Character Customisation - What's Ideal?

[Surggical_Scar]

Right, topic time.

With Saint's Row II promising an unrivalled level of character customisation [http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/saintsrow2/news.html?sid=6187214&om_act=convert&om_clk=newlyadded&tag=newlyadded;title;1], appearance, voice, gender, combat style, hand gestures, walking style and so on, I was pressed to consider, how much do we want to customise our characters?

Okay, so most would say the more you can change, the better, but think about it - does it sometimes feel like you're detracting from the concept of your character? After all, no matter what you do, you're still bound to the main storyline regardless of what sort of character you make.

Not many games, to my knowledge, can offer us a comprehensive choice of both character customisation and open-ended gameplay to allow us more freedom.

So, to get to the damn point, what's your opinion of customisation and gamer freedom? Do you only consider character creation the most vital means of interaction, or are you more concerned with the choices you make in-game?

 

[000Ronald]

I think gameplay should overrule everything. If a game is fun, then people will generally like it.

That doesn't answer your question, though, does it? I guess my answer would be gamer freedom, although I think that customization is cool.

 

[DougCL]

for me its if its going to be a character driven story, then why include character customizaton?, especially if its only going to be a choice of 10 shirts and 4 pairs of pants or something like that. its fun but its never going to be the make or break feature when im shopping for a game.
but i would like it if the customization could change the entire storyline or the way you play missions or something. say in a Saints row type game, if you walk up looking like you just woke up...from the bench across the street, certain people wont talk to you and you branch the game off in a different way then it would go if you did talk to the guy. perhaps you keep walking and see some actual homeless gentlemen planning to rob a bank and get in on that or something.
or if wearing a suit will find you getting robbed by some hoods. or if you wear gang colors, the cops follow you around. or if you make a black character the white characters will treat you differently or vice versa (as if a someone would have the balls to put a mechanic like that in the game).

what im trying to get around to saying is that its cool and all if its not something tacked on, but i would love to see someone take it and make it an integral part of the experience.

as far as being free to do whatever i want, im mixed on it. because i know that given a sandbox, im just gunna fling sand around and never get to actually building that sand castle i came to make if you know what i mean. but then again, sometimes its more fun that way.

 

[OMGlazersPEWPEW]

I think character customization would mean alot more to me if my customization choices impacted more on how I played the game For example affecting how people reacted to me, the style of how I played (Like wanting to be a crafter in most MMORPG's still means you have to do alot of fighting when in their worlds NPC crafters don't have to).

I think a marriage of character creation and in game choices would be a strong hook in a game, which probably would lead to more playthrough's or possible just one more satisfying playthrough (as in being able to play the game your way).

I can't wait for someone to make a a game where you create a character and make your own way in the universe with multiple (not endless, I find endless is too much choice). Preferably in space, perfectly in the Firefly/Serenity Universe.

 

[Copter400]

Oblivion, I feel, has the best character customization system to date. With the right know-how, you could walk in and make yourself, rather than making a guy who kinda-almost-sorta looks like you. I think it was so comprehensive that it overwhelmed some players, which is the only reason I can think of for the terrible customization in Mass Effect. All the complexity was ripped out of it, and now you were just choosing from pre-set features. Certainly, the addition of backstory was nice, but I'd rather not have my character looking like Spazmo Generic, thank you very much.

 

[propertyofcobra]

I am in deep, mad love with character customization. Triply, nay, quintuply so if it affects gameplay considerably.

I love playing with equipment ("like a fussy mother preparing her kids for the first day of school"), character stats, character looks too for that matter. Pick the personality as well? Heck yes! Bring it on!

I personally believe that "for game X, add customization for the character and equipment, game X gets better". But that's my opinion, of course.

 

[Mnemophage]

Physical character customization is a fun distraction, and I like being able to play with it. I also like when pre-designed bodies and faces are loaded for me to go back to in case I make a mistake and end up with an unlovable gorgon.

My personality and actions in the game actually affecting gameplay, however, is so much cooler.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

I am in deep, mad love with character customization. Triply, nay, quintuply so if it affects gameplay considerably.

I love playing with equipment ("like a fussy mother preparing her kids for the first day of school"), character stats, character looks too for that matter. Pick the personality as well? Heck yes! Bring it on!

I personally believe that "for game X, add customization for the character and equipment, game X gets better". But that's my opinion, of course.

