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Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest news on Alpha Two.
Check out general Announcements here to see the latest news on Ashes of Creation & Intrepid Studios.
To get the quickest updates regarding Alpha Two, connect your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
Race synergy doesn't matter to me usually. I find lore and a particular race that calls to me and that's what I choose. I do find race synergy can be annoying because in certain games people will jump on you for not being the absolute min-max build. If you're a mage why are you not -this- kind of elf instead? Maybe because I don't like that type of elf or the other seemed cooler to me lore-wise! It limits my creativity to play what I want when the meta is affected by race. Then again I'm being a basic gal going Py'rai to make a war dancer styled character so I can't complain too much when I'd probably play to one of its more stereotyped roles.
I enjoy sliders a lot for options for people to customize but one thing I can say though some limitations to sliders is never a bad thing because I recall some real BDO monstrosities that would just break immersion entirely or blind us depending on how bright the hair and armor dye was. Even Aion as gorgeous as it was had some issues with bodies falling too easily out of natural range also that if you messed up even slightly it was hard to fix and the character look good afterward.
If we are getting a stand-alone character creator with BDO-like customization like Steven has talked about, then I can easily spend an hour or more per character. Just experimenting and refining details and such over time.
As for tools, one of the most important to me is the ability to load our character into a small test environment in the actual game world, where we can change the lighting effects and day/night settings, and run around a little. Way too often have I spent a long time perfecting a character in the creator, only for it to look different in the game world. Let us be sure the character looks like we want it ingame before actually committing.
I'd also like tons of sliders or direct body-morphing using the mouse. For everything. Do full color palette for almost everything where it makes sense, including the ability to type in RGB color codes. But again, if we are getting BDO-like levels of customization, this is almost guaranteed anyway.
Obviously a save/load/import/export character functionality as well, and either a website for people to share their character creations, or at least allow third party websites do it. Or a built in online database people can browse even.
I definitely focus on both race/class synergy and on looking good. Sometimes I want my character to look generically good, and sometimes I just want it to stand out, sacrificing some classical beauty standards. I don't mind sacrificing a small amount of race/class synergy for looks if I can't get a good look for what I perceive to be the most optimal race/class combo, but I tend to prioritize race/class synergy highest and work from there.
This also means I would like to be able to make somewhat informed choices using only the character creator. So tooltips explaining stats and racial augments are important, and I would actually also like to see a table or schematic of some kind of base stat progression from 1-50 for each race.
1. Extremely detailed face modification with sliders for a wide variety of options for specific features. Example: Be able to fine-tune the angle of a character's nose tip, bridge, and nostrils sizes in multiple dimensions, or determine which sections of a character's mouth/lips curve or bow in which ways. Things like that make for a very unique character when role-playing so people don't end up having the same faces wherever you look.
2. The ability to alter body sizes drastically. An example would be things like the ability to increase arm and leg length and thickness for specific leg regions, such as being able to have long and narrow biceps but have shorter extremely girthy forearms like popeye. Things like being able to adjust muscle to fat ratios on specific body types. These kinds of features make for a large variety of character body shapes that give distinction to every character model at a glance. If having these kinds of drastic body shapes may be potentially immersion-breaking then perhaps add minimum size restrictions to linked body parts. Example: If a character tries to make their hips and waist extremely tiny but their chest extremely broad, then link the sliders so that as the chest gets bigger the waist and hips have minimum sizes for such disproportionate proportions pectorals.
3. A wide variety of hairstyles that have some form of fine length and shape modification with color grids or sliders rather than color boxes that can be selected from.
4. Having color grids and sliders for skin and eye color, as well as having a variety of eye features like iris patterns or pupil shape, especially for the Tulnar, as they seem to be more mutated and diverse than other races.
5. For the Tulnar- the ability to determine specific body morphs. Example: Being able to choose between plantigrade or digitigrade legs. Having scales, skin, or fur and a variety of ear types, such as human, wolf, flat and undefined lizard-like ears, etc...
6. Having specific features for specific races, such as giving extreme ear length sliders for elves or having extra beard region length sliders and designs for dwarves. Whatever things like that make sense for the game lore-wise.
