Race / sex/ face / name change options, is this something that could be added?

[Pixela]

This is something almost every mmo offers, it's extra money for the game and a lot of people want it. As proven by the amount of money these services make on other games.

Can we get an official response as to if this is something that might be added in the future or if it's against the developers view of how the game should be?

[Kensagaku]

Thread number 853 of "Let me change my character appearance/name." For goodness' sake, there's another thread on this page that was started two days ago, and in fact is one that you replied in! Spamming is not going to get you a response faster, it's just going to get the community to shake their heads at you.

Besides, changes even with a micro-transaction cost (and the thought of that in FFXI makes me shiver) are an exploitable deal. Got kicked from an LS for ninja-lotting an item or mooching rewards without helping? Easy! Change your race/face/gender and name and no one will know it's you until you do it again. Proven to be a disruptive individual whom people won't party with because you come off as obnoxious, unwilling to learn, or simply unbearable (We have a few of these on Valefor...)? Then change your race/face/gender and name, and no one will know it's you until you do it again. I feel like this opens up way too many possibilities for exploiting others, so I'm firmly against it.

[Olor]

I don't agree with name changing but everything else is fine. That said you can always make a mule on a new server and server switch to change your name so it's not like it can't be done now. Plus really, who ninja lots etc these days? The community is too small to risk losing a good group over a single item, no matter how good.

[Ulth]

You can already change your name with world transfers, It's just a more round about way of doing things. So if someone like Welfare actually cared about what others think of them they could hop worlds a few times and come back to their old server with a new name. I actually know a few people who had to forcible change their name because it was taken on the server they followed their LS to. So the people making a new identity for themselves is a moot point. Really if anything I sympathize with people who made their character years ago and have changed their preferences in appearance. What are they suppose to do? Make a whole new character and remake all their RMEs on it just because now they don't want to be a manthra anymore?

[Pixela]

Thread number 853 of "Let me change my character appearance/name." For goodness' sake, there's another thread on this page that was started two days ago, and in fact is one that you replied in! Spamming is not going to get you a response faster, it's just going to get the community to shake their heads at you.

Besides, changes even with a micro-transaction cost (and the thought of that in FFXI makes me shiver) are an exploitable deal. Got kicked from an LS for ninja-lotting an item or mooching rewards without helping? Easy! Change your race/face/gender and name and no one will know it's you until you do it again. Proven to be a disruptive individual whom people won't party with because you come off as obnoxious, unwilling to learn, or simply unbearable (We have a few of these on Valefor...)? Then change your race/face/gender and name, and no one will know it's you until you do it again. I feel like this opens up way too many possibilities for exploiting others, so I'm firmly against it.

Yeah cause the forum is inundated with forum posts and mine might push something off the first page amirite?

[OmnysValefor]

He's right, deliberately spamming the forums over a trivial request (that I'd enjoy myself, ugly hume) isn't serving any good.

[Pixela]

He's right, deliberately spamming the forums over a trivial request (that I'd enjoy myself, ugly hume) isn't serving any good.

It's not exactly spamming, when was the last topic made about it?

[OmnysValefor]

2 days ago (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/50607-Name-Race-change)

[Alhanelem]

You can already change your name with world transfers

You can only change your name if it is duplicated on the target world or if it violates naming policies. Which of course gets abused by people creating additional characters with the same name to force a change.

[Stompa]

This is something almost every mmo offers,

FFXI is not the same as other MMOs. That is why I play FFXI instead of other games. Because it has rigid rule structures and a feeling of realistic "solidity" which is lacking from all other games.

This isn't 2004, you don't have to go seek party in Dunes for weeks, it isn't going to take you years to finish levelling your character. COP/ZM/WOTG/TOAU can be solo'd in short time.

It is incredibly easy to make a new character today, and level them to 99, solo limit-breaks, solo AF, farm 119 gear with Trusts.

You can make a new character, with the name/race/gender/hairstyle that you identify with, and level that character very quickly today. "But I have loads of Afterglow RME!" you might say.

I would never build RME on a character if I felt it was the wrong sex or the wrong race.

I have played all the races and sizes and hairstyles, and I noticed what I liked/disliked about them before those characters reached level 10. The idea of levelling to 99 and building RMEs, without noticing that your character is the wrong Race or wrong gender, is of course ridiculous.

The second problem with this thread is that it bundles name/gender/race issues together.

I actually agree that old not-in-use names from 5+ years ago, should be freed up. There could even be a system for changing hairstyles, such as a barbers shop. I have no problem with those things.

