character-creation
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The Daily Grind: Your first Champions Online open beta character
The Champions Online open beta will begin tomorrow and we know a lot of you will be playing -- not quite as many as there would be if it was a bit more open, but a sizeable number nevertheless. Some open beta players will be veterans of the earlier testing stages and will be much more excited for the actual launch, but for others, this hands-on experience with Cryptic's upcoming MMO will be a first. After being tortured by news and videos (not to mention the delay) for so long, they'll finally be able to explore the game for themselves.If you find yourself in this camp, you might at least have a vague idea of the first character you want to make. Choosing a power set is only the beginning. Indeed, it's easy to spend hours perfecting a superhero with Champions Online's robust character creation. Today we ask you readers, do you already have some plans for your first character tomorrow? Power sets, travel powers, names, body types, costume elements, back-stories? Let us know in the comments section. You can check out Kyle's Create my Champion series to get a refresher on the various powers that are available, and we've got Bill Roper's character creation video after the break.
Massively Hands-on: Champions Online Desert Crisis zone
We've given you a look at Champions Online's character creation, combat and first five levels -- plus we just began our Create My Champion feature yesterday. Today, we're here to tell you about one of the two zones you'll encounter after completing the tutorial zone: Desert Crisis.For this play-through we created a Force character with Jet Boots, who's a bit of Defender and The Comedian all rolled into one baddie-knocking hero. The force explosion power was especially fun and we discovered that taking the passive personal force field ability -- which reduces all incoming damage -- was a smart choice. Never underestimate a well-rounded character, especially when soloing.%Gallery-68570%
Champions Online video showcases character creation
It's been a long time coming, but Cryptic has put out a video through Gamespy detailing character creation with glorious in-game footage of the actual process. If you've been following information on Champions Online for some time now, you probably won't learn anything new in terms of what Bill Roper talks about during the video. However, videos are worth more words than anything else, so we doubt that will bother anyone too much.Soon -- very soon actually -- the open beta will arrive and everyone will get a crack at superhero design in Champions Online. We can't wait to see what kind of craziness people come up with, especially when components are in place to make what appears to be robot-clown-demons and other disturbing concoctions.Check out the full video after the break.
New Global Agenda gameplay vids show off customization and PvP
As the shooter-MMO hybrid Global Agenda enters closed beta this month, the team at Hi-Rez Studios has begun to release more videos showing off gameplay footage. John Walker over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun hunted down and rounded up the new videos from Gametrailers, which give us a good look at how the game is shaping up. The first video shows off the character creation process, with a cut scene explaining your introduction to the world, trapped and floating in a cloning tank monitored by machines, then rescued by armored human allies. That's followed up by footage of other character creation options in Global Agenda, from the look of your agent's body to armor customization, as well as showing how large and open the game's social hubs will be. Even better, there are two more videos that show off Global Agenda's combat, demonstrating both co-op gameplay and PvP. We've got video embeds of the combat footage after the jump:
Breakfast Topic: How old is your character?
Bricu of WTT: [RP] put forth a pretty thought-provoking question the other day: How old are your characters? From one point of view, that's pretty simple. You do a quick /played, report back the number of days it returns, and there you go. But, especially for those of us who roleplay, it can sometimes go a bit deeper. Sometimes, we take our characters across games. Of course, this doesn't mean importing characters completely wholesale, you understand. On the RP end, you're still going to want to convert them to be born and bred citizens of Azeroth (or Outland), and either way, you may not be able to convert them to the exact race or class they were. There's just no Human Rangers or Halfling Monks in WoW, more's the pity.
E3 2009: A look at APB's extensive character customization
There's been a lot of speculation about All Points Bulletin, the upcoming game from Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds, but at a closed-door demonstration at E3, we were finally able to take a good look at the game with lead designer EJ Moreland. And while many MMOs have detailed character customization, we've never seen anything quite like this.During the video presentation of the game, Moreland said that the developers were focused on "the three C's" -- creativity, conflict and celebrity. The heart of APB is giving players the maximum flexibility to create what they want. Using the same customization tool that the developers use to make the thousands of NPCs in the game, players can modify their characters in a myriad of ways.%Gallery-64700%
The Daily Grind: How do you pick character names?
