So far, I’d say the best character customization system i’ve run across is the one in Perfect World. The sheer number of changeable features and the fact that it is noticeable, at least, once at a certain distance, makes for a creation system that I putzed around with for hours when I first got it(I still do when I create a new character. You have presets, I think around 30 for each class(yes, the classes have different presets) then you have Facial shape(width height-lower, middle bottom, overall face shape) advanced facial features(25 changers in 5 catagories-forehead, cheekbone, chin, cheek, jaw) , eye brows with 3 overall shapes, 7 refined shapes, and 6 detail sliders. Then you have nose, lip, ear and hair(just preset styles, but many of them… over 60 and different for each class, as well as having flowing hair, hair with highlights or normal) categories each with multiple separate changers, and then colors, which are on a graph-like spectrum rather than having balancers. Body shape is unfortunatly not as changeable. Height and weight cannot be changed. There are 5 modification sliders. Head, Upper Body, Waist, Legs, Arms(+breast for female).

Equipment is unfortunatly standardized, at least in lower levels–There are sets of armour made for certain lvl groups that all players end up getting(even though some have unique stats and abilities) However, there is a fashion system which is separate from the armor in which you get actual clothes(As its based in chinese mythology, a lot of them are of chinese origin, or based on). The games creators-cubisoft-actually hold in game beauty contests, after which the winners are given prizes(real money?).

Personally, I felt that at this point in gaming development, there is little else we can do and Perfect World is on that path to creating a game with the customization we gamers truly look for(I don’t even know what Im looking for in a game by way of customizing). If nothing else, you could give Perfect World a try, its free and still in open beta. Even so, the graphics are fairly good and some of the environments are just wonderful. You have to get past some common beta problems with pathing and lag, but other than that, its a fairly solid game.

1. Height and weight sliders good, nose and ear sliders bad. Height and weight makes a difference in any equipment, and at a distance. Face sliders only matter if you don’t wear a helmet and your real damn close. Plus they tend to play havoc with frame-rates.

2. Part of the problem with character customization in MMOs is that good stats are generally locked onto particular items. If we could customize the stats of items it would allows us to use the items with models that we like, rather than locking us into the same models that everyone else with high end gear has.

3. Minor points:
-I like dye. All equipment heavy games should have it.
-the character design system in CoH fits the setting perfectly. Comic superheroes don’t tend tp mix up their costumes very frequently.

Sliders:

For the rest of the MMO world, I think that height and weight sliders are pretty essential. CoH did a pretty good job with these, but PSO (and PSU…which otherwise sucks) are the only game that really nailed them. Hieght and wight sliders are good becase they allow you to customize your character in a way that is obvious regardless of what equip[ment you have.

Sliders for your eyebrows, nose, and ears are just dumb. Even if you aren’t wearing a helmet, 99% of the time no-one is close enough to you to tell what you picked. I think you are dead on about interesting and diverse pre-made options being preferable. Sliders for tiny facial features also tend to kill frame rates in any crowded situation.

Equipment:

It amazes me how few games let you dye your equipment. I honestly think this helps a lot, personally. However, even better than that, would be allowing you to customize the stats of our equipment. That way, you can wear whatever models you prefer. For example, in Morrowind there was this really cool looking (to me) squid helmet. Unfortunately, I could never find one that had decent stats. Eventually, I resorted to using one that was unenchanted and enchanting it myself.

This is not the same as the system in WoW or several other games where enchantments go on top of the stats an item already has. This ruins customizability because you are still forced to start with a powerfull base item, and there are only a few in any given level range. In Morrowind an item is enchanted or not (ala AD&D). If you like a particular model, you can enchant it yourself to have whatever stats you like. Several games have somewhat similar systems, but none takes it to the extreme that Morrowind did. Even Morrowind fell somewhat short of my ideal becuase “base items” varied in number of points of enchantments they could hold.

City of Heroes has the best character creation system I’ve seen but it wouldn’t work for any game that uses equipment. Not just fantasy games use equipment either. I believe Tabula Rasa, Hellgate London, and Huxley are all going to have visible equipment

The best option I think is just to have tons of different weapon and armor models like Everquest but to better control the ability to dye armor so the black wearing assassin look doesn’t overwhelm your player population. Perhaps make a quest which involves completing a series of dungeons before a player can get one bundle of dye. As long as you don’t make it too easy you should be able to avoid clown suits in the game.

When I first started playing WoW I thought they were doing a good job then I say how often they re-used the same models and just applied a different coloring scheme. And I used to think player dyed armor looked bad.

1. It is foolish to claim you have better character creation when you obviously do not. Better character creation entails making your character look more unique, and more like you want it to look, and more identifiable. I haven’t seen this from pretty much anyone, and it bothers me every time I see a new game that touts its character creation.

2. Character creation doesn’t matter. Okay, it does, but not half as much as post-creation character customization. Making it possible for players to achieve unique and identifiable looks after their character has been created is far more important than running around claiming to have the best character creation. I want to see a game that can honestly claim that their equipment is the most strikingly beautiful yet customizable and identifiable equipment in the industry, then I may pay attention.

3. Something as ridiculously simple as the Mii character creator is better than most MMO character creation systems, but it really is the same as City of Heroes in the end, if a little better (in my opinion, primarily due to faces). The second you put armor on, you’re less likely to recognize someone, especially if that armor is a helmet.

Possibly for another rant is the heart of the issue–lack of variety potential and an inability to both look unique and function effectively based on equipment choice. Basically: If you want to be the best, look like all the rest. If you want to look unique, shite equipment must thou seek.

It’s not the sliders which suck, per se. It’s the fact that sliders create nuanced looks, and in the third person view of most MMO’s, subtlety isn’t different “enough” to be recognized.

We tend to view the world in human perceptions, and most of the time that involves a form of thought processing which seeks to find patterns to match. That means when you see a character, unless there’s something VERY different about that character, you’ll start to mentally sort the view into compartmentalized categories.

Character X reminds you of character Y, especially from this distance (read: third person view), and so you lump X and Y together. Later, you find a character Z who sort of reminds you of Y and now your mind’s lumped Z and X together.

Custom options tend to work bettr because the choices tend to be fewer, but yet more extreme (read: less nuance). Because of this, characters are easier to immediately recognize apart from other characters in your mind’s eye, which leads to a sense of variation.

Even though the technical variations in the slider based system have more chance for differentiation, due to the way our mind’s think, we see less differences, not more.

If you can’t think of how to incorporate items and other sorts of customization into the City of Heroes character creator, we’re back to why you’re stupid. Your argument seems to be that if we slap YAFMMORPG’s non-customized items on top of a customized character, you will not see the customized parts anymore. Yeah, that’s kind of the point. If you were to make City of Elves and Orcs, the customization level would be at the items on top, not the clothing that is covered up. Isn’t Chronicles of Spellborn doing something with this, allowing you to customize your item look without it affecting your stats?

The real problem with the City of Heroes system is that it has affects that do just what those items do. Every */Dark Armor Scrapper really does look alike, since each is in the same cloud of darkness. Every Broad Sword and Battle Axe looks the same. Half the characters spend their time invisible anyway, so the costume does not matter. If you stack enough sparklies and effects on someone, all the decorations and customization in the world won’t matter, because you won’t be able to see it. What is needed is customization of powers, so that you can change the color of your Energy Blast or redecorate your Granite Armor. Then characters would still look different even when all the powers are flying around.

If you are slapping everyone in the same helmet and armor, yes, they all look the same. Duh.