I am very much looking forward to seeing what Ashes can offer. The gameplay and features are looking extremely promising, but if the Character Creator is lacking it could be a game-breaker for many players.
I spend a lot of time on character creation, even on games where the details are sometimes very little perceptible once in game! Tools that would allow to REALLY make a character unique would be really great. The customization of basic hair models for example by touching up the length of some hair strands, shaving a side of the head on a hairstyle, but also the asymmetrical side of the faces/hair! A lot of other ideas that I read above are important, even the smallest details because it's in these that we make our character unique, "realistic", "fantasy" and so on when we want it! I focus on beauty but don't totally discount the synergy with the class/race I want to play but wouldn't want to limit our customization choices because of the race/class.
FRENCH / FRANCAIS
J'accorde beaucoup de temps à la création de personnage, même sur des jeux où les détails sont parfois très peu perceptible une fois en jeu ! Des outils qui permettrait de VRAIMENT rendre unique un personnage serait vraiment non négligeable. La customisation de modèles de base de cheveux par exemple en retouchant la longueur de certaines mèches de cheveux, de raser un côté de la tète sur une coiffure, mais aussi le côté asymétrique des visages/cheveux ! Plein d'autre idée que j'ai lu plus haut sont importantes même plus petit détails car c'est dans ceux-ci que l'on rend notre personnage unique, "réaliste", "fantaisie" et j'en passe quand on le veut ! Je me concentre sinon sur la beauté mais ne met pas coté totalement la synergie avec la classe/race que je veux jouer mais n'aimerais pas qu'on limite nos choix de personnalisation à cause de la race/classe.
Rush (FR)
It's later in the game where armor make you differenciate yourself imo.
The most important for me is that I want humans to look human, dwarf look dwarfish and so on. Don't really take games serious if you can morph your body too much and make yourself look absolutely ridiculous.
I prioritize looks above almost everything.
Even so far as to sway my decision of what class to play (in games that have race-locked classes)
For super detailed character creation, I'd love the following tools:
HEAD SHAPE
SKELETON
HAIR
TEXTURES/MATERIALS
GOOD FEATURES FROM OTHER GAMES
BAD FEATURES FROM OTHER GAMES
NOVEL FEATURES THAT I AM YET TO SEE IN OTHER GAMES:
Final Notes:
Please leave a bunch of hairstyles/haircolours/tattoos/eyewear to discover in-game, don't make it all available at character creation!
Ack I forgot lightning tools. I totally second this (and basically everything else in this post other than your hair opinions ) and thanks for the reminder.
Which also reminds me that I would like full camera angle and zoom control. Zoom in and out at any angle and percent is very useful for detailing and many games lack a proper camera system for it.
I didn't say too much about hair, because my experience with BDO's hair was ... "I wish I didn't try to tweak this" and then you see what other people did with the hair and you're like "oh wow that's amazing!"
I like to have some control over my characters body such as height, weight, and sliders for certain things but I don't like character creators that let you turn a human or an elf into a deformed goblin person. I would prefer have a massive abundance of really well designed "pre-made" options like the hair, faces/facial features, tattoos, make up, etc rather than focusing too heavily on extreme slider customization.
In any case I don't plan to spend more than 3 minutes upon release.
Please release the character creator before launch day.
Basic information about lore and mechanics of the race/class should be displayed.
One thing must have to be genuine in AoC: the races. You are building the game based on races peculiarities, so, please, make it different since de character creation. Limitations in skin colour, hairstyles, beards, height, weight, must be different from each one. I mean, Empyrian Elves must be different from Py'rai Elves as well as the other races.
And please! Make me proud: the race you chose must be relevant! It must be different bonuses for each race that could synergy well (or not that well) with a type of archetype. In my opinion, every archetype must be "playable" with every race, yes! But, for example, a Dunir Tank must feel different from a Py'rai Tank.
I want to have have as many options as possible to make my avatar, like: aging, body structure, hairstyles, and added specifics like tats, freckles, scars, and make up.
I would love a preview in game mode to see if they look how I designed them. additionally I would like to see how the character looks undressed, modestly dressed, royally dressed, and armored; and the ability to go back to character creation before finally committing.