The Race Change and Gender Change do not work as realistic RPG systems, because your Character was born as a certain Race/gender, and in order for them to be a solid believable character, they would stay the same Race/Gender during their whole life. As a Roleplayer, I would feel that characters morphing into new Races/Genders at the click of a button, would seriously affect the structural integrity of this virtual world.

:cool:

[Alhanelem]

"But I have loads of Afterglow RME!" you might say. I would never build RME on a character if I felt it was the wrong sex or the wrong race. In a bit of fairness, you probably don't know when you first start playing if you're going to pursue an armory of relic/mythic/empy weapons. So it's kind of easy to say but nobody can predict the future.

//Is not keen on name changes

[Alhanelem]

You did snip that quote without the other things I said. Such as how I personally have played all the races/sizes/hairstyles. I have observed them running/fighting/emotes etc. and I knew within hours of playing them that they were not the right character for meMost people don't do this though, particularly in FFXI becuase it either means paying extra for more characters or creating and deleting characters repeatedly if you don't like how it turns out, which is a huge hassle.

[Ulth]

You did snip that quote without the other things I said. Such as how I personally have played all the races/sizes/hairstyles. I have observed them running/fighting/emotes etc. and I knew within hours of playing them that they were not the right character for me.

If you made a character 14 years ago, and you no longer like it, because you have "changed as a person in 14 years" that is different. But again, look at how easy it is to xp now, and people are building Relics / Mythics very quickly these days. If you felt so bad about your old character, you could build a new character.

Just speaking for myself, I noticed within days of playing certain races/sizes that they were not working for me. I always play girls, because I'm a girl and I identify as a girl in RPG too. There is nothing wrong with playing any Race/Gender/Size that you want to play, only that you should make those decisions in the level 1~50 range, and not change your mind when you are rocking Afterglows. Because, at least for me, it became very clear that certain Races/Genders were not my thing, and I noticed this before the Subjob stage.

Yeah, you are pretty much just speaking for yourself. Just because this never happened to you doesn't mean it never happens to anyone else. Personally I don't want to change my race, (Not to be racist but Humes are the best race.) my face, or my gender, but I know people who do, and I'm all for letting them do that and support their decision to do so. If it's in game and free, awesome. If it's done like server transfers and costs money that's fine too.

Also not allowing it because it might ruin the continuity of your role playing is ridiculous considering that all of us are time traveling, dimension hopping, gods by the end of all the storylines. Also you can do stuff like write off your adventuring fellow, have your "memories" of them wiped, and do the same events over like they never happened with a whole new person. The integrity of this virtual world was in shambles from the get go.

[Ulth]

I also play D&D. Polymorph, that is all.

Also how many people do you think actually role play in ffxi like it is a table top game?

[Stompa]

I also play D&D. Polymorph, that is all.

Also how many people do you think actually role play in ffxi like it is a table top game?


Tabletop has nothing to do with it. We accept that FFXI is a computergame, and so our character does not die but is KO, this is a computergame mechanic because nobody would sub to a RPG computergame where you die and lose everything immediately. So the KO is a game device, for computergames.

Similarly we accept other game devices and restrictions, for example, NPC will sometimes forget that you have done a quest or talked to them before. This is because it is a computergame with a limited amount of data possibilities.

But it is still a realistic RPG. Have you ever raised a chocobo? If you want a certain type of chocobo, you should select breeding options based on the parents of your chocobo. You can't just say "my chocobo is a certain way because I want it to be." You can dye the feathers, and train it a certain way, but the breeding is still a real aspect of chocobo raising. Because it is a living creature, with parents and life history. Just like your character is.

And again, data space limits how much RPG they can put into this game. This is a "Fighting Fantasy Arcade Game" first and foremost. People play it for the exciting battles and graphic effects of sword and sorcery. So that is always the priority with data space / content development.

But underneath that Arcade Gaming sphere, there is still a solid Roleplaying Game, with characters born a certain nationality, race and gender. Your new character can not go ocean fishing and catch sharks. They have to learn to fish, very slowly. This is Roleplaying Realism, and so is joining Blacksmiths guild, obtaining your apron slowly, etc. These are classic RPG elements. And it is your Male Hume with <Name> who is engaging in this living roleplaying world. What would the Guildmaster say if you walked into the Guild tomorrow as a Female Tarutaru with a new name. The Guildmaster would say "pleased to meet you!" because they don't know you lol. They know the Male Hume who they've interacted with for years.

[Ulth]

Tabletop has nothing to do with it. We accept that FFXI is a computergame, and so our character does not die but is KO, this is a computergame mechanic because nobody would sub to a RPG computergame where you die and lose everything immediately. So the KO is a game device, for computergames.

