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Character redesign

AuthorMessage
Survivor
May 11, 2012
20
Character redesign: many of the most popular games out there have it, so why not Wizard101?
Character redesign, if you don't know, is the ability to redesign your character in certain aspects. In some games this means being able to change your hairstyle, in others this means being able to change your entire appearance, and in some this means the ability to change your gender, entire appearance, and name.
I know many people who, for whatever reason, started their main character with a gender contrary to their own gender identity and I think it would be nice if KingsIsle allowed them to change their character's gender. (If they come out with a Character redesign station)
Some people did it out of fantasy; the character wasn't supposed to be a representation of themselves. Others out of curiosity, others for different reasons, but no matter the reason I think it's fair that they should be allowed to change it.
I know that you could just make a new character, but leveling an entirely new character from level 1-100 takes a month of solid, nonstop work. And the time required is only getting longer and longer as more and more worlds come out.
Of course, there would be a cost (Most games require an equivalent of $10-$20, so 5,000-10,000 crowns). And perhaps a limit to how many times your character can have their gender changed, but it's definitely something that KingsIsle could do considering how many other games have done it.
Thanks,
Nicole Blood

Survivor
Sep 08, 2014
10
I would like to see this. My main character on my old account had a hairstyle that I desperately wanted to change throughout most of the time I played her. (this was before the hairstyles in the crown shop were a thing, and even then, some people like the look of having a hat)
The thing I would REALLY like to see is KI redesigning the character models, faces, and hairstyles to look nicer and more crisp. Maybe even add more faces and hairstyles and a wider color selection. (maybe even eye color selection?) Because of the changes in appearance this would lead to, perhaps KI could give players the option to change the look of their avatar or not when the appearance change went live in the game, and then after that it would cost crowns to do it more times. (I feel like having more customization options would be an incentive to players to spend crowns on appearance changes. Maybe open up a shop in Wizard City that's like a "stylist" or something.)

Survivor
Jul 27, 2012
36
Yes! I completely support this.
I would love to change my characters hair and possibly eye color. I do have hair styles but I always end up stitching them for stats because my hair bothers me very much. And some people can't afford to by crowns, which sometimes upsets me when I get a new hat with awesome stats, or someone else does and they can't buy anything irl.
I also know friends who would love to change their face and hair color.
Until I found these message boards, I very much wanted to find a way to contact KI and ask for this option.

Please consider this, for I think many other people as well want this.
Thank you

Survivor
Aug 21, 2013
8
Survivor
Mar 25, 2014
8
I certainly support all the other ideas apart from the gender swap. It just takes the game a bit too far, as they chose if they wanted to play a Female or Male. I know many Females and Males that play the opposite gender yet its what they chose and like. I am one alike to them, I play a full account of Male characters (Even though I'm a female, Just in case) and that account is my favourite, yet I do play many female accounts. Yet a wonderful idea!

Squire
Jul 09, 2010
551
I love this idea and, though it would take a lot of work for KI I don't think it would be impossible. Gender, Name, Hair, Face - aren't they all basically "skins" or "sprites" - it seems like it wouldn't be any harder to fix than dying or changing wallpaper.

I know a couple of people who'd play more if this were an option, especially if it wasn't prohibitively expensive.

I disagree with the commenter that said switching genders took it too far. Who cares? My real life name is usually assigned to boys, but I'm a girl. I know a lot of people in real life that inwardly feel gender opposite or gender neutral. Why not let people play around with it? The player is still the same person; still sinking their time and money into the game; and much more likely to stick with it if they could make choices (like secondary schools - thanks to KI SO MUCH) and switch them later after experience tells them they made a mistake or they are just curious. But not making them lose their investment by having to start over again. (Which can be very tiresome and is very time consuming.)

Astrologist
Dec 26, 2013
1124
This might ruffle a few feathers but...
I think like this should only be allowed if it comes at an exorbitant price. So many people are so anxious to get started they pay little or no attention to what they're doing... just clicking through screens. It's only later that they decide they've been too hasty about what they did. It just seems a bit ridiculous to me to even want something like this when in many cases your gear is going to obscure your appearance anyway. I don't know enough about programming to know if this would be an easy thing to do but, just my opinion, it's programming that KI could be using to tweak "real" issues instead of trivial things like an avatar's appearance, when looks or gender have absolutely no bearing on your interactions with NPCs in the game. "Young wizard" is gender neutral.
There's a lesson to be learned here which is: "Think before you act".

Explorer
Feb 10, 2012
71
Or, like me, people designed their character a few years ago and, though they did put time and effort into it, their preferences for how they'd like their character to look have changed by now. The game's been going on for a long time, a lot of us who were here since the beginning (or close to it, in my case) have simply grown up and realized that our character doesn't look as cool as we once thought they did.

I agree with having to pay to change your character's looks, but I think perhaps it should be with gold, not crowns. Since, like the person before me mentioned, it isn't exactly a fundamental part of the game, it doesn't really make sense to me to have to pay real money for it. What if it was 100,000 gold instead?

