I think it takes me a moderate amount of time. But I'll usually get into the game and then realize I don't like the way that something looks in-game and then have to remake my character one or two times. Naming the character takes most of my time usually.
- Muraco, Tauren Druid Tank of Illidan in WoW, Bahmi Riftstalker Tank of Crucia in Rift
I always try to make my character handsome. I really hated how in Black Desert Online, the only wizard options were old men. I understood the lore - it takes a long time to master magic!
But I didn't want to be an old man in a game full of young, perfect, beautiful characters.
And then it got weirder. My old grandpa had a smokin' body - six pack, delts, biceps.
It was really...awkward.
In games with a robust character generator, I usually take an hour or two to make my character before playing. I have one friend (an original Everquest friend, actually, from many many year ago) who'll take 5-10 hours making his red-headed lady perfect.
I have looks that I want to achieve, depending on the character I am playing. But for the most part it takes me all of maybe 2 minutes tops to be done. most game comes with pre-mades, I usually use that for the base, then change skin color and hairstyle/color if necessary and every character needs a scare or 2, usually all I really play with.
A pretty long time! It's actually best described as an equation:
t = [ (Eagerness to start playing * complexity of character creation UI) * (fear of not getting desired name) ]
_____________________________________________________________
(range of character options * depth of lore * own EGO * Number of character slots available)
First toon : 15 min at most before I get devoured by my will to play RIGHT NOW. One month after I usually pay a freaking skin change to adjust what I screw at creation, or what ideas I didn't have back then.
Alts : Numerous creation simulation before actually creating them, granted I don't get devoured by the urge to PLAY THAT CLASS RIGHT NOW.
I'm food for my urges. Basically.
I enjoy creating that connection between me and my character (race and class included) so I'll spend all the time necessary to try and get it just right.
I hate to bring up other games, but something I really liked about FFXIV character creation, was the ability to save templates of the character created. So while I may spend 30 minutes getting my first character just right, I can litearly spend 30 seconds or less on my alt character if I wanted to use the exact template or spend a little more time making minor adjustments and get through the process quickly. I found it to be pretty helpful.
If the differences matter, or can be seen at a distance? Could take up to an hour to get the right look, initially. However, if the UI has numbers for everything (like, head 1-8, slider positions all have numbers) then at launch, it's just plugging those numbers in, and pressing Play, which shouldn't take too long at all.
If the game doesn't have numbers in the UI, then I will simply take whatever random is there to reserve the name, and come back and re-create it later after launch day. I think backers get to reserve their name though, so if I'm not rushing to hold a name, then that will be a nice change.
Kilsin said:How long does it take you to create a character, are you someone who takes a while to get it just right or do you blow through and create any old character just to get into the game as fast as you can? #PRF #MMORPG #MMO #communitymatters
I take a decent amount of time. I have a certain vision in my head about how my character should look. However, I don't take hours to do it. Usually between 10 and 30 minutes, depending on how much detail and the identifying features I am allowed to do. I like lots of options and choices.
Im good with just a random button, usually wear a helm anyways. But if im playing a female i may increase the assets, seems to help get freebies and buffs :)
If I expect to play a game for months or perhaps longer, I take much time on character creation .
After all the first one will be my main for a long time and I will see him every day so I better spend a few hours to make sure that I really get the look and the stats which fit with the lore and the personality I want to play . By experience, every time I hurried with the character creation, I must have subconsciously known that I wouldn't play the game for a long time . I generally indeed never did .
Also the character creation is always the first contact of every player with a game . If I see that there are too few options, the UI is poorly designed and the graphics are approximative with little variety , I conclude that the game is probably of a similar (e.g bad) quality . In other words I start with a negative prejudice what tends to exagerate the negative opinions and downplay the positive ones . Of special notice is that several games (like Lotro or FF14) allow to change some of the the looks of the character in game (mostly hairstyle and color, beards, tatoos etc) what allows to correct some of the features without needing to kill the character and start a new one .
Doesn't take very long. I normally play the smallest available race with green eyes and red hair. And as Kalok said, I have a vision I try to accomplish.
And another problem I usually have is, that I make some "mistakes" that requires to reroll anyway because of my little perfectionist "OCD". My first Enchanter in EQ was a human male with a faith. And I learned very late when I didn't get my Stein of Moggock from the Bar Tender that this was a huge mistake -> reroll.
Usually I think about it for a good long time. Days or weeks leading up to the game (or months in some cases AHEM!).
When the time comes, I usually set aside my first full day of play time for getting things loaded, running and creating my first character.
I'll spend a good hour or so looking over the options and selecting everything, before I even log in with my first character
If you guys have a "random" button for appearance it will take me about 37 seconds. I will select race, class and name then press the random button exactly 5 times then click Enter World.
My appearance is completely meaningless. It will be covered in gear soon enough anyway.
It takes me forever, depending on the variety of options. When I get to mess with the structure of my face, arms, body, legs, nose, eyes, ears, etc. it takes a really long time to get it all just right. When it's just a few options like EQ, EQOA or even WoW have/had, it doesn't take quite as long, but still a good amount of decision making time, lol. So I'd say anywhere from 25 to 70 minutes. That being said, character creation is really important to me. Especially hair... I feel like a lot of MMOs suck at giving a large variety of hair options. HAIR IS IMPORTANT, OKAY?
EDIT: Oh, and don't get me started on character naming... all the names I ever want are always taken, so I have to try and be original and come up with something that sounds like what my class/race is, and I'm not very good at that. :(
The first one will take the longest as there us generally Lore that I will read through for all the different races and classes. Then the actual character creation will be only a few min.... random until close then the significant requirements (Zorkon has blonde hair and blue eyes and no strange tattoos or piercings)
I'm going to estimate 15 min for char#1
Alts, 5 min tops... probably more like 2min.
Now my Wife, on her account... Zorkon will be level 3 before she's done... and she's going to need to be able to change her makeup and hairdo later. HOURS!
If it's launch day I will make genereic anything characters just to reserve names. When I want to use the name on a character I want to actually play I really don't spend alot on it. The big things I will but not the small like the facial proportions. No one will ever see that. They will see my height, skin, and hair color. Maybe a facial tatoo or eye patch but thats it. 5-10 minutes and I am in game.