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Avatars, Importing allowed |
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RicoSuave |
Aug 15 2007, 03:08 PM
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Master
Group: Members
Posts: 228
Joined: 22-March 06
From: (Undisclosed)
Member No.: 585
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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?
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Jerky |
Aug 18 2007, 11:25 PM
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Former PW Project Manager
Group: PW Admin
Posts: 1,610
Joined: 11-January 05
From: Dallas, GA
Member No.: 62
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Thanks for the bump. I read this the first time, had a reply in my mind and didn't have the time to do it. I then forgot. So, let me understand this completely before I delve into it. By "avatar" you just mean a picture? If this is all you mean then it would be very simple and not be a lot of extra load. We could even allow the assigning of the avatar pic to be done on the website, so there wouldn't be a clunky in-game interface for it. This would also allow us to screen them before they were okayed and released to be used. At first I thought you meant importing a character and its stats into the game. Now, my opinion on the subject would tend to lean toward the character creation process. If we had one where you are able to choose a very high number of combinations then that might be good enough. I agree that most players find the look of their characters to be important. I think this is something that WoW missed out on, but I think they have their reasons (I won't go into it here). Character customization is HUGE. As in, hugely important. We've talked about being able to decorate your own home (the inside and outside), as well as small touches to your character. As far as paying for this goes, if we are to be free, it stands to reason that we will need some money somehow. The topic of premium content has been discussed a lot. This could definitely be an area where we make people pay to get access to this fun stuff. No pay, no customizations.
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Erik Briggs (Jerky) Project Manager My Blog
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RicoSuave |
Aug 24 2007, 05:01 PM
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Master
Group: Members
Posts: 228
Joined: 22-March 06
From: (Undisclosed)
Member No.: 585
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I'm sorry I was unable to respond sooner (I was out of country). Yes, Jerky. I meant just the simple character picture... you understood perfectly to what I was referring. Dwilf, That's a GREAT idea! As a tangent to something you said just a moment ago, perhaps that biography could also be editted by GMs if a player breaks a rule (or something)... Gassy, the Exploiter... Rico, the Cheat... $#!#ur (WHOA! NJPaul, your character name got blocked!), the Munchkin... the possibilities are near limitless. However, back to what you said, that's a great idea to have the biography be an option (even a possible default one). We might also consider a thread sometime about possible ideas of things we can do to garner funds for the project, and eventually, game. Among these things: Last names, Titles, Portraits, Biographies, Housing (customizable), maybe sound clips (custom or not). Obviously, I feel none of the extras should grant a direct benefit of core gameplay... just the "Fun Stuff" as Jerky put it.
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Brotoi |
Dec 2 2007, 09:10 PM
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PW Story Team
Group: PW Developer
Posts: 151
Joined: 30-November 07
Member No.: 1,123
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Play CoH or CoV for one month. Better yet, get the Good vs. Evil game box/key and play both.
There is no better character customization system possible, and I strongly suspect there never will be.
The upside of this system is that if you build it into the game from the ground up, then it also opens the way to create customizable enemy NPCs, customizable Guild NPCs, customizable butler/maid/house servant NPCs, customizable Guild House/Village guard NPCs, ad infinitum.
The downside of this system is that it dramatically increases the work load of the art and animation departments, two areas which are already overloaded with the creation of new content once the core game systems are in place.
However, there is also a solution for this: Design with the assumption of player-created content
If the only job of the art department is the creation of new, better, constantly evolving art resources that the players themselves combine together to produce buildings, enemy NPCs, friendly NPCs, terrains, maps, etc., then your playerbase is paying for the priviledge of improving your gameworld.
Spore is coming out soon. I suspect it's repercussions will echo throughout the online game world for decades. Player-created content is going to become an assumed element of future games. It is entirely possible that when we speak of "fourth generation MMORPGs", what we are really speaking of is a set of editors and a minimal gameworld with the vast majority of content being provided by the players themselves either through improvements to assigned areas of a seamless map or the extension of the game world through player-created instances.
In other words, a fourth-generation MMORPG will need a beautiful and complete game world right from the get go, and then will also need some way that players can add to or extend that world.
The downside, as always, is that most players are crappy designers and good content will be a rare commodity.
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