Ditto, ditto, ditto. Also, the default character design is fugly, ridiculous, or just boring and I don't want to be staring at it for the next 20+ hours. And it's always fun to see if NPCs will notice and/or comment on the fact that I am running around the game in the buff.

 

[Surggical_Scar]

Oblivion.

You found it intuitive? Frankly, I thought it was bloody difficult to actually make a character that looked half-decent, and even then, you couldn't alter body dimension, voice, etc, without third-party modding.

 

[Copter400]

Oblivion.

You found it intuitive? Frankly, I thought it was bloody difficult to actually make a character that looked half-decent, and even then, you couldn't alter body dimension, voice, etc, without third-party modding.

Yeah, I'm hoping they'll pack that stuff in for the next game. But why voice? Is the tone of your avatar's war cry or pained grunt really that important to you?

 

[Surggical_Scar]

Oblivion.

You found it intuitive? Frankly, I thought it was bloody difficult to actually make a character that looked half-decent, and even then, you couldn't alter body dimension, voice, etc, without third-party modding.

Yeah, I'm hoping they'll pack that stuff in for the next game. But why voice? Is the tone of your avatar's war cry or pained grunt really that important to you?

Well, it just seems a little odd that you once again play a silent protagonist - despite many sentient races taunting you in combat, all your character can manage is the occasional grunt of effort or scream of pain.

I'm not asking for a huge amount, just for a little dialogue from the character. Say, a choice of tone, good or evil.

 

[Lightbulb]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_114/1474-Sociolotron-How-the-Other-Half-Plays

"Sociolotron's graphics aren't stupendous, but they're defined enough to make a fair pass at realism. This was my first surprise. I'd assumed from screenshots that the toy-like nature of the little people on the screen would be a repellant to emotional attachment. Not so. My chick was hot. Entrenched firmly outside the uncanny valley, she was just alien enough to appear reassuring, just human enough to evoke ... something.

I started to care for Janet almost immediately. Not sexually, exactly. I felt like her guardian. I didn't identify with her, per se, but I was playing her as if playing a character in any other game. I was controlling her. I wanted her to succeed. I wanted her to be safe. I wanted her to win - whatever that meant."

I think that exactly it. The statement that "you're playing a character so you should look like that character" is not always true. Your character in a game is an avatar - it is a representation of you in the game world, or at least it caries out your will in the game.

If you customise the character you feel attached to it. This is even more true in MMO's where if everyone looks the same. Customisation is really personalisation - you make the character your own by choosing how it looks.

 

[Cooper42]

I'v always wondered about character customisation in games like Oblivion. You can choose their face, hair style, clothing etc. Yet you hardly ever see it, unless you play in 3rd person - then all you see is the back of their head, which hardly varies much between ponytail or not, and their arse.

Do I get to customise my character's arse? No. If I'm gonna spend half the game with it in the centre of my screen, I'd like a bit of arse customisation please.


I love character customisation if I'm actually gonna get to see it, and will spend hours with a good character customisation build (I spent more time making my characters than playing them when I tried City of Heores...)

However, as with most things like this - it's usually best if left to the modding community. Allow players to make what they want. And they will.

 

[Marriot]

i like trying to make a character look as close to me as possible because i dont want to be a faceless prick. I would want my character to have a name that I create even a last name (yes im talking about mass effect shephards is a horrible last name). I would want my character to have a voice thats pretty close to mine as well. I like fully customizeable and the system in Saints Row 2 appeals most to me

 

[x434343]

Basically the most character customization I've ever had is R6V2. And I like it. Very simple.

 

[The Reverend]

What they need is for some real time customisation stuff. I want to start of with short hair and grow it to a style I like. The same with beards. If i want a goatee, then I want to be able to grow and maintain said goatee.

 

[Seldon2639]

It depends, for me, on the type of game. If it's an RPG of any type, I don't want to customize more than a little. The point of an RPG is to play a character. I liked the fact that in Mass Effect, Sheppard was essentially his own person, independent of the player. Same thing in most other RPGs, if it's meant to be a cinematic story, then it doesn't make sense to be "me" in the game, since I wouldn't be able to swing a sword twice my height.

That said, in some other games, where the character is either just an avatar of me (MMORPGs, or FPSs), or the personality of the character doesn't matter, I'd like to be able to create myself.