I know it may seem minor, but I remember when I started this game (lets say... 5-7 years ago?) It bummed me out that in the character creation list the race/guild options available to a newbie were such a small portion of the huge number of options. It gave me the impression right away that I could never make an impact on the game when I only have access to less than a third of it. I know most of those options are for (now) essentially unplayable races like Gith, Mantis, or highly awesome guilds like defilers, sorcerers, psis, but can't we slim down that interface to be a list of available options instead of a huge amount of holes with a few available options thrown in?
I have no idea how coding works, so maybe this is silly of me, just a thought.
Even if you have eight karma and somehow have managed to gain access to gith, halflings, and mantis, I still think you would see a blank or three.
I don't know why this is, or even if the reason for it matters any longer.
I think the blank ones have to be there. It's technically possible for someone to be allowed to play a gith or mantis or other silly races, and the option has to be on the list for them to create the character. Until the staff completely rules out any possibility of anyone ever playing that race, the open spot has to be there. Or so I think.
I'm of the opinion that the choices any newbie is given have the greatest chance to impact the Known World.
Warriors, rangers, merchants, pickpockets, burglars, and assassins have an absolutely huge range of potential for impacting the world. I've known far more famous characters that were combinations of the starting classes/races than the rest of the options combined.
There are many more buildings, organizations, shops, and pieces of art created by the actions of these mundane roles than the magickal and fantastical classes/races provided by karma.
My opinion is that the higher you go in karma class/race combinations, the more niche your role becomes with regards to the Known World. You become more and more rare, until you are but one in a handful of people that can claim the same combination. The limitations placed on these roles are enough to balance their impact upon the gameworld, and normally require such a degree of patience to play successfully, that lasting achievements are few and far between.
Do not despair, the tools you have at your disposal as a new player are some of the very best for impacting the game in a lasting and meaningful way.
-LoD
I fully agree with you, now that I know what this place is all about. All I meant to say was that it may seem otherwise to a new player, as it did to me and I didn't know whether the empty places were necessary or some vestige of the past.
Any PC has the potential to make an impact on the world, no matter what the guild is. It's important to keep in mind that your character is so much more than its skills - It's a living, breathing person with a personality, hopes, dreams, desires, plans, motivations. The key is finding a way to make a difference.
Quote from: "LoD"Do not despair, the tools you have at your disposal as a new player are some of the very best for impacting the game in a lasting and meaningful way.
Yeah, but that's not what he's asking for. I agree that as a fresh new player to the game, seeing that utterly massive black hole can be a little daunting. I think it would be great to just see...
Pick your guild, fool.
a)Warrior
b)Pickpocket
c)Merchant
d)Ranger
e)Assassin
f)Burglar
The chargen race/guild displays seem like an old design that could use restructuring. I agree with this suggestion. The displays are disorienting and confusing to me and I have been playing for awhile. A race list and guild list with additional add-ons as you receive karma would be preferable.
Although I don't think it is a big deal, I kind of agree that it would be a bit nicer-looking if it just listed the available options without showing the holes for the things you don't have.
:) :)
I'll be the contrary newbie and say: I really liked seeing the "black hole" of options I couldn't see. To me it represented a promise and something to look forward to. If I had seen only the base options and no "blank" options, I might have not checked the help files to learn about other races and karma. If that happened I probably would've played something else because the initial list is very standard in most other games, and I was looking for a game that was superior, not standard. I think it is a little thrill to go to chargen and discover that one of those blank spaces has been filled in with something.
L. Stanson, the contrary one :)
Nothing beats a buff human ranger...except maybe a buff human merchant.
:D
I kind of liked the "holes" myself when I was a newbie. I thought "Oooh, I can't wait to see what's going to fill those spaces someday!"
Yeah, I'm with Cuusardo. I don't care if there are spaces, but as a newbie I looked forward to seeing them filled. I still want to see what fills all of them.
Unless there are race/guild options that are supposedly "secret", why not just list the available options, and then list the karma options that the player doesn't have access to in a different way? Something like...
Pick your race. Options in parentheses are not available to you at the present time.
a) Human
b) Elf
c) (Desert Elf)
d) Half-elf
e) (Half-giant)
f) (Halfling)
g) Dwarf
Maybe?
I think the staff does want some of the race and guild options secret, actually.