Not just MMO's but Single player games too, i passed on Horizon Zero Dawn because i didn't like the main character, Watchdogs too for the same reason, if i don't like the main character and there are no acceptable alternatives, then i just don't bother with that game, likewise in an MMO there has to be a decent amount of customisation, but not just that, i need to be able to choose a character that is acceptable to me.
It put's weight into my decision yes. I am very particular about how my character looks. I typically play caster DPS and want my caster to have a robe with a hood. I prefer realistic graphics over stylized, but stylized graphics can work as well.
Character Creation is not a big deal for me. Most of the time, whatever you choose your character to look like, it will be hidden anyways from when you gear your character.
What pulls the most weight in my decision to play an MMORPG or not, is simply the Class System and Combat Mechanics.
Not just MMO's but Single player games too, i passed on Horizon Zero Dawn because i didn't like the main character, Watchdogs too for the same reason, if i don't like the main character and there are no acceptable alternatives, then i just don't bother with that game, likewise in an MMO there has to be a decent amount of customisation, but not just that, i need to be able to choose a character that is acceptable to me.
That is true, but sometimes a character is much more appealing to certain individuals. I really liked Geralt in the Witcher series and the tone of the game. It turned some people off though as he is kind of like James Bond in the middle ages. I often find it a bit dull to play female characters due to them often being the i always do the right thing types. Male characters are like that a lot now as well. I still prefer to have specialized characters as opposed to generic. The only generic main characters I can recall liking were in Bioware games pre dragon age and mass effect andromeda. In MMOs I have never cared quite as much since story was not a big thing in early MMOs and the story in modern ones is useually fairly dull to me. In old MMOs like UO I already was living out my fantasy of playing a lone Ranger wandering through a dangerous world. Stories from books had already filled my imagination about them. One game I couldn't enjoy recently was divinity original sin. I didn't like any of the main character appearances or voice sets. The game itself was decent, but I couldn't enjoy the the haughty voices of those two.
Yes it does. My appearance has to be something I like or else I will get meh pretty quickly. But that can be anything from beautiful to being a tank(World of Tanks) or being a Warframe in Warframe. As long as I like my looks and can customize a bit, I'm generally happy. Not every game can be City of Heroes or Villains but I sure wish more were.
It plays a part for me when deciding if I want to try a game. I see it as part of character customisation in general and it is one of the things that adds to replayability of the game.
100% yes. Character models limit time I can play a game like Warframe. One interesting thing I've heard is that Western players are on a whole more interested in playing games as their own unique character than Asian players, who prefer to fill the role of an established character.
Not true at all. Most Asian MMOs tend to be miles ahead of their Western counterparts in terms of character customization, when it comes to visual stuff of course. There's cheap ones too that don't give you much options, but most of the big titles have crazy amounts of customization. Aion, BDO, the upcoming Bless Online, AA to a lesser degree...
Hell, some players practically live to play with BDO's character creator, and the value pack (subscription option) let's you customize all your characters however much you want. While other games put this feature behind paywalls. Heaven forbid you want to make some adjustments because the way the character looked in the creator winds up being different from the finished product in game. Then you get to reroll, see if you can get back what you made the first time, or shell out $10-20 for a one time change.
That was an article I read on the difference between western and asian RPGs players, and even though I'm aware of the customization you can do on characters in recent Asian MMORPGs, you don't really end up looking that unique. Once you get the armour set, or the outfit, there are limited options. If you compare the possibilities in looks between a game lime Archage and SWTOR, the Western game will win, due to the way they allow minute customization of each individual armour piece.
100% yes. Character models limit time I can play a game like Warframe. One interesting thing I've heard is that Western players are on a whole more interested in playing games as their own unique character than Asian players, who prefer to fill the role of an established character.
Not true at all. Most Asian MMOs tend to be miles ahead of their Western counterparts in terms of character customization, when it comes to visual stuff of course. There's cheap ones too that don't give you much options, but most of the big titles have crazy amounts of customization. Aion, BDO, the upcoming Bless Online, AA to a lesser degree...
Hell, some players practically live to play with BDO's character creator, and the value pack (subscription option) let's you customize all your characters however much you want. While other games put this feature behind paywalls. Heaven forbid you want to make some adjustments because the way the character looked in the creator winds up being different from the finished product in game. Then you get to reroll, see if you can get back what you made the first time, or shell out $10-20 for a one time change.
I think one big thing you are overlooking is gender locked classes. That tends to be a theme found most commonly in Asian MMOs. For instanced BDO was originally supposed to be gender locked. So I think that might be a telling sign that they do care less, as very few western audiences will tolerate having their gender chosen for them.
I think what would be really interesting to see is how much the customization options get used. Like how many sliders they mess with, how many eye/hair options they swap to etc. of if they just go straight to a pre-made option and call it good.
I'm not presuming to know that data but if the data were to show that the general Asian gamer is more likely to select a premade / uses less sliders etc. that may be evidence these features are included of the sake of eventual expansion into a the Western market. As all the games you of sited have done / wanted to do.
@esc-joconnor Good point. Western games do allow mix and matching of outfits a lot more than Asian games do. Maybe it has to do with the overall graphics quality. Most of the Asian ones looked a lot better for their time period.