~ Kiley Silverwhisper

Squire
Jul 09, 2010
551
TucsonWizard on Nov 4, 2015 wrote:
This might ruffle a few feathers but...
I think like this should only be allowed if it comes at an exorbitant price. So many people are so anxious to get started they pay little or no attention to what they're doing... just clicking through screens. It's only later that they decide they've been too hasty about what they did. It just seems a bit ridiculous to me to even want something like this when in many cases your gear is going to obscure your appearance anyway. I don't know enough about programming to know if this would be an easy thing to do but, just my opinion, it's programming that KI could be using to tweak "real" issues instead of trivial things like an avatar's appearance, when looks or gender have absolutely no bearing on your interactions with NPCs in the game. "Young wizard" is gender neutral.
There's a lesson to be learned here which is: "Think before you act".
TucsonWizard has a point - but it's a point that - - if it's not a real burden to the programmers - - is just attached to a personal growth issue for the person playing. In the trivial world of entertainment - who cares? Let people learn those life lessons as they may. For KI, making the transformation inexpensive will make it as attractive as a booster pack - and as lucrative I'd imagine. For the players, that want to make the changes - it's fun, easy and inexpensive, so why not?

As for applying the resources to more mainstream game related issues - this would fall into the same category as all other side content. There are a lot of ways to get the mainline-battle-quest related stats that we get through the convoluted processes of pet training, gardening and crafting. But instead KI instituted mini-games, dueling, derby, pet hatching and training, stitching, dying, etc. to break up the game and add engaging new content while they work on big additions to keep us focused on the game instead of moving on.

The only thing to manage is that behind the scenes newly named & metamorphosed characters would still be banned, muted, ignored, friended, true-friended, etc. So we didn't disappear from lists our characters belong on.

Squire
Jul 09, 2010
551
Soul330 on Nov 4, 2015 wrote:
Or, like me, people designed their character a few years ago and, though they did put time and effort into it, their preferences for how they'd like their character to look have changed by now. The game's been going on for a long time, a lot of us who were here since the beginning (or close to it, in my case) have simply grown up and realized that our character doesn't look as cool as we once thought they did.

I agree with having to pay to change your character's looks, but I think perhaps it should be with gold, not crowns. Since, like the person before me mentioned, it isn't exactly a fundamental part of the game, it doesn't really make sense to me to have to pay real money for it. What if it was 100,000 gold instead?

~ Kiley Silverwhisper
Paying real money (Crowns) to change our appearances would be the primary reason KI might add this feature. They have to balance how much work something will be to create verses their revenue flow.

But I think it should be easily affordable. Something we might do to one extent or another to each of our characters maybe each season or every year. It wouldn't be as lucrative as booster packs because the demand would be lower - but if they added content we'd want anyway - like NEW faces, the new hairstyles - but as base hair that'd accept stat hats like our hair does now - and new names. That would really boost the demand because I know my sister and I both wish the new hair took our hats.

Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
56
If they made the cost like 500 crowns to rechange, do you know how many people would change it allot just for the fun of it lol, also while we're at it why not add an adult version of the characters exclusive to people who have spent at least 20 dollars on the game, that way it is an incentive to buy crowns, we all know about the NPC's like morganthe or te people who walk with us during certain quests, what if we could play as more adult type players, or maybe a height modifier, i know allot of people would pay to play as a 3 ft tall midget XD, back to the adult types though, i'm kinda tired of these little kid versions that never grow, i like the adult types though, the shadow teacher for the arcanum in polaris release runs with you for a bit and she runs funny lol i'd really like to play as like the kid morganthe type, i just don't like being so short and kid like, perhaps this could be a way to further the fantasy of playing as an old wizard or just playing as something that looks near what you think is your age

Delver
Aug 31, 2012
205
I would like the selection of hairstyles from when you create a wizard to also be added to the game. I first created my wizard 4 years ago to resemble me. I had shorter hair then, and now I think that my wizard's hair looks odd, and now I want to change it to a different hairstyle that is available when creating a wizard.

I'm not sure about gender swap/full appearance change, it may confuse friends, but then again, they'll remember you by your name more than by your appearance, especially if you wear masks.

I disagree with the name changes. If there was a notification sent to all friends of the wizard who changed their name saying: "(insert old name here) has changed their name to (insert new name here)", plus a picture of the wizard so friends will still recognize them. Name changes and appearance changes should be done separately.

Overall, I support this idea, as long as it's do-able for KI. For those who make a wizard who resembles them, it's great to have your wizard change as you do too.

~Fiona SummerBlossom, Level 100
~Fiona StormBreeze, Level 73

Survivor
Jan 15, 2012
15
They really should add this in. It would make yhe game even better (even though its amazing already :) )

Explorer
May 17, 2009
60
I totally agree! We should be as accepting as all the other MMORPG games too!

Sarah UnicornFlower

Grandmaster Of Ice