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Remove Streamlining on Character Creation
vigilex
Posts: 7 Arc User
We've been getting many people coming over from CoH. Presumably, we'll be seeing many more.
These folks are used to an awesome costume creator and I expect many (if not most) of them will be judging CO heavily on that basis.
Why not give them what they want?
Let's get rid of the current streamlining and open the available options again. It'd be a nice addition to the welcoming community, wouldn't it?
These folks are used to an awesome costume creator and I expect many (if not most) of them will be judging CO heavily on that basis.
Why not give them what they want?
Let's get rid of the current streamlining and open the available options again. It'd be a nice addition to the welcoming community, wouldn't it?
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Check out my Champions Online webcomic in progress!
Annoying people since 2009!
Is a stupid feature and it should be removed. REMOVED I TELL YOU!!
=^ _ ^= Kitty Lives!
"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
Best idea ever!!!! :eek:
=^ _ ^= Kitty Lives!
10chars
/signed with both hands for the toggle option. Maybe some people actually were being overwhelmed with the choices (or maybe somebody at PWE thought that our tales of spending hours in the Character Creator were a complaint, rather than a compliment...).
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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That would maybe a reason why the never used the Character Editor from PWI in later games.
I also spent many hours with that one, and never understood why they not used that or
even a better version in their later games
Of all the ideas, this isn't in the top of the very bright ones.
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
this is the one thing that takes away the experience for new players,does PWE want people to not notice the best character creator out of all of their games?
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its for any new player that hasn't either done the tutorial or hasn't reached level 10 on their character,it removes a TON of the free options,such as armor,tights,hair,etc.
Consolidate currency!
Munitions additions
Petition to take in game report spam function out
Why not to do surveys and free offers
No it didn't, not really. The lvl 20 limit on capes was because when CoH launched they didn't have the tech to do them. They added them in latter and made everyone wait until lvl 20, because they had to come up with an excuse for why, and then simply kept it in.
In a way this idea makes some sense. Someone who never played CO or CoX could become quite overwhelmed with the costume creator in CO. So having a streamlined version isn't that much worse then the AT system. Both are designed to help people who aren't used to the level of options the CC or Freeform offers.
That said, I think being able to turn it off makes perfect sense, and should be put in ASAP. A lot of CoX players will come here and then promptly turn around and leave when they find out how limited the streamlined CC is, because they won't know that they're using the streamlined version.
If the worry is they'll be overwhelmed, the best solution is to offer a selection of pre-made costumes for various sorts of archetypical or stereotypical comic book characters. Give them a tights-and-cape outfit, a power armor one, magic user, a gun-toting vigilante, etc etc and then toss in a few weirder things to spark their imagination, like a monstrous eldrich thing or a cute little robot.
The customization is the game's hook, and it starts at character creation.
@kelpplankton
Oldschool CoH player, Lifetime CO and STO subscriber, animator and artist.
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"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?" -Tony Stark
Official NW_Legit_Community Forums
Please open the costume creator up! it's one of CO's best selling points.
My thoughts exactly.
/vote yes
Consolidate the currencies! (Please!)
Does your Champion have a theme song? (share it!)
Got a funny in-game screenshot? (share it!)
Please fix the Overdrive energy unlock! (Should help promote thematic build diversity!)
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
This is really a big part of the problem. If they did nothing more than add a pop-up that said "Reach level 10 to unlock the full tailor," it'd at least explain the setup, even if I still don't agree with that approach. Instead, we've been hearing a lot of people saying CO's costumes aren't anywhere near CoH's, and it's because of this very issue.
Yeah an that's what bothers me the most. Newbies are the lifeblood of any game community. You want people to jump in and stick around as long as possible (low turnover & high new growth). This way you keep on getting more and more people. And with more population, that means you have a larger market to sell your microtransaction stuff to. And with more sales, comes more profit.
Consolidate the currencies! (Please!)
Does your Champion have a theme song? (share it!)
Got a funny in-game screenshot? (share it!)
Please fix the Overdrive energy unlock! (Should help promote thematic build diversity!)
I'm growing weary of having to re-explain "pwe gated your costume for no reason" when people ask this question. We already have default costumes, so they can just play. Wtf would it hurt to let them tinker? I know the costume creator is what got me initially drawn to this game.
RIP Caine
Especially the toggle idea.
While she has been rescued
what diabolical mastermind
was behind the devious brain-napping of
the Volterrific Dr Cerebellum?
"Oh, this is your first time in Dirt Road Dolls Gentleman's Club? Well, we're only going to use two strippers instead of our evening lineup of ten, and they'll only be stripping down so far as their undergarments. We wouldn't want you to be overwhelmed by all the boobies and not enjoy yourself, so we've streamlined it for you!"
Oh Great TT!! I summon thee!!!
=^ _ ^= Kitty Lives!
