Creating your own character in games

[Don]

So today I was creating Saber #2 in WoW (names can duplicate for horde/alliance side on the same server) to add to my collection/harem of Fate inspired female characters, I came to a realization that WoW does not remotely offer the tool necessary to recreate Saber. Upon further reflection I came to realize no game offers tool to create any character I've envisioned (I haven't played CoH or EQ2, those are supposed to have considerable options on creating character) except one: Phantasy Star Online. I have a character on PSO named Laguna, Altima (FFT), and Alisa (Front Mission 3) and when I look at them I can see that they're supposed to be trying to look like the character they named after. In any other game I just end up taking the default face and call it a day.

Now PSO's options aren't exactly a graphical powerhouse. I think there's like 8-10 options for the usual slots (face/hair/etc) which is about the usual fare for most games that let you customize some kind of character. So why does PSO appear to me to have the flexibility I need? I think the answer is that characters in PSO do NOT wear armor. So if my Altima starts with a blood red outfit she stays like that as opposed to hoping whatever piece of armor I was wearing happen to be the right color. If you play WoW or any MMORPG where the characters wear their armor (which is like, all of them) you can easily observe that when you let characters wear armor you quickly get a hedgepodge of mismatching pieces that looks more like a clown show, unless it's a game that only has 4 or 5 sets of armor (and that game wouldn't be very successful with an itemization like that if it's a MMORPG).

I remember when PSO came out there a lot of Sephiroth clones that, at least on some level, resembled the said character. On the other hand, a Sephiroth clone in WoW or any other game just means what kind of variation of the spelling Sephiroth you can come up with. I wish more game can be like the former. Dressing up characters is fun.

[Tortolia]

PSO's character flexibility is good, but CoH is still by far the best I've seen in that regard.

Honestly, most of the fun I got out of it was coming up with random characters and outfits for them then playing around with them for a bit. I'd be sitting in IRC talking to people, something would randomly inspire me, and I'd go off to create an appropriate superhero - and most of the time I could.

Probably the game's strongest point, really.

[Don]

yeah I didn't play CoH, but that does seem like the game's strongpoints given there lawsuits about how CoH steals Marvel's superheroes. I'm curious why more games don't do that in terms of flexibility.

I mean, it doesn't have to be perfect, just satisfactory. When I tried to recreate Saber, I can't even put a blue dress on her, never mind the antennae hair or the Excalibur, and getting a silver breastplate to match her look would involve permanently using some piece of obselete gear if it even exists.

[Torgo]

PSO's great if you want your character to look like someone else throughout the game. The problem with that was you tend to run into a lot of clones. Especially if you want to look like a popular licensed character. Hell, I just made a character that looked a little like myself (face, hair, and color preference, at least), and I still ran into a good number of clones.

[Gentz]

What I don't understand is why character customization in MMORPGs isn't a lot deeper than it seems to be in most games. I mean, it can't disrupt the game balance in any way and it can't contribute to lag or anything like that. I would expect them to offer a lot more than the 10 or so choices I see for most cosmetic character features. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't have at least 40 or 50 different faces, hairstyles, clothing styles, etc. to choose from.

[Don]

I think the reason why you don't have many choices is because they've to preload all the possible looks so it could get expensive.

But still, you'd expect a cutting edge MMORPG to have more graphical power than an old DC game.

I'd rather have someone I thought that looks pretty cool and then have everyone look the same because it's pretty cool, as opposed to hitting 'randomize' when I make a character and then running into everyone else who looks the same too.

[SineSwiper]

Earth and Beyond had some really good character customization, though you only appeared as your character when on a base, as most of the stuff was through the ship.

[Tessian]

am I the only one who finds it sad that all Don wants to do is create characters in MMO's that look exactly like characters from other games?

While I agree with Gentz that it wouldn't be much effort to have more options, I try to go for my own unique look, not to copy some chick from another RPG.

[Don]

That unique look of face #5 with hair #2 was came up by some graphical designer as well. You're not creating anything unique there.

And given that my chick from a RPG is a lot more widely recognized than your face #5 with hair #2, I think it is rather sad that you're happy with something that you didn't come up with and is even less known.

[Gentz]

am I the only one who finds it sad that all Don wants to do is create characters in MMO's that look exactly like characters from other games?

Well, who really cares about the types of characters he wants to create? The point is about being able to create MMORPG chars to your own exact specifications.

[Derithian]

am I the only one who finds it sad that all Don wants to do is create characters in MMO's that look exactly like characters from other games?

Well, who really cares about the types of characters he wants to create? The point is about being able to create MMORPG chars to your own exact specifications.

and if you want that as depressing as it is the only MMO with any depth really to it's customization. Noone looks the sme except for the morons who can't think of anything original and create wolverine