How important is the character customization of AoC?

ArchivedUser

How important and what is a good customization for you guys?

Please rate between 1-10 how important character customisation is and what elements in customisation is most important for you.

For an example is a diverse option for hair/faces/body shapes most important or is the design more important then the quantity of options? 

I have seen alot of posts discussing character customisation of both races and the style in general, but most discussions are well over a year old. Where are we now in terms of customisation?

Im very intreseted in what the community thinks of this topic please fill me in on your thoughts tyvm

(P.S is it s or z for customization)  

ArchivedUser

We are at the same place we were a year ago. Character customization is promised to be extensive and similar to BDO (if you have played that, apparently that is good.) The cosmetic stuff is a development milestone down the road. From what they have said the current pass is combat, cosmetics and related were stated to be later just before release. So keep on hoping.

ArchivedUser

Similar to BDO?  BDO has a good customization,  however I would prefer it to be unique in its own fashion.  I mean too many games copy the customization options I mean Pantheon is trying to be just as unique.  I would love to see more races be added into the mix ... Customization will create depth but I think design wise we need to look into more of what was "ideal" and trace back the patterns from games like EQ and other in-depth MMORPGs.  BDO has too much of a  live combat setting and the characters become to generic over time even if the design is unique so if you trade it off .. It may ultimately give the feeling of reciprocity rather than a stagnate feeling in the player's mouth; but I am hoping as well..  We have been given a lot in this year lets just hope this momentum keeps up

ArchivedUser

Im just going to wear the necrotic skin so I don't really mind what I look like but I will try to look as dead as I can get. Even better add a god damn undead race intrepid ^^

ArchivedUser

As long as I can get my boob and hips slider to max out I am happy.

ArchivedUser

CC is vital and we were already informed that it will be extemely extensive.

ArchivedUser

Character design is VERY important.

I want a cute attractive she-elf in classy but semi-skimpy clothing particularity for the legs and waist.  Cleavage I could maybe do without BUT @Allastair has an idea that I know is pretty popular among alot of games.  The clothes and customization must both match her elvish beauty-or perhaps amazon warrior ferocity.
IF THE DEVS DO NOT LET ME LOOK AT A PRETTY LADY FOR 900+ HOURS IT WILL BE MUCH SHAMEFUL DISPRAY!

I also want scars and weathering for my dwarf and I want his angual dwarven armor to match his 'visual personality' and perhaps seem to barely hide the rippiling muscles beneath.  Bonus points for beard armor.  A slider for fatness and muscle is very much needed.

My Orc will be a Sumo wrestler as red and as bare as the Rising Sun.

My Human I haven't decided.

ArchivedUser

@nagash wants his necrotic skin.  I say it's all about those eleven ears and platinum hair! 

ArchivedUser

I could spend hours perfecting a look for my characters.  Aion had a very extensive character creation.  I think I had more fun making characters than playing the game...or very close.    I think Aion had more than BDO, AB had THE most extensive CC; if Ashes falls between BDO and AB, I'd be very pleased.

ArchivedUser

Digital_Wind said:

Character design is VERY important.

I want a cute attractive she-elf in classy but semi-skimpy clothing particularity for the legs and waist.  Cleavage I could maybe do without BUT @Allastair has an idea that I know is pretty popular among alot of games.  The clothes and customization must both match her elvish beauty-or perhaps amazon warrior ferocity.
IF THE DEVS DO NOT LET ME LOOK AT A PRETTY LADY FOR 900+ HOURS IT WILL BE MUCH SHAMEFUL DISPRAY!

I also want scars and weathering for my dwarf and I want his angual dwarven armor to match his 'visual personality' and perhaps seem to barely hide the rippiling muscles beneath.  Bonus points for beard armor.  A slider for fatness and muscle is very much needed.

My Orc will be a Sumo wrestler as red and as bare as the Rising Sun.

My Human I haven't decided.

Total war shogun sends its regards

ArchivedUser

Overall by the comments given it sounds like most here think customisation is a highly important feature of an mmo.

I have played Aion (shortly) I tend to not like asian mmos overall and their characters usually have that plastic feel to it. Although! I have to say that Aion had a rather good character customisation as I remembered it.

Games who ultimately pulled me off because they had bad character customisations as an example were SWTOR (where every male had a nose size that would make pinocchio jealous) and with no slider options some mmos forces you to play the devs taste of "art". 

Overall in many games the Male characters gets alot less love and detail then female because of the obvious 80% female character domination in old mmos. I hope we get equal love for both male and female in ashes (in terms of option and details) and also I hope they stay away from the wiggly, waggly boob/ass engine. 

Its hard taking anything serious in a pvx mmo if everyone in moving around as a pack of Jell-O.

8/10 for me in importance.

ArchivedUser

On the other hand...there is such a thing as too much custimizations.

Eve, the only time you see your characyer is when you die, look at your portrait picture, or install bio-mods.

And they let you use a slider for 30 different muscles, for the body type alone...plus an extra 30 for the facial expression!

Nice...but also too much.  Way too much.

ArchivedUser

Digital_Wind said:

On the other hand...there is such a thing as too much custimizations.

Eve, the only time you see your characyer is when you die, look at your portrait picture, or install bio-mods.

And they let you use a slider for 30 different muscles, for the body type alone...plus an extra 30 for the facial expression!

Nice...but also too much.  Way too much.

When EVE was still young they had plans to add future fps/character animations and even walking around in your ship/stations. So they started with alot of details on the face and later on body aswell. But cause of limitations to the engine that they later found out the fps had to become its own game and walking around in ships proved to be very difficult so it ended up being just a wasted feature to have all those options on customisations. 

