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The character creator ruined it for me.

And that's the truth.

 

I really like how the game plays -- I like the more realistic approach to combat; I like the world design and the mobs you face; I like the emphasis on guns; I like the modern setting; I like the quest design. But, at the end of the day, I've hated every character I created. And it's not like I'm wandering through the game world seeing a bunch of players who got it right. Nope -- every single option (for females) is flawed.

 

Want to get a girl who looks, say, like the Templar mascot from the box? Tough luck on that effort! Probably 75% of the female faces are inherently flawed; angular, man-like jaws, huge, protruding cheek bones -- it's like some kind of Stalin-era Communist Russian's wet dream. The remainder have other issues: pancake-flat foreheads, misshapen noses, etc.

 

One thing I detest about simplistic character creators is when there are certain 'ethnic' faces that cannot be believably turned otherwise. For example, in TSW female faces 1-2 are clearly intended to represent people of african descent. I'd argue that 8 (and probably 7) are asians. And don't mistake this for me being racist. Rather, I would prefer that all faces have the potentiality to represent any race -- you understand what I'm driving at? IE, if I want, say, face 4 to have a broad nose, that should be possible. If I want face 4 to look believably asian or black or middle eastern or eastern european, that should all be possible. I shouldn't pick a starter face and be like 'well, this is what the producers intended to represent as 'black,' and I wanted a white chick, so that entire face is elminated.' Design like that is not only stupid, it's actually kind of racist.

 

What's worse is, I could actually create characters I liked in TOR. And that game, I'd argue, was far, far less well designed than TSW (including the basic art style behind the character models themselves). Yet, I could put together a couple of different paper dolls I liked, and that was enough for me to slog through. It just goes to show prospective MMORPG makers: for a lot of people, having a character you enjoy looking at is ridiculously inportant. And, to add insult to injury with TSW, you can't adjust height, weight, muscles -- it's all the same. I just want to know why they thought this would cut it in a game released in 2012.

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Comments

  • AerowynAerowyn Member Posts: 7,928
    they are supposed to have a creator revamp coming soon.. in beta they said it would be out by end of august but who knows if they will follow through with it by then

    I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg

  • PieRadPieRad Member Posts: 1,108

    I liked the game too, the PvP killed it for me though, absolutely horrid.

    Edit: And for the character creator, I agree, it's bad.

    image

  • eye_meye_m Member UncommonPosts: 3,317
    I hated the character creator too.  If it was better I might have spent more time in the game, but when you start off not liking your character, how long are you actually going to play.  AoC had 10x the character creator. It's like Funcom just can't put out a product that is complete.

    All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.

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  • UsualSuspectUsualSuspect Member UncommonPosts: 1,243

    The character creator, especially for female characters, is a little flawed, I admit. You can create some truly horrid looking characters, but then again with a little effort I managed to create some quite good looking ones too. It's surprising what one small change can do to the look of a character when making it, like one of mine looked awful and I was about to scrap it when I just changed the eyes and suddenly went, "Ooh, that's nice.".

    It certainly is a weird generator though, I'm hoping they get the revamp in sooner rather than later. Here's me hoping for some long hair.

  • ConnlaiConnlai Member Posts: 26

    I am thinking this was done with intent. They have plans for both hairdressers and "Anima fuelled plastic surgery" both promised by the end of August. I feel this sort of creates a very realistic approach to character generation, we all have something we are not completely happy about with our own bodies, and we have the option of plastic surgery (RL). Now, thanks to Funcom we will have it in an MMORPG as well. :)

    I actually think this is a clever idea from the company to add another money sink into the game. I just hope it is something that is done really well, so it can be another feature that will blow people away. :)

    I love this game,  it's a great foundation, I just hope they can keep up with adding new content each month. Did "Carter unleashed" yesterday as well as the "Hell and Bach investigative" mission, both great stories and well executed.

    Would love for Funcom to add stuff like Player housing and other Sandbox features, but for now I have plenty to sink my teeth into with the missions.

     

    Conlai "Darkmoor" MacGregor

    Templar 

  • VesaviusVesavius Member RarePosts: 7,908
    Originally posted by Humphrie

    What's worse is, I could actually create characters I liked in TOR.

     

    When TOR is used as a good example to highlight how bad your character creation is you know you're fucked.  

