Is character customization imprtant for a game to be exciting?

[Spurtarsnut]

Is it important for fallout to keep the custom character build for your entertainment or are you just picking one of the pre-made characters? Should the character appearance change as the game proceed?


This is for my exams project about game-development, psychology and story writing.

Continuance

Your answers have been very helpful for me so far but I would like you to answer another question since this discussion have gotten such ambitious answers so far.

Would you like to be able to voice your own characters in say Fallout 5 or 6? Or maybe just decide the voice for your character?

Some of you also took up a very interesting detail to character development. Being would you like your character to change appearance as the game proceeds. Adding scars maybe hair loss due to radiation or maybe letting the perks kick in with full strength build that turns you into a muscle mountain like Johnny Bravo etc.

Thank you for your most excellent answers :)

[John the hun]

I am a big fan of characters changin dynamically, such as hair growth, beard growth, muscles building based on playstyle - same with fat and such.
New scars after a battle - stuff like that.

[Warrender1983]

Short answer.
No, but it is nice.


Long answer.
If you look at games historically, games never used to allow you to customise the character in any way (picking up new weapons doesn't count) and those games are still considered classic even if a little outclassed by todays technology. I think the key thing here is that as technology progresses, what we can do in our games gets more advanced and our options during the game can become more varied. With that variation comes the ability to journey a game using different play styles and approaches. Hitman and Splinter Cell allow many levels to be completed silently and loud allowing for multiple play styles if you become fed up of always creeping around and this gives a better experience to the player and replay ability as you can play the levels stealthy, then try them again blasting the hell out of everyone.

Obviously I know the OP is referring more to the RPG genre such as the Elder scrolls and the Fallout 4 series. In this sense I tend to find that the customize abiltiies never really affect my game that much but that will be due to me tending to build up a variety of skills rather than power building juggernauts, so this in itself can lend to replay ability. My next play through I might decide to forget intelligence and Charisma and try a marksmen with super punch style of build and see how I get on with that.

As for being able to customise the appearance of a character beyond clothing. Yes I think it's an important feature but not one that will make or break a game assuming as you have a few options to choose from. Lot's of people love editing the appearance of a character they will spend the entire game playing as for that added feel that it is you (or the approximation at least) that is playing the story, so you feel more attached to what you do and what happens to you during your journey.

One added element in Fallout 4 that I truly loved but the final result was disappointing in my opinion, is how the appearance you gave yourself and your partner affected the appearance of your son in the game. I would love to see this feature in more games in some context. But again, it's not a feature that makes or breaks a game but does give it a nice touch. If the storyline was more involving and made you feel attached to the characters then I feel this feature would have worked much better than it did in my eyes.

To sum up, read my short answer :D

[Megumeru]

Aside from giving you that 'personal touches', it would be nice to see how character appearance changes as the game proceed. Personally I added a few cosmetic changes like scars and darkened eyes at every 10th level to simulate how harsh the wasteland could be to someone who was born in the wrong time.

It would be really nice if someday this could be done automatically


So yes, it is important

[Warrender1983]

Originally posted by Megumeru:

Aside from giving you that 'personal touches', it would be nice to see how character appearance changes as the game proceed. Personally I added a few cosmetic changes like scars and darkened eyes at every 10th level to simulate how harsh the wasteland could be to someone who was born in the wrong time.

It would be really nice if someday this could be done automatically


So yes, it is important

You've reminded me of another point ;)

In Fable 2 the character you played as changed as the game went on. You aged as time went by, grew fat or thin depending on what you ate, using magic created electric lines over your body and dying caused scarring to appear as well.

This was a really good feature added to the game but I don't know of any other games currently using this feature to that extent. On a personal level I think it would have worked in Fallout 4 (except the aging part) but it's a feature I prefer to have as optional. Many players probably like the fact you get battle scars and see them as trophies of their journey. Myself, I prefer the crisp clean look as it was when my character first steps out of the creation chamber to start the game. Though my tastes may change.

Using the surgeon to manually alter the appearance is a great idea for those who like the same, I bet the developers didn't see it being used for that so nice use of that feature, Megumeru.

[owen8964]

If customisation means just cosmetics then no because many games have been exciting without much of it.

In relation to gameplay style, the ability of a game to sustain multiple styles has always been important for excitement over multiple playthroughs I think. Probably going back pre computing. For a single playthrough not so important perhaps, though I suspect that a game that supported only a single play style would seem very thin nowadays.