With the Aion EU beta coming up this weekend, it's time to think about names and what I'm going to call my Elyos avatar. Names are important, right? I recently became an auntie and the name of my newborn niece will shape her as a person, the same can be said for our toons. Of course some are obvious, every server will have its Legolas (and variants thereof). Sometimes names are more descriptive, like Banker for your level 2 druid who never leaves the mailbox and occasionally they are puns. For example, my level 4 Paladin is named 'Hikari' which is a Japanese word meaning 'light'. Quite apt eh? Meanwhile, Eshte and Auryn are minor characters in a series of novels I'm trying to write. As for Serisa, well it sounded good at the time and now I answer to it as much as I do to my own name!So, constant readers, tell me how do you pick your names? Do you pick ones that match your toon's faction? Do you take inspiration from novels or computer games? Do you use the internet to pick a suitable moniker or do you just create one which sounds right? Are they puns or do they mean something specific to you?
Choose my Adventure: Introducing Moira Zonk
Join me as I brave my way through lands unknown in an adventure dictated entirely by you, the Massively readers! Vote for everything from game played to character creation to ultimate goal and watch it unfold in a series of journals and galleries here on the site. Then, as the ultimate goal is reached, we'll do it all over again in a new game!After Monday's post getting us on our way in Guild Wars, you voted on what type of character I should make to begin my adventures. The character has been made and the first goal has been reached: getting a second profession. In this installment, you'll vote on the next goal and the ultimate goal I should reach before moving on to another game.I've decided to make this project go two ways: one as a basic rundown of what I've done in the game to achieve my goals, and another to be more of a supplementary 'in-character' journal provided in the captions of the gallery, linked below. So follow along after the jump for an explanation of how your choices molded my newest Guild Wars character, and don't forget to vote in the newest polls before tomorrow at this same time, when the polls will close.%Gallery-64234%
Choose my Adventure: Guild Wars
Join me as I brave my way through lands unknown in an adventure dictated entirely by you, the Massively readers! Vote for everything from game played to character creation to ultimate goal and watch it unfold in a series of journals and galleries here on the site. Then, as the ultimate goal is reached, we'll do it all over again in a new game!Last Friday, I asked the Massively readers to choose which game I'll be beginning my adventures, and Guild Wars has won with almost 24% of the vote. Now that we have a game chosen, let's move on to character creation, class specialization and initial direction.In Guild Wars, players get to initially choose what type of character they will be: PvE (Roleplaying) or PvP-only. The PvE characters are played much as your run-of-the-mill RPG character, with level progression, storyline quests and the like, but PvP-only characters are a bit different. They start at max level (20) and are confined to the PvP arenas. Their items and skills are restricted to those previously unlocked on your account through the advancement of a PvE character, or through the purchase of PvP unlock packs on the Guild Wars store.
Breakfast Topic: A trip down memory lane
While browsing the General Discussion forums the other day, I noticed a recently-resurrected 2007 thread collecting players' oldest screenshots. Due to the age of the thread, some of the links (mostly on the first two pages) are dead and gone, which was really disappointing because some of them sound great, but there are plenty of good ones. Among the best are the character creation screen during beta, the old Troll epic mount, and -- according to Gorhendizzle of Bloodhoof on page 5 -- the first publicity screenshot Blizz ever released. I don't know whether that's true, but trying to figure out what the screenshot is of is driving me nuts. It looks like Elwynn, but I can't tell where.My own oldest screenshot (see above) is fairly tame by comparison; I had just turned 41, and was proudly astride my new kodo on a starry night outside Orgrimmar. What (if anything) prompted you to start snapping ingame pictures? Are there any historical gems buried in your own screenshot folder? Search your hard drive; you know it to be true.
Massively Hands-on: Creating superheroes in Champions Online
This last weekend, press had the opportunity to spend my time within the Champions Online beta. After playing more than I would safely recommend, I bring you my personal takeaway in an effort to get out as much crunchy information goodness on the upcoming MMO as possible.Do you like options? I really hope you love options, because you're going to get smacked upside the head with so many options when you first encounter Champions Online's character creation, that your mind -- much like my own -- is going to be reeling with all the possibilities.Each and every time I made a thematically new hero, the creation process ate up more time than I ever thought possible. Let me explain why this happens, and what you can expect when you first sit down to make your very own creations.
