Seriously though, I DO think there should be "some" some-what scantily clad females, And males with their shirts off with bulging biceps. Did you guys see the Urxen skin I did? Did you notice that I posted a pic of him with no armor up top and I skinned his entire chest and back? Notice the rippling muscles and hair? Even though they are a monster race I wanted them to look cool and powerful, and to a female, maybe even attractive. Is that "realistic" though? Should I expect every male member of the Urxen race to be a big beefy powerhouse? I can tell you now, even though most women I know consider me to be an attractive guy, I'm not some big muscle bound hunk. I'm rather skinny, though admittedly I am cut. Still, should I be offended that the males of all the races seem to put me to shame physically? No, not at all. Why not? Because this is a FANTASY game. Just like in the movies or in most TV shows where all the people look "perfect", the same applies in video games and literature and any other popular medium.
I found always utterly disgusting and annoying that in games like Neverwinter Nights my male wizard was Conan in robes. Altough by itself I don't dislike the Conan stereotype, I prefer the agile and cunning warrior stereotype. My D&D fighter characters are always odd, favouring first dexterity and then intelligence (from D&D 3.0+... 2nd Edition sucked in skill terms so no point to have much intelligence there for a fighter), favouring dual blade style, acrobatics... Certainly not a Conan that has buffed muscles even in the eyelashes. Wonder why I usually prefer to make female characters...
The realism I expect is that of "If you spend lots of hours each day training physically, I expect you to be beefy. If you, on the other hand, spend lots of time in a library studying, I expect you NOT to be beefy.". Action -> Reaction. Totally ignoring things like "beauty" because it doesn't matter (but I would expect some degree of "marks" in those exposed to dangers to health... like arrows, daggers, fireballs...).
That entertaiment sells us some stereotypes... by itself is not bad as long as you don't get carried away. It would be like those fashion companies using Photoshop on their models...
As a fan of "Fantasy" worlds, I expect certain things in my entertainment. I expect the dudes to be big and strong and kick a lot of ass and I expect the women to have ample lush breasts and an ass so shapely I could bounce a quarter off it. Is that wrong? No, not at all. That's WHY it's called "Fantasy Entertainment". I can get away into a world where everyone is perfect. Unlike the normal reality of me being too skinny or some women thinking they are too chunky or some guys thinking they are too "weak". I want some "Fantasy" in my fantasy games.
My fantasy bias is that magic is real (in whichever universe it happens), which means that it has laws of its own that allow it to work. And there is no real difference with our "science" but in that it may be accessible by only a minority of people (unless it's based on kamis and/or demon pacts...) due to whatever laws the magic system works with. Because if you were in a world with magic, you would consider fantasy a world without it as the presence of magic (whichever its origin and your opinion about it) would be something natural (even if scary or dangerous) for you.
So I expect humans (unless the universe creator determines explicitly otherwise) to be humans and work biologically as such. So a "Cow" female warrior is going to spend lots of money in buying/mantaining the magically enhanced breasts and potions to easy the pain in the back (unless the magical breats already come enchanted for this). And lets not talk about the beauty saloons that both males and female heroes are to visit constantly to keep themselves pretty despite huge battles, skirmishes, dungeon crawling... I remember reading the Moonshaes trilogy and reading about the female protagonist breaking her teeth. It was like: what?? Seriously?? (no, she didn't get them fixed)
I know that my perspective on fantasy isn't fantasish for most of you but sue me for considering anything that it's not the reality I live in is a fantasy. And that unless it's a child fantasy world (where anything is possible because it's fantasy/magic... much like Harry Potter, as interesting as it may be), everything has a reason to be that could be explained "scientifically" (within limits, no need to explain aether quatum mechanics or something).
In the memorable words of Captain Pickard...Make it so!!!
I prefer "Engage!".