Similarly we accept other game devices and restrictions, for example, NPC will sometimes forget that you have done a quest or talked to them before. This is because it is a computergame with a limited amount of data possibilities.

But it is still a realistic RPG. Have you ever raised a chocobo? If you want a certain type of chocobo, you should select breeding options based on the parents of your chocobo. You can't just say "my chocobo is a certain way because I want it to be." You can dye the feathers, and train it a certain way, but the breeding is still a real aspect of chocobo raising. Because it is a living creature, with parents and life history. Just like your character is.

And again, data space limits how much RPG they can put into this game. This is a "Fighting Fantasy Arcade Game" first and foremost. People play it for the exciting battles and graphic effects of sword and sorcery. So that is always the priority with data space / content development.

But underneath that Arcade Gaming sphere, there is still a solid Roleplaying Game, with characters born a certain nationality, race and gender. Your new character can not go ocean fishing and catch sharks. They have to learn to fish, very slowly. This is Roleplaying Realism, and so is joining Blacksmiths guild, obtaining your apron slowly, etc. These are classic RPG elements. And it is your Male Hume with <Name> who is engaging in this living roleplaying world. What would the Guildmaster say if you walked into the Guild tomorrow as a Female Tarutaru with a new name. The Guildmaster would say "pleased to meet you!" because they don't know you lol. They know the Male Hume who they've interacted with for years.

Well, when I first started in ffxi, I picked my nation as Windurst, because green and trees. However I wanted to do alchemy, but the alchemy guild was all the in Bastok. So as a level 7 or so thf I walked all the way to Bastok, watching my radar like a hawk so as to not get aggro. Eventually I made it all the way to Bastok where I joined the alchemy guild. That was ages ago and now I'm a master of the craft with 110 skill and all the items. You know what my guild master says to me? The same thing he says to everyone else with 110 alchemy. "Abd-al-Raziq : Along with the mastery of alchemy, you have obtained the knowledge of the universe. However, knowing the universe means having the power to destroy it. Such power is not to be trifled with." If I was a female taru suddenly he wouldn't even bat an eye, and would say the exact same thing.

[Alhanelem]

Well, as we write these words, there is a Free Login Event, with all my old Content IDs suddenly reactivating for free. This would make it very easy for a person to create a bunch of mules on different Races/Genders/Sizes/Hairstyles, and try them out for a week, for FREE.Free Login Event doesn't let you create new characters unless you have unused content IDs. It does not enable returning players to create a bunch of mules.

[Stompa]

Well, when I first started in ffxi, I picked my nation as Windurst, because green and trees. However I wanted to do alchemy, but the alchemy guild was all the in Bastok. So as a level 7 or so thf I walked all the way to Bastok, watching my radar like a hawk so as to not get aggro. Eventually I made it all the way to Bastok where I joined the alchemy guild. That was ages ago and now I'm a master of the craft with 110 skill and all the items. You know what my guild master says to me? The same thing he says to everyone else with 110 alchemy. "Abd-al-Raziq : Along with the mastery of alchemy, you have obtained the knowledge of the universe. However, knowing the universe means having the power to destroy it. Such power is not to be trifled with." If I was a female taru suddenly he wouldn't even bat an eye, and would say the exact same thing.

The point is that the NPC recognised you because you are the same Hume Male with the same name. If you were a Taru Girl with a new name, the NPC could not realistically recognise you.

Basically, in roleplaying / realism / lore terms, it would mean that the Blacksmith Guildmaster, was actually seeing your Square Enix ID / POL Login ID. This is the only thing that connects your new Taru Girl to your former Hume Male.

Do you not think that in a RPG, a NPC character should recognise your actual in-game character, and not simply recognise your SE Login ID? That would be the ultimate breach of roleplaying lore.

This is actually why you can't Delivery Box RME / Magians / Artifact to your mules. It is a rule based on realism / roleplaying lore. Because your actual character went to the NPC and did the quests / cut-scenes as that character, so the item belongs to that character. It is to enhance the RPG lore realism. This is tied to the point I just made, about roleplaying realism in-game, where the Guildmaster can only identify you because of your actual character - who has a certain appearance and name. The NPC can not read your POL / SE I.D. because those things exist outside the roleplaying world.

[Stompa]

Free Login Event doesn't let you create new characters unless you have unused content IDs. It does not enable returning players to create a bunch of mules.

Well, I pay for my account anyway. And in 2004 I made three characters, which I still play all three of them.

And with my fairly limited amount of possible Gaming Time, and my fairly limited $$$ wealth, I have still managed to buy a few extra content IDs and experiment with other races / sizes. And my point, was really that I recognised early on that the Character chosen to be my Main, would be a Character that I would have to look at for years.

