Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Aion-like flexibility in character customisation!
MMO.Maverick
Member CommonPosts: 7,619
Good news for those who know GW's limited character customisation and Aion's very flexible character customisation.
This is what Eric Flannum and Jon Peters said about GW2's character customisation:
How is the character customisation coming along? What will players be able to tweak and change? You have said it will be extensive but players are wanting to know exactly what they will be able to tweak.
Our character customisation is something we are working on right now and it’s going pretty well. It will be a lot more extensive that in GW1. You’ll be able to alter, depending on your race, different things. Obviously a Charr has very, very different things you would alter than a human does. Depending on your race there’s all kind of options.
You can do different body types, I think we’ve mentioned this, but one of the benefits we’ve gained from NCSoft is that we looked at the AION character creation and we thought it was pretty spectacular so we are using their technology as the basis for ours. So we can do a lot of the same things they do. You’ll be able to tweak a lot more than GW1. At the same time we want our character creation to be easy to use and you don’t have to be an artist yourself to come up with a cool looking character. So you can expect a hybrid between a system something like where you can tweak every detail and something more simple like GW1 where you had presets. It’s somewhere in between those two things. We think it should give our fans who really like to customise their character more than enough options to keep them happy.
The whole article can be found here.
While I wasn't a big fan of the Asian anime style itself, I always found Aion's character models to be among the very best and most detailed in the MMO genre, especially shown in the depth and subtlety of facial expressions and physical animations.
So to me I find this news good to hear.
There's one worry though: Aion couldn't manage to have hundreds of characters fighting eachother without blanking out the character models, and my suspicion is that one of the main reasons is the incredibly detailed character models that have a higher poly count and texture detail than the character models in most other MMO's.
I figure ANet will be smart in their implementation of it though, so far they've shown to be very talented and smart in all their design choices.
So what do you people think? Good news that GW2's character customisation will be alike to Aion's or not?
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Comments
Any comments on altering your characters stats themselves during creation like say Shadowbane let you. Always makes me sad that games have gotten away from statistical customization so much.
I remember stats in EQ and DAOC, and how quickly I realized 10 points here or there made no discernible difference. Starting stats didn't matter, and by endgame you just try to cap everything, like everyone else. I think it's sad that major MMOs have never included any real stat customization.
Not just to complain though. I agree, that's great news about how they're looking at Aion as an example. Aion has the best visual customization of any MMO I can think of. Even better than a game like APB, IMHO, because it offers so much flexibility without pushing technology beyond reasonable limits.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Time for tiny bodies and HUGE heads!!! lol
Aion does have decent character models, and it would be nice if GW2 had decent character models, but Aion does not offer good customization, sure you can customize your character one time 100% Free when you make your character, but after that they ask for $9.99 USD every single time you want to change your skin, hair or anything else about your character that you dont like, and I feel that that should be included in the price.
I would like it if GW2 had something similar but allowed people to freely customize their characters as much as they like without having to nickel and dime every single time they want to change, but a one time fee option if that, or a premium subscriber account that offers unlimited changes and such.
Aion could have been a good game, but I was there since beta, and aion was totally ruined by NC Soft microtransactions, now I await to see if GW2 will do the same thing that NC Soft did with aion, or if it will actually be a great game.
I am willing to pay for add-ons buy expansions and such, but character customizations should be 100% Free in game no charge unless it is something like a server transfer or something that requires actual GM help.
Okay so now that I am finished with that rant lets wait and see what the developers of GW2 will do, and if they are planning to milk the cows like NC Soft is doing because I have been a subscriber of GW 1 since it first came out, own every collectors edition, and every item in GW1, and then they add micro transactions to their shop which make you pay for character changes which should be free.
Even if GW2 has micro transactions they will most likely wait at least 3-6 months maybe more into the launch until they start to add stuff like character changes for sale and all that other stuff that GW1 has, unless it is something like an expansion.
I always enjoyed laughing at the people who did that. Congratulations, you now look silly. ^-^
So what do you people think? Good news that GW2's character customisation will be alike to Aion's or not?
I think the guy talks a lot but shows little.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
It'll come down to how robust their servers are and how well they work the engine leading up to launch. Judging from what I played at Pax Prime last year, and the videos we've seen so far, it should be all right.
I couldn't disagree with you more.
Character customization is a luxury, therefore, it should cost you. The vast majority of players will create a character they like the looks of in the first place and never change it again. Some few will pay to change 1 or 2 small issues they have with the way their character looks after playing it for hours and hours.
Then the small, small minority share your opinion that they should be able to change their character's appearance all the time without any regulation.
Most games still don't allow you to change more than a few parts of the character (such as hair and facial features) after creation at all, so why complain when a company gives you the option, even if you have to pay for it.
I just have to ask you one question. Why don't you just make a character you like in the first place?
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
When I first purchased Guild Wars, They never told customers that they were going to open MicroTransaction shops in the game, and then I got really pissed off when they started to nickel and dime people, although I did not care much because I could easily delete and redo my character anyways, but I believe that changing characters should be free because it is part of the game.
When I purchased Aion they never told me that I would have to pay just to change any looks on my character or try out anything else, but then they add a update and try to milk the cows that really made me upset on top of NC Soft accusing my account of being a gold seller and stripping all the gold at one point.