@Eldurian Hard to say without getting a look at their playerbase... although I kinda doubt it. BDO's devs recently said that all their decisions are aimed at strengthening their home base (AKA Korea). As for the gender locks, they often make up for it by having more classes overall. Mind you, I'd prefer to have them just do away with the gender locks. Usually their ratio of male:female classes tends to lean heavily towards female.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
If I said character creation or design played no role in my desire to continue with a game I'd be lying. I tend to look at it like buying a car or getting a tattoo. You're going to have to live with that character for a very long time so it's better to carefully consider your choices.
I also spend a long time on naming and get extremely frustrated when every name is taken. If there is one thing I despise it's having to settle for some lame badly misspelled name (for example, 'Clown' was taken so 'Kloun'.. I don't think so), a name with a string of numbers at the end (I can't be 'Bob' so I'll be 'Bob12345'.. I want to be the first one not some unoriginal copycat!!) or the ever popular stickycaps 'X' bordered names ('xXxJoExXx'? ..um, no. I'm outta here!). Not only do I consider how it will look in a NPC dialogue (Because "Thank you 'xXxFrOOtLeWp896xXx' for saving our village!" is immersion breaking) but I also consider other players. Is it something friends and people I meet can remember and easily type into a chat window? Naming actually matters more to me than visual appearance. Too bad almost all games, no matter how good their character creation is, have the exact same rules for naming that make almost all the good names already taken.
In short, yes. In the name of immersion and personal enjoyment of the game, character creation and naming are very important.
Most of the time yes, especially MMO's and RPG's wich is why i never really liked The Witcher 3. I want to look unique in a MMO but in a SP RPG i don't really make a big deal out of it unless i like the character.
I just want every character to look different in terms of the armor they wear. I want to see people and be like, damn son, your armor looks sick. I hate it when people all have the same gear. They all have the same sets, it is lame.
Cryomatrix
Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
For single player games I like the way Shadow of Mordor did it. I could play a female char for the combat and such but you still were technically Talion. Was a little odd in cutscenes but I sitll liked being able to choose my skin instead of being forced into being Talion. It's a feature I hope they put into Shadow of War soon.
In MMO however, have to be able to customize a bit. I'm spoiled off of City of Heroes/Villains, Black Desert and Final Fantasy XIV style char creators.
Jumping in the thread late, but to respond to OP: yes.
I dislike the over-the-top art styles common in anime games. I much prefer the sleeker style, though it doesn't necessarily have to attempt a photo-realistic visual. I just dislike the oversized and flamboyant.
A nice, silver suit of plate armor, with a neat etching in the breastplate > a lion's face with flaming eyes on my chest and shoulders pads that would literally decapitate my character as soon as he raised his hand above his head.
It's worth mentioning that games that supply at least a somewhat stylized visual seem to age better than games like ESO, that don't apply so much stylization to the models.
Comments
Character Creation is not a big deal for me. Most of the time, whatever you choose your character to look like, it will be hidden anyways from when you gear your character.
What pulls the most weight in my decision to play an MMORPG or not, is simply the Class System and Combat Mechanics.
I think what would be really interesting to see is how much the customization options get used. Like how many sliders they mess with, how many eye/hair options they swap to etc. of if they just go straight to a pre-made option and call it good.
I'm not presuming to know that data but if the data were to show that the general Asian gamer is more likely to select a premade / uses less sliders etc. that may be evidence these features are included of the sake of eventual expansion into a the Western market. As all the games you of sited have done / wanted to do.
@Eldurian Hard to say without getting a look at their playerbase... although I kinda doubt it. BDO's devs recently said that all their decisions are aimed at strengthening their home base (AKA Korea). As for the gender locks, they often make up for it by having more classes overall. Mind you, I'd prefer to have them just do away with the gender locks. Usually their ratio of male:female classes tends to lean heavily towards female.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
I also spend a long time on naming and get extremely frustrated when every name is taken. If there is one thing I despise it's having to settle for some lame badly misspelled name (for example, 'Clown' was taken so 'Kloun'.. I don't think so), a name with a string of numbers at the end (I can't be 'Bob' so I'll be 'Bob12345'.. I want to be the first one not some unoriginal copycat!!) or the ever popular stickycaps 'X' bordered names ('xXxJoExXx'? ..um, no. I'm outta here!). Not only do I consider how it will look in a NPC dialogue (Because "Thank you 'xXxFrOOtLeWp896xXx' for saving our village!" is immersion breaking) but I also consider other players. Is it something friends and people I meet can remember and easily type into a chat window? Naming actually matters more to me than visual appearance. Too bad almost all games, no matter how good their character creation is, have the exact same rules for naming that make almost all the good names already taken.
In short, yes. In the name of immersion and personal enjoyment of the game, character creation and naming are very important.
Cryomatrix
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
In MMO however, have to be able to customize a bit. I'm spoiled off of City of Heroes/Villains, Black Desert and Final Fantasy XIV style char creators.
I dislike the over-the-top art styles common in anime games. I much prefer the sleeker style, though it doesn't necessarily have to attempt a photo-realistic visual. I just dislike the oversized and flamboyant.
A nice, silver suit of plate armor, with a neat etching in the breastplate > a lion's face with flaming eyes on my chest and shoulders pads that would literally decapitate my character as soon as he raised his hand above his head.
It's worth mentioning that games that supply at least a somewhat stylized visual seem to age better than games like ESO, that don't apply so much stylization to the models.