Character Creation Has A Race Problem

[Granyala]

The major reason why I completely turn off names of characters in every MMO I play (if possible) is because players choose stuff that doesn't sound remotely name-like in any language possible. IamSupaMan, IOwnYou, EatMyDust and similar stuff is not names. But names I can turn off...characters themselves I cannot.

A kindred spirit, I see.
One can curb the worst of the caricatures pretty easily by adding sliders but keeping the possible values restricted to realistic looking body shapes.

Though we also need different models and textures as options, it always struck me as odd, that a caster is as ripped as a warrior, e.g.: WoW -> sporting muscles that made every bodybuilder envious. Yes, I know, heavy tomes and all that.

Another example along that line: if one wants to create older characters (not necessary Grandma like) and only has the body of a 20 yr old as an option.

[kikix12]

One can curb the worst of the caricatures pretty easily by adding sliders but keeping the possible values restricted to realistic looking body shapes.

Yes, but it's not as easy as one would think. Humanly possible variations include people that are 1,6m and 1,9m high. Make a body of a 1,9m high person with the legs of a 1,6m high person and you have a caricature while using sliders limited to humanly possible values.

To avoid that, one would need to make proper algorithms that calculate proportions and actively limit options based on what else is selected. And that is what would take a lot of effort to make, seeing as proportions of just about anything is related to just about anything else, directly or indirectly.

This particular thread was more focused on providing more ethnic looking options.
(...)
In regards to sliders, they can be tweaked to not allow extreme options.

You are the one that both brought up other games and their creators and how much freedom they have, as well as as compared FFXIV to them. I merely responded to that. Only now do you seem to try and reduce the scope of that comparison, but even then, just at the face value for the sake of negating what I said.

That would be completely within the control of the developer.

Of course. It IS possible to make a wonderful character creator that allows to make characters of many varied races that completely seal any risk of caricature characters being made, all the while providing immense freedom. All with nothing but sliders. However, as I said, making even a restricted version of that is time consuming and costly. Too costly for vast majority of the games. Unless it would be made to match multiple games, thus be reused, the cost of such a well-made character creator will NOT return itself even in part. No matter what character creator you have, players will play the game if it's good and won't if it's not. And most people do NOT ever change their characters looks. I didn't even use a free Fantasia I got, it's still collecting dust on my retainer. Unless I'll want to make character on a different server, I won't even see the new character creator anymore. And most people are like me. So yes. The likelihood is that the choice is between limited options or caricatures, and I'd pick limited options every time. I know I'm one of the few in that...but yes.


That being said, I already brought up that I'm not against the idea of broadening those limited options in a controlled manner. But that was not relevant for my response to the particular statement you made there.

Going through this thread, you'll find several people who seem adamantly against adding new faces/features for reasons.

I'll admit I skipped since page 6 or so...but I have not seen one. All of them were more against the supposed "race problem" from the title. Sure, there were people that said the game is fine, but none were strictly against it. Just saying that it's not necessary.

[Skivvy]

You are the one that both brought up other games and their creators and how much freedom they have, as well as as compared FFXIV to them. I merely responded to that. Only now do you seem to try and reduce the scope of that comparison, but even then, just at the face value for the sake of negating what I said.

I specifically brought up GW2 as an example as they have a similar method to XIV. But yes, there are games that have far better character creators. I'm sorry I did not write an essay to explore my every last thought on the matter, but I assure you, I am not just trying to shift the point of my argument to win an online conversation.

But we can go back to my first comment in the thread:

Plenty of games manage just fine to add more ethnic looking faces into the mix. GW2, which is another game that relies heavily on "pre-set" faces, does a far better job with this. They've always had the standard Caucasian/Asian face options, and they've recently added a bunch of black/African faces and hairstyles which are quite nice.

XIV's creator is insanely limited, so I'm doubting they will ever add more ethnic looking options, but I can appreciate why people would like to have the option.

My second post:

I don't get why people seem to relish the the fact that customization is so limited in this game. I personally have been able to make characters I like, so I'm content enough, but many other games blow XIV out of the water with the characters you can create.

But yeah, I am always surprised by the amount of push-back that occurs from the players when people suggest expanding options. Boggles the mind.

Third:

It never hurts to keep an eye on your competition and maybe even get inspiration from them. Improving on a game is always possible, and there are many, MANY things that other games handle in a superior way.

Fourth:

I think a lot of the issue is that they can't otherwise the game will implode. At least that's how Yoshi makes it sound. Still, it never hurts to ask for more customization. If they do it, great. If not, we get to decide if we can continue playing with what we're given.

Not quoting my last two as one deals with pancake asses, and the other is only a few posts above.

But as you can discern from my comments, I'm a fan of the idea of more customization options. I've never asked for sliders. I only addressed sliders after you mentioned them. My first comment was discussing more faces/features, the remainder were more general "customization can always be better".

[Granyala]

Yes, but it's not as easy as one would think. Humanly possible variations include people that are 1,6m and 1,9m high. Make a body of a 1,9m high person with the legs of a 1,6m high person and you have a caricature while using sliders limited to humanly possible values.

Just take a ride in a RL bus. you see way worse "caricatures" than that.