103 replies to this topic

[Duncan Jr Fischer]

I don't think it's something we really need in a mechwarrior game ahead of all other stuff. I'd say it can be a nice touch, but not untill everything that makes this game a great mech-sim and completes it inside the BT universe is done.
In some space-sims you can send a short video translation to the targeted unit. Among allies it's usually some orders, and to enemy you could send taunts. Video showed pilot's face or mask. It was a nice touch in Freespace or Starlancer, but I won't miss it in Mechwarrior.

[HighlandWolf]

yes i'd love there to be a character creation part in the game, makes me more attactched to my pilot/warrior..more like he's me and im him..makes it more visceral and real..rather than robot feeling

[Murphy Skjebnesvanger]

A custom pilots would be cool, but I don't know how they would make it relevant. I mean, we don't want it to be like most people do in elder scroll games, "spend hours creating a pilot, put a helmet on them, stuff them in the 'mech, and never see their face again." I'm not saying everyone does this, I know there are always exceptions. For it to make sense in putting the resources into making custom pilots, there would really need to be something to do with the pilot for that to make sense. For now I think they should concentrate on working on the 'mech for now, and maybe make customizable pilots latter. It would be nice, but it's not really necessary at this point.

[Sassori]

It's a MechWARRIOR game. The WARRIOR is important. I'm not saying we should have EVE's new creator (Which while awesome is to much) but I /do/ think we need a way to differentiate our pilot from the other three hundred and thirty seven thousand Mad-Cat and Atlas pilots out there.

It adds personalization to the game. It creates a face, a character to get attached to, and involved in. It would inspire us to spend cash on more customization options and it would be neat (And kinda creepy) if whoever was talking on the built in voice chat's avatar picture came up in a little window in the corner of the screen or something.

It doesn't have to be super best character creation ever, but, it does help add distinction to the individual over hunchback2027.

If you want it to be mech sim, then name it BattleTech, not MechWarrior as MechWarrior was the RPG. Give us a little tiny bit of RPG please.

[Dark Fox]

I think it would be nice to have.

When I play mech warrior games you feel the characters have personalities and back stories. I noticed this particularry in Mech Commander 2, after almost every mission you have a video message from the characters. The naive arrogance of the Laio prince, Renard's slight insanity. Then when you unlock new techs, Cash's talks about what weapons were capable of. Then each and every pilot you can hire for your mechs, they all have small video recordings for when they speak in their avatar, and they all have personality too. MW4 also had a lot of talk between your squad mates and implied a lot of things happening behind the scenes.

But that's all we get. Some footage of the actors and their speech. No avatars. Though it was probably a good thing as people in video games weren't looking so great not too long ago.

But with Cry Engine 3? Would look great. Mech Warrior games have always implied their pilots have their own life outside the mech, I think it's due time to see it.

However I understand it's pretty much asking the game makers to make two games instead of one. But it doesn't really need to be complex. Maybe just make it so you have to walk to the mech labs to use it, or walk to you mech in order to start a mission(or access the server list, or however that works)

[UncleKulikov]

The avatar should be your mechwarrior off the battlefield, so in chat, lobbies, and the store. I want a solid amount of customization, but I won't be upset if there isn't any.

[Silent]

I am on the fence. Not sure if Crytek is optimized in a way that would allow for larger numbers of users to congregate in an area, and if we base it off its FPS roots then at most you're talking 64 and that's probably pushing it if you have a lot of stuff going on in the map. A problem that might arise over the course of something like this being implemented is that you'll have more people sitting around with their avatars chatting than you have people actively playing the game.

That's not so bad in other MMOs because they are usually subscription based and are getting your money anyway. I suppose you could argue that PGI could just make a bunch of premium cosmetic additions for people that like to walk around with their avatar, but then that'd be kinda feeding into the potential problem of having more people chatting than playing the actual game, giving them more of a reason to sit around and not participate in the war going on.

[Sassori]

This isn't about having hundreds of avatars walking around, it's about being the Warrior and not just the Mech.

[Karyudo ds]

Yeah having a pilot avatar of some kind would be nice. Not major to the combat portion but still interesting and an upgrade as far as Mechwarrior goes. Wouldn't really need to be MUCH to it but more than Eve's "walk around a room" mini-game. Maybe someday.

[GrimRATS]

I guess it would be intresting, however if it were to be included I hope it would be so as an update in the future only when the Devs got spare time. (Not like they got nothing to do now lol). But yea, I would love to see that.

[Silent]

Christopher Dayson, on 21 March 2012 - 10:28 PM, said:

This isn't about having hundreds of avatars walking around, it's about being the Warrior and not just the Mech.

