Character Recustomization

[stinkydoggy]

I flipped back a couple pages, but didn't see any thread titles suggesting something similar, so I thought I'd touch on it or at least dig it out of the back of the closet.

 

Character Recustomization?

 

It really needs to happen. Now that it's easier than ever to unlock races with cartel coins, it would be nice to be able to go back and really do what you wanted to during character creation, but didn't have the tools to do it unlocked yet.

 

I'm all for restarting a class just to do things better. Not that I make it a habit, but this is a hobby more than a way of life for me, so I don't mind spending the time to start over. Especially when there really are only 4 stories and playing through them gets faster the more you do it. But not every (many) of the player community feel this way, especially the newly acquired f2p crowd we have. It's especially unfair to them since they only have 2 character slots on the account total. They can buy your coins to open up a race, but then they have to sacrifice their only other slot to take advantage of the character creation options, even if they bought the unlock for the race they're currently playing.

 

Throw us all a bone here, BW. Give us a vendor, on each respective fleet perhaps, that will allow us to recustimize our character. I'm not asking for an AC swap or a race change (although race does nothing from a gameplay standpoint in this game). I just want to be able to swap out the old busted bionics for the new hotness once I unlock the cyborg race or something similar. I'm not even asking for a body type swap. Just the cosmetics. Maybe a new hairdo. The new swanky bionic eye that I mentioned. Maybe get a new tattoo or have one removed. Charge us credits for it. One more money sink can't be all that bad, right? Hell, I'd even be ok with a (SMALL) cost in cartel coins. You could even make it into a legacy item for player ships just like the GTN, mailbox and repair droid. You could even make it a function OF the repair droid (he dabbles in facial reconstruction on the side).

 

Please, BioWare... You're our only hope.

 

I'm all for this. I'd also like to see a better character creation screen. Four body types isn't cutting it. And with some species like Zabraks they put horn and tattoo patterns on the same option bar. This is no good. Also some of the hair colors are just repeated. What they really need is slider bars so that you can customize each section of your body. From facial features, to body dimensions, height and weight. A proper color pallette not only for eyes, but hair and skin color as well as tattoo colors and patterns. As it is now, it's all just cut and paste. Every option is the same for every species so we all end up looking like clones. Even different races share the same body, head, complextion, hairstyles. They really need to throw out the entire system and start again. It's horrible the way it is now.

[althene]

Updated main post to encompass further ideas presented in this thread.

[althene]

Updated to give props to the community for their support.

[fuskr]

Agree much. Can't see the logic from bioware or EA to not make this happen in cartel market, this will make a ton of cash and they know it.. I've actually quited my sorc cuz she's an ugly *** Twi'lek

[GoldenHornet]

I've been wanting an in-game barber shop since launch. I have characters I really don't want to re-roll (e.g. a level 49 Gunslinger with 400 Armourmech and a ton of schematics) that could really use a change of cyborg implants or a different haircut or some scars added/removed.

 

I guess coming from City of Heroes (RIP) I'm used to jumping into Icon and throwing a few credits down to completely change my look at the drop of a hat.

 

Please, put this in game soon.

[Noxsabe]

I've been wanting an in-game barber shop since launch. I have characters I really don't want to re-roll (e.g. a level 49 Gunslinger with 400 Armourmech and a ton of schematics) that could really use a change of cyborg implants or a different haircut or some scars added/removed.

 

I guess coming from City of Heroes (RIP) I'm used to jumping into Icon and throwing a few credits down to completely change my look at the drop of a hat.

 

Please, put this in game soon.

 

City of Heroes (RIP) did they stop?! wasn't that made by Cryptic and soled to NCsoft? or em i totally wrong here.

[Calsetes]

City of Heroes (RIP) did they stop?! wasn't that made by Cryptic and soled to NCsoft? or em i totally wrong here.

 

City of Heroes was made by Cryptic, sold to NCSoft and updated by Paragon Studios or something, but they shut off their servers finally on the 30th. Champions is still running, though, in case you want another superhero fix. I liked it, but left about a year ago because the changes they were making after moving to free-to-play around that time left a bad taste in my mouth. Still, I pine for it every now and then.

