The sad state of customization

[Berethos]

This is a false comparison. The consistency/frequency of patch updates after release have very little to do with resources that went on early in development of the original game for character creation.

While it is true that the current consistency/frequency has little to do with resources used in past development, it has quite a lot to do with what can be committed to current development regarding character creation.

Hell, even Blizzard can't get out from that particular limitation, that they only can only work on so much and adding in other things means taking away development from something (it's why it took them a couple years after first announcing that they were working on new character models to actually get them added, and part of being able to do that, at least according to interviews and such in the past few years, was because it was normally the development that would have gone into a new race or class, neither of which they added in the expansion that introduced new character models).

[Colt47]

My latest fantasia may have made me look like an Au-ra flavored Ice cream cone, but I will endure!

[Naunet]

snip

I would be 10000% cool with not getting a new race (or only getting one new job) if it meant we got a much improved character creation.

[Indefiinable]

The thing is it's not 4 faces. Each preset face can have different eyes, mouth, nose, eyebrows. Then factor in ear size, tattoos, scars, scales, makeup and all the various colours and you are actually looking at thousands of possible combinations.

[Catwho]

There IS a lot of customization in the game that people don't take advantage of. Part of the reason I play a "tabby cat" is because I was tired of seeing nothing but pale blondes all around me. We've got hundreds of skin tones but only four faces - so the way to look different is to pick an unusual skin tone and go from there. Only one of my characters is really pale, and I made her the chalk white Roegadyn color so it's still not normal human skin tone. I got a blue lizard, a bright red Roe boy, a walnut colored Lala, a greenish Roe gal, and my main caramel colored tabby cat.

[Berethos]

We've got hundreds of skin tones but only four faces

Really it's just four face shapes. Every combination of eyes, nose, jaw, mouth, and nose is a different face, though the variations can end up being minor and harder to notice.

That said, I definitely agree that there's plenty of customization that goes largely unused, or is so rare that it's a surprise when it pops up.

[ShanaShirayuki]

Give us our butt sliders SE! Please.

[KisaiTenshi]

Evidently, this is a very profound subject. I suppose it's a philosophical discussion as to where ones priorities lie, but customization seems less and less relevant the more I see comparisons to (ahem, trying not to chuckle) XIV 1.0, Aion, and World of Warcraft. This thread also has a strong undercurrent of people trying to out "tech savvy" each other. Whether the decisions are philosophical or technical or both, I'm certain the XIV design team(s) are not worried about justifying their decisions to an extremely devout fan base, which is growing faster than it ever has.

FFXIV favors storyline. That is how they design everything, they write the story first, and then figure out how to "play it". This I believe is the primary trait shared with WoW and SWTOR.

SWTOR and FFXIV have a lot more cinematic quality to cut scenes, and it may ultimately have cost SWTOR development costs because they voiced everything like they would in a single player game. FFXIV meanwhile is more selective about the voice acting, and there are cutscenes for not only the storyline, but the jobs, the dungeons, and many of the sidequests. That voice acting requires being able to zoom into the face of ALL characters and have them be expressive and show emotion.

If you play with the character height slider in FFXIV, you'll note that it just scales the body entirely, it does not stretch it.

[Scenic]

Interesting, I always thought this game offered a ton of customization. Yes there is only 4 face sets but you can change all the features for each one and there is so many color combinations for skin, hair and eyes. While in theory adding more could make them money through fantasia purchases I don't imagine it is high on their priority list.

[Ametrine]

Snip.

I used to be a forest green skinned lizard girl, a jet black Lalafell with gold eyes and highlights, a bright pink Roe lady, a silver dark elf, a lavender skinned lizard girl, and a cinnamon themed lalafell.

I'm absolutely with you on this front. If you are willing to go outside normal, "human" skintones in this fantasy game along with hair and eyes, you can make a really good looking and -unique- avatar.

That doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement and expansion that doesn't require and entirely rework of the character creator.