And what would that entail? Seems like just having a portrait generator or something would suffice, but it seems like most of the discussion in this thead centers around navigating a 3D avatar around locations and interacting in ways that aren't related to blowing mechs up.

[Catharsis]

I think having a fully customization (head, at least) persona would be a great addition to both personalizing the game, and increasing the efficiency of in-game communication between lancemates and other players. But obviously that would require animation and texture work, and it really would not serve very many purposes other than personal identification, so it should be an after thought or bonus, rather than a priority.

Still, it would be really cool. Something like Mass Effect's head editor. Or Guild Wars 2?

Not a priority.

[MacabreDerek]

I look at this idea of character customization and I have to ask 'Why?'. What does the player get out of it besides an avatar, and how useful is that avatar?

I guess it's because I look at game-design from a perspective of 'taking away' rather than 'adding more'. The reason for this is because I would rather any game focus on developing it's core mechanics as polished as possible, and that means mechs, movement, map-making, heat-effects, customization restrictions, etc. In a massivly multiplayer game, everything needs to be tested, re-tested, tested again, and about the 50th iteration where everything is running smoothly you call it an Alpha build.

My biggest worry is they add anything like this, it would pull away the man-power and tallent away from the core reason we're playing this game for adding something akin to cosmetics that are not shown in the actual game but in menus and chat rooms, etc.

Let's be real here, there is only so much time for development before this game is released, and any addition is taking away from something else. I have no doubts that there are thousands, THOUSANDS of ideas they WANT to put into MWO, but they know full well that money and time are finite, and need to be alocated accordingly.

[FallguySoldier]

I guess I emphasize more on the idea of "MechWarrior" (as in, the pilot/warrior behind the mech). Otherwise, this game could have easily been called "BattleTech" and focus just on the bots themselves.

Not saying human avatars/customizations should be implemented right away, but it's a feasible option to have (given the game engine that it's running on) as well as make it that much more interesting and immersive to stand out from the crowd (I'm looking at you, HAWKEN).

[SweeperGroup]

I guess it would be interesting, but not necessary.

[MagnusEffect]

Der Kopfsammler, on 18 March 2012 - 05:36 PM, said:

True. But i didn't ment that they should do it like "right away" either. Devs already got their hands full with more important gameplay features.

Also this. Gameplay first, avatar creation/interaction would be a welcome addition later if it served a purpose.

[Thomas Oreland]

At a later date I'd certainly welcome it if it's added! Might be fun roaming around the parade grounds, moving around a mechbay, or maybe going to the local pub n playing a hand! lol

[Dayuhan]

I do not think we need a full fledged character creator (e.g. Eve Online, Star Trek Online) but it would nice to have a selection of toons we could choose from (or possibly upload in a pre-defined format - such as in Neverwinter Nights 2) as an Avatar for our character. A simple toon head for in-game chat would be sufficient.

[Grinner]

Someone might have said this, but I suffer from TL;DR.

I would really like this feature, but I don't really see this happening at game launch. I could be pleasantly surprised, but I wouldn't be disappointed if it weren't. I mean, just a handful of months ago many thought this game was vapor ware, and look how close to a closed beta we are, with summer release just a few months away.

The team at PGI have said repeatedly that they really want to separate the pilot from the 'Mech, make it feel like you are the Mechwarrior sitting in the cockpit of a multi-ton avatar of destruction, and not the 'Mech itself. They've done a lot to make that happen: first person perspective, fleshing out the cockpit much much more than in previous titles, having functional displays and the ability to look around your cockpit, and if the Steiner scout lance orbital drop trailer is indicative, likely the ability to see part of your own pilot avatar when you look around (i.e. hands on the controls, legs if you look down, etc.).

I think allowing us to create our own personal avatar, that of the pilot that represents us, and who we will be leveling through the various tree progressions, will really help cement this distinction between pilot and 'Mech. As was mentioned earlier in the post, I think it'd be really cool to be able to use that avatar to travel about a persistent, massive universe. I'd love to have a drink at the Valhalla club on Solaris, once I've made enough of a name for myself that they let me in the door, or be able to meet up with other members of my Merc Corp for some downtime.

The beauty of a free to play game is that they don't need to do this right away. They can push it at a later time if and when they choose. It would also open up the opportunity for more vanity items that they could sell in a cash shop, because lets not forget that it'll be many of those types of transactions that will fund this game and make it possible for so many to play it for free. I know there are people who would pay real money for a specific uniform or a jacket with a faction logo on it, because I am one of them.

[FoXabre]

I agree that this isn't a pressing matter and can be shoved off until a later time, but I like to be immersed in the universe. Creating at least a face for our pilot should be implemented including options based on the ethnicity of the Houses/Clans.