Free Realms interview explains character customization options
Free Realms is a pretty hot topic in the MMO world right now, and with good reason. If the game can live up to expectations, Free Realms may just be a game that both adults and young kids can enjoy. The art style of Free Realms is distinctive and this carries over to the look of the characters themselves. Carolyn Koh from MMORPG.com recently caught up with Free Realms art director Rosie Rappaport and associate art director Sebastian Strzalkowski to talk about some of the game's character customization options. The interview kicks off with a discussion of the inspiration for the art style we'll soon see in Free Realms, but the discussion focuses heavily on the potential for customization. The game will launch with Humans and Pixies as the playable races, with some customization options unique to each race. The title will not have slider bars to scroll through the various character creation options as with some other MMOs, but will have more 'playful' icons that open up the various options for skin tone, face paint, hairstyles, and wings (in the case of Pixies). According to the SOE artists, "In the case of the Pixies, the wings can be customized to look very elegant and floral or they can be bat-like and scaly." If you're interested in the customization options available to Free Realms characters, have a look at the MMORPG.com interview with the title's artists.
WoW Rookie: A character by any other name would be so weak
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.Your character's name is literally the essence of your World of Warcraft experience. Think about it: from the way you think of your character (a roleplaying personality, a tool for gaming achievements, an expression of yourself) to the way others see you, your name plays a defining role.While Blizzard indulges in the occasional sly riff on pop culture and even pays homage to the WoW community when naming NPCs (non-player characters) and items, you may find yourself dismayed by the results after attempting to do the same with your own characters. The way we see it, character names are like tattoos – and what seemed like a great idea at 1 a.m. on a Saturday night might not smell so fresh in the harsh light of day.Naming characters can seem overwhelming to a new player, especially if you're creating a character on an established server where many popular name combinations have already been claimed. Let's cover the basics of finding an appealing name that won't wear thin or break any rules.
Starting out in Vana'diel: Character creation & taking your first steps
As we've said on Massively multiple times, Final Fantasy XI is a hard game. The crafting is complex, the gameplay is somewhere between EverQuest and World of Warcraft, and dying can be painful when you lose experience. Some people may tell you that the game just isn't that fun, but the game can be really rewarding and a great experience when you really get into it. It's just getting into it that's the trouble.But we here at Massively have your back. Well, more specifically, I've got your back. I've played Final Fantasy XI since it came out in the states, and more recently I started a brand new character and began taking notes on the entire experience. It isn't easy to start out in FFXI, but I've got some tricks to share with you that will make it much easier and much more fun. I'll be sharing them with you during our new twice a week series, "Starting out in Vana'diel."So are you ready to try a new gameplay experience? Follow me, let's go for a tour and check out the beginning of the game when you have to make some decisions in character creation and grab some early bonuses through the training NPCs.
The lowdown on EVE Online's New Player Experience
Among all the massively multiplayer online games out there, with their respective learning curves, EVE Online perhaps has the deserved reputation for being the hardest MMO to get a grasp of. Much of that confusion is because the game itself is such a departure from your standard fantasy MMO, in almost every respect: open world/single server, PvP can happen everywhere, a harsh setting, and a UI that's a far cry from anything a player has seen in World of Warcraft.The EVE in-game tutorial has been revamped a few times in order to make it easier for new players to get a handle on things. What is currently offered is a noticeable improvement over the tutorial of a few years ago, but CCP Games is in the process of completely reworking a player's first steps into the game's setting of New Eden. EVE Online developer CCP Fear's latest blog is, in his words, required reading for anyone interested in the game, new player or not. He says, "I want to get one misconception out of the way. This blog *will* concern you and everyone else. If you have played for a year, 6 years, 3 months or a week, you will want to read further than this. Chances are there will be changes that will affect you!"