So BEFORE doing this final decision, I spent a few $$$ and a few weeks, just playing around with Races / Sizes, so that when I finally decided on a Main character, it would have the Race / Size that was my favourite. My Main is a Taru / Small / Female. But I also play a hume F and Mithra, because I think they're cool.

Anyway, like I said before;

A) I don't care what happens. SE will decide what is best. I will totally be happy anyway. I will still enjoy FFXI as I always did, although I will feel that some of the structured RPG realism has vanished if people keep morphing into new races and genders. But it won't make me upset or make me stop playing FFXI. It wil just make the gaming experience slightly different and less atmospheric.

B) I like FFXI the way it is, and so I am obviously going to defend the things I like about FFXI. I am a happy FFXI customer who loves FFXI the way FFXI is right now. So when I read these "change FFXI" threads that pop up all the time, I am obviously going to say "I love FFXI already, it is fine, and here are my reasons why." Obviously that doesn't mean I'm right/wrong or good/bad, only that I love FFXI and I love it because I find it an enjoyable game already, the way it already is.

[Alhanelem]

And with my fairly limited amount of possible Gaming Time, and my fairly limited $$$ wealth, I have still managed to buy a few extra content IDs and experiment with other races / sizes. I'm not paying extra dollars for extra characters just to "experiment" with names and looks. Frankly I don't really see it as even necessary given how limited FFXI's character creation is, but I don't think most people would consider doing this. It might be "only" a dollar to you with your "limited funds" but many people don't like wasting money even if it's just a dollar. It is for the reason in my previous sentence (limited character creation options) that I don't really think selling recustomization is necessary, nor do I think people normally feel the need to do as you suggest just to try out options (Of course, this would be less of a problem if they either 1) used the more detailed character models throughout the game or 2) used the actual ingame models on the character creation, so you wouldn't have to make a character and log in to see how it looks.

I'm not really even sure why you're arguing with me, since we're basically on the same side.

[Ulth]

It's already been shown in this thread that you can change your name with the use of world transfers, so why is it that a npc would remember a player if they had a different name. Also there are lots of different reasons for not being able to deliver certain items. If I recall you can't send augmented items period. I have some crappy low level ring that I augmented using FoV. It has no plot significance at all, yet I can't send it to a mule. If I had to gander a guess as why that is it's probably because the way the delivery box works doesn't take in a variable for whether or not the item has augments and what they are. And at the end of the day, that's what all out characters are. We are all just a list of object with stored variables. The guild master isn't reading my POL I.D. all that matters is my variable for alchemy skill is at 110. If you need anymore proof that we are just a bunch of numbers to npcs talk to the moogles for the anniversary event and have them list off how many times you have died and stuff.

[Alhanelem]

If I recall you can't send augmented items period. This is more of a technical limitation than a deliberate restriction, my understanding is they can't save the extra data with a specific instance of an item when it goes through the delivery system or auction house.

[OmnysValefor]

AH makes sense, separate listing for each item.

However, I can't understand how an item can exist in the game, persist between sessions and server restarts, and not be sendable. I can't see why the dbox system can't have augment capacity added to it.

My mule has a nicely augmented SCH cape that it got from some event, idr what, lol

[Kjara]

I think a good alternative would be to create headgear that changes your hairstyle. I mean, technically they already do, so I wonder how difficult it'd be to make something like that.

[Zehira]

This is something almost every mmo offers, it's extra money for the game and a lot of people want it. As proven by the amount of money these services make on other games.

Can we get an official response as to if this is something that might be added in the future or if it's against the developers view of how the game should be?

Great for a lot of people want to pay more money to destroy the community. I learned that in FF14 and forgot a lot of people I knew before anymore. It's sort of keeping stalkers winning.

[Pixela]

Great for a lot of people want to pay more money to destroy the community. I learned that in FF14 and forgot a lot of people I knew before anymore. It's sort of keeping stalkers winning.

What? That's like saying we should not have cars because someone was drunk and ran over a cat.

The vast majority want these features to keep the game fresh for themselves or because they don't like their initial choice of character anymore, on my last MMO I changed my race and/or redesigned my char very often. I spent $20 per go, every few months.

Would it be possible for a mod to chime in as to if this is something that might be being talked about or is it against the producers / directors view of how the game should be? They must of talked about it, if it's no then it would be great if we could be told so instead of it having to be brought up all the time with no answer.

[Zehira]

What? That's like saying we should not have cars because someone was drunk and ran over a cat.

The vast majority want these features to keep the game fresh for themselves or because they don't like their initial choice of character anymore, on my last MMO I changed my race and/or redesigned my char very often. I spent $20 per go, every few months.

