[DEV REQUEST] Balancing Character Customization

[Shurrikhan]

Who's to say they haven't had equal development time, or even equal outcomes in the sense of each having options enough to likely appeal to x% of that race's players, though?

One race's 6 options aren't necessarily going to have a more desirable coverage than another race's 4. Aiming for equality in count alone appeals only to fluff choices.

Result > Effort. Weigh the result by... the result, not the effort (choice count).

Edit: The better question is, "is it sufficient?" It doesn't matter if one race has it better or worse, or by what degree. If another race's customization feels insufficient, it should be fixed. Ideally speaking. Now whether that's cost effective, given that race's player count and how difficult its designs are to create is another story, at which point you have to ask, do I want each race to have sufficient customization, or do I want the game as a whole to feel like it allows for a good amount player customization for a sufficient amount of players?

Usually one side will require the other, but not always. (And as a cat, you'd be right to assume that my reference lies with the latter.)

[Naunet]

One race's 6 options aren't necessarily going to have a more desirable coverage than another race's 4. Aiming for equality in count alone appeals only to fluff choices.

That is some serious spin. xD

[Shurrikhan]

That is some serious spin. xD

I'm just saying the metric presented is unreliable. I want more character customization, too, but "balancing" them based on the number of choices, or grading the quality of customization based on choice count alone does not guarantee a better product. That's like asking for x words of explanation for a design choice from the devs. Sure, it increases the chances of something in there being worthwhile, but wouldn't the simple yet more thorough metric "am I satisfied?" be more appropriate? Accepting the effort over the result is to accept fluff-work.

It's the same with customization for combat classes. The question shouldn't be "how many choices did the class get" as "what percentage of players felt 'very satisfied' with the choices they were given and the class variant(s) they produced from them?" If the prior did not significantly improve the latter, then the development time was largely wasted.

[Beckett]

Sure, it increases the chances of something in there being worthwhile

As you said, more choices will always increase the odds that an individual will find something they like. Having the same percent chance to find something you like on every race/gender combo is only fair.

[RLofOBFL]

1 & 1/2 years later...Yoshi said they were not planning any new character customization at EU fanfest for 4.0.

[Naunet]

Sure, it increases the chances of something in there being worthwhile

That's the point. Character customization is an entirely subjective matter for players when creating a character. More options will always be better than fewer options, as people have vastly different tastes.

[NolLacnala]

That's the point. Character customization is an entirely subjective matter for players when creating a character. More options will always be better than fewer options, as people have vastly different tastes.

Tani is saying not to use "hyurs have more" as an excuse. Every race having more will of course be better. But hyurs having more is because they're easy to develop around, and hyurs are the reason we don't have arses.

[Naunet]

But hyurs having more is because they're easy to develop around

I don't really buy that excuse. Every single race is essentially human, with slight variations in overall build, skin tone, etc. There is no race that should have any greater difficulty to design for, all things considered.

[NolLacnala]

I don't really buy that excuse. Every single race is essentially human, with slight variations in overall build, skin tone, etc. There is no race that should have any greater difficulty to design for, all things considered.

Buy it or not, that's precisely how it is. We're all hyurs with extra bits, and the extra bits take extra time and resources to develop for.

[Naunet]

Buy it or not, that's precisely how it is. We're all hyurs with extra bits, and the extra bits take extra time and resources to develop for.

You're not going to convince me that it takes significantly more time to design a miqo'te face compared to a hyur face, or any others. xD I think SE's artists are better than that.