Accepted Gender Unlock All Event Cosmetics

One of the best parts about events in ML are the cosmetics that we can get. Sometimes, there are cosmetics that are locked for each gender (denoted by "(Male)" or "(Female)" in the item name) that cannot be worn by characters of the opposite gender on the same account. I would like to propose removing this restriction from event cosmetic items, if possible, for two reasons:

1. ML has made an effort to be more inclusive beyond the gender binary, which has culminated in recent changes such as providing an "other" option for account gender upon initial login. However, that change has no functional change in the game and how it plays. As Kimmy wrote, "inclusivity is definitely not gonna hurt," and I do believe that there should be some reflection of that in game as well. ML has already become more inclusive by adding same sex marriage. Degendering the cosmetics would give those who fall outside the gender binary more options for cosmetics and overall be a more inclusive experience.

2. There have been event cosmetics in the past that are "gendered" by have not been locked in game. The Summer Breeze (M) and (F) outfits from last year's summer event come to mind. I know there are also some outfits that aren't gender locked, but are coded for M or F, such as the Well-Deserved Vacation Outfit overall from Christmas event last year. By coded, I mean that the overall with pants was redeemable by male characters, but the overall with a skirt was redeemable by female characters. Both of the aforementioned sets could be worn by either gender. Therefore, there's already precedent for making outfits universal and not locked to one gender.

I know that generally, how cosmetics are restricted have been dependent on whether it says "(Male)" or "(Female)" in the item name. However, I'm wondering if there's a way to remove those restrictions, as I think it'd be better for the game overall, both from an inclusivity standpoint and from a creativity standpoint in terms of outfits. The future discussions on this could be whether CS items and even hair and face should be degendered, but that is not what I want to look at here. Instead, I think a good start is to look at event cosmetics, since cosmetics are what many of the player base look forward to with each event.

 

I completely agree; I know that there are a lot of hard-coded items in the game, which is why I emphasized if possible. We've come a long way with the coding too though, so I'm cautiously optimistic that this may be something that can be implemented in the future, even if it's further down the line.