(02-05-2014, 11:57 AM)ArmachiA Wrote: First off I'm going to say I understand the event in theory. It's extremely Japanese and seems to be a mix of Maid Cafe's and Host/Hostess Clubs (As an aisde, want to know what they are going for and watch a really engaging Documentary on the subject of Host Clubs? Watch, like right now)I was gonna post about Maid Café/Host Clubs but then I refreshed the page. So yeah: This.
Maid Cafe's are NOT host clubs though, so that is kind of riding me a little bit.
This is pretty common in Japan, there's even a Cafe for a working, full fledged, Signed to a record label, musical group - Akihabara Backstage Pass - where patrons are called "Producers" and vote on which girls get to be in the singles by using the points they get by going to the restaurant. Â (My personal favorite is AD Nagisa: http://backst.jp/cast/64/ YEAH)
The whole "Mistress/Master" thing is common for Maid Cafe's (Not Host clubs, however).
HOWEVER, knowing the IRL gender? Creepy. CREEPY.
There's no need for it unless you're trying to do actual IRL relationship hook ups. NO NEED.
In agreement with everyone here. I would never do it, since I have no idea what kind of creeper I would have to talk to. I'm pretty sure they would want more. I get hit on in the game just by having a female avatar. It happened the other day!
That being said, saying that anyone who volunteers know what they are getting into is willfully ignorant as well. Just because they volunteer does not mean they can handle harassment or deserve it. They have no idea what kind of harassment they will be facing and what YOU, the host, will be putting them into facing.
If something bad happens because of this, it's on your heads. Know that.
Oh, for the record, I find Maid Cafe and Hosts clubs super weird and the implications of them problematic, but I do understand what the Organizers were going for in a Japanese game.
Also: I find it unsettling that this event hybridizes Maid/Host establishments because there is probably a reason why they don't generally do cross-genre stuff in RL well-established cafés/clubs, and I believe that the reason might be a workplace hazard thing (Maid fetish/subservience+Host flirtation/sexuality) by creating a hotpot of harassment and stalking.
Using RL genders also makes this more a Meta thing, and if it is different from the character's gender, then it isn't RP (or at least, not the type of RP we generally do).
And no one can be prepared for harassment before it happens to them. Even if they're warned by a big chunk of their social circle beforehand.