  • MoonBeansMoonBeans Member Posts: 173
    Originally posted by Connlai

    I am thinking this was done with intent. They have plans for both hairdressers and "Anima fuelled plastic surgery" both promised by the end of August. I feel this sort of creates a very realistic approach to character generation, we all have something we are not completely happy about with our own bodies, and we have the option of plastic surgery (RL). Now, thanks to Funcom we will have it in an MMORPG as well. :)

    I actually think this is a clever idea from the company to add another money sink into the game. I just hope it is something that is done really well, so it can be another feature that will blow people away. :)

    I love this game,  it's a great foundation, I just hope they can keep up with adding new content each month. Did "Carter unleashed" yesterday as well as the "Hell and Bach investigative" mission, both great stories and well executed.

    Would love for Funcom to add stuff like Player housing and other Sandbox features, but for now I have plenty to sink my teeth into with the missions.

     

    Conlai "Darkmoor" MacGregor

    Templar 

    i've seen more attractive constipated chimpanzees at the local zoo than female characters in this game.

    your character is suppose to be, somewhat  the tool to build the bridge between reality and that virtual world that the devs created for us.  if you can't get  a connection or at least a vague attachement with your character.  everything else becomes stale and won't be long before you quit the game.

    this is exactly what happened to me.  i'm not saying you need a sophisticated perfect CC in game, alas Eve online.   even games with far worse more limited CC,  allow you to make a character you truly feel comfortable with.

    i dont wanna sound pesimistic but i doubt any revamp would fix this.  

  • jmcdermottukjmcdermottuk Member RarePosts: 1,571

    I have to agree with the OP. I got the email for the free weekend and downloaded the client again on Friday. Logged in, made a character ran around for a few minutes and logged off again. There was no change since Beta that I could see and it was a game breaker for me then.

     

    I know the game should be about the gameplay and not eye candy but come on guys. It's 2012 and by now we have to accept that there are certain basic minimum standards that have to be met. For me TSW falls short in character creation. The models are FUGLY. The animations are poor. Things as basic as running and jumping animations are worse than games from 10 years ago. DAoC had better animations than TSW.

     

    What make it even worse, IMO, is that we know Funcom are capable of better. Look at the char creation in AoC. Look at it's animations. Far superior to what we're seeing in TSW.

     

    The standard of the models and animations in TSW just looks shoddy, like some third rate F2P game where you expect low quality because the game is free. It's a real shame because gameplay wise they have some great ideas, with the skill wheel and the way the quests work. For me though, that failure to meet an acceptable standard for the char models/animations just spoils the whole experience. How the hell am I supposed to immerse myself in a game where my char looks like a chimp and moves like marrionette on acid?

  • MMOSavantMMOSavant Member Posts: 170
    What killed it for me wasn't the facial features but the fact that they took all the clothing options out of the creator after Beta, so you can't create an individual look from the start. What remained was very bland. Yes, I know you could then buy them in game for simoleans (or whatever that silly currency is, why on earth not simply use dollars/pounds/won for realism?) but it just feels like another downer before the game even starts.
  • blackhawkzzblackhawkzz Member Posts: 53
    There improving character creation at the end of the month so I don't see what the problem is. And on character animations they are constantly improving them and lately alot of the higher skills just got revamped just because u base the animations on the early skills is quite shallow by most gamers.
  • marganculosmarganculos Member UncommonPosts: 334

    love PVE... but they fked PVP... after one month i finished every quest in game(watched every cutscene, read every dialog,etc... rly great story, even side missions was great), every dungeon.... what left? AP farm, purple farm, thats all :) PVP = 0, exploits(hi triple blaze, NO-LOS AR aoe spam, oh what about perma impair eruption,infinite fist consumers...etc.. ),bugs,imbalance everywhere

  • SkuzSkuz Member UncommonPosts: 1,018

    Aside from the Creators in AION & CoH I think pretty much all character creators in MMOs have been pretty dire, TSW being as it was trying to be a more "realised" depiction of a modern world suffers badly from a lack of character creator options though I think that's quite a weak reason to dismiss a game I understand some people feel this is very important.

    Funcom are aware of the general dislike of the character creator right now & will be developing it further, they've already mentioned adding in "plastic surgery" type facilities & functions which I imagine is how, moving forward, future iterations of the character creator will be available to players, this I think is a good idea but I agree that it would have been better to have developed what's in place now to a higher standard of fidelity.

