Poll: Best Character Customization in a Game

[AdeptaSororitas]

I'm amazed no one has mentioned APB. It's the most customization I've seen in a game. You can change your clothes but you can also put decals and such on your clothes which adds a whole lot more depth to the system.

I'm probably gonna lose massive gamer cred but, APB?

 

[Redalert9r9r]

I'm amazed no one has mentioned APB. It's the most customization I've seen in a game. You can change your clothes but you can also put decals and such on your clothes which adds a whole lot more depth to the system.

I'm probably gonna lose massive gamer cred but, APB?

APB stands for "All Points Bulletin" and was a horribly failed MMO with ludicrously deep customization. It lacked decent gameplay, any quality servers, overall lastability and was a terrible game in general, but DAMN was it customizable.

It could have been saved by a stronger community and numerous patches, kind of a shame.

 

[VileTerror]

As I understand it, APB was essentially an MMO similar to what Brink is now. Cops and robbers. The customization video displayed some remarkable options, though I think that game went the way of Auto Assault.
I could be wrong, and doing a Wiki-search would probably yield more accurate answers.



But I'm totally with you on the whole City of Heroes versus Champions Online thing, Adepta! City of Heroes (until recently) had a terrific aesthetic, and it was more of a post-modern real-world setting which just so happened to have meta-powered humans (and non-humans) running about. Champions is a comic book game. In fact, the original lead developer of City of Heroes abandoned the game in a huff and went on to make Champions for that very difference. City of Heroes was what it was, and it wasn't 'comic booky' enough for ol' Jack (at least as the rumours put it).

I had multiple subscriptions to City of Heroes (or more to the point, City of Villains, while they were still separate), and sunk thousands of dollars in to that game. Until the trifecta of Bad Calls drove me away. Matt Miller making 'end game' content, despite the game's selling point being "it's about the journey, not the destination." I wouldn't have minded so much, either, if they had actually approached the content with their primary consumer base in mind, instead of just mimicking w.o.w.
'Castle' deciding to modify the fundamental function of a power which I personally thought was fantastic, despite officially stating they'd never again break the 'cottage rule' . . . just to kowtow to number-crunching power-gamers.
And, most emotionally brutal of all, 'War Witch' Bianca declaring the game an "online comic book" and nothing more, while past Devs had very carefully avoided using that label in an effort to acknowledge what they actually HAD created, instead of what 'Statesman' Emert had tried to make.

Sure, I'm just ranting due to bitterness. I had spent a long time in that game, and it actually helped me through some personal life issues, actually. I realize it wasn't a game meant just solely for my enjoyment . . . but those three events all happening in a single week, during the Going Rogue beta . . . just totally disenfranchised me. It was the moment I realized the direction of the game's development was opposite to where I would have actually derived enjoyment.



If that upcoming modern-day MMO with Illuminati and Templars and all that offers a level of character customization on par with City of Heroes, then I may be inclined to check it out.

 

[StBishop]

Case-by-case. Some games need it, others really don't. Some WRPGs, for example, are greatly improved by character creation; take any Bethesda game, for example. JRPGs, like the Final Fantasy series, almost never have character creation, but FF7 is one of the highest-rated games of all time.

So it depends on the developer and game.

See I find the Bethesda customisation both ugly and unnecessary. I never go into 3rd person view in them because the characters are ugly and boring, I also think that the games are less intuitive in 3rd person.

I find bioware games tend to be lacking in quantity, but not so much quality of customisation options.

I also like car games with a fuck tonne of mods available. I find that to be incredibly fun as I can't afford to do it in real life.

Technically, Oblivion had the best if you ask me, due to the spectrum of races, but Fallout had the easiest to work with.

Most, but not best.

 

[ChupathingyX]

You should stop expecting the game to roleplay for you and start roleplaying yourself.

I am role-playing, I said that already, however, I also mentioned that a game that can both let you role-play in your mind and make that decision real in the game is even better.

Also Oblivion is pariculary a bad example, why can't I kill Martin? Every time I knock him to the ground he seems to just get back up.

Why can't I kill him?
Why can't I join the Mystic Dawn?
How can I be the leader of both the Mages guild and Fighters guild when I'm a thief?

Morrowind didn't have this problem, so why does Oblivion?