I would like options like zodiac, postures, attitudes, idle stances, and good descriptions of what present and future stats mean.
Formerly T-Elf
I love sliders for anything & everything.
My goal is to as closely match what I believe my character looks like & to add little details I didn't think of in her backstory, such as scars, tattoos, or other small minutiae like that.
Other than that, I have no real ideas or necessities. Just options.
Appreciate being able to dye hair and similar, though I don't usually use it. I'm not personally the 'hairstylist' for BDO level customization, and if the ingame 'hair styling' location exists, it allows me to save time on that part. Eyes come next, and some face shape and muscle tone options are important. I don't think I'd ever personally use an 'age wrinkle slider' but I would appreciate one so that the option was there. Body shape sliders are basically a given in a game where I can 'see my character standing around' often, but less important when it's for 'cutscenes' or 'high action games'.
Scars get a look-over if they're offered, but I always choose more or less the same one and don't really 'care about it'.
One thing I consider really important is the ability to preview in various silhouettes of gear, when deciding body proportions, etc. Sometimes the mesh for the gear looks more realistic when the character is smaller than one would think to make them if they were in undies, i.e. it's easy to end up making the character silhouette look 'right' when in form fitting gear but way too bulky in even median armor.
How long it takes is moreso a question of how well the system responds to controls. I normally have a really strong, almost 'photographic' concept of a character before I start to play, so it's just a matter of how fast I can get to something that looks approximately right. So even in BDO, and with doing the whole customization, it normally still only takes me 7-15 minutes (and half of that is normally checking every voice to make sure it isn't going to be jarring). When the facial structure controls are difficult, in a game, it's much harder to do right, even starting from presets.
1. Hairstyles:
Being a dungeonmaster in DnD I came across a lot of different characters. Often the characters I remember were those who had a unique hairstyle. I've never been able to find a hairstyle in an MMO for my favourite DnD character except for a Hairstyle in Monster Hunter World, but that doesn't stop me from trying to find another hairstyle that comes as close as possible.
One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to character creators is hairstyles being gender/race locked. It's annoying when you have to be a certain gender/race to have the hairstyle that I want. Even when the hairstyle wouldn't look great on another gender/race, I still want to have it available to me (This also applies to facial hair #BeardsForElves). Otherwise it's obvious what gender/race got more love due to them having more options.
2. Body proportions:
Although I expect this to be more difficult due to all the different cosmetics, I do like the possibility to be any size I want. Not everyone in the real world looks like a supermodel. Sometimes it makes more sense for my character to be chubby, curvy, small/tall compared to other members of his/her race. It would be nice to have multiple sliders for different parts of the body. For example, strongmen often have huge, muscular arms, but they don't have the abs. Some sort of aging would be nice too. Not everyone wants to make a young adult. There are some that might want to make an old veteran, a delightful grandma or a wise old man.
3. Imperfections:
A great place to tell your story is with your imperfections. Each scar that you own has its own history. There are multiple MMO's out there that give you some tools to create some imperfections, but they're usually quite lacking. Either they only showcase cuts in certain places (across an eye or over the bridge of a nose are common) or they don't feel like scars at all. Besides cuts, there are other types as well (f.e. burn wounds). Although they won't always be visible, it would be nice if we could also add scars to other places than the face. Imperfections aren't limited to just wounds from your past. Freckles and glasses are also looked down upon. There will be more imperfections that I can't immediately think of.
4. Posture:
Something that I haven't often seen in MMO's, but something that I loved when implemented is your posture. They tell you so much about your character. They could be goofy/clumsy, serious, masculine, feminine, etc... From the way you walk to your idle animations. One place that comes to mind where I saw these is in Temtem. I've read from other posts that ESO has these as well.
5. Voice:
This kind of ties in with the last subject. Being able to choose a wide arrange of voice for your character helps define their personality. Besides different tones, it would be awesome if there would also be variations for the voice. Not everyone with a deep voice talk with confidence. The other way around is perfectly possible as well. There are people with a high pitched voice who can demand others their attention. A couple of examples for different variations (that seem possible) are: Mean, Confident, Soft-spoken, Goofy, Irritated, Happy, Sad, etc... As with the hairstyles, I wouldn't gender/race lock these voices. Someone might want to make a male with a female voice or the other way around.
