[Suggestion] Ability to change race.

First off MMo with tons of options and less restrictions tend to get customers. People see games as games, and more freedom more likely they choose said mmo. Why do you think WoW is popular? Its one of the less restrictive mmo out there. Second, devs do not have a "budget" they put in mmo over its lifetime and can add this option w/o sacrifice. And you can't say it doesn't add to the game when it does to other people who want this option.

As for which mmo already do this?
World of warcraft for starters has both name change server change and race change, as well as ingame barber shops to remake said character in a simple sence of look. I've played serveral MUD by Iron realms entertainment. MUD are text based mmo played on the browser. These games let you race change with in the game itself and adds a layer to the game play.
Aion allows it because they are trying to get people to play asmodian for some odd reason, no one likes playing that race and game suffered from it.

Making a second post my appologies.

Second post to soley talk to kristal

I'm unsure how long you have played ffxi. But there is way more tgo the game then level cap and abyssea. There you need to rebuild fame, re do chocobo quest which is a 4-6 hour quest. Redo rank missions, redo mog house upgrades, redo goblin bag quests, af, advance jobs dark might i add is a pain to do 6 times. Regetting certain nm drops. re doing all of the mog trials.
So what your saying is just because you personally see no point, you feel a player should suffer through all of that just because they want to play a tarutaru instead or w/e race they want to change to.

This game is not all that forgiving when it comes to re-rolling your character. Trust me I did it over 70 times like I mentioned. Everyone against this idea... please do what you preach. Make 30 mules and do everything over with each, this includes getting every map, max fame in every nation, having all spells for all jobs and getting rank 10 in every nation and unlocking every job. Do every story line.

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Originally Posted by Kristal

Don't forget that it also COSTS money to make and maintain. For an essentially one-time feature that adds nothing to gameplay and is of no value to the majority of the playerbase.

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The first sentence is fine, but what proof do you have for the second one? Have you taken a poll of the playerbase or are you just projecting your ideas onto them.

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Originally Posted by Rosina

Second post to soley talk to kristal

I'm unsure how long you have played ffxi. But there is way more tgo the game then level cap and abyssea. There you need to rebuild fame, re do chocobo quest which is a 4-6 hour quest. Redo rank missions, redo mog house upgrades, redo goblin bag quests, af, advance jobs dark might i add is a pain to do 6 times. Regetting certain nm drops. re doing all of the mog trials.
So what your saying is just because you personally see no point, you feel a player should suffer through all of that just because they want to play a tarutaru instead or w/e race they want to change to.

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I'm an US-import EU-player with original install discs for all expansions. Guess how long I've played...

Most of what you mention can be done solo in little time, especially if you use a speed guide and don't bother with the useless stuff. The rest can be done with a friend or two. You only need minimal ranks and such, NM drops and most gear can be dboxed within an account, etc. Most time is probably taken up by skills and spells.
And all that 'suffering' is because you decided that after x years, you're tired of that tail or yet another galkan ass you fleed into.

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Originally Posted by Rosina

This game is not all that forgiving when it comes to re-rolling your character. Trust me I did it over 70 times like I mentioned. Everyone against this idea... please do what you preach. Make 30 mules and do everything over with each, this includes getting every map, max fame in every nation, having all spells for all jobs and getting rank 10 in every nation and unlocking every job. Do every story line.

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With all due respect, but you are a freak :D And I got 5 mules, several of which have been upgraded for storage, crafting or easy access to materials. (Try running a lvl 1 through caederva mire past imps ;D)

Blizzard I can see adding class change to WoW, because let's face it, they got 10M players to lure to their cash shops, merchandise, etc. They'll do anything to milk that cashcow!
SE has some more backbone there. They'll generally stick to THEIR idea of how the game should work, and only started looking at player input very recently. (Acting upon player suggestions is another matter.)

But really, there's no point in further argueing, since we're not going to change our opinion.

The only thing I would be interested in, is how much people would realistically be willing to pay for such a race change. Such changes in WoW (or WKC) aren't cheap. Given the apparent importance and impact on the game, how would $100 sounds for a full reroll? $50 for race change, $35 for gender change, $15 for face+size change. With a 30-day one-time revert option if it just doesn't feel right, for free!

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Originally Posted by Kristal

I'm an US-import EU-player with original install discs for all expansions. Guess how long I've played...

Most of what you mention can be done solo in little time, especially if you use a speed guide and don't bother with the useless stuff. The rest can be done with a friend or two. You only need minimal ranks and such, NM drops and most gear can be dboxed within an account, etc. Most time is probably taken up by skills and spells.
And all that 'suffering' is because you decided that after x years, you're tired of that tail or yet another galkan ass you fleed into.

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Why would they not charge a fee that allowed them to turn a profit off of this (or just do it for free depending how easy it is to implement)? Why would I want to do all that crap when I could just pay a fee and switch?

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Originally Posted by Kristal

The only thing I would be interested in, is how much people would realistically be willing to pay for such a race change. Such changes in WoW (or WKC) aren't cheap. Given the apparent importance and impact on the game, how would $100 sounds for a full reroll? $50 for race change, $35 for gender change, $15 for face+size change. With a 30-day one-time revert option if it just doesn't feel right, for free!

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Those prices are probably double what they would have to be to turn a profit, but consider how much money would be made if every one in the game just did one of those things once...ever...

$15 * 250,000 players = $3,750,000 (I hear devs get paid well at SE, but I highly doubt they could spend anywhere near this amount on making it work)

Now I know what people are going to say: "Yeah, but not everyone is gonna want to do that!"

Keep in mind though that some people have multiple accounts, and other people would probably do it as frequently they can. It would have to be incredibly poorly implemented in order to not turn a profit. Never mind the fact that it adds another degree of freedom to the game.

I think a more realistic figure would be 10% of players (for just a face change). $375.000 that would need to cover development time, support, interface changes/website changes. And that money is the expected total amount. You might get half of that within a few months after the introduction.

Also keep in mind that SE doesn't have infinite manpower and resources to spend on an aging game. Add this, and something else gets delayed that benefits all players.

............No.

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Originally Posted by Kristal

I think a more realistic figure would be 10% of players (for just a face change). $375.000 that would need to cover development time, support, interface changes/website changes. And that money is the expected total amount. You might get half of that within a few months after the introduction.

Also keep in mind that SE doesn't have infinite manpower and resources to spend on an aging game. Add this, and something else gets delayed that benefits all players.

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That $375,000 is based off of only %10 of players wanting to do this, that they never do it again, and that they only choose the cheapest service you listed. And even then... how much do you think they would actually pay a guy who couldn't implement these sorts of things in a timely fashion?

Realistically, there are tons of people who would change race because they are stuck on something that made sense X years ago, and doesn't fit them anymore. There are tons of people who named their character something funny like "iclubbabyseals" not realizing that 5 years later they would still be playing this game, and feel too invested to delete that guy. There are a million other reasons, but really... a lot of people would do these things just for a change. Saying that only 10% of players would do a name / face / race / gender change is really lowballing, and it still wouldn't make this unprofitable.

No, that 10% includes flippers. The more expensive options would see even less demand, 10% of the next cheaper option, so you'd be lucky getting to $500.000. A lot of money for you, but pennies for SE. Merely a fraction of a single monthly income, but spread out over a year.

Oh, and guess what... Remora has a Iclubbabyseals

While Kristal seems to have all the answers already, perhaps SE should still at least look into the potential costs, technical feasibility, and player desire just to make sure their numbers match. Nothing wrong with a second opinion is there? It's nothing personal against the first careful, professional analysis, but let's be absolutely sure before we toss the idea out completely.