Feedback and discussion about the current character editor

[Cherusker]

At this point, I wanted to offer my response to @Willard as a discussion point to exchange ideas about the character editor and customization in general.

"Thank you for even listening and giving us feedback on this, it’s greatly appreciated! An in-game system would be the necessary start, but the editor itself is also very very limited and would need to be reworked. I will try to give my impressions of it here.

The pre-made faces are in my opinion neither beautiful nor rich in detail, they seem rather lovelessly modeled and are for the most part really ugly. There should be a slider system or something similar here, so that you can design the face the way you like it. The body would also need sliders or something similar, because currently everyone looks the same in terms of stature. One is more masculine, the other more feminine, and that’s it. More muscular, fuller, more masculine, more feminine, a little smaller, a little bigger, of course everything within limits, would be a good improvement.

With the hair and beards it looks unfortunately not different. Neither beautiful nor fitting to the timeline and the lore. Personally, I’m not a fan of the bright colors for beards and hair and the beards for women even less, especially with the setting of New World. If everything was at least nicely designed, then maybe you could overlook it, but unfortunately it’s not. More beautifully designed hair models, more natural colors and possibly, at least in the openworld, animated hair would be a clear improvement to the current state. Adjustable for players with weaker computers of course.

The eyes are “ok” at best and could use a little more life through more natural colors. In-game, the faces already look very lifeless anyway, as they have no facial expressions or idles. Possibly this would freshen it all up a bit.

There are very few scars and tattoos and they are either not pretty or out of place as you can’t place them where you want. Makeup options for female characters are completely missing and should be added. This would make the faces even more different. Tattoos and scars for the body would also be nice to see.

Maybe it would be possible to choose between different idles or animation sets. How the character idle, for example, noble or warlike. How his movements look like, for example more masculine or feminine. Further or even more individual sets could possibly be offered via the store or via events, like the emotes.

Identification with the character is currently almost impossible in various ways, especially if you care about detail. In my opinion, identification with the character in an MMO is crucial for long-term motivation. These changes could make a difference, because you’re currently only content with what you have, but you’re not really satisfied with it."

[crimsonwtf]

Reason no body is talking about this is because there is almost no point in making alts . So people have forgotten about the editor .
For this to be relevant we need a barber station in game
As for the editor just copy one from those Asian mmos or some H-games . Those people are masters at making those editors .

[Cherusker]

True. A barber station and an editor similar to that of an Asian MMO would be the right way to go.

[crimsonwtf]

oh man , you really gonna make me list it .
Body type : needs way more options ( Slim , mascular , bulky , and 2-3 more for females , more feminine or curvy ) problem is that the editor itself is limited . we need sliders for this . and everything. not just presets .
Face : sliders again , with sub sections , nose , jaw , all face features with sliders .
Skin tone is fine .
Hair styles is decant but it can always use more . instead of preset colors .
we need color wheel like this :

Facial hair same story : it has decant number , but it could use more , and again color wheel .
Eye color : and again color wheel instead of preset .
Features and scars are whatever , but the tattoos need way more options .

Again the single best thing you could make is Sliders for all those sections , with subsections for face at least .
and the color wheel instead of preset colors .
(eye shapes as its own thing )

i understand what you meant . you are asking what could be just added on the editor .
but i cant without lying say its just about adding things . it needs a soft rework at least .

[Lady-Hexx]

I don’t think my girl is in any way unbeautiful, nor ugly… the opposite actually.

As for many of the other models, yes, they are unbeautiful.
I do love the old lady’s face and was going to choose her, but couldn’t bring myself to use her for the duration of the game.

I would love animated hair, but I expect it would be ‘graphically’ problematic. I know older games do this (Conan Exiles), but I expect more lag would happen.
Everything you suggest would be fantastic, but once again, I think that it ALL would cause the game-file to be MUCH larger, and the lag to become a bigger problem.

But giving more options for us to choose from in the faces and hair would be good… I would LOVE some sliders so I can make my girl even more beautiful (I have decided that you think she is… lol).

I have another suggestion, where you choose beards, let there be a choice of beards or makeup. This is where makeup could be implemented.

Choosing the way your toon stands or moves would be a good thing… as it is, my female moves and stands like a male… I hate it and messes with game immersion. I just cant connect with her, as she looks like a male.

[crimsonwtf]

Yes makeup , shadows blushes , underliners , lashes options .
am a guy but i know how important this is for females . just ask lady hexx about what makeup options there should be . i bet she knows to explain that stuff better .

i mean you character is beautiful but am not sure is she trying to beat me up or
go on a date , looks in between . and that is why sliders are important lol

[Lady-Hexx]

lol…

I think she is sizing you up, whether you would be a worthy mate.
Or she could be wanting to beat you up outside of Windsward.

[Lady-Hexx]

If the sliders (in the body) were limited. Then the issues that ensued would be nonexistent…
Also limit how far the face sliders could go… Or I could imagine all kinds of strange faces would appear in New World… lol

Sliders should be within a set of parameters…

[Lady-Hexx]

Willard, you are a moderator that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy…

Thank you.

[crimsonwtf]

Yeah body slider would be a huge thing , that would require a huge amount of work .
but until that day is impossible ( and i think it should be last on the list , since that feature will be the hardest one to implement )

maybe a work-around in the short term . like putting in body sliders but when character for example puts on an chest item on the character . the body model triggers back to its default .
so it dosnt make …problems to say it softly .

or until all gear in the game is re-coded and engine as well ( so much work) to fit on any body
type that players make . maybe just allow soft sliders that would not exceed the textures of the armor .

i mean i dont know how modular things are in the game , and how they interact with each other . if the body would just clip out of armor ( jesus christ the images in my head) then its possible for soft sliders that would not go over this limit .