 

[AdeptaSororitas]

Snip

Snip

Ask yourselves, are you still adding anything to this discussion? This isn't about Objectively is the best character customization engine, but what, Subjectively, you personally think is the best. Not trying to trample on your personal grievances, opinions or feelings. I'd just rather you take these things to the PM's rather then clutter up this thread.

Thank you both for being respectful about this request.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Ask yourselves, are you still adding anything to this discussion? This isn't about Objectively is the best character customization engine, but what, Subjectively, you personally think is the best. Not trying to trample on your personal grievances, opinions or feelings. I'd just rather you take these things to the PM's rather then clutter up this thread.

Thank you both for being respectful about this request.

Yes we are, we are discussing about character customisation in video games.

Personally I'm not a big fan of threads where you just say something and leave it there, never to come back to the thread ever again. That is not a discussion, a discussion is...discussing.

 

[AdeptaSororitas]

Ask yourselves, are you still adding anything to this discussion? This isn't about Objectively is the best character customization engine, but what, Subjectively, you personally think is the best. Not trying to trample on your personal grievances, opinions or feelings. I'd just rather you take these things to the PM's rather then clutter up this thread.

Thank you both for being respectful about this request.

Yes we are, we are discussing about character customisation in video games.

Personally I'm not a big fan of threads where you just say something and leave it there, never to come back to the thread ever again. That is not a discussion, a discussion is...discussing.

Than rather than discussing why a game may or may not do it right, discuss which games might do it better, if an discussion becomes a debate it stagnates, as the issue is no longer about the initial question, but simply a back and forth about a single thing, not expanding the overall idea pool.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Than rather than discussing why a game may or may not do it right, discuss which games might do it better, if an discussion becomes a debate it stagnates, as the issue is no longer about the initial question, but simply a back and forth about a single thing, not expanding the overall idea pool.

I have been, the original topic was Oblivion's customisation and I have said that both Morrowind and Fallout: New Vegas and even F3 to a lesser extent do it better.

Also it doesn't have to turn into a debate, it could turn into a more calm and simple discussion or conversation. It's happened to me before where it starts off with a debate and turns into a civil conversaion that eventually ends with an agreement.

 

[AdeptaSororitas]

Than rather than discussing why a game may or may not do it right, discuss which games might do it better, if an discussion becomes a debate it stagnates, as the issue is no longer about the initial question, but simply a back and forth about a single thing, not expanding the overall idea pool.

I have been, the original topic was Oblivion's customisation and I have said that both Morrowind and Fallout: New Vegas and even F3 to a lesser extent do it better.

Also it doesn't have to turn into a debate, it could turn into a more calm and simple discussion or conversation. It's happened to me before where it starts off with a debate and turns into a civil conversaion that eventually ends with an agreement.

I'm not saying debates can't be civil, in fact, most are. So I guess what I'm getting at is that you two have being going back and forth for a while. So this is less of a dictatorial demand and more of a request/warning.

 

[NoeL]

As far as facial customisation in RPGs go, Perfect World is pretty good. You get a lot of sliders to play with to adjust pretty much every aspect of the face.

The body customisation wasn't quite as in depth (I hate how most games don't let you make fatties. You get a range from Hulk to Scarecrow). The end result was a lot of girls with the body size slider set all the way down to "twig" and the boobs slider all the way up to "balloon". When will people learn that Danielle Derek is NOT attractive?

 

[sindremaster]

I am role-playing, I said that already, however, I also mentioned that a game that can both let you role-play in your mind and make that decision real in the game is even better.

I agree, it just sounded like you ment it was impossible to roleplay in Oblivion.

Also Oblivion is pariculary a bad example, why can't I kill Martin? Every time I knock him to the ground he seems to just get back up.

Why can't I kill him?
Why can't I join the Mystic Dawn?

Because that would ruin the main story. Games can't allow you to do anything, they can be open sure, but without certain rules the story wouldn't work. It's the same reason you can't say no to become a gray warden in Dragon Age, or Spectre in Mass Effect.

How can I be the leader of both the Mages guild and Fighters guild when I'm a thief?

Morrowind didn't have this problem, so why does Oblivion?

Because Morrowind is a better game than Oblivion.

