So, I play a halfling named Lavi Strikel... and then I hear in a channel I'm in that halflings got a drastic new appearance change on the preview shard. I say "okay", and go and take a look, and after finding out I have to go to the Tower to actually see the new appearance, I do so. The new appearance for Lavi is on the left, the old one on the right.
I'm going to start by saying that while I'm not sure I like everything below the neck that was changed, I certainly don't have a reflexive dislike of it, and I could probably grow used to it. I get a lot of what was trying to be done there, and I'm not going to complain about any of that.
That aside... her face looks... smushed. I played around with the sliders, but was never actually able to get anything nearly effeminate enough. I loved some of the options I saw (particularly the eyes) but... the new facial structure for her is a complete drop in quality. I seriously, seriously hope that this does not go live, and force me to pay for an appearance change for her - I'd be converting the AD to zen for it, but still... this is -awful-.
Is it at all possible to find a way to not change the face for halflings so... dramatically? Like, I can understand the logic behind the lower body changes, and I don't particularly object to those... but dear god, that facial change is just... not cool at all.
Comments
Why would you need to pay for an appearance change though?
Edit: Went ahead and checked it out on my Halfling and I can safely say males Halflings have it just as bad.
The problem is, it pretty much locks you into your current looks...forever. Because if you want to change one tiny little thing, or want to even think about the new hair styles, you have no choice but to dive full into the new system completely.
Oh so players won't log on and find their character looks totally different when module 3 patches in? I thought it was weird with people saying their character looks totally different but my character basically looks the same , I felt left out lol .
EDIT: That was in reply to sockmunkey's first post... not familiar with how the reply system here works. My bad.
So are only left to assume, things will behave the same way when this goes live, as they behave now on preview. That being, existing characters will be left "as is" and only altered when they make any kind of change. So, while any assumption is always a gamble. It is, at least, a safe assumption. I dont think Cryptic wants to mass alter everyone suddenly on login. That would cause epic levels of rage and unhappiness.
Of course, my character is screwed up no matter what because I will have a big bald spot under my character's chin unless I update him under the new system.
I dont know why, but all their faces appear to be grumpy or depressed.
And I agree, females need more "oval" heads.
Further more.. I dont see the reason to even change the appearances. Who honestly asked for this. Them as options is a different story, but we shouldnt be locked out of something that we like the look of, regardless.
That is my thought, too. Here are the screenshots that I made:
1. Post-patch dwarves and half-orcs are waaaay prettier than halflings. I don't say that they should be ugly, I say that halflings should be as nice-looking, as them. Here's the comparison between a standard halfling and dwarf face (halfling is on the left). The nose is huge, looks like it belongs to a 3rd edition's gnome. The jaw is way too wide, and way too short. Precisely, the whole head is too wide. The eyes look weird, they're a little too small, compared to other races.
2. The old body is better, it's proportional. Here is the comparison between the old and new default body, all sliders in the middle. Also, the nail length slider is missing in the new version. Look closely at her feet, they are so tiny, I'm sure they shouldn't be able to support the new, bigger gut. The shoulders look weird, too.
3. I tried to recreate my character, using the new design. The result looks like this (pre-patch on the top, post-patch on the bottom). You can believe me, I tried as hard as I could.
4. The new male halfling... the default body looks like this (all sliders in the middle). And no, I didn't accidentally use the heavy version.
In the description of halflings, it's written that they are built like small humans. In 3rd edition it's stated, that they have an athletic build and they look very human-like in the pictures. They are not hobbits, they don't have huge bellies! And even hobbits don't look like that, because they, in fact, have large, hairy feet (halflings don't). I think someone didn't do their homework, because even in the 4th edition there's nothing to support this appearance.
The only good thing I see is that there are some new hairstyles, I adore one of them and I'd love to have it on my character. But I cant, because this hairstyle comes with a new, ugly face. I hope this will be fixed before the patch comes to life. Thanks for the effort, but please, don't break something that works well. And sorry for poor grammar.
I haven't looked through all the new hairstyles yet, but I LOVE the new eye features, and would love to get some of them on Lavi... but with the way things are now, I'd be better off staying miles away from it. The tiny feet thing is something I hadn't even noticed, and it's also awful, yes.
I sorely regret not making my new character before these changes kicked in. It's like the faces were pushed back from exaggerated features into 'uncanny valley'.
I really, really hope that something can be done to get our old appearances back.
Edit: Adding my own horror story.
Old Halfling Fighter: Grizzled <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>
New Halfling Fighter: Uncle Dimble
I don't like the Uncle Dimble look. There's something about this new narrower selection that seems to be shoehorning halflings into some sort of goofy, cartoony, slapstick-comedy-relief style. I really don't like it.