Best of luck with your project :)

[Jeff Kaos]

Since this is for a school project I'll give you the school answer. Modern consumers have come to a point where they prefer to customize their work space whether it's arranging the apps on their smart phone, setting up their computers desktop in a way they like it or even being able to customize the appearance of their characters in a game. You can certainly link this to psychology because while technology makes our lives easier and brings people together it also pushes us apart in a lot of ways. So users want, and sometimes need, to have a sense of agency in the "little things" like character customization in a game. And if you really want to see how important it is just look at the vast number and types of games this feature permeates. It used to be that character customization was reserved for the RPG genre where even back in the 80's and 90's gamers could at the very least select the colors of their characters skin, hair and clothing. Now everything from sports games to shooters give players some means to customize the appearance of their avatars in game. And like I said, I'm pretty sure there's a link between this and psychology but I don't have enough psychology education to speculate. But as someone who spent a lot of time studying how people use technology I do know for a fact that giving users the ability to customize their digital space can and does drive sales.

*edit*
I'd like to add one more point: customization is so important that even first person game, games where you don't even SEE your character, give players a means to customize their appearance. It's THAT important.

[D[n]A]

No!

[Doc Clarke]

For me not always - but a bad avatar/character can kill a game.

I HATE the guy from Witcher. He looks like 80's UK soft p0rn baron Peter Stringfellow
So much so I can't play the game. I'd just chop his head off with his own sword.before I start.

I started to play Metal Gear games sonce they added customization. Ok I'm always snake, but the look was so contrived. Clint Eastwood meets Dennis Lillee circa 1975. That used to put me off.

It doesn't detract from a game to have customization. You can always take the default if you want.

It's a win win really.
Default if you aren't interested in customization
Customization if you are.

What's not to like?

[Atma]

Originally posted by Spurtarsnut:

Is it important for fallout to keep the custom character build for your entertainment or are you just picking one of the pre-made characters? Should the character appearance change as the game proceed? Please answer as honestly as possible :)

This is for my exams project about game-development, psychology and story writing. Thank you for your most excellent answers :)

I don't know about others, but I know that I choose FO4 over Witcher 3 for personal enjoyment mostly due to having more control over who I am versus being Geralt.

There are some things about the custom character in this FO4 that I'm disappointed w/, mainly having to do w/ a more rigid focus on your character's backstory and reactions to situations that tend to take some of the choice away from RP purists.

However, overall, even w/ the small disappointments that I personally feel w/ Fallout's latest customizable character, it's still mostly MINE, w/ my own choice of weaponry and looks (even if my responses are pretty stock).

And that's enough to tip a game w/ a custom character over a default one, even if they are as interesting as Geralt and Snake.

[Six of Saturn]

I guess it would depend on what the Char looks like. Because i never once asked "damn I wish I could change the way Lara Croft looks"or even Edward Kenway.

That said I agree with Doc Clarke. I never played one Witcher game because I did not like how the dude looked. Guess I missed a hell of a game.

Being able to identify with a protagonists race is also very improtant to alot of people as well. My #1 brother from another mother will not play any game that does not allow you to create your own char. Talking with him, it came down to being able to Identify or not with the protagonist race.

[Syntax Error]

I prefer to customize my own character and would like the chance to change appearances mid-game although that's less necessary. I don't have any real interest in dynamic changes, especially ones that are unavoidable (such as getting scarred). Stuff like shaving in Witcher 3 was just time filler for me; it didn't make me feel that the game was more alive any more than if I had to pause every twenty minutes (RL time, not accelerated game time) to take a leak.

I'll certainly play games with defined characters (Witcher, etc) though I tend to feel less involved in the story.

[Spurtarsnut]

Originally posted by Jeff Kaos:

Since this is for a school project I'll give you the school answer. Modern consumers have come to a point where they prefer to customize their work space whether it's arranging the apps on their smart phone, setting up their computers desktop in a way they like it or even being able to customize the appearance of their characters in a game. You can certainly link this to psychology because while technology makes our lives easier and brings people together it also pushes us apart in a lot of ways. So users want, and sometimes need, to have a sense of agency in the "little things" like character customization in a game. And if you really want to see how important it is just look at the vast number and types of games this feature permeates. It used to be that character customization was reserved for the RPG genre where even back in the 80's and 90's gamers could at the very least select the colors of their characters skin, hair and clothing. Now everything from sports games to shooters give players some means to customize the appearance of their avatars in game. And like I said, I'm pretty sure there's a link between this and psychology but I don't have enough psychology education to speculate. But as someone who spent a lot of time studying how people use technology I do know for a fact that giving users the ability to customize their digital space can and does drive sales.

*edit*
I'd like to add one more point: customization is so important that even first person game, games where you don't even SEE your character, give players a means to customize their appearance. It's THAT important.

Would you say that you have reaserched this and if please tell me what your sources are.