[althene]

City of Heroes was made by Cryptic, sold to NCSoft and updated by Paragon Studios or something, but they shut off their servers finally on the 30th. Champions is still running, though, in case you want another superhero fix. I liked it, but left about a year ago because the changes they were making after moving to free-to-play around that time left a bad taste in my mouth. Still, I pine for it every now and then.

 

Champions: Online left a bad taste in my mouth long before it went f2p. The fact that it did didn't shock me in the slightest. It always seemed cheaply done to me. That said, I did have some fun with the game, it just still didn't give me enough range to do exactly what I wanted.

 

But all this is a bit off topic.

 

What is relevant here is the way both games handled character customization. CoH was absolutely fantastic in this regard. If you didn't like it, you simply paid your virtual money (sometimes out the nose) and changed it to something you did like. Saving different "costumes" was also a very fun aspect of the game, but since there wasn't any equipable gear in that game, that's how you were supposed to show your character progression, I guess.

 

Champions: Online kept the same costume approach from what I can remember, but they took it a step farther with the in game store. What bummed me out there was that your character options were so very limited, that you HAD to burn real money or look like a clown (some parallels with the "unify colors" unlock there, EAWare).

[KoveeDSeeker]

Yes, a Barber shop and longer hair!

[Mcky]

+1 to RE-Customization

[Vitas]

In the case of hair and tattoos and possibily some other facial issues, I'd rather like to be able change via a barber shop or any other sort of cosmetic service in-game loacted in any of the cities. Barber shops do exist in Star Wars lore and both Wow and recently the Secret World introduced them, I don't want to have to use the cartel market just to change my hair style.

[althene]

In the case of hair and tattoos and possibily some other facial issues, I'd rather like to be able change via a barber shop or any other sort of cosmetic service in-game loacted in any of the cities. Barber shops do exist in Star Wars lore and both Wow and recently the Secret World introduced them, I don't want to have to use the cartel market just to change my hair style.

 

This would most likely fall under "minor cosmetic changes" and should be covered in a barber shop/body shop. I personally like to imagine some shoddily maintained medical droid in the bowels of Nar Shadaa having poorly sterilized equipment and a nervous tick, but who doesn't?

 

EAWare might not agree with the idea of it being minor, but I will be one if the first to write a scathing forum post about it if they don't (because we all know they lie awake at night dreading the terrors that await them in the forums the following day). More than likely the amount of negative posts about it would send them into an endless shame spiral from which the only recovery would be to bend to our demands, further empowering our electronic wrath. The cycle would continue until Darth Mickey shows up to smite us with powers granted by the all powerful Lord Disney.

 

Thank you for the support, however!

 

And yes, I've had way too much caffeine today...

Edited December 8, 2012 by althene

[Acorns_Malfurion]

Can Bio\/\/are fix the ' unify ' bug with the ranked PvP armor? Sage's red is pink when equiped.... the dark yellow is tanned. They don't even unify correctly.

 

The Trooper and Smugglers' ranked chests do not unify correctly with other pieces. The Jedi Knight chest is the only one that matches. Can a quick fix be implemented with 1.6?

[althene]

Can Bio\/\/are fix the ' unify ' bug with the ranked PvP armor? Sage's red is pink when equiped.... the dark yellow is tanned. They don't even unify correctly.

 

The Trooper and Smugglers' ranked chests do not unify correctly with other pieces. The Jedi Knight chest is the only one that matches. Can a quick fix be implemented with 1.6?

 

I'm not sure how this fits in with the topic at hand, but.. yes?

[Glower]

Shut up and take my money!

 

/signed!

[Mr_Pancakes]

Shut up and take my money!

 

/signed!

 

oh so true

[Tordos]

Not sure if the player character models can be changes so easily but if it can be done then I see no harm in having the option to re-customize player characters.

[Noxsabe]

Not sure if the player character models can be changes so easily but if it can be done then I see no harm in having the option to re-customize player characters.