Still its funny how a game that didnt even focus on the character that much made it better then most of the games who uses a 3rd person view in the mmo market

ArchivedUser

I thought it was great, but it was also a huge pain.  Contrast this with SWTOR where you had only 4 body types:  skinny girl, swimsuit model, Helga from Russia, and plus size.

Presets, and then sliders for beard size, muscle size, gut size, breast size, nose size, ear size, etc.  Enough to accommodate the different races.

ArchivedUser

I agree fully, its so easy to do character custom bad, but pretty hard to get it right. Usually more options is better (within limits, we dont want to many Helga's and Marios)

ArchivedUser

Im hoping with the CC the renkai orc females can be feminine and cute n not borish looking like eso or any other mmo that does orcs.

Since they are inspired by oriental culture(japanese most likely) n im a big anime fan im sooo hoping the CC follows suite.

I want even more details thn BDO and want everyone to look extremely different as they play thier persona.

ArchivedUser

For me an expansive CC system is a must.  I hated it in WoW when I would walk around a corner in Ironforge and see another Dwarf that looked exactly like me except with a different hair color.  I want to make my characters as unique as possible.  Preferably I'd like friends to be able to recognize me without looking at my nametag.

ArchivedUser

Noemad said:

For me an expansive CC system is a must.  I hated it in WoW when I would walk around a corner in Ironforge and see another Dwarf that looked exactly like me except with a different hair color.  I want to make my characters as unique as possible.  Preferably I'd like friends to be able to recognize me without looking at my nametag.

I wonder if this can be done, as there are just so many choices in Character Creation, plus like in some games, unless you are close up, the characters are very dimly lit where you cannot recognize features.

ArchivedUser

Given the amount of flavour that the Devs are putting into this game.

1. Race + city/wild version of the race
2. Class
3. Sub-Class
4. Religion
5. Weapon

All having an effect on what your game will feel like, I think it stands to reason that they will also give us a fair amount of customization.

...I only care about the sexy armour though

ArchivedUser

If there are sliders that have no discernible effect they've gone too far...

ArchivedUser

SaintJoanna said:

It is possible, but it takes work.

For instance if ashes would have the face and body modifier from Black Desert Online.

Make sure every race has 30 hairstyles unique to all 8 or 10 races.

Make sure every race has it's own culture when it comes to hairstyles, piercings, body paint, tatoo's.

Allow for different body sizes. ( a fat bald high priest ) ( a skinny modelesque elf )

implement age sliders, wrinkels, age spots.

Give all 10 races unique movements, unique ways of combat, cultural dances.
This can be done by adding augments.
augment a sword ablilty with the empyrean elf augment, and make your character swing its sword more elegantly.

Character creation should not be limited to the character creator.

Explore the world, take a long quest chain as a human to learn elven combat movements, to get a elven augment.

And keep updating the character creator through out the years.

Just cause it's not done yet does not mean it can't be done.

This makes me very happy. 

ArchivedUser

4/10  Some custom options are nice to have, but to me these are not so important. But because i know most players are more interested of appearance and details, i hope we will get at least 9/10. 

ArchivedUser

I spend a lot of time customizing my appearance but I think outside of the character selection screen I don't see my character. So while I like imbuing a personality and character, I also know it is pretty pointless. Body structure options are pretty great because it affects how your armor looks on you and that goes a lot further.

ArchivedUser

There is research on this topic, and it proves statistically relevant; anyone interested can read here: https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/4340/3412

Interestingly enough, my preferences align almost perfectly with the research. Not that it means more than that I'm utterly usual.

ArchivedUser

10

ArchivedUser

11 (there is no such thing as too much customisation)

I would love :
 - customisation of the body with as many details as possible.
- a way to select of modify the way my caractere move.
- lots of animation done autamatically (like sitting, drinking) which could not be done always the same way.
- being able to apply mackup and go to the hairdresser. Not being stuck with just one look forever.
- being able to die or customise dress, armor, boots, etc...
- I would appreciate the idea of augment mentionnent previously where ou can learn another style of fighting or casting, and that it show.

And last but its important : please, please, please dont make the elfe look like in elder scroll morrowind but more like Lord of the Ring.

ArchivedUser

Options are always a good thing...so as many customization options available without causing delays would be my hope.

ArchivedUser

SaintJoanna said:

Sintu said:

Options are always a good thing...so as many customization options available without causing delays would be my hope.

And keep adding options, to many games stop adding customization options after launch. but after a year in the game everything starts to bore even the way your character looks.

new options every 3 months, 

Just have a character remodeling mirror, no need to have an option every 3 months. Eve Online have this option. 

ArchivedUser

I think it should be good balanced. Character creation should work nice with the world and gameplay. Even if its the most gorgues mmo if the characters look misplaced and ugly it wil not make the game complete.

ArchivedUser

EQ2 has a Barber you can go see and change your appearance for like 5 silver, as often as you want.

ArchivedUser

SaintJoanna said:

NightshadeRaven said:

SaintJoanna said:

Sintu said:

Options are always a good thing...so as many customization options available without causing delays would be my hope.

And keep adding options, to many games stop adding customization options after launch. but after a year in the game everything starts to bore even the way your character looks.

new options every 3 months, 

Just have a character remodeling mirror, no need to have an option every 3 months. Eve Online have this option. 

I disagree, even if you add a mirror, you'll still get bored of the options presented to you in a year or 2 years time.

It might not be relevant to your playstyle, but there are alot of people who enjoy recreating their character and a continuesly updated character creation would help with their gameplay experience.

 

you mortals and your good looks, it whats inside you that counts. BONES!!!! ^^