Consolidate currency!
Munitions additions
Petition to take in game report spam function out
Why not to do surveys and free offers
In short, it should really be mentioned in the game client during character creation that options are locked until the tutorial's been finished, it's intentional and not a bug, and how to change your appearance later.
A friend suggested I try the game. I thought, why not. I saw another friend's recommendation on Steam, saying it had great customization options.
Well, I tried out some of the appearance options, saw some of the dropdown lists were empty, and thought, "I guess there's nothing else to choose there, or the UI is buggy."
I saw the beast head category, and saw it gave a feline head by default, but with no other choices - an empty dropdown list. I found I could choose a random beast, and behold, there would sometimes be a vulture, a shark, etc. but if I tried the dropdown list, it was still empty.
I saw many other dropdown lists which were empty. I forget what. Tails, some claws or leg options, I think? Various stuff. I didn't bother with them, I just used random beast and locking parts.
I thought: Perhaps it's just my client; it's a bug. I verified the Steam files. Nope. I thought I'd search around the forums for a solution, thinking it a known bug with a user-side fix, as these things tend to go in some games. I managed to find threads like this indicating it is intentional.
It seems like a very strange design decision when it's not mentioned in the client anywhere. It just makes it look like a bad UI bug, or that there's really little to choose from in some areas.
It is an odd decision for a game that would/could have appearance customization as a big draw to it. You wanna pull in new players right away, dazzle them with "Look at all this cool stuff you can be" options.
As a new player just jumping right in without reading anything, this left me with questions: Can I change my appearance later? How do I change it later? Should I complete the tutorial on another character so I can actually make a character that looks how I want? (Which would work, it turns out.)
What I actually did was wasted time, brute forcing my way into the appearance I wanted: Clicking random beast until it gave me the options I wanted, then locking those parts, locking the colors, clicking random beast again and so on... (Why can randomize choose those parts when I can't from the UI?)
Sorry, it's just that any game is more fun for me in any game if I play a character with a cool look and style. I'm easy to please that way. I'm also stubborn.
Thanks for you input on this. It's good to know how this is being viewed by those with no prior experience.
It seems to me like you put in more effort than most would have, verifying files, checking forums, stuff like that. I'd bet that a good chunk of people have downloaded the game, fiddled with the creator a bit, and left it without being impressed. Maybe that's changed somewhat with some folks looking for a new home and being willing to give it more of a chance, but still.
For example: just about every software installer out there which supports any form of customization has, early in the steps, a choice that can be summed up as "do you want to go with defaults, or see the power of this fully operational battle station?"
Why? Because it gives you about 98% of the best of both worlds. People who would struggle will just click through and you give them some defaults and let them loose on the world. Great. Someone looking for more options is likely to at least remember "oh, hey, there *was* an option to turn on more stuff, maybe I should turn that on and see what becomes available"... then bam, they get to see what they were looking for.
Good user experience is born of making the easy things easy *without* making the hard things harder (at least, non-trivially harder).
Although... Maybe not the actual template body types we had, as they were pretty limited.
But it would make the game easier to get started with for people who weren't expecting the spanish inquisi- I mean a large selection of design features for their character.
Keep it simple. Brick for a stocky version of that gender's figure, basic is default, Beast has slightly elongated arms legs and hands, Campell has giant chin (may need different name), dainty has a thin semiathletic version.
Maybe also have the various archetypes unlocked also have their own template option for people to select when making other character types, as you might want to start with the design of the Mountain default skin whilst making a mostly Mind based character perhaps as a starting point.
And then the streamlinining is pointless as far as I can see as this would allow easy initial jump-in 'lets see what this game is like' character creation without looking like you just pressed puree- I mean randomise a few dozen times.
I think it might be better to show, hey, there are more potential options if you get into the game enough to spend some cash. Like, maybe someone jumping in would really like the sound of one and want it badly, you never know. And they'd not know it's even an option if they don't try creating a new character after their first one.
It just makes it look like there is less to the game, is my argument.
I guess I could've missed it, but I don't remember the game giving any indicator, after the tutorial, that costume options unlocked, and that hey, there are more classes (to buy).
Create Costume:
Do that later, I want to play now!
(You will have an opportunity to change your costume's look as soon as you can access a tailor.)
I want to make a costume first, give me a minute.
(Take your time in the costume creator, play when you're ready. You can hit back and choose the other option if you change your mind.)
My suggestion would be a NPC given quest in the tutorial and completed by visiting the tailor in the MC Powerhouse...
"Your outfit is great, but I think it still needs a little something. Check out the tailor in the Powerhouse once you finish off these bugs. They have some amazing gear there!"
Not only does that tell folks that there's more to come, but it makes the costume unlocks a quest reward...
