Early Character Creator and Name Generator?

[GameGeekRob]

In the Kickstarter campaign, there are several options to reserve your character's name and to even provide a 300 word description of your character for immortalization within the game. Awesome stuff!

I'm just a bit curious about how we will be able to dictate what our character looks like in such descriptions if we do not know how we can actually make our characters look using the game's character creator. In my personal case, I also don't know enough Pathfinder lore to develop a proper name for an elf, so without the name generator, I have no clue what name I will reserve for my character.

I think it might be beneficial to release the game's character creator at some point before early enrollment so that players can develop their charcters and also generate and reserve their name. The character's customized appearance could be saved locally for now, then loaded up to the character creator in the "full" game or it can be sent to GW to hold onto until launch, tied to your account.

This could be done by opening up PFO account registration before Kickstarter surveys are sent. When backers receive the survey, they simply supply their PFO account name, which will then be flagged with reward options, such as using the character creator and name reservation. Character descriptions (or even the character's file) for the appropriate rewards can then be submitted to GW for the respective reward levels.

A Japanese game (Phantasy Star Online 2) did something similar by releasing their character creator as a separate client that allowed players to prepare for launch. The client also determined how well your computer could run the game. It was a neat little something that was both helpful and kept players hyped for the initial launch.

[Dario]

Well, they wouldn't be able to put out the character generator anytime soon anyway, as I doubt they've completed all the character customization resources. As far as generating and reserving your name, if you're going to use the Random Name Generator, what exactly are you looking to reserve?

If you just want a random elven name generator, try http://www.rdinn.com/generators/2/elven_name_generator.php

If you want something Pathfinder specific, this one does various human ethnicities. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/random-name-generator

[GameGeekRob]

Yeah, the "final" product is a good ways away. I wouldn't expect the character creator anytime soon, but its still something they could probably release separately as its own client ahead of the game.

I was looking to name a male elf, but I assumed Pathfinder had specific naming structure for elves. I also think that with the inclusion of last names for your character, you'd need to generate one of those, as well.

[Richter Bones]

If you pledge at the Pathfinder $35 or higher you will get the Pathfinder Core Book PDF and the Guide to the River Kingdoms PDF which will help you get an idea together. I'm assuming that these will be available shortly after the kickstarter is over.

If you wanted your character to have fiery red hair that danced about her head as part of the essay they most likely would model that in game and then make it available for everyone to use.

While it would be great to get a character generator early, it is likely that the generator will be updated and changed all the way up to release.

I'm still waiting on more information on how the class/skill system is going to work since it seems like you are not going to be selecting for example cleric or fighter in the beginning.

[Nihimon]

I would love to have access to the character creation system well before the game is released.

[Keovar]

If you're looking for lore-appropriate name ideas, check the Inner Sea World Guide.

[Dakcenturi]

As demonstrated by the Environment Experience, the great thing about Unity is they could push out a web version of the character creator in the future for us to play with :)

[GameGeekRob]

Dakcenturi wrote:

As demonstrated by the Environment Experience, the great thing about Unity is they could push out a web version of the character creator in the future for us to play with :)

And with the announcement of Pit Fight, a web-based character creator seems even more possible. You could create your character and save it for early enrollment, right on the site!

[Dakcenturi]

Saving it to upload later may be a bit more difficult but saving it and the settings you used to create it to expedite re-creating it I could see being a very easy thing.

[hewhocaves]

Even something as easy as having an alphanumeric code for each piece that you write down and can then manually enter into the character generator would be beneficial.

[GameGeekRob]

With the Phantasy Star Online 2 game, the early release of the character creator became a fun hobby for many community members. They were constantly creating different characters just to show off. Some cool, some goofy, some cute. There was even an official contest to create the "best" character to be voted on, the winner received some goodies and the inclusion of their creation as an NPC in game. The winning character was hilarious! It was fun all around!

[Chiassa]

GameGeekRob wrote:

With the Phantasy Star Online 2 game, the early release of the character creator became a fun hobby for many community members. They were constantly creating different characters just to show off. Some cool, some goofy, some cute. There was even an official contest to create the "best" character to be voted on, the winner received some goodies and the inclusion of their creation as an NPC in game. The winning character was hilarious! It was fun all around!

As someone who used to spend hours just creating different characters in City of Heroes, I'm on board with this!

[Dario]

Man, we spent *years* crying for a stand alone character creator in CoH....

[Nymerias]

It sounds like such a wonderful idea. I really hope that going with Unity means it is much more likely. Also if GW was about to see feedback about which options were being chosen the most/least etc. and we could give feedback on options it would sound like an excellent Crowforging tool.

[Dorje Sylas]

Dario wrote:

Man, we spent *years* crying for a stand alone character creator in CoH....

Never to be because Marvel was a bunch of rotten crumguions about it. And now never shall be. *raises a glass to CoH* I'd still pay like 200 for a totally stand alone CoH/V game with all the goodies. Given computers these days the raw server files can't be that big relatively.

[GameGeekRob]

Another thought, though I'm not a TRPG player myself, I imagine a character creator could be an interesting resource for those who do play the TRPG to help visualize their characters.

[Elorebaen]

Nihimon wrote:

I would love to have access to the character creation system well before the game is released.

+1

[Elorebaen]

Keovar wrote:

If you're looking for lore-appropriate name ideas, check the Inner Sea World Guide.

The Inner Sea World Guide rocks. You will also find the PF Wiki really useful.