Black Desert had a lot of choices - the only good part of the game IMO was character creation. I wasn't terribly impressed by the creation choices in FFXIV but we all have our own preferences.
The constraint, of course, is what the game engine can do showing the choices we make in action. Without using so many resources that it slows things down a lot.
While I would love a huge variety of choices it is better to have 10 hair styles and 5 hair colors that actually look good in the game than 50 styles and 30 colors that all look the same (or look awful) as the characters actually do things.
Unless Pantheon is very unusual, we will spend the great bulk of our time seeing the back of our characters as they walk, run or ride to wherever they are going. So time spent customizing the back of the head (hair) and the arse may be the most valuable time. I've seen endless options for cheeks, eyes, face, eyebrows etc etc but outside of the character screen how often do we actually get to see those? Not too often.
dorotea said:Black Desert had a lot of choices - the only good part of the game IMO was character creation. I wasn't terribly impressed by the creation choices in FFXIV but we all have our own preferences.
The constraint, of course, is what the game engine can do showing the choices we make in action. Without using so many resources that it slows things down a lot.
While I would love a huge variety of choices it is better to have 10 hair styles and 5 hair colors that actually look good in the game than 50 styles and 30 colors that all look the same (or look awful) as the characters actually do things.
Unless Pantheon is very unusual, we will spend the great bulk of our time seeing the back of our characters as they walk, run or ride to wherever they are going. So time spent customizing the back of the head (hair) and the arse may be the most valuable time. I've seen endless options for cheeks, eyes, face, eyebrows etc etc but outside of the character screen how often do we actually get to see those? Not too often.
Yeah that's fair, it was a bit fiddly, but I eventually got a result I was very pleased with so it worked out.
Fair also about the back of the character, I still like other people to look at me enviously though too :)
Agree on the hair styles; this is not an imperative for Launch though as long as it's 'good enough'. Can always add more options later and put in a 'hairdresser' or (what I'd like to see) 'plastic surgeon' :) in a future patch.
Yes! Please have customization!!!
My biggest pet peeve are the hair weaves. Seriously, I've been in some CC's where I'm like WTF - that is the stupidest or ugliest hairstyle. Who in their right minds would like that?
As a female, I like my toons to be female -- and so hair is very important me. We need good hair weaves and meshes. Please for the love of god, stop creating hairstyles that get blended or cut off due to the body armor you have. I've been so disappointed with hairstyles that just doesn't look good when the character moves because it gets absorbed into the clothing.
And while we are at it, please create head armor that looks good with the hairstyle's weave/mesh. The hair should not stick out oddly when wearing the helmet.
My other request: let me have some flexibility with the chest size. Can we get at least some wiggle room here? Cause you know, I like to live vicariously through my character as I wasn't as blessed in real life. Lol.
Character customization will be cool, i just hope they tame down things like armour dyes and weapon particle effects. It ruins the uniqueness of things like the Soulfire and epics when everything can have particles on it. I remember playing on the Veeshan server of EQ way back and there was rumours of a flaming sword getting around! It was amazing, and the glowing blue GM swords were something to behold. Now everyone has some random particles flying off every bit of them, and hot pink armour etc.
That is not to say i dont think players should be able to customize their characters, i think they just need to allow subtle changes. Say a quest/tasks/items (recipes) that have to be earnt to unlock things at a blacksmith or something, which may be new shades of armour dye, rather than someone in hot pink,fluro green getting around a forest, and if there is someone getting around like that in a forest, it could be because there is a fabled item like a grand cloak of the jester, which is a unique item.
just my 2 cents, many probably disagree
Customisation can definitely be a double-edged sword.
Done right, it can be awesome - bringing the variety of life iinto the world ....
Done wrong and you have your cleric wearing a "Borat" style tankini with fluffy bunny slippers.....
Having said that:
1. Character Creator: [Low/Moderate DEV effort]
A. Have a choice of backgrounds (default is start city/are for chosen race) to scroll through.
- this means you can see you character in a dungeon (dark + torchlight), desert or forest lighting!
B. Have a sample of mid/higher end gear (representative of size etc, not the actual models) to view.
- this allows you to guage your look in the game across your growth in power.
C. Have a small selection (2-3) of different animations to view (taken from in-game ones).
- this will allow you to get a feel for your character, rather than just the 'idle' animation.
D. Have option to show/hide hoods if there is to be option for this in game.
- this would allow you to see what you would really look like in-game.
2. Gear Customization: [Moderate/High DEV effort]
A. Instead of just creating a whole bunch of armours/gear, create racial/period themes
- this allows each race to have their own 'style' of armour. Perhaps Elven armour is 'fussy' with
embossed designs. Perhaps Ogre armour is blocky and heavy with little, if any, ornamentation.
- this also allows 'period' styles of amour. Perhaps 'ancient' armour dating from a particular era
in history is Gothic in look.
This creates a (recognisable) visual shorthand in the templates for armours.
B. Have 'non-jarring' options that can be added.
- this would include enamelling, etching, embossing for armours for example.
- this would allow variations in leather textures, or even (natural) dyes to be added.