 

[Biosophilogical]

I do really like customization. The ME series, Dragon Age, and others are much better because of the customization you're allowed. One thing I'd like to say is that despite it's short comings I did like how your actions affected what your character looked like in the Fable series. Not really sure if you'd consider it customization but having scars and muscle mass based on what you do and how you act in the world really added to the immersion for me.

Agreed, though I have always felt that the clothing and body types in the sequels were a bit lacking. Sure they changed, but I always preferred the first one.

OT: I like Dragon Age, number 2 for the looks (and the skill streamlining worked well), but number 1 for the levelling and weapon/armour sets (because I want my heavy armour wearing, 2 handed sword wielding, strength mage dammit!)

 

[ChupathingyX]

Also Oblivion is pariculary a bad example, why can't I kill Martin? Every time I knock him to the ground he seems to just get back up.

Why can't I kill him?
Why can't I join the Mystic Dawn?

Because that would ruin the main story. Games can't allow you to do anything, they can be open sure, but without certain rules the story wouldn't work. It's the same reason you can't say no to become a gray warden in Dragon Age, or Spectre in Mass Effect.

At least in those games there are some decisons, Oblivion had almost no decision making at all in it's main quest which is what I really didn't like about it. There should've been an option to join the Mystic Dawn but being forced to fight for Martin did not offer much freedom.

It basically all comes down to my irritating definition of RPGs, and how I believe they should let you have some kind of impact on the main story in some kind of way, in Oblivion you don't even get to kill the final boss. The way Bethesda handled the main story in Oblivion, it just felt way too forced and they really wanted us to play it how they wantd it to end, I guess that could be because if we did join the Mystic Dawn we would take over the whole world and all that, but Bethesda could simply make that a non-canon ending in Skyrim.

 

[sindremaster]

At least in those games there are some decisons, Oblivion had almost no decision making at all in it's main quest which is what I really didn't like about it. There should've been an option to join the Mystic Dawn but being forced to fight for Martin did not offer much freedom.

It basically all comes down to my irritating definition of RPGs, and how I believe they should let you have some kind of impact on the main story in some kind of way, in Oblivion you don't even get to kill the final boss. The way Bethesda handled the main story in Oblivion, it just felt way too forced and they really wanted us to play it how they wantd it to end, I guess that could be because if we did join the Mystic Dawn we would take over the whole world and all that, but Bethesda could simply make that a non-canon ending in Skyrim.

I completely agree with you, which is why I've only played through the main quest of Oblivion once, but I have played the game for hundreds of hours across multiple characters. Because the big open world is great for roleplaying different kinds of characters.

 

[Mid-Boss]

probably the best customization Ive seen was in champions online, you can make almost any kind of hero you want

I really wanted to like Champions Online because of the ability to alter body structure, but then I hit the costume section *shrugs* I'm just not a Super Hero kinda girl I guess.

I was able to do all sorts of things with the costumes, really there is so much it can be hard to know where to start, you can do powered armor, costume tights, jeans and a tshirt, a top hat and tux, its almost endless

Still, I guess I don't like the aesthetic.

You're not alone. I HATE the art style of Champion Online.

 

[Tdc2182]

I'm gonna say Oblivion just because it's the easiest thing to make a completely ugly character, whereas trying to make something that looks humanoid is practically impossible.

I decided to screw around and make something that was hideous. I made something that looked like a harlequin baby.

 

[putowtin]

As for my vote for best character customization. Gonna have to go with Saints Row 2, with all the options given, there is almost an endless amount of ways to make the character your own, including being able to choose a voice actor. (Cockney Gang Leader FTW!)

true dat! my Cockney character is my all time favourite and one I've remade over 10 times
(I'm praying that there's a cockney accent to chose in Saint's Row The Third!)

 

[Starik20X6]

Best customisation in a game I've ever played was in WWF No Mercy on N64. Good God was that intricate. You could tweak nearly any imaginable aspect of your character to the point of lunacy.

But yes, character customisation doesn't belong in every game. RPGs and sometimes sports games yes, 'cause the character is your personal conduit into the game world. Anything else, especially franchises with established characters, not really.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

eh it depends, i don't care too much about my personal body looks, but rather about the customization of armor and whatnot, i prefer greatly to be able to change down to each individual piece of my armor in stats/colors/looks/etc.. than having to change my actual body itself.


and also, stat/magic/ability customization also takes place over those also...