Character customization and advancement

It is arguable that the character is the single most important element to an MMO. I personally believe a game is mostly judged by how well it ties the player to the character he plays. The more empathy the player feels for his digital avatar the more he will enjoy the game experience.City of Heroes is a prime example of this idea; the game at best is an average game when looked at from a world, quest or game mechanic viewpoint. It still has a loyal following in my view almost solely on its excellent character creation process and how it ties the player to their character.The character creation process is very important. It is the first experience every player will confront. Character model assets are the hardest to get right and the worst to get wrong in a game. A beautiful world is wasted if the players do not feel like they are being properly represented within it. I believe this is one of the failures of EVE; the lack of being able to visually customize your avatar (ship).There are not a magical number of types of hair, nose, or lip models; or any other editable model component but it will be noticeable if there are not enough. There should be a wide variety of options. Many current generation games give the slider option to edit facial or body models but going from one extreme to the other has little noticeable difference. Body size and style should be widely editable as well. I think it is also important to add in models that are not of some physical ideal only. I think a great deal of flavor could be added by being able to make an “ugly” character.The clothing and item models need to be numerous and dyeable at a minimum in current games and with the addition of the costume mechanic added by EQ2 and LOTRO where what you wear is not tied to the items equipped for bonuses I believe this feature is becoming a new standard as well. One note on wearable items I feel needs to be mentioned is that the styles available in any certain game should remain true to the established lore of the game. I am not a fan of Christmas hats or other holiday items that do not fit the game universe. LOTRO has done well in this regard with their seasonal events tying into the lore itself but poorly in adding the pirate themed outfits recently.Players want two main things for their characters, first and foremost is to be able to distinguish them as individual and not a copy of another. Secondly they want their actions to matter within the game universe. I will comment of character actions in another post and focus on their individuality.Classes limit individuality be shoe-horning a character’s choices into a preset structure as well most class based games further limit player choice by making each character within a given class functionally the same. Guild Wars did about as well with a class system as has been done by giving a wide selection of individual skills and limiting the numbers that can be used at any one time.A skills only system I feel is too open by giving players too many choices it is difficult for players to define their roles as well as it becomes very hard for developers to balance a skills only system.I personally think a hybrid of the two may be the best answer. Classes help players know their purpose. I think each class should have a set of available attributes with a defined set of skills assigned to each. Give each player an option to assign values to the selected attributes that effect the entire set of skills also give the player skill points to assign to individual skills to personalize their character further. Assign a possible maximum allocation to each skill that shifts higher as the player advances.Also as a player advances and levels their character; not only would they gain health and power reserves but allow them to gain extra skill points to assign. In addition as skills reach a certain value allow that to open advanced skills as well.This system can be complex and opens the possibility for the players to make mistakes. I would allow players to respec their skill points at each level of advancement, this would give them the ability to change their selections but not do it whenever they choose. Perhaps allow characters to not respec points below a point if advanced skills have been opened with an allocation but allow those advanced points to be re-speced.I think that would allow for both a sense of direction to a character as well as a sense of individuality and accomplishment as any given character advances. With having multiples types of advancement options I would also suggest to have the individual levels advance fairly quickly each giving a very small increase in power and health with the larger skill points to come at greater intervals. To those that have pen and paper experience my notice I borrowed heavily from Dungeon and Dragons and several of the better current MMO offering, I really feel a combination of what has already been created could be the perfect fit if just all the right pieces were put together.