Honestly, I wouldn't want any players playing DOA who dismiss it due to the sex appeal of the series. They're video game women and gaming is still a male dominated industry. But I have female friends who like seeing attractive women being able to kick ass while still looking good. All we, the true fans can do, is support the title any way we can. If people don't want to try out DOA due to some sex appeal, then they're obviously just using it as an excuse to not play the game anyway.
I don't believe that's necessarily true. I, personally, have had experiences where someone didn't even
realize DOA's a fighting game. Does that necessarily mean they're just trying to find an excuse not to play? It's undeniable that there are people that may very well enjoy the game, but are completely unaware it's a game they may enjoy. This is most certainly not helped by the series' history, which guarantees the sex appeal will get more publicity than the gameplay.
This fact is not helped at all by TN's seemingly embracing it, with the newest DOA trailer on Koei-Tecmo's official Youtube channel featuring a grand total of
three seconds of gameplay; using sex appeal in marketing as a way to mask a lack of quality content isn't an uncommon tactic. When a trailer such as
this appears so high among the results when searching 'dead or alive 5 ultimate' on Youtube (uploaded by an
official channel, no less), it wouldn't be illogical for someone unfamiliar with the series to assume that's what they're trying to do.
Also, regarding SoulCalibur. Reputation is just as much of a factor as content when it comes to things like this; Namco has the benefits of not only having been around longer than Tecmo, the name is associated with a higher quantity of well-received series, including
Pacman. They can get away with it because not only have a history of quality to back them up, but also have many more people willing to purchase those games regardless of content and even convince other people to give it a shot. In other words, trying to compare DOA to SoulCalibur is about as futile as comparing Atelier to Tales; you may like one over the other, but Tales has a much better reputation to back it up.
That is, to sum up this minor rant:
Avoiding a game due to sexual content is
not always just an excuse
Presentation affects most peoples' view of DOA moreso than actual content
SoulCalibur has its publisher's history allowing it to get away with whatever, like a spoiled rich kid
It ended up being much longer than I had intended