Left Hand Dominant

Hello all,

I assume (or at least I hope) this has been posted about before but I've never really seen much about it at least via replies from the devs. about having the option for left hand dominance. Being a lefty myself I would greatly appreciate this option as it would add a level of depth and connection to my character.

-Clayers

took me a moment to think of it, but you mean like - how characters hold their weapons, right?

Such examples like:
Right front forward on DRG, different hold on it.
Reversing the stance on MNK
Changing which hand is sword/shield on PLD

that kinda stuff, right? I think that'd be awesome xD But I'm sure it's gonna get a "Data limit" complaint from SE.

#lefty4lyfe

There is a serious lack of left handed representation in all gaming media.

In DC universe online when you choose to play as a Green, Yellow or Red Lantern for your super power, your character is right handed. But when you play as the character Sinestro, the developers went through the trouble of reversing the mode so that everything you do is left handed instead.

I'm no game designer but I think the option to flip the character model would be a great thing for lefties.

I'm left-hand myself, too.

I don't really know how programming works, but would having a left-hand option also take up data (that they may not even have) just to program it in?

Yea we leftys are 20% of the population we need to be represented.

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Originally Posted by myahele

I'm left-hand myself, too.

I don't really know how programming works, but would having a left-hand option also take up data (that they may not even have) just to program it in?

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Depends on how they do it (eg. what's possible). If they dynamically flip the animations then it's just a small script and some extra processing. If that's not possible for one reason or another (I wouldn't presume to know) then they'd have to manually flip all relevant animations (easy but tedious) and save them separately, probably increasing the amount of space current and future animations take up by a third or so (just trying to ballpark how many would have to change).

In either case I can't imagine they'd have any short term plans for this, but if it turns out to actually be easy to implement then maybe.

While I fully support this I have this nagging feeling if they try this the whole game would freeze because of server <insert whatever reason here> :p

I made a thread on this back in the time between 1.0 and 2.0 once. Lot of talking about how hard/easy it would be to do. Finally they answered a question on it in a live letter and said no for the following reasons.

1. It would cause clipping issues.

2. It would make it to hard for our characters to do complex task in detailed cutscenes.

Now as we know this game is full of clipping issues everywhere and our characters are about as lively as a rock in most cutscenes the "real" answer is: Their to lazy to even look into it or it's just not worth their time to care about.

I thought all female Elezen were left-handed. Or did they fix that?

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Originally Posted by Eidolon

took me a moment to think of it, but you mean like - how characters hold their weapons, right?

Such examples like:
Right front forward on DRG, different hold on it.
Reversing the stance on MNK
Changing which hand is sword/shield on PLD

that kinda stuff, right? I think that'd be awesome xD But I'm sure it's gonna get a "Data limit" complaint from SE.

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Yes, that kind of stuff. Since I switched my main to MCH a while back I would really love to have my character go into that idle stance with the gun in his left hand. But yeah, like Averax mentioned, there really is a lack of left handed options in all of gaming so here's hoping this thread and maybe others can provide just enough feedback for them to at least look into it again!

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Originally Posted by AdventZero

Now as we know this game is full of clipping issues everywhere and our characters are about as lively as a rock in most cutscenes the "real" answer is: Their to lazy to even look into it or it's just not worth their time to care about.

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That's pretty presumptuous on your part isn't it?

Well... It would be an awesome thing to see them implement, but... I can also somewhat see why they're not. Admittedly, my knowledge of Japanese culture (current and historical) is coloured by various media (movies and books that are fiction and thus aren't necessarily correct, and manga which tend to exaggerate certain things, and non-fiction books that more often than not get confused between various Asian countries and cultures), so if anyone knows more details or knows that I'm wrong, feel free to correct.
Ages ago, being left-handed was a huge stigma over here (i.e. in the West) and could get you executed for witchcraft or stuff like that (there's a reason why 'sinister' means evil, after all). Today... people don't generally care if you're right-handed or left-handed.

In Japan, it wasn't as much a stigma in itself, as long as you did things correctly -- i.e. eat with your right hand, write with your right hand (cos otherwise the characters don't get drawn correctly, I assume), and use the same fighting stances that right-handed people use. As for how it is today... I haven't really heard much regarding left-handed people in Japan, so I'd assume it's close to the same? And if that's so, I can understand if the developers don't see it as an issue, because 'it wouldn't matter if the Warrior of Light was right- or left-handed, because they'd be doing things the same either way'.

But even if that's the case, I would hope it gets considered, since they're making an international game.

I would like to point out that Arcanists write with their left hand. Take that how you will ^^

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Originally Posted by Razard

I would like to point out that Arcanists write with their left hand. Take that how you will ^^

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We're ambidextrous? :P

I wouldn't think this too difficult to implement, actually, since it would be little more than inverting the character's render (like putting them in front of a mirror and taking the mirror image). Doesn't seem like it would be too hard to accomplish, with a bit of programming elbow grease.

Then again, I've never worked with a 3D rendering engine, so I have no idea if that is something that can be accomplished easily. Having the option to select dominant hand during character creation would be cool, though.

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Originally Posted by Razard

I would like to point out that Arcanists write with their left hand. Take that how you will ^^

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And Weavers weave with their left hands as well. Also, Dragoons hold their lances with their left, too.

I'm left handed as well and left hand options would be awesome, too. The only game other than Fight Night (boxing) that allowed left handed was was the WWE games. They had a lefty flip for all punches and kicks, so I was able to make my wrestler fight like a lefty. Those games had a ton of moves and still added a lefty flip on the strikes and had many variations of moves that included left handed versions as well. Those games were totally customizable friendly, including character creation.