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Busaiku

Teyvat Traveler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,416
This never made sense to me, you can't even see your character most of the time, outside of like hands.

I don't play 1st person games, help me understand.
 
Oct 26, 2017
20,440
In The Outer Worlds you see the character in the inventory screen as well. Some games have a third person camera also like for Bethesda.
 

tr1b0re

Member
Oct 17, 2018
1,329
Trinidad and Tobago
In the case of The Outer Worlds, I agree this does bother me to some extent

Very robust character creator, but outside of the menus you never see your character (idle camera notwithstanding)

I can see the use of it in terms of roleplaying, and I certainly appreciate it nontheless, but I would appreciate more 3rd person options in games that do this if only for taking glamour screenshots xD
 

Aaron D.

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,311
For roleplay purposes. Even if you can't see your character, it's fun to have an image of them in your head.

This was my first thought.

In practice it's an abstraction much like mental images that arise from reading.

You customize your character to your liking and then when playing in first-person, you are that character that you pieced together.
 
Oct 27, 2017
12,056
Outer Worlds does zoom out when you're idle so you can see your character, but yeah it's mostly pointless in the grand scheme of things.
 

flaxknuckles

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,302
I don't get it either. I never even remember my character in The Outer Worlds is a woman until people address me as one the sparse times that they do.
 
Oct 28, 2017
742
Because if they didn't have it we'd be complaining about that instead.

But seriously, it's because many people like designing a character, even if you don't see them all the time.
 

Deleted member 13645

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,052
I wish more first person games would have it so you can see your character's body when looking down. At the least that would make body customization more useful and immersive. Let me see the big ol' belly I gave my character when looking down!
 

Rotobit

Editor at Nintendo Wire
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
10,196
I'm guessing it'll make more sense when more games start being able to implement functioning mirrors. With the Outer Worlds it's definitely bizarre, though, considering it doesn't have the third person camera option from the Fallout games.

Had no idea about the idle zoom out, though. How bizarre.
 
Oct 27, 2017
3,586
In most cases (and certainly with The Outer Worlds), I think it's down to the developers already having an easy-to-use character creator of variable sliders that they use to generate their NPC characters, so it makes sense to let the player use it to create their own character.
 

Deleted member 37739

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 8, 2018
908
Yeah, I don't really understand, but then I never got first person RPGs either. Each to their own of course but when I'm role-playing, I like to see the character and develop their look.
 

mute

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,064
They are for other people to see moreso than you.

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For single player games lol i dunno.
 

Tohsaka

Member
Nov 17, 2017
6,793
Yeah I never bother caring about appearance in first-person games since you hardly ever see them.
 

EVA UNIT 01

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,729
CA
Because they're deliberately trying to taunt me.



Yup. The main reason I'm not buying the game is because they want me to put a ton of effort into designing a character I'll never ever see. It's so dumb.
It sucks because the games god tier too.
And when you go idle you get that fallout NV and 3 rotating 3rd person camera view of your character so...wtf
 

KORNdog

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
8,001
It's dumb. I was playing far cry 5 recently and that has loads of it. All purchasable with real money to boot. So you can effectively spend money for something only other players are going to benefit from seeing in co-op. What's the point? The fact cyberpunk is going to have all this stuff too without barely ever seeing yourself in cutscenes makes it seem like a huge waste of time to implement.
 

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
It sucks because the games god tier too.
And when you go idle you get that fallout NV and 3 rotating 3rd person camera view of your character so...wtf
Well a third person view of an idle character is easier than doing 3rd person animations that look natural and match up perfectly with gameplay
 

danmaku

Member
Nov 5, 2017
3,232
People buy expensive clothes in RL too, and that game is first person only. Go figure.

(yes, I made this joke already, but people keep asking the same question!)
 

Deleted member 12790

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
24,537
The options you select, even if you don't see them, can be used as seeds for various subsystems within the game.
 

NoKisum

Member
Nov 11, 2017
4,913
DMV Area, USA
Seems dumb to me when character creator systems lack heavy in afrocentric hairstyles in the first place. I can't have bantu knots on a character I'll only physically see for maybe 10 seconds through the entire game's length. But sure, pick out any straight/spiky style you want, they're all here.
 

Strangelove_77

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,392
The irony being that most third person games don't. At most you can switch entire costumes, but not parts individually.
 

Doskoi Panda

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,942
For roleplay purposes. Even if you can't see your character, it's fun to have an image of them in your head.
This, it's really not that hard to understand unless you're just being purposely obtuse, or unless you're one of those people who doesn't really get roleplaying.
Yup. The main reason I'm not buying the game is because they want me to put a ton of effort into designing a character I'll never ever see. It's so dumb.
I find this sentiment obnoxious tbh. Outer World's character customization isn't even that extensive and is pretty much just there to give the player a better mental image of the shoes they'll be inhabiting. Its such a petty thing to get hung up on and I really don't think it's as mystifying as you or anyone else makes it out to be.

Besides, uou see your character all the time in The Outer Worlds. As anyone whose played the game or paid attention before launch could tell you. I'm playing an old man named Bastille right now and just because I don't see the back of his head constantly doesn't mean I don't get something out of having chosen his face and look myself. It's always in the back of my mind and helps me characterize my player character greatly.
 
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xenocide

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,307
Vermont
Jim Sterling has long held that cosmetics and customizing your character does have gameplay benefits. If you can make your character look exactly how you want them to, you will enjoy the game more.
 
Jan 4, 2018
4,018
Character customization gets me interested in games I otherwise wouldn't have been. Even if I can't see my character most of the time, I genuinely am sold on some games because of the feature.
 

Dark_Castle

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,147
Do people really customize their character to make them look more like their real self? For me I'm either using some default ones or make some random looking character.
 

texhnolyze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,155
Indonesia
Yeah, it's stupid.

In The Outer Worlds, I always give the best looking armors to my companions, because at least I can see them in action whether while exploring or combat. Yes, I know that you can stare at your character standing idly on the menu screen or via the idle camera. Sure that sounds fun (no, it's not).
 
Jan 10, 2018
6,927
Because it's important to have some kind of visual reference of your character. It would be more strange to have a pre-set character since everything else is up to the players decision. It might also be important to have a certain physical attribute in order to enhance certain aspects of your roleplaying.
 

RicJFNas

Member
Oct 28, 2017
359
I guess it depends, in case of games like Destiny 2, you dress up not just for yourself but to show off to other people, and there are instances where you can see yourself like in the Tower or using certain specials. If it were in a game like DOOM where you never see yourself, it would be pointless.
 

mikeeb13

Member
Dec 6, 2017
123
other players can likely see you, character is visible in cinematics, people generally enjoy customization, etc