Avatars, Importing allowed Options

[RicoSuave]

An idea crossed my mind a bit ago. Should we be allowed to import a user/player-created avatar to show others what our character looks like?
I will try to touch as many of the pros & cons of each side as I can to help spark a live thread...

Before we get into why it can't work ("naysayers"), try to keep an open mind until the end of the thread before deciding please. I'd like to get many people's opinions here. Thanks!

Many players in MMORPGs still try to role-play the best they can (against vast odds). They reminisce about pen and paper days of AD&D. They build their characters by hand, crafting them, molding them, growing them into the characters they feel with whom they can best interact. To some, it's more than just a PC, it's an extension of who they wish they could be if they were suddenly whisked away into a fantasy world. Some of these even go so far as to draw or design their portraits (avatars) to help give a personality to their character... and a few even use their OWN faces. They create backstory and history to develop their character's traits and ethos. Much like the role-playing thread we have here on the forums, we readily interact with other characters using our own.

Then comes along the typical MMORPG with its built-in, cartoon-looking avatars. They force unoriginality. They categorize players. Suddenly, individuality is lost to the role-player as his little, stinky goblin, or brilliant fairy, or burly animal-training vagabond is forced to look like every other goblin or fairy etc. in the game. I imagine it would be difficult to REALLY feel immersed. I can't think of a single online game that allows a player to import their avatar into the engine. There are many single-player games that do allow it, and even Oblivion allows you to create a face, as it were... albeit extremely limited. However, it's just not the same as creating it yourself.

Even if you have no artistic skill whatsoever (/raises hand), you could easily download a graphic or use a myriad of premade ones. Suddenly, you allow the end-user to not just play the game, but BE the game. They could potentially feel a closer attachment knowing that people know you because of your avatar (face), and not your name... which we have not yet decided whether duplicates are allowed yet or not. If duplicates are allowed, this is (in my opinion) a fantastic way to separate the Jerky (12-yr old "Jerk" from Houstin) from the Jerky (XX-yr old "Friend" from Springville) that we already know.

Unfortunately (there are ALWAYS cons), this would be allowing the user/player to place on the screen an image of whatever content one might imagine. This is my biggest point for the cons. The last thing I want is for some pervert out there to have the ability to put on my screen some picture of lewd content. One incident is too many. We shouldn't have a "Report a Violation" system... by then, it's too late. There must be some way of screening images (scripting, GM-visuals, combination, whatever) if this will work. Nothing is worth the risk of allowing that level of abuse.

Another con that came to mind is what kind of strain will this place on the server. We keep coming up with good ideas, again and again... and if they were all to be implemented, we would need significant financial support to power the server for even a brief moment, let alone for years. What kind of throughput requirements are there for such a system-wide process? Are we going to allow level 1 newbies access to the system? Are we only going to allow financial supporters access? Intellectual providers? Friends of Mole? GMs? If only a few had access to it (we can discuss this later on) it might decrease the workload of the server substantially.

I'd like to hear many ideas from everyone before we have anyone saying "YES! Let's make it work," or "NO! It could never happen," please.

Thoughts?

[Honis]

Brotoi,

I terms of time it would take the modeler to produce NPCs I think if a random button was introduced it would save them lots of time. Oblivion had such a button.

In addition to a random button, adjustable ranges for each value could be made so that the Large Feet Hobgoblems of the North don't randomly get modeled into the Peg Leg Hobgoblems of the East. that way when you press random for the Northerners they will have varying sizes of just Large feet and the East will have varying sizes of small feet even when they have the same base mesh.