[Lady-Hexx]

Dont give us ideas…

Hmmm… a gymnasium where you could become more muscular.
Great idea @Willard

lol lol

[crimsonwtf]

yes just remove all perks for gathering instead you need to go to the gym and workout every day or no fast mining for you … oh … did i just invent a new grind . never mind red flags , abort !

@Lady-Hexx

I mean we could go on a date collecting hemp . or we can fight . but i play musket/bow .
you will hate me wait , you character dosnt have snow background … i see you are catfishing with old pictures .

[Lady-Hexx]

Ummm… here she is right now… lol

I couldn’t use this when talking about faces.

I think our toons would make lovely babies…
But you would have to get past her sword and great axe… lol

[Lady-Hexx]

Hey… @Willard … is there any way you could pass my next suggestion on.

I would LOVE to flip the visor down so you can see the face, but keep the helmet on.

So visor flipping up/down would be amazing.

[crimsonwtf]

i dont have to get past anything you cant see in that helm cant you ? lol
i mean i do have in my musket skill tree ability to put down two traps if you know where am going with that… nah enough this is turning into new world tinder .

People posting below this please talk about the character editor .

[tinyfangz]

Height. If sliders are out of the question, then in the least to offer different body shapes, but also different heights. It is amazing how this can change the visuals of a crowd. All characters the same height is unnatural.

ESO as well as PWI offer to buy hairstyles which remain yours, and especially PWI is a master when it comes to hair and fashion. It is mind blowing how much variety they have managed to introduce. Although I’d not suggest most of the fashion they offer for a New World setting, it is regardless a game to turn to for inspiration. It is stone old but still near unmatched when it comes to character customisation.

The option to change hairstyles frequently, in my opinion, is especially important in a game which does not offer alts. Same goes for the ability to change the looks of armour. We can change colour, yes, but the variety at end game in armour drops severely, and store skins need to be dyable, in the least, but really, New World needs a morph system for skins.

If sliders are not an option, to at least provide a greater face variety, and also friendlier faces. A full blown frozen smile would be awful, yes, but a bit of a happier expression should still be possible?

Skin shading. We got freckles, but the option for rosier cheeks without it looking like heavy make-up or warpaint should also be possible. Men and women can have rosy cheeks, this is not gender specific. Shading overall can change a lot about a face (make-up artists can change a face just through that) so to offer different highlights could provide additional variety to faces as well.

[Seiya]

Reposting my reply from the first thread:

Agreed, I just picked one of the two faces that could pass for an Asian man, but it still looks off to me, one of my favorite parts of games is customizing my character so I was very disappointed in the character creator for a game that came out in 2021.

Agree about the hair as well, half are period relevant but the other half aren’t. I’d also like more facial hair with different textures, most in game now work well for white characters but some look off if you play an Asian or black character; added facial hair with Asian hair texture and black hair texture would be appreciated too.

Thanks again Willard for being so engaged with the community on here.

[Antalicus]

Agreed.

This is one area that people claim to be non-important but for an MMO it is essential to players that like to create a unique character.

I like the idea of unique standing animations and movements. This reminds me of how GTA/Red Dead Online has the ability to select your players walking style. Not something you see in an MMO but a great way to give your character a unique feel.
(Ex: Walk Styles Showcase - Red Dead Online (Gunslinger, Flamboyant, Silent & MORE!) - YouTube)

I think the other area that lacks is the dye system. We need way more dyes and the best way to do this is with a color wheel system. I think Ultima Online (a 20+ year old game) did a good job on this with their dye tub and could easily be approved upon.

[craybest]

I doubt we’ll get body slides, since that would mean remake pretty much all armor to fit different bodytypes.

We could get some height sliders though at least, that wouldn’t need new armor models or body models, just to resize existing assets.

But I really feel we need more facial customization. I feel hair is okay in variety and amount, but from faces, most people are using the same 3 or 4 for both genders, so more customization both in (hopefully) actual face sliders, or more face options (specially more handsome faces for both genders, it’s obvious most people choose those).

and then also more customization in make up, scars, tattoos, jewelry, etc.

And then, hopefully new options being sold in the store, a way to change some options ingame, like a barber too

all of this is really important to tons of people. cosmetics is a HUGE thing in MMOs, and the more options the better for everyone.

[Cherusker]

The color wheel is really a great idea, that would be a great extension for the color system in general, especially if more natural colors could be chosen! At the moment the colors look very cartoonish.

About the sliders. If sliders, for whatever reason, should not work, so you could also adjust the different face parts also individually via a selection. For example 20-30 different eye shapes, eyebrows, noses and lips. Chin and jaw would of course also be great. The faces themselves would have to be reworked in my opinion, for the reasons already mentioned above.

If new body shapes are problematic, it would be interesting to know if the engine is able to scale the armor based on the body, so that n-different armors would not have to be adapted to n-different bodies, since the armor adapts to the body. Sliders would still be the best option here.

In short, the editor would need customizable eye shapes, eyebrows, noses, lips and other facial features. In addition, more beautifully designed and fitting faces, hair and beards in general would be needed. Natural colors for eyes, hair and beards. Makeup options. More options for tattoos, warpaints and scars. Generally more customization options like animations, facial expressions and idles. More lively looking characters at all.

And last but not least a possibility to change yourself ingame whenever you want.