Character creators

I installed Oblivion, but only had time to get to the character creator.

One of my favorite things to do in a rpg is to create a character. I'm not talking about its hardiness or diplomacy or intellect or strength - I'm talking about how my character will look.

If there is one thing that City of Heroes excelled in was its character creator. I spent alot of time playing - got a character to the max at the time - 50 I think. But I spent alot of time creating new characters just so I could choose how they would look, what they would wear, their name and identity. I big push was to earn influence (CoH money? I don't remember!) just so you could go shopping for more costumes. I don't know how many times I just created a character and did nothing but hang out in Atlas Park to see what people thought about it.

Then there is WoW. In WoW everyone's character essentially looks the same within the same race. You have a small set of faces to choose from - and some are so hideous you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody that actually chose them unless it was as a joke. And since the most coveted and best items are a small subset what's available, at 60 many start dressing in the same armor. I've caught glances of other night elf priests and for a split second thought they were me. One of the nice things about epics, is they are rare so you can look a little different than most - but even then you look just like every other raider.

While Oblivion is a single player rpg, I have no one to compare how I look - I still enjoy creating a "unique" looking character. Oblivion seems to allow that ability and of course, I'm sure I'll spend more time than necessary fine-tuning how she'll (I always make females) look.

Which is always funny because you spend most of your time looking at the back of your characters head.

I guess you can compare it to cars. Would you honestly enjoy the interior of a Bentley when the exterior was a Pacer?