Yes I made character I like but would like to try out new things without having to be like omg I just changed it and don't like it well I have to pay $9 more to change again, I feel that customizations like this should be free as in Aion we are paying members, and a lot of MMO Games that have been designed around 2010, or at least a lot of MMO that I have played besides the rip off companies like Nexon allow character customizations an unlimited ammount of times, and I can freely change anything without having to worry about having to pay more money to change again.
** I dont know about everyone else, but.**
I have been playing MMO since 2000 before Micro Transactions became popular, and when I purchase a MMO I expect it to be a great experience, and have all the features included into the game without having to pay extra fees unless of course its a server transfer or an additional service, but I expect any main part of the game to actually be there so that players can go back change what they like when they want, and I honestly believe that players should have the option in any game that has the ability to customize or make changes to go back and change their skins or hair to any color they want to and such at any time they want to without having to pay big prices to do such.
I mean look at World OF Warcraft I do not play their games anymore only due to the fact that I do not like most the recent changes, but they are one of the first I saw to give free character Customization changes, and then other MMO companies started to see this like DarkFall got a Barber Shop that allows customization changes, and then Quite a few other MMO which I have played like Global Agenda, S4 League, STO, Second Life, and a lot of other MMO allow you to change your appearance for free without having to spend any real money, although they do offer items in the cash shop they do not restrict me to wearing one type of appearance all the time, even Black Propechy allows you to go back and customize, but Eve Online doesn't and that is a reason if I play a space game I am going with Black Propechy or something else.
To some it may not be a big deal, but lets just say for example, What if I wanted to wear Long Hair on my character dye it pink on weekends, or for a raid, or just to Role Play in, and then the next day I wanted to change my character back to a different style, Games are supposed to be fun, but it seems that in my eyes most the MMO Industry has found nothing but Greed every since Micro Transactions became popular, and I play MMO for fun, and to do what I want when I want not to be forced into doing something such as a quest, or having to play a certain way.
I mean honestly it doesn't cost a game company anything to do an edit on your character when you want, I could understand if they wanted to sell add-ons on extra character customization packs, and such for their work in making such, but to seriously charge just to change to something I already paid for is just insane, and again I play for fun.
Aion... well the only thing that bugged me about their system was how it seemed to encourage so many folks to create mini-toons.
Other than that it's a good starting place for sure.
Oberon
They are like plenty of Aion character customisation videos on youtube, you can probably even try Aion for free to get a better idea.
/sarcasm off
Anyway, ye to the OP, Aion system was great, but really as they pointed they need to narrow it down so it doesn"t become the freak show Aion was, sometimes. In anycase its pretty hard to put a limit here, because some people like to have very strange characters, it seams.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvVyta2paF0
This video will show Aions character customisation options... Thats more then one could ever need... Espescially the way they allow people to build a boddy is quite nice..
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
This is good. I do like good customization but my first thought also went to the potential lag issue. I hope they come up with a good solution for it. Perhaps an alternate simplified character model that can be switched over to. I never did like the whole turn the character models off completely ideal.
All die, so die well.
So this is what we'll see in GW 2....
awsm... -.-
"If I had a d*ck, I'd go get laid. But we can do that next best thing... Let's kill people."
Character customization isn't a luxury. It's a feature. A feature that draws people to want to buy your game in the first place. Every mmo is partly judged on character customization. Players in WoW demanded barber shops and armor dye for years for a reason.
As an MMO is many hours of using the same character, it's not unreasonable to want to change your hair at one point or give your character a make-over. Armor dye is in GW2 and is a standard feature.
Aren't they jumping the gun with a statement like that?
I thought it would've been better to SHOW us later what they have come up with. As in, it's been implemented, still ironing out bugs, tested on the alpha/beta servers and all :-
Sometimes reading their stuff it feels as if they're blowing their own horn way too damn much.
Those are not examples of games that let you customize during creation really, that isn't what I had in mind at all. I'll save it for another thread though.
As for cosmetic customization, never really cared about it one way or the other. Your armor covers up 90% of your character anyway and you basically lose all of the customization of your base character. I'd rather they spend more time on letting you customize your armor and less on the personal character.
I have to say...I really didn't care for Aion's character customization simply b/c of the number of horridly disproportionate characters running around. It kinda diluted the fantasy setting to me, but I know many people who loved it so I guess I would prefer to see a few ugly characters than to have little customization at all.
This is good news. Aion character creation was very robust, compared to most other MMOs character creation. I know allot of people including me , will be spending allot of time just in character creation.
Played: SWG-FFXI-EQ2-Aion
Anticipated in order of Hype:
ArcheAge
GW2
TERA
SWTOR
Not enough info, but looks promising:
Blade & Soul
LMAO! I remember seeing wierd creatures running around like that, makes me laugh.
All I loved about Aion was only character creation, sadly...
Would be great to me if GW2 can offer something nice for this too.
Only I almost lost hope to see GW2 coming to life one day...
try before buy, even if it's a game to avoid bad surprises.
Worst surprises for me: Aion, GW2
GW2 character creation will have more limits than Aion did. In part to prevent characters like the above to be made.
Point of note, Blizzard charges for $15 for character customization.
Not including applicable taxes.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
No offense to Arenanet, but their characters don't really look all that detailed, so I don't latency will be a huge issue.
i disagree, i think the characters are very detailed, especially the armor and weapons.