Character Creation

[fallen_hero]

Neverwinter Nights has a great character creation tool. It takes the complex process and separates it into single steps which can be followed one after another. It can be used to create individual characters as well as pre-packaged and also comes with a recommended button that's usefull if you are not sure what to do at a certain point.

The ultima series has the nice seance with the tarot cards. I like the spirit of that, it gives the journey a somewhat mystical beginning but it is not fine if you want to play a certain character. You often end up with a character you don't want to play or that doesn't seem to fit at several points of the game, so it's not my favorite character generation method.

[subbassman]

All because it doesn't give you exact stats? You need to guess or something?

[fallen_hero]

Yeah, it's hard to figure out which answers are right to be given a certain character. You can look them up on the internet but that would be cheating somehow...

I like the decisions the game put's you in with giving you moralic choices and after that opening up the proper cards. It's just that I'm not satisfied often with the characters I get in the end.

[subbassman]

I never play any game that can't give me exact stats.

[SoulSojourner]

I am completely behind option #4. I prefer as much customization, freedom, and choice as possible. I enjoy this creation process almost as much as I enjoy playing, so I can't spend "too much time" on it.

I also believe implementing option #3 or option #2 in ADDITION to option #4 is ideal. This gives people who don't want to figure it out a way out of doing that. But honestly, I believe using ALL three methods is by far the best way. If I had to pick I would say for sure option #4 then backed up by option #2. As a bonus, add option #3.

I like full freedom plain and simple, and I usually balance my character just fine. I realize some people don't and maybe they ruin the game for themselves, but there's only so much you can do to help an idiot play a game. Because even if you babysit them through creation process so they don't mess it up, they're going to run into something else later that has the same effect.

As for option 2. I hate not being able to choose for myself, but I can live with it if I have to. Any game I begin that forces this upon me usually gets my animosity as a first impression. However, I think games that have this option as a back up to freedom (or vice versa) are awesome, because it gives idiots, impatient people, and/or people who just don't want that much choice an option that allows them a way out. Also it speeds up the process of creation, if someone is in a hurry (not necessarily impatient).

As for option 3. For almost every game that has this, I choose this option just to see what I'd get. I've always loved this sort of option, but I *always* cancel creation once it gives my results and go do it myself afterwards, because I still prefer the freedom.

As for option #1. I hate dice rolls, I hate randomizing my stats over and over again trying to get what I want because I typically spend all day at it, far longer than I would if I could freely choose, and in the end I just pick something I am not satisfied with and feel disappointed with my end result that I invested so much time in. This makes me angry and my first impression of a game that forces this on me is typically one of a furious nature.

[SoulSojourner]

The Morrowind type character creation is fun for the first time, but for later start overs it gets annoying if you don't have a shortcut. If you don't like the questionnaire you should be able to choose from building your own character by selecting skills and allocating points, or to choose from premade characters. Morrowind gives you these shortcuts.

I prefer the free choice method because I like to customize even my character's tiniest bits. But for the first time, when I am new to the given RPG system and I do not see the connections between the attributes and skills, I like to browse and study premade characters. Even better if you can select and edit a premade character. That way you can keep the main characteristics and only fine tune the character to your taste.

So my choice is point 4 combined with point 2. The questionnarie is an option on top of them.

This.

Do you prefer using brute force or smart actions?

Both. Smart actions whenever possible, but if it's clear the reward or trouble isn't worth it, then perhaps brute force is.

Do you spend a lot of time creating a character?

If the customization options are there, then yes, hours. I enjoy every minute of it.

How important is replayability?

It's not. It's a bonus, but honestly as much as I may enjoy a particular game, I can replay it years later when I've forgotten things. I don't need to keep playing it; I have other games to play and the list is too long as it is.

Which was the most replayable game you've ever played?

Neverwinter Nights - RPG wise. As for other genre's, who knows, too hard to say. I can come back to many FPS' any time and play with friends, and strategy games like Tropico and Civilization never get old. Then you have life-sucking games like Terraria and Craft The World which can keep you glued for hours on end (100's, 1000's) until burning you out entirely. Also ACTION RPG replayability, like Diablo 2 and Path of Exile.... well yeah, never ending.

Which game had the best character creation screen/method?

That's too hard to answer. I have played many games with a nice amount of customization. I thoroughly enjoyed Dragon's Dogma and Neverwinter Nights, and Mass Effect, and so forth, but I think that Sims 3 comes in close-second while Saints Row 1, 2, 3, AND 4 all take the cake. Especially 3 and 4. 1 being the least, no female gender, for starters. That's what I say when it comes to character appearance customization, but when it comes to stats and attributes/skills etc. That's very tough. Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines did a nice job of this, but also Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and Neverwinter Nights. Many other games too, have done well, and I may even be forgetting a top contender. It's a tough call.

This is what I like to see:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMB

But it scares some people away. To each his own. I only stopped playing Path of Exile after about a year of playing because it consumed too much of my time and I didn't have any time to spare for other games, so I've quit entirely, but I will be back. Mark my words. Between purchases for myself and my wife, I've probably spent over $1000 on this FREE TO PLAY game, because I support the developers and I like cosmetic microtransactions, and I am obsessed with customization.

[subbassman]

That's a bit too much I think. Also, we have no skill tree, although it could probably be arranged into some kind of tree, but I don't really like that approach for some reason.