- this might include 'runes' added/etched onto items (as part of crafting perhaps)
3. Character 'layers': [Moderate/High DEV effort]
Rather depends on how the engine can bake layers on top of others for performance!
A. Skin layers
- add tattoos, scars etc
B. Gear layers
- add dirt, blood, gore, ice, tar, burn/singe marks etc
C. Polish effects
- Matt/Gloss effects for things like armour/shields being (crafter) polished for effect.
4. Character options: [Low/Moderate/High effort]
A. Simple Sliders [i.e. global scaling]
- Height, waistline etc
B. Complex sliders [i.e. local scaling]
- Arm/Leg length/thickness, chest/hips, hands/feet
C. Racial specific skin tones
- skin tone variation palette (even for non-human races) eg 'Snow Ogres'
D. Hair length
- hair length slider for variation (perhaps even for beards!)
E. Age slider
There is no end to the customization that could be implemented.... but from a pragmatic point of view, this is ultimately a cost/benefit thing.
There are some options listed above that would offer a large amount of customization for relatively little 'DEV effort budget'. Some would have to be planned well in advance (e.g. Racial Armour/clothing styles) but would improve the feeling of identity for characters in the game dramatically. With strategic planning, many of these items could be 'ready' for future development down the line and not require a complete re-working of the system. But even planning takes time/effort.
All I suggest is "keep it 'natural' when it comes to adding customization to items in the World"
Evoras, hopes there will be many pet models for his Summoner!
Maybe I am old school on this but I absolutely HATE gear customization. I am all for Dying armor.
In old EQ ,Asherons and even Vanguard ( Pre gear custom), When you saw a Bard running around in that fancy dark Blue armor or Green meant they were dedicated on their character. it gives the sense of feel that the individual is an established player and even helps with the user's lore (if they RPG). same goes for Warrior’s in crafted and casters in an Shiny Metallic Robe (Pre Kunark). It is almost like you 're showing your achievements. Customization completely takes away from this.
If you're an old school gamer you know what I am talking about here. How many times were you hanging in freeport gate when a low level inspects that dark Purple gear on your cleric. from a low leveler, it showed that they were an established player hoping to achieve the same greatness.
Vanguard did something awesome with this. If you leveled on Thestra (euro theme continent) your gear was very mid evil like. Qalia (dessert theme) was very geared to look towards the harsh sand and heat and Kojan (Asian theme) looked very samurai Japanese art.
By having you fully custimize your appearence ruins that feeling in my opinion.
I don't understand how gear customization ruins anything. You still have to get the pieces of gear to customize yourself.
What if you have a super rare item that later gets replaced by a much more mundane item? Suddenly your rare item is stuck in your bank and nobody knows/cares.
This argument goes both ways, there is no right or wrong answer.
Im all for gear customization. A non-restricted one too, I think Rift had one where you just unlock a toggable alternate tab where you can equip gear for looks only. Wearable gear obviously, but same weapon types should be interchangeable (mace <>sword, bow <> crossbow), at least those which share the same animation. Its a big no-no for more conservative players but ive yet to hear a logical and/or objective reason why this would actually hurt the overall gameplay or value of the gear or even the game. If anything previous implementations have only served to increase the value of those long forgetten items that always fade away as time passes.
There are many new convenience features brought into MMOs in the last decade or so that end up taking away from the game (like GPS Quest Guides vs Exploration) ... customizeable gear not only addresses the age old "everyone looks the same" thing with MMOs but it gives players another thing to do in game rather than take one away.
I guess I look at games that have gear customization as fluff for a failing game
SWTOR/vanguard EQ2 Rift all released gear customization after there games were on the decline or already in the F2P model. I am not saying you cant have it and either way I will respect the devs decision. I guess when I see gear customization I see a bombing game trying to persuade you to return.
Not in favor of changing the look of gear in terms of dying armors different colors but I have no issue with people using a cosmetic option to cover one piece of gear with something else of theirs, that I can choose to toggle off.
Being able to dye armors really takes away from item recognition/renown.
Iksar said:Not in favor of changing the look of gear in terms of dying armors different colors but I have no issue with people using a cosmetic option to cover one piece of gear with something else of theirs, that I can choose to toggle off.
Being able to dye armors really takes away from item recognition/renown.
I think you just nailed it. I would totally be ok with a button to toggle other people's customization vs the actual gear
I'm totally against any sort of gear customizing. It gave you incentive to work towards getting full sets. Gear and weapons should be as they are dropped. You should be able to tell when someone has a full set of armor. There are plenty of mmo out there with the instant gratification system. IMO I would like to see the old school rules like eq back in the day before even tinting was possible. I may be the minority but that's my 2 cents.
Yea, I hope they just stick with dyes, when it comes to customizing your own gear.
What I could get behind, and a way for crafters to get more to do, are adornments of some kind that you can add to existing pieces of armor. These adornments wouldn't even have stat increases - they'd simply be for, as they say in EQ, "FashionQuest".
Adding a hood to your robe, maybe one with a deep cowl. Small spikes to gauntlets on the knuckles, or even finger tips. Being able to etch a city standard on a breastplate or shield. Things like that.
I suppose adding stats would be fine, but by not it would take away the gear balancing hassle which would, hopefully, promote a wider diversity in "adornments".