Character Creation needs to be changed - stop confusing newbies, ZOS

bluebird

Thank you all for the great comments, improving Lighting and Racial Passives are really good ideas!

Yes the lighting is especially deceptive! For some reason the char creator, char selection screen, and ingame all look drastically different. Some other games even let you preview your character in different light conditions by having a 'Day/Night' toggle in the character creator. Something like that, or just improved lighting in general would really help char creation be more true to the end result!

It's also a great point that Racial Passives should be emphasised somehow. Seeing the particular leaning of a race might give players a better idea of the race/build combinations they might find most useful. Although imo newbies should pick a race/class combo they'll enjoy so they have a greater connection to the game, rather than feel pressured by racial bonuses, but seeing all the races clearly would definitely give them a better and more informed decision!

kaisernick wrote: »

bluebird wrote: »

- Another option would be to change it into 'Light Armor' 'Medium Armor' 'Heavy Armor' and 'No Armor'. Currently the char creator previews Anequina/Pellitine armor as 'Novice Gear', and Sunspire armor as 'Champion Gear' ... but none of these are particularly relevant or informative choices. If devs want to keep some manner of armor preview in there, it would be far better if they previewed armor type options instead. That way, classes wouldn't have a pre-assigned armor type as they do now (Heavy- DK, Templar; Medium - NB, Warden; Light - Sorc, Necro). Instead, players could pick any armor type on any class; much like they can ingame.

This is actually a bad idea, while i agree that gear doesnt define your character having nothing would mean you dont know if you made your ass or chest or arm so big they look daft when wearing armor.
i would say some default armor maybe like it was in vanilla wehere you wore class armor makes the mose sense, or better yet have it so you can see each class in each armor type.

That's pretty much what my post says. If they want to keep armour previews on classes, there should be an option to choose Light, Medium, Heavy, and No Armor on all classes. Rather than Templars being forced into Heavy Style 1 and Heavy Style 2

FierceSam wrote: »

I believe you are wrong about the Champion/Novice gear previews. I think it’s really valuable for new players. First, it varies depending on which class you choose, which helps players with no knowledge of the game/lore distinguish between them. Second, the Champion Gear plays into the ‘power fantasy’ of each class, showing what a badass Sorc, Templar, Warden etc might look like. And, third, it clearly shows that there is some visual benefit to levelling up and that a character’s appearance is in some ways tied to experience and level.

But armour types do not depend on the class you choose, why should armour previews vary based on the class? This doesn't help players distinguish between them, it gives players a false sense of connection between class <--> armour.

Also, I don't think that the Sunspire style feeds into an Altmer Templar power fantasy any more than the Heavy Anequina does. None of these have to do with player power, since they are just motifs and any level armour can be crafted in any style. And with the Outfit system the 'look' of an armour is even more irrelevant since you can wear medium armour and make it look like heavy. So no, a character's appearance is really not 'tied to experience and level' in ESO.

relentless_turnip wrote: »

It is just my opinion and my experience, but I don't feel viewing your character in various gear is a problem. Nor do I think it is confusing or misleading.

I'm glad it doesn't affect you, many people won't have issues of course But to this day I keep reading wrong noob questions in my guild chats that keep coming up again and again.Yesterday for example people asked a new player what class he is using and he said 'Magicka'. After some questioning, it turned out he thought that he chose Sorcerer because he wanted to play a Magicka spellcaster.

And if you look at the char creation, this misinformation is 100% the game's fault. Does the game tell new players that they can have a badass Fire Mage build if they choose DragonKNIGHT which has only heavy armour on the preview? Does the game tell new players that they can play a life-force-sucking staff-wielding dark spellcaster if they choose NightBLADE which only has medium armour on the preview and is described as a class with only 'stealth, blades and speed'?

So ofc it won't be a problem for everyone, but it is definitely a recurring misconception. And I for one am tired of all the 'What class should I choose if I want a heavy armour warrior?' questions when so much of this could be avoided

tsaescishoeshiner

The REAL fix character creation needs is an indicator for the "Eyebrow Skew" slider. WHERE is the middle for even eyebrows?? There are an EVEN number of slider ticks 😫

ArchangelIsraphel

While I agree with you on some technical aspects of class choice being confusing, as well as displaying stereotypical armors being the wrong way to go about character creation, I don't want to see the ability to preview gear removed entirely. As someone who is very meticulous about the body proportions of characters and how they'll look in various clothing, I need the armor previews to see exactly how armor fits over the body mesh so that I can proportion it appropriately to look right in the type of outfits I'll be using on my characters. If anything I'd prefer your option to have many different armor styles available for preview rather than none at all.

barney2525

First, I just want to be sure I understand - you are making a big issue out of the 'preview' in character creation ? Which only shows what a character ' might ' look like in a specific gear. And this is some big problem? Its an example of clothes. It says 'Preview'. It does not say "You must find and wear'.

As to the rest, this is an online game. New players have the option to do what I do when I decide I want to try a new game.

It's called.... drum roll please .... RESEARCH

If the player is that interested to find out all about the classes and races and everything about the game before hand, they can Google to their hearts content. They can learn everything they want to know beforehand.

Additionally, unlike other games, if you start a character here and really don't like it, you can dump it and create something different immediately.

I understand being a new player, trying to learn the game. But when exactly did the responsibility of learning the game go from the player... to the Company ? There is an Abundance of information from the company and even More from from players who make videos about specific topics. Lots of 'Beginner' and 'New Player' tutorials IF the player decides they want to do their homework.

I just don't understand the big issue here.

Starlock

Eh, I agree and disagree with the thrust of the OP. Coming to ESO from the classless games in the rest of the Elder Scrolls franchise, I wasn't really confused by it years back. The only thing that really confused me is the fact that classes were a thing at all, and that they were mandatory. Elder Scrolls doesn't need them, this game doesn't need them, but it has them so here we are. As I expected from an Elder Scrolls game, neither armors nor weapons are tied to class, even though it had classes. I can only imagine someone being confused if they think ESO is somehow like other MMOs.

None of this is to say the interface couldn't use some improvement. I was not a fan of them replacing the racial armor previews with those from Elsweyr, especially since the "champion" gear style is Sunspire of all things, which requires running a bloody trial to obtain. I get that they did it because the aesthetic of the original motifs is now dated, but it makes no sense to have the division be "novice" and "champion" anymore - just do a single style in preview and make it light, medium, heavy as the OP suggests.

As for class descriptions, leave them alone but add in a UI that allows players to preview the actual class lines. Granted, there aren't that many games that do this, but that'd be the ideal. When making my first character, I only knew that sorcerer was the mandatory pick for a lightning mage by doing outside research (which wouldn't be so bad if games actually still came with proper print manuals these days).

Tigerseye

'Wardens are defenders of the Green, calling upon nature to rejuvenate their allies, summoning animals to aid them in combat, and wielding frost magic to damage enemies and bolster their own defenses.'

Don't even really need the bit I crossed out, to be honest, as the primary reason for Winter's Embrace is tanking.

Any damage is secondary.

Whereas, I do kind of like the whimsical part and I would tend to refer to the class skill lines in the same order they appear in-game.

So, I would probably go with:

Warden: 'Wardens are defenders of the Green, master storytellers whose nature tales become magical reality. They summon animals to aid them in combat, call upon nature to rejuvenate their allies and wield frost magic to bolster their own defenses.'

That would be a more complete description, without losing the rp aspect.