6. Sexual dimorphism:
This is rarely done in videogames. Usually because this thing rarely applies to humans and is more often found in the animal kingdom. Still it would be nice if you would be able to tell a male from a female without sexualising either gender. A good example where this concept is applied is in Divinity Original Sin. The male lizards look distinctly different from the females. A place where this concept could work in AoC is with the orcs and/or Tulnar. Although I doubt that Intrepid would go this way, I feel like I should mention this nonetheless. Don't make the females from the different races the same model, but with a different skin colour. I think it's insulting to see the male orcs with huge shoulders and jaw, while the females look like any other bikini model.
Honourable mention. Make-up/tattoos:
Mentioned in many of the other posts already, so I'll gloss over this since there isn't much I have to add. Give us a little bit more freedom when it comes to painting on our character's body. Presets work for those who want to add something without having to spend too much time on it, while others use the body as their canvas. Rotation, size and a moving tool would be greatly appreciated.
General complaint that I share with content creator, Jocat, is instant previews where hovering over an option will immediately display set option which makes it difficult to compare things you like.
Examples:
Skip to 11:09
Skip to 3:43
Hopefully my detailed explanation for each topic wasn't too boring. I'm quite passionate when it comes to creating characters, so I would love to use as many tools as I can when I eventually create my character when the game launches.
Keep up the great work!
Wide array of hair colours with highlight options.
Wide array of hair styles with accessory options.
Wide array of eye colours.
Wide array of skin colours.
I would also like the Character Creation to be available before launch.
1. I typically have an idea of how I want my characters to look before I begin the creation process.
2. I don't bother with min/maxing because it only affects the top 0.01% of competitive players.
3. In 99.99% of games armor sets and other cosmetics make up the true character creation. We don't care about red hair, green eyes, an afro, skin color or any other physical variation. We care about glowing weapons, tall shields, flowing robes, and if our armor matches our current, favorite mount.
*Edit*
When I say "we" I'm not talking about every player. I'm talking about those of us who like armor sets and weapons more than creating avatars.
I feel like, unless you're treating your character as a joke, then it's a representation of you in the game, so take the time to get it right for you. If that takes 2 sec, perfect. If that takes a few hours, perfect.
Another cool addition would be to include some statistics of at least some variables like e.g. height. You could for example present a height-slider together with a small graph showing the distribution of heights of all other characters of that same race and gender. This makes it easier for you to see whether your tall character will actually be tall or not, or if everyone is just generally maxing out the height-attribute. Would also be helpful for those trying to make the most unique characters.
I spend hours creating a character. Its a critical aspect of the immersion. I would really appreciate the most detailed system possible. Please make it possible to upload an image and have the system create a similar pattern of face details.
Oooh, this is a great point!
Normally, height sliders on their own don't mean much unless you can see what everyone else's height is like - so it would be nice to have something to measure yourself against
And "looking good" was my primary concern
After that, it depends on the specific race I'm choosing and what's available to make the character unique/distinct/recognizable. There, I'm often going for broken tusks, piercings and tattoos. I also go for unique names. My main in EQ2 was something like Humuhumunuku.
Humuhumunukunukuapuua would not fit. I would definitely try to make name, appearance and class fit.
I would probably also have some kind of fashion/outfit I'm hoping for.
I typically want my characters to look cliche "heroic", although, if it's available, I would have some characters that are overweight, and have wrinkles. EQNext/Landmark had the concept of Heroic Movement. I kept hoping they would add Villainous Movement. Something like that would be great for emotes.
Raistlin Majere was sickly - it would be cool to be able to make some characters who appear sickly - some heroes may not have a high Con or a high Dex.
Variety of hair textures is as important as a variety of cultural hairstyles.
Steven says he hopes the character creator will be as good or better than the BDO character creator.
I'm hoping if you can't import MetaHuman Creator, you can at least tweak/clone many of those features/tools.
I especially like the ability to import an image of a person as a template to start from.