Character Creation Failure

[dragonseth07]

I'm less amazed by the fact that Square didn't deliver more options than two new hairstyles, and more amazed by the fact that many people seem totally cool with that. It's like thanking someone for giving you a penny when you just saw them light a hundred dollar bill on fire.

It's not that we wouldn't like more options. It's just that it's a low priority desire, compared to other things. That's why I am cool with it, because other things I care about more are coming.

[sarehptar]

It's not that we wouldn't like more options. It's just that it's a low priority desire, compared to other things. That's why I am cool with it, because other things I care about more are coming.

But like... the people who develop character customizations aren't the same people as say, those who design new maps, quests, and battle content. This shouldn't be a one-or-the-other situation in which we have to choose between getting a new fight or a new face.

[dragonseth07]

But like... the people who develop character customizations aren't the same people as say, those who design new maps, quests, and battle content. This shouldn't be a one-or-the-other situation in which we have to choose between getting a new fight or a new face.

That's true, they aren't making a boss ability instead. So, what else DO those people do besides faces? It's not like they are sitting there doing nothing. If they got paid to work on SB, it was for something. What would it be?

[Kosmos992k]

That's true, they aren't making a boss ability instead. So, what else DO those people do besides faces? It's not like they are sitting there doing nothing. If they got paid to work on SB, it was for something. What would it be?

NPC designs? NPC hair? NPC exclusive gear? NPC exclusive character options - yes I am thinking of a certain mixed Miqo'te child in Idyllshire as an example here...These things are all nice, but there should also be some additions to what players can do.

At this point I would accept letting the Aesthetician darken and lighten your skin - tan in a can kind of thing. Good lord, give us something....

They told us basically from day 1 that there would never be new faces added to the game. So yes, I am content, because I bought into the game knowing that up front. I don't know exactly why adding character options is such an impossibility, but from the way they discuss it, it appears to be. Why get my hopes up for something they told me I wouldn't get?

People seem to assume that adding new options is as simple as designing them, but there's clearly more to it than that. I can only guess that it might be related to the amount of server data required, or the amount of textures that are loaded, or something I'm completely unaware of. But until they indicate that this is something they might even look into, I am never going to start expecting it.

Textures and graphical asset data are not held at the server, that's all generated by the client. Characters consist of model data that defines which design options have been selected. If there are 5 face designs, you have a value of 1-5 for 'face'. Even at 1 bite per design option, the entire character design can be conveyed in a very small amount of data. With 1 byte per option, you can have 256 variations with each, without altering the amount of character data passed.

[Talraen]

Textures and graphical asset data are not held at the server, that's all generated by the client. Characters consist of model data that defines which design options have been selected. If there are 5 face designs, you have a value of 1-5 for 'face'. Even at 1 bite per design option, the entire character design can be conveyed in a very small amount of data. With 1 byte per option, you can have 256 variations with each, without altering the amount of character data passed.

Yes, I understand how data works. For 5 faces, they could use as little as 4 bits, but that would still mean 8 face variations. And based on that, it seems pretty simple. But it might not be. If the game keeps all PC textures in memory at all times, adding more of them will mean an across-the-board increase in used memory. But they added the Au Ra. And they retired the PS3 and raised the minimum specs. Who knows, maybe this is some crazy legal issue. We have no idea!

So like I indicated, I'm skeptical. I can't come up with a reason why this would be so hard. But they will answer "we'll look into it" to basically any request, no matter how silly, except this one. When people ask about character customization options, they always just give a firm no. I have no idea why, but I've taken that to mean this is never going to happen.

So by all means, keep asking for more customization options. Like I said, I'd like some myself. But you specifically asked in this thread if we were disappointed by the lack of new character options. And not to be mean-spirited, but if you were expecting them, you haven't been paying close enough attention. This is clearly not something they are anywhere near willing to give us. To be disappointed, I'd have to have expectations, and I do not. The writing on the wall is clear on this one, sadly.

[NolLacnala]

But like... the people who develop character customizations aren't the same people as say, those who design new maps, quests, and battle content. This shouldn't be a one-or-the-other situation in which we have to choose between getting a new fight or a new face.

I would have to check credits, but I can't be certain of that. Our dev team is notoriously small and they've said multiple people work on varying content. Except Soken. He's surgically grafted to a piano.