I've been playing Diablo III a lot since it was released in mid-May. Loving the game-play; just what I need when I want to just slay a bunch of stuff. But...
First thing I hate has to do with the followers. You get a choice. Either the templar, scoundrel, or enchantress. The templar is so self-righteous, you wish that he existed so you could smack him. The scoundrel is actually pretty funny. But the enchantress! Ug, I didn't think I could hate a video game character like this. She's like... You know when you're a teen or young adult, and one of your best friends has a younger sibling who hero-worships you, and probably has a little crush on you too. At first you might think it's kind of cute. And then one day you spend an extended period of time around the kid, and you start to really hate them. Add to this acting dumb because they think it's cute, and you have the enchantress. I mean, somebody has to like this, otherwise there wouldn't be so many girls and women who manage to attract the opposite sex by acting dumb and feigning worship. (Note: the enchantress does act this way towards both male and female characters.)
An example is the hero you play says something like, "I think we're close to the crown." Enchantress: "You have the right of it. As always." The voice actor makes it clear that she's fawning over you. She goes on at other times about how you're now her entire life, or acts all innocent about things that are said fairly clearly.
She even bothers me more than the attire they've put on the female heroes. A couple of them start off wearing thigh-high stockings, and at least one continues to for the entire game. The demon hunter, who is a kick-ass fighter and has attitude, wears spiky high heels. Even though her adventures running after monsters have her travelling across marshes, desert sands, and snow. These are fighters, not pretty side-kicks that sort of hang around to cheer someone on. Does a warrior of any type want to make sure her stay-ups aren't slipping, or sink into the soft ground in a crucial moment? And! There's one female angel shown. Like the other angels, she's faceless, and wears a big white robe (although hers shows a little leg). She flies at all times you see her. But she's also wearing high heels.
We're not all hormonal young men. I don't look to video games to find an attractive person in my life, and even if I did, they don't have to pull out the stereotypical shortcuts to showing that a woman is sexy.
And the thing is, it's not just what the gaming company thinks people want. Yes, the official forums aren't the majority of players, but it really makes me sick to see posts (with a fair amount of support) complaining that the female wizard's cleavage isn't big enough, or that the female barbarian should be taken down a few dress sizes. (I've stopped reading the official general forums, because I want to throw up whenever I read most of the stuff posted there.)
I guess the point is that it disgusts me that there still exist boys and men of all age groups who think this kind of stuff is okay. And probably women, too.
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