Would it be possible for a mod to chime in as to if this is something that might be being talked about or is it against the producers / directors view of how the game should be? They must of talked about it, if it's no then it would be great if we could be told so instead of it having to be brought up all the time with no answer.

It IS possible... I won't say Content ID is like Character ID. Is it against the producers / directors view of how it should be? No... Against players view? Yes. The community reps here mostly sit here listening to players' negative and positive opinions. If more players agree with each other then the developers would look at it. They are not up for rushing to answer to an individual's question.

Opinion: the difficulty in name changes is a good thing because it prevents someone from being a douche and then changing their name quickly and easily to escape their bad reputation.

[Zehira]

Plus, I created another character last week and let me tell you... Trying to find a new name is very pain.

[Jin_Uzuki]

I realize I'm a very tiny minority, but I always liked this aspect of FFXI, the inability to completely change your character once you have made it, the fact that the game tried to tie gameplay and story together.

[Stompa]

I realize I'm a very tiny minority, but I always liked this aspect of FFXI, the inability to completely change your character once you have made it, the fact that the game tried to tie gameplay and story together.

I agree completely, I have always enjoyed the fact that the game insisted on you making a commitment, on being responsible for your actions and decisions. I think at level 1, the game is telling you something, which is that your actions and decisions in the game are important, and you can't just rush blindly into things and then go cry about it later. You need to think before you leap.

Level 1 Character Creation is telling a new player that they need to understand that this is a long-term game, and they will be looking at this Character for years, so they should choose their Character very carefully. This is encouraging personal responsibility, a trait that will serve a player very well in later parts of the game where they are part of a Community who expect them to think in advance, plan accordingly and to act responsibly.

[Kitsurubami]

i Gotta stay id be all for a name change option at least, it sucks when people return to the game or change servers and have 1 letter difference from your name and another person and you get /tell spam from their friends or constantly hear "Omg is that your mule?"

[Kjara]

I agree completely, I have always enjoyed the fact that the game insisted on you making a commitment, on being responsible for your actions and decisions. I think at level 1, the game is telling you something, which is that your actions and decisions in the game are important, and you can't just rush blindly into things and then go cry about it later. You need to think before you leap.

Level 1 Character Creation is telling a new player that they need to understand that this is a long-term game, and they will be looking at this Character for years, so they should choose their Character very carefully. This is encouraging personal responsibility, a trait that will serve a player very well in later parts of the game where they are part of a Community who expect them to think in advance, plan accordingly and to act responsibly.

I'd agree if the game also didn't let you to change jobs, alliance, and answer options in quest dialogues. I don't see an intended message of commitment, personally. It really only feels like, back then, a change race/gender/name feature was simply something the developers (and the game engine) were not capable of.

It's not like Fable II where you're stuck on the same thing until you run into this ONE CHANCE to drink a potion to change gender forever and never again.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E0bjKF2hn_U/VRsWA-TOA1I/AAAAAAAAAzw/zNGWDrUU9jo/s1600/Transmog.jpg

Unfortunately though, this is a game core mechanic, and much like my request to let us sit on benches scattered throughout the game, it's probably irreversible to change now.

[Deadvinta]

I just simply want to remove my tits without undoing the past decade I put into my account.

[Olor]

I just simply want to remove my tits without undoing the past decade I put into my account.

Yeah I want to switch to a male model so the game stops cutting belly holes in my shirts... I picked my character based on them looking tough and butch and meanwhile I get dresses for special events and holes cut into my clothes... ughghgh

[Pixela]

If Square are worried that not enough people will buy these options because of 3rd party apps, I can tell you that an important reason (aside from said apps being unreliable when they swap your race/face) is people want others to see the difference too.

Also if you really want to boost sales of these race / character coupons just add a few new hair styles to the game, this is what other mmo titles do and they sell a ton of race / character remodel change tickets from doing that. Not like you even have to make the new models, you can just re-use hair styles from current story npcs.

[Kjara]

If Square are worried that not enough people will buy these options because of 3rd party apps, I can tell you that an important reason (aside from said apps being unreliable when they swap your race/face) is people want others to see the difference too.

Also if you really want to boost sales of these race / character coupons just add a few new hair styles to the game, this is what other mmo titles do and they sell a ton of race / character remodel change tickets from doing that. Not like you even have to make the new models, you can just re-use hair styles from current story npcs.

I'd kill (in-game) to give my Hume male Cornelia's hairstyle (Karst's daughter, not the dead Cornelia).

[Cesil]

I wouldn't mind this...also yeah ability to change our hair lol. That would be nice :D