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Character appearance, always the same concept...
derbischof
Member Posts: 59
Why every character you can create in almost all MMORPGS need to be sexy, beautiful, imponent, muscular, or just goofy in a cute way?
I really think some ugly, decadent, expressive characters full of sadness and marks of bad experiences woould make character creation a bit more deeper and cool...
There is no charisma system in mmos, but it can be implemented in a good way for beautiful or ugly but expressive characters...
Well, Im not sure the game companies are guilty for this, but well, I really dont know if most of players would like to play characters that are not sexy or goofy, but decadent.
There are some pseudo ugly or unconventional creatures, but they are always very muscular, viril or just funny ...I mean will we see one day characters similars to Fellini´s movies exotic characters or Egon Schiele expressive figures in the mmos? Handcapped or deformed characters with some deeper qualities could be nice too...
Comments
I quite agree here, tho I'd like more natural body and facial types rather than more expressive/stylized ones.
I find it quite annoying that all the characters we're permitted to play in MMORPGs (I'm talking about humans, obviously) are all beautifed... I mean, WoW male humans all look like football quarterbacks, regardless of their class (why would a Priest or a Warlock spend his time lifting weights is beyond me), while in most asian-type gfx mmos the situation is even worse - the invasion of adolescent barbie dolls.
I always wanted to play fat characters, or really old ones or ugly dudes with scars. If I'm playing this psycho assassin dude I want him to look really mean. ON the other hand I want my priest to be fat and chubby 50 year old. I'm not talking about a few sliders determining the width of the body - I want to see a "beer gut" slider!
SWG is on the only game to have a decent character creation so far. in so far as the aspect of being able to create overweight, or really frail characters. with varying ranges of height, and facial features, as well as age. and the fact that each Race had different minimum/maximum values for each creation option only furthered the diversity.
for example Humans could only be up to i think it was like 6.5 feet tall, while wookiees couldnt be any shorter than like 6.4 feet. it was really great. hell, the character creation in SWG is the only shining quality it has left. and it still does that one thing better than any game.
You can create really ugly and with bad appearance characters in AoC, or at least this is what I have been told in reviews and so.
That was exactly what i thought of when i saw this thread. Im so fed up with all "anime style" character creation styles. Everyone look sas they are 12 years old and all have abs......boring.
In SWG you could see some real characters, as from a Coen brother movie. Old torn women and real lowlife bums.
IN EvE with the upcoming Ambulation system it will take the top title as you can change the 'Fitness' of your avatar based on how much and what you eat and what exercise you do [the avatar changes in appearance based on this].
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
It would be fun to see in the future some kins of gameplay character appearance alteration. Things we have no control over. Example: a game were combat is something you are not forced to do, so if you choose to fight, you could end up with scars and a missing eye.
D & D Online did pretty good with their character models. I remember during the beta test how many testers faught against Turbine and their Elf models. Turbine stuck true to the Wizards of the Coast description and modeled them very accurately.
although for some reason the Human Male models always reminded me of John Travolta
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
Imagine this is the marketing pitch for a new game:
Join Game X and be handicapped. Be blind and the game screen is black. Be deaf and there is no sound. Walk with a cane and you can't run from mobs. Or for the hardcore, be paralyzed and unable to move in the game world unless your guildmembers move you. Don't play the same tired hero day in and day out. With Game X, your character isn't just sick and weak looking, he actually can't lift the sword or even fight. Or play as the morbidly obese and be slow and unable to fight. Also choose from seven different buck toothed appearances. Be cross eyed. Have an underbite. Have poor hygiene. Skies the limits with our new 'ugly character creation engine' where you can be as ugly, deformed and handicapped as you have always wanted to be and the appearances are not just cosmetic, but actually affect gameplay.
Now imagine you are a game designer trying to pitch this idea to a boardroom full of investors.
A person can be ugly, deformed or handicapped in real life. Most people play games as a form of escapism. The motivation for that escapism varies, but for the most part when people imagine themselves in an imaginary world, they imagine they are beautiful or heroic. In our culture, there is an idea that beauty = truth, and we see it reflected in our media on a regular basis, whether it is cinema or an advertisment selling toothpaste. There is a reason that this is true...beauty and sex appeal sells products, while ugliness, deformity and being handicapped tends to depress us. I'm not saying this is right or moral, I'm saying this is a well established marketing tool used to move product and generate revenue. And coincidentally, this is what drives investors.
There are many games that allow you to play a less attractive race. EQ2 in particular comes to mind. You can be a lizard man, a mouse man, a frogman, an orcish looking person. That's about as close to ugly as you can get, although I do think the mouse guys are cute.
I agree with most of you, SWG has apretty expressive character creation, I partcularly like the way we can create a more serious and deeper feeling facial expression there...
About AoC, I still dont know much about the characters, there is place for this kind of thing in Conan's universe, but Im afraid they will explore only the muscular body building aspects...
Elfs in DDO are more expressive for sure, the ELfs in Vanguard are well done too, but humans in both games still have the hollywoodian aspects only...
Terranah, when I said about different features based in charisma and appearance, well, I was thinking about different dialogs, different ways to finish a quest with your charisma or even your uglyness...
About Eq2 races, yes I like them, the Female Iksar is very expressive and exotic for sure, but frogloks and ratongas fall in the cute list, trolls have a nice appearance, but their voices turned to be goofy and not exacly unpleasant characters, same with ogres... I really like EQ2, but I miss a more serious atmosphere in the characters, as we can have in SWG
I agree MMORPG and most of games are a form os escapism, but a lot of people have good appearance in real life, a lot of people want to have the opportunity to be a less cliche creature in the fantasy world, games dont need to eliminate the possibility of ultra sexy characters, but, well, will we see the opposite been explored some day? In most of games you cant even have the appearance of an old person... and by old I mean really old, not some hot girl or muscular kid with white hair...
You can see this even in movies, a lot of people want something more expressive, movies with just cute faces can sell well in the beginning, but are usually forgotten, movies with expressivity, uglyness and depth are the ones we always remember, alternative realities without the decadence dont brind real escapism, see, most of people always want to at least kill something in games, I dont belive most of players want to be the muscular, hot, sexy, cute, goofy all the time.
In Second Life I made my characters a Bluish-Purple fat troll with uneven boobs, stick arms, a huge brow, and a hunch back. Also had a combination Over/Underbite.