M-O-O-N, that spells @Rhyatt
Originally Posted by mijjestic: Ultimately, though, MMO players throwing stones at each other in this fashion is basically one nerd pointing and laughing at another nerd whose glasses are thicker.
Laws yes!
This!! This is awesome!! I want this :B
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That way, people who want to just leap into action (I don't blame them, it is fun to leap into action) can do so without feeling overwhelmed by the character creator immediately, but also you don't limit the people who do want to be whelmed in some way. Some people like being whelmed, and it won't be over at all! IT WILL NEVER BE OVER! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH
.what An earth is Character Streamlining?
When a silver player creates his first character, he is forced to take the premade archetype costume and only allowed to make minimal changes to it. This is supposedly to prevent the newbies from being overwhelmed by the possibilities of the editor and to get them into the actual game faster.
On the downside, it causes them not to see the awesome customization CO offers at the first look.
I felt this user experience cuts to the heart of the issue, needed to be repeated, loudly and with emphasis.
The way streamlining the creator was done was awful. The "Random [Type]" was good, but limiting options in the standout feature of your product is absurd, and one sure fire way to annoy the incoming CoXpats.
Wait WAIT....... so Are u Saying, That the Silvers CANNOT use the same character Creator of the Costume, with All the same options, and Stuff? As if this game wasn't enough Pay to Win Already, pfft, now the RPers are gonna have less Options unless they Sub to the game, lol
Silvers do have the full tailor options,after level 10 on one character,but for some reason they don't allow them to use all of the free options until level 10,which isn't very smart,it restricts all of them from being "the hero they want to be" right at the start,and making them wait til level 10.
Consolidate currency!
Munitions additions
Petition to take in game report spam function out
Why not to do surveys and free offers
Ah.... so Eventually U Do get the Full- character Customiser, so its all free anyways, oh lov...... Wait a Sec, I now See a flaw there ! ^_^
By allowing u To customise the character fully, they expect that the Player Will use that option After Lvl 10, only to find out he's/ She's going to Have to Pay for the Extra Costume slots (unless They are Ready to farm Lots of G to allow the Costume Change)
Oh, Cryptic, sly- sly tactic. Could work though, and I Honestly SEE how that could work. :cool:
or they join one of those costume slot SGs,SGs give out a free costume slot,which normally the player joins "new champions (insert number here)" SG,and gets the costume slot right after making their toon,but for some reason,it stops doing that after you have spent Zen in the C store,and gotten stuff.
Consolidate currency!
Munitions additions
Petition to take in game report spam function out
Why not to do surveys and free offers
well, To start with.....
.. its now Called "Z-Store" cause of Zen. But if Its stopping u from getting another Slor after u Spent some Zen in Store, well I guess that bug is the Most Useless for their economy, since it Discourages ppl to purchase anything from Store. But hey- Not all Hoep is lost, you can probably write few tickets to Cryptic/ PW and they'll think of the way to bypass the bug (Do they EVER really fix it? Pfft, Come on)
So, good Luck to those trying to Make their costume, hopefully they'll find Their unique appearance after lvl 10.
Well,I still call it the C store,and the unchanged pieces of it call it that too,but back on topic,what I mean't is that purchasing something prevents the player from being automatically in the SG "New champions" whenever they are created,which is understandable,I guess.
Consolidate currency!
Munitions additions
Petition to take in game report spam function out
Why not to do surveys and free offers
It's not as bad as they say. It's worse.
I had no clue that there were any more ATs than the free ones presented; there's no note that there even exist premium ATs. Same for the initial Tailor; you are presented with a fraction of the pieces available even for free, with no clue that there is anything beyond that.
Every time I leveled, I checked with the Tailor to see if anything had unlocked; nothing came available until level 10. And even then, the system didn't even send a note saying, "Hey, go check out the Tailor now - you'll be glad you did!" No, it's left for the individual to discover on his or her own.
Were I just starting the game now, I'd be scratching my head, wondering why everyone's so gaga over this sucky Character Creator thing, and how anyone could possibly need to spend more than say two or three minutes in there...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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I played CO back in 2009 and as such still had the parts I paid for and unlocked from my earlier time as well as level 10 silver/gold characters. As such I had LITERALLY NO IDEA what my friends were talking about with the character creator.
Sample exchange:
Them: "The Champions Online costume creator is so awful, there are only six hair options for females and there aren't any glasses."
Me: "... *goes to count* ... there are 69 hair options, and glasses are right under the "none" option for eye accessories."
[redacted for devolving into ridiculous confusion]
It was a really negative experience for myself as a renewed gold member trying to bring her friends into the game, and it left such a bad taste in one of my friends' mouths that she doesn't want to touch the game again, eheh. So, yeah, whose idea was it to gimp the biggest selling point of your game for newly-joining RPers and non-RPers alike...?
Yeah, this is a bump, but this should be bumped. This idea is bad and you should feel bad! </Zoidberg>