     

  • SkuzSkuz Member UncommonPosts: 1,018
    Originally posted by marganculos

    love PVE... but they fked PVP... after one month i finished every quest in game(watched every cutscene, read every dialog,etc... rly great story, even side missions was great), every dungeon.... what left? AP farm, purple farm, thats all :) PVP = 0, exploits(hi triple blaze, NO-LOS AR aoe spam, oh what about perma impair eruption,infinite fist consumers...etc.. ),bugs,imbalance everywhere

    From what I've read there will be a lot more development done in PvP it's important to the developers to improve it & make it a key feature of the game, what's there so far is a lacklustre but it has sound ideas behind it, the iteration just isn't up to scratch & isn't behaving the way it was expected to. Another case of players not behaving as anticipated, odd seeing they almost always find & exploit the path of least resistance (to their aims).

  • WrenderWrender Member Posts: 1,386
    Originally posted by PieRad

    I liked the game too, the PvP killed it for me though, absolutely horrid.

    Edit: And for the character creator, I agree, it's bad.

     Havent experienced it yet but a real life friend told me the pvp in TSW was freakin awesome compared to most other games..

  • VesaviusVesavius Member RarePosts: 7,908
    Originally posted by blackhawkzz
    There improving character creation at the end of the month so I don't see what the problem is. And on character animations they are constantly improving them and lately alot of the higher skills just got revamped just because u base the animations on the early skills is quite shallow by most gamers.

     

    The 'problem' is that they launched knowing that their character creation was shit.

    This is their front window for their game... the customer's first experience with their product... and they were ok to go live with a sub par offering. That to me, as a customer, is a huge warning sign and very off putting. It shows a definite half arsed approach.

    All the time the character creator was being built and tested no one at FC said, wait, this won't do. That, to me, is bewildering for an experienced dev making an AAA game.

    So many care so much about this because many people connect with these games through their character, and having one they are not happy with seriously impacts on their enjoyment. For me personally it certainly gave me the impression that the game was rough around the edges and unfinished, putting me off investing more time into exploring it (and buying it).

    If they had put more care and attention into the first contact experience they would have had a box sale and probably 1 month of sub off me. As it is, they got nothing.

     

     

     

  • OpapanaxOpapanax Member Posts: 973
    Originally posted by Humphrie

    And that's the truth.

     

    I really like how the game plays -- I like the more realistic approach to combat; I like the world design and the mobs you face; I like the emphasis on guns; I like the modern setting; I like the quest design. But, at the end of the day, I've hated every character I created. And it's not like I'm wandering through the game world seeing a bunch of players who got it right. Nope -- every single option (for females) is flawed.

     

    Want to get a girl who looks, say, like the Templar mascot from the box? Tough luck on that effort! Probably 75% of the female faces are inherently flawed; angular, man-like jaws, huge, protruding cheek bones -- it's like some kind of Stalin-era Communist Russian's wet dream. The remainder have other issues: pancake-flat foreheads, misshapen noses, etc.

     

    One thing I detest about simplistic character creators is when there are certain 'ethnic' faces that cannot be believably turned otherwise. For example, in TSW female faces 1-2 are clearly intended to represent people of african descent. I'd argue that 8 (and probably 7) are asians. And don't mistake this for me being racist. Rather, I would prefer that all faces have the potentiality to represent any race -- you understand what I'm driving at? IE, if I want, say, face 4 to have a broad nose, that should be possible. If I want face 4 to look believably asian or black or middle eastern or eastern european, that should all be possible. I shouldn't pick a starter face and be like 'well, this is what the producers intended to represent as 'black,' and I wanted a white chick, so that entire face is elminated.' Design like that is not only stupid, it's actually kind of racist.

     

    What's worse is, I could actually create characters I liked in TOR. And that game, I'd argue, was far, far less well designed than TSW (including the basic art style behind the character models themselves). Yet, I could put together a couple of different paper dolls I liked, and that was enough for me to slog through. It just goes to show prospective MMORPG makers: for a lot of people, having a character you enjoy looking at is ridiculously inportant. And, to add insult to injury with TSW, you can't adjust height, weight, muscles -- it's all the same. I just want to know why they thought this would cut it in a game released in 2012.

    I understand where you are coming from in your post and found it very entertaining. I didn't find any ill-intent behind your words..

    I felt this very way when I first started plaything TSW also, still do and will until it is changed. That change is in the works so we will see what Funcom can do to correct the issue. The haircuts aren't far behind in that department either. There's ONE that I would consider to be "black" and thats the close buzz cut (Fade).. Every other hairstyle "favors" those of caucasian or asian decent. It's quite funny what they put together..

