Blaugust Day 16 Creating a Character

Character Creation

I created a character for Final Fantasy XIV today and I started thinking about how much effort goes into the process. When you look at a game like FFXIV, you have quite a bit of selections to make. Hair color, hair style, tattoos, tattoo color, ear size, tail style and length, voice, and so many more, you have tons of selections and that is before you even start playing. And none of these choices make one bit of difference in how you character plays.

World of Warcraft on the other hand offers only a handful of choices for character appearance. So which do you like? FFXIV gives you so many choices, it takes a decent amount of time to pick exactly what you want. Even if you don't go through all the options, you try a bunch out and it takes a while, but you can make a character that is somewhat unique. WoW's fewer choices lets you get into the game much quicker but with a character that pretty much looks like everyone else.

For a first time experience, I think I like WoW's creation better. It lets you get into the game and get going in a timely fashion. Sure I get a generic look, but I didn't buy the game to mess with the way my character looks – Diablo gives even fewer options, and I have no problem with that either. I would much prefer a game that allows you go get going and then after maybe 10 levels or so, you can update your look. Let me play the game and then deal with what I look like. I mean, I like to work on how my character looks but I really want to play.

I wonder if the character design process could be built into the quest system? After you gain a few levels,, you have to go on a quest to determine you gender. Then you run around collecting plants to make your hair color. Or perhaps you need to find the ingredients to make a tattoo or body piercing? I think these could be good quests to have – outside the main storyline, but if someone wants to have a tattooed face, they can go do the quest anytime, perhaps even more than once.

What do you think? Should games move character look creation to a later part of the game and let you get into the playing rather than stick you with either a crummy random look, a generic look, or a process that takes so long you can't design a look and play in a timely fashion?

It's still not too late to join Blaugust – just go to the initiative page at Tales of the Aggronaut or take a look at the Blaugust Nook on Anook.

Blaugust Day 16

#FinalFantasyXIV #WOW #FFXIV #CharacterCreation