Felicia Day teaches Jimmy Fallon about World of Warcraft
I'm back and forth on Jimmy Fallon -- when NBC first announced that he was taking over the great Conan O'Brien's late night spot, I wasn't real impressed. But since then, you can't say he hasn't worked for it -- the show, which isn't even on the air yet, has been blogging and running all over the country to drum up some interest (including a little gig with the guys at sister site Engadget), and their latest stop takes then to the abode of our good friend Felicia Day to play World of Warcraft.As you can see above, Fallon isn't much for Azeroth -- while Felicia is rocking a pretty hardcore Warlock, Jimmy still has a tough time getting past the character creation screen. But he did drum at least one laugh out of me (which is one more than he ever got from me on SNL), so well done. I very much agree with the commenters on the blog -- if he can keep the show technology and geek-focused like this (and maybe get at least one character up to level 30 -- all Felicia had to do was say "roll on a PvE server," right?), he might have a chance at filling Conan's shoes.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
No account-wide DKs just yet (for some)
As of the shortly before Wrath launch time, the plan for Death Knight character creation was as follows: If you have a level 55 or greater character on any realm, You can create one DK per realm on any realm you like. You can't, of course, create DKs of the opposite faction on a PvP server on which you already have characters. Since the expansion launched, though, due to technical limitations, it has only been possible to create a DK on servers on which you have a 55+. 3.0.8 was supposed to ease this restriction, returning to the original design of DK unlocking being acount-wide rather than server-wide. However, "due to unforeseen circumstances," this change was not fully executed. Some people are able to create DKs on any realm as intended (myself included), but some are not. Neth promises that we will see the change come to all "in the near future," hopefully after some rolling restarts tonight. And here's hoping those same rolling restarts solve the Wintergrasp crashing bug that's annoying us all so intensely.
[1.Local]: The WI week from the inside out
Reader comments – ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week. Don't be that guyYou are not prepared – but do you really need to be? Readers are of varying minds when it comes to how much preparation to expect (and even to demand) from fellow players in heroics and pickup raids. "Whether you like the idea of being 'carried' or not, I don't see a problem with people diving right in on heroics," notes Steve. "As many posters in this thread have demonstrated, if you know how to play your class, you can make up for being undergeared. ... I recognize that most of the folks out there in your PuGs will not be min/maxed or have ever heard of the Elitist Jerks site or have an optimal rotation. No worries -- I don't bother to look people up on the Armory, since Armory doesn't tell me anything about their skill level. And now that I'm outfitted head to toe in Naxx epics, I can do the carrying for low party DPS or a tank that isn't def capped."I actually enjoy healing bad PuGs more than guildie groups, because if everyone is geared and knows what they are doing, there isn't a lot for the healer to do -- the tank is taking steady predictable damage and I occasionally need to throw out an AOE heal if the party takes damage from something. So go ahead and 'be that guy'; I'll still heal you as long as you aren't rude and are at least trying. Just be up front with the group about where you are at in gear level or DPS when you join."
Aion producer Brian Knox interviewed
Aion: The Tower of Eternity has been kicking ass over in its local territory of Korea, and we're sure that there's a growing throng of folks out in the rest of the world that are dying to try it out. Massive Gamer Magazine recently had an interview with Brian Knox, a producer for the game, and what he said didn't give us much hope for betas outside of Korea -- at least not in any meaningful form. He says (correctly) that gamers are quick to judge a title on its beta, and that they would prefer to have "exclusive preview events" to show off the game at its best instead. Having said that, Korea did have a beta before launch, and hopefully we will too.A lot of the interview is spent discussing Aion's high level of customization. Knox claims that the character creation system is so robust that it would be possible to "literally create your own race within a race" by tweaking the sliders. As players level up, they will have the chance to equip stones that will change existing skills or grant new ones, further adding to character uniqueness. The other aspect of the game that Knox seemed very keen to talk about is the flying mechanic. Far from being tacked on, flight is intended to be integral to the gameplay in Aion, and its strategic use will be of the utmost importance in combat. To find out more, check out the full interview, which is now available online.
New details on custom powers and more for Champions Online
It seems like Champions Online is starting to exist in that development space where there's quite a bit of solid, factual information ready to be divulged. How do we know? Easy, the latest Ask Cryptic -- traditionally at least semi-informative, if not pretty entertaining -- gets quite detailed on the subjects of power customization, grinding, character creation and non-combative roles such as healers and buffers.Our seasoned MMO geek "detectotrons" are telling us that a tidal wave of new information is possibly just around the corner, but even so, this newest volley of answers is surprisingly satisfying. That being said, we'd love to hear more about the quest, crafting and PvP systems designed into Champions Online. If only because after creating your superhero, his nemesis (and lackeys) and doing the tutorial, those are the meat and bones of any MMORPG.
