, fully human, alien, etc., or particularly empowering. The closest thing I asked for was durability which can come in many forms, heavy guns which is pretty vague, and a mention that I like the steady drone of a minigun which I’m not particularly set on.
I like playing as female characters. I don’t want to end up limited to potentially sub par tank that can hopefully get close or else will be whittled away, and die, or have to run like heck when I get shot at because I don’t have any sort of staying power when the enemy decides they want to shoot at me more than anyone else, if there is anyone else.
Yeah, I want them to think outside of the box. So what? That really shouldn’t mean anything more than “be creative” without some proof otherwise.

I’m not downplaying how great they are, I’m calling it as I see it. Glass Cannons, support, or melee tanks.
Why are you comparing her to Montanna? When have I asked for something exactly like him? Who says we can’t have a heavy unit that is unique from Montana? I mean we have multiple big muscly melee punchy guys, and one woman with extra-dimensional armor that fills that role, too.
We have an elderly man in a hoverchair, a penguin in a mech suit, and a fungus to say the least. Why are you fixated on her having to be one way or another?

@Psychichazard I probably should, then.

@corrsk
Right, besides a Ranged Tank. Which is what I’m requesting.
How well do the ones you dub “tank” tank, anyhow? Do they have the offense to let them do more than tank, and ability to get close before their defenses fail? Also how many guys are better tanks? How many can do better damage output while tanking, and thus have better odds of walking away from the fight?
I’ll give them props for making “tanky” women, which is rare, but they’re all melee range which feels limiting.
Like I said, the rest of the women are support, and rogue/glass cannon types. I want them to get more away from those roles with female characters.
I’m really not wanting to end up limited to being a melee tank, or a glass cannon, or a support, here. I’d like a stronger diversity. Yeah, they may be different in abilities, but the play styles seem to fall in a limited scope.

Here’s some kind of irony. I don’t want females and males in different boxes either. Problem is the women are already in a different box filling largely stereotypical roles. Roles guys are filling, too, might I add. If they were really in the same box, there’d be female units able to fill the same roles as guys by what ever means they can (If a borb penguin, Toby, can stand as a high durability, heavy assault unit, there’s no solid excuse as to why a woman can’t, IMO), but that doesn’t really seem to be the case.

#57

You’re exactly right, this isn’t about sex equality at all. You want a minigun-toting character when we already have one. And you don’t like playing men, so clearly this is about you having problems with male Characters since you refuse to play them. This is about as misandrist as you can get in the gaming world, please don’t bring that into this game. It’s quite rude really.

#58

Well, you ramped up the hostility there, didn’t you? I never said I’d hold them to giving her a minigun. Where did I say that she had to have a minigun?
Here’s a question. Why do I have to play as a guy to play as a role not represented by women? I think it’s rude to demand you have to play as a male character if you want a certain role. I’d rather that sort of thing not be brought here.

#59

Hey. Cool it down, now, please.

In particular, throwing terms like ‘misandrist’ around is not going to contribute to a calm discussion.

Talk about the game. Not about other forum users. Is that clear?

1 Like
#60

Well there’s the part I read about the minigun.

There’s no need for a female Montana, since we have a Montana.

What if it was inverted and a guy said that? The misogyny right? The public/forum outcry would be real. This isn’t about a game balance, this is about you not wanting to play men.

So in reality, this whole thread should just disappear.

1 Like
#61

I said cool it. And stop talking about other forum users.

You didn’t stop. Have a timeout.

#62

I honestly don’t see the big problem with not wanting to use Male characters. I myself will be using mostly female characters because let’s be honest…some of these female characters’ damage output/survivability is stupendous to say the least.