    Almost insulting ... lol..

    Thankfully there's a new one in the works that should be out soon

    PM before you report at least or you could just block.

  • VaporsVapors Member UncommonPosts: 407
    Actually the character creator was no big deal for me, unless they had pretty less hairstyles. Still happy i dont have to choose beetween orks and elves or the beloved and CUTE?!?!? rats and lions and woodppl from gw2 lol
  • vetmovetmo Member Posts: 10

    mm the character creator is realy awful :(

     

     

  • DaezAsterDaezAster Member UncommonPosts: 788

    The character creator sucks but the game is pretty good so I don't see why one shouldn't play it  because of the cc. It's not Barbies cosmetic challenge after all.lol.....

  • ZinzanZinzan Member UncommonPosts: 1,351

    No arguments here, the character creator is naff, same height, same body type, limited clothing options...in fact it's just limited in all aspects.

    Im hoping they address this, perhaps allow us to modify appearance at some point, however this being said, the actual models are well done so it's not all bad.

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  • RictisRictis Member UncommonPosts: 1,300
    Originally posted by Aerowyn
    they are supposed to have a creator revamp coming soon.. in beta they said it would be out by end of august but who knows if they will follow through with it by then

     Good to hear, but alas it is too little too late for most people. If you are going to make a game that has very little deviance from every other MMO than you might as well make it look pretty. I mean Tera is a clone of previous games but at least it looks amazing. TSW? Not so much.

  • jdnycjdnyc Member UncommonPosts: 1,643
    Originally posted by Wakygreek

     Good to hear, but alas it is too little too late for most people. If you are going to make a game that has very little deviance from every other MMO than you might as well make it look pretty. I mean Tera is a clone of previous games but at least it looks amazing. TSW? Not so much.

    Naw.  it's not too late.  Character Creator can change and people get a free upgrade/change the end of the month when it launches.  What's going to save TSW is the fact that its PvE is second to none.  And that includes GW2 and SWTOR.

    Come end of August when people realize that GW2 main selling point is PvP and not PvE, TSW will look even better on that front.  

    As for SWTOR, people already got through that content.  Being 7 months out with 3 content patches (I think 3, I'm sure someone will correct me.)

    TSW has about another month or two months for the Semi-Casuals to hit the End Game.  That means they have two more content patches to push through.  If they can retain the majority of their subs til end of October, they will be fine.  The biggest issue is will the August and September patches be enough?  A lot of competition is being thrown out there and it's not going to be pretty when the dust settles for many games.

     

  • RictisRictis Member UncommonPosts: 1,300
    As far as GW2 I don't know anyone that thinks its about PVE. It is obvious the game is focused around pvp end game. As far as TSW goes, its a lot more than just the character creation screen. It has to do with the fluidity of the animations, cut scenes ... etc. You know? Polish that should have been in the game before launch? When TSW launched the state of its graphics was in beta still. I can't think of any new games that looked as bad as tsw did at launch day that are modern.
  • jdnycjdnyc Member UncommonPosts: 1,643
    Originally posted by Wakygreek
    As far as GW2 I don't know anyone that thinks its about PVE. It is obvious the game is focused around pvp end game. As far as TSW goes, its a lot more than just the character creation screen. It has to do with the fluidity of the animations, cut scenes ... etc. You know? Polish that should have been in the game before launch? When TSW launched the state of its graphics was in beta still. I can't think of any new games that looked as bad as tsw did at launch day that are modern.

    Get a better computer.  TSW graphics are some of the best in the industry.  

  • Bad.dogBad.dog Member UncommonPosts: 1,131
    Originally posted by jdnyc
    Originally posted by Wakygreek
    As far as GW2 I don't know anyone that thinks its about PVE. It is obvious the game is focused around pvp end game. As far as TSW goes, its a lot more than just the character creation screen. It has to do with the fluidity of the animations, cut scenes ... etc. You know? Polish that should have been in the game before launch? When TSW launched the state of its graphics was in beta still. I can't think of any new games that looked as bad as tsw did at launch day that are modern.

    Get a better computer.  TSW graphics are some of the best in the industry.  

    Once you get past the eye candy on these over hyped games you find the substance to be woefully short ...good story but bland questing and poor after thought pvp just doesn't cut it.

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