 

what is not that easy, you change models with every new armor you put on your char, its the same system sort off.

so many other games have it, so why not swtor. off all the mmo devs, the dev team from swtor is the least lazy of em all. take the dev team from sto, heck there asking 20dollars for a ship in there microtrans shop and the ship does not even have a new model! it just has extra consol slots witch is purely code! talk about rip offs. (for sto fans here i'm talking about the "fleet" ships, same model as the normal version just with more fire power) anyways, i trust in BIOWARE and this will be added i'm sure!

Edited December 8, 2012 by Noxsabe

[Tordos]

what is not that easy, you change models with every new armor you put on your char, its the same system sort off.

 

Without knowing the relationship between equipped gear and character models or how these values interact with the database we cannot say for certain how they might implement player character re-customization. You can speculate all you want the fact is we simply don't know.

[I-Win-Button]

Being able to customise a character would be great. Personally, I'd prefer it to be something I spend credits on but I wouldn't mind a small cartel coin fee (by small I'm thinking 50-100CC). As a roleplayer, I'd like to be able to change my character's hairstyle or give them a scar after a fight.

 

While it isn't something which is needed, it's something which would certainly be a nice little addition that I've seen people asking for since I first started looking on these forums.

[Rylorn]

I support this. However, I would rather see more species added to the game, and in general more customization of all kinds be implemented first. Resources are tight, first add tons of cool extra options, then add the ability to re-customize. Edited December 8, 2012 by Rylorn

[Noxsabe]

Without knowing the relationship between equipped gear and character models or how these values interact with the database we cannot say for certain how they might implement player character re-customization. You can speculate all you want the fact is we simply don't know.

 

look wen you put on armor then the entire model of your char changes, or do you think the armor is put on your char, no the armor becomes your char! so in es-sens re-customization works the same way. its just a matter of what values are default.

the reason i know this is simple, one of my chars has armor that's not placed correct so the result is part of the mid section of my char whit that armor is transparent "hence" no model. so you see changing your core model is no different then putting on different armors. it is not that there are new values added in the database, its all there no big changes in database. trust me this is easy job/conversion, STO has it, CO has it heck even as old as wow is has it! no real strain on any database.

[gibmachine]

+1 on this one, simple as that. Either via ingame currency or CC, everything works as long as it's implemented.

[althene]

Without knowing the relationship between equipped gear and character models or how these values interact with the database we cannot say for certain how they might implement player character re-customization. You can speculate all you want the fact is we simply don't know.

 

I think I see what you're saying, and for new character options, I would agree. But for existing options for character creation, there wouldn't be any issues in this regard beyond those that currently exist in game, if any. As for cosmetic changes to hair, makeup, scars and what have you, none of that will affect the armor models in the slightest. They would only require an interface with which the player can change things around. Hell, even body type could be considered a minor cosmetic since all of your armor meshes resize accordingly since they're already in game. This is evident just by continuing to click the "gender" button in character creation. It randomly generates a character with various components and does so almost instantaneously.

 

There may be issues with changing races since it may have to unload a texture pack to load a new one. In this case, I would expect to be taken to a version of the character creation screen whereby I would begin reforging my character features.

 

I can certainly see this being low priority, but I think a lot of players have characters they aren't playing anymore simply because they're not aesthetically pleasing. This is compounded these days by limited character slots for f2p and premium players, who may not play simply because the prospect of deleting a character to start over is too much (especially considering the wealth of options available once the made level race unlocks are available)

Edited December 9, 2012 by althene

[althene]

Updated with ideas seen in other threads on faction changes. This is a rather complex prospect given the story driven nature of the game, but I believe it to be possible if a bit unwieldy.

 

They could allow it provided they reset all story flags. You would essentially have to "restart" the character but would keep your current level, skill points, equipment, etc. Companions would have to be reset as well, I believe, but this may not be the case.

 

The character would also need to have their AC locked to whatever the mirror class is for the opposing factions, i.e.: Jedi Guardian becomes a Sith Juggernaught, an Imperial Operative becomes a Scoundrel, etc. For classes without shared weapons or with class specific gear, they might be expected to purchase new gear or they could simply be given some kind of "basic" gear for free. This wouldn't be the most complicated part, but would certainly be the trickiest.

 

Again, probably something we aren't going to see for quite a while, and it certainly stretches the scope of character customization, but I figured I'd touch on it for completion.

Edited December 9, 2012 by althene