The Daily Grind: How important is your look?

Looks , like crafing , housing ,exploring ,travelling are all very important parts of a game for me.

Surely new and recent mmorpg's are very combat and gear treadmill focused in comparision to titles like SWG or Vanguard , but to me personally all of aboves are important parts of a game.

Actually new games lacking those and / or selling appearances in CS drive ma away from mmorpg's (not playing any atm , waiting for Swtor and 2012 titles) and actually are kinda punishing for people who don't care only about combat.

You know I think it is very bad/game breaking if combat related things are sold in CS , BUT for many people it is also game breaking in cosmetics , travel , crafting items are sold as well - also people who value those things are treated unequally since they have to pay extra for having access to all of those and people who care about gear have access to all gear content on gameplay not having to shell out additional cash.

One of additonal negatives of cash shops and why I think they don't fit good to mmorpg's , while they are a good fit on games like League of Legends which maybe might be categorized as mmo/moba but certainly NOT as mmoRPG.

As important as breathing.

Look is the first thing when you start into a new mmo with the Avatar chreation.
I only can play games where i like my Avatar, this is the crucial first hurdle (let beside having time to play and money to pay one more sub for that moment) to overcome!

The mmo can be as good as nothing else, if i dont like my avatar i wont play it.
If the mmo offer nothing else i will stop shortly after the avatar creation.
For example i can not play Lotro bcs i dislike any single Avatar option they give me.

Unlike the poster above me, I think LotRO is the prime example for any future MMO makers. I have yet to come across a clone in that game, on any of my characters, thanks to the wonderful outfit system.

Not counting CoH and CO, of course. Even though their character creation systems are outstanding, I never, ever once really developed any connection to any of the characters I played in those games.

How my avatar looks is my number one priority. I enjoy making my characters look right to fit how I envisioned them being and finding the right pieces to do just that.

I don't do it to the extremem of borking my character but thanks to the appearance tabs and similar features of recent years that is laregly a non issue anymore I can look how I want and still be effective.

I'm not very particular - I usually just throw a quick and nice outfit mostly in dark greens and blues with golden highlights - but I can get quite particular about things I dislike.

Unfortunately, the things I dislike include abuse of special effects in gear, shoulder guards or helmets bigger than the chest piece, and WWE-style belts. Need I tell you how I feel about WoW's tier gear?

I swear, the first thing I would do if I was still playing that game, as soon as Transmogrification is released, would be to assemble a set of dark colored, low level armor - the pieces with no special effects, and normal sized shoulder guards, helmet, and belt - and transmogrify my whole set of gear to it. All gear sets, for what matters.

I think I have answered this question here before, but if I've said it once I'll say it again. VERY IMPORTANT!

I have not played mmo's because I didn't like the style of the game, vice versa, I have picked up and played mmo's because I loved the look of some of the gear in the game.

For example: Rift is an pretty game, but has one of the ugliest styles I have ever seen, and thus I do not play it.

Very important I must say. I tend to be one of those people that takes forever to make a character because I'll spend tons of time customizing my character's look and getting the right name. Even worse is that I'm an altaholic so it happens frequently.

I do have to admit that my meticulous behavior bugs me at times so when I create a new character, MMO or not, I may just whip through the creation trying to stave off the urge to nitpick with all the options.

Very important to me as well. Aion (at least in North America) probably owes half their subs due to their character customization and armor/clothes variety. I would most likely be playing WoW to this day if they had decent character customization, but all you get is like 6 varieties of ugly:(

Beak

1-10 ... 8

I don't know what more to say about the subject. Any discussion about it belongs in 1999.

The character look is how I base my "first impression" of a game. If I get to the character screen and all I see is all sorts of hideous, I've pretty much checked out. Whatever else the game has to offer will be overlooked. Fair? Probably not... but reality... yup.

Looks are darn important to me. I like having freedom in an MMO, and the first part you'll see for it is the customization of your character. I'll play MMOs and games even if they don't allow it (it isn't a make it or break it deal for me), but you'll nab my interest rather quickly with an extensive system for my character appearance.
That also goes for armor for me as well. One reason I LOVE Guild Wars is the freedom given to you with armor. Pretty much every piece of armor is available for max-level use, and allows you to mix and match as you please. The only shame is that, as a Warrior, I can't have the Ranger's awesome looking trench coat pieces.

For that reason though, I'm disinterested in WoW and its recent Transmog system. It's banning every interesting item and legendary from use to focus on letting you use only all their "super-serious" armor and weapons, which aren't all that impressive to me at times.

Avatar looks are important. I absolutely love the avatar looks in Guild Wars. I fell in love with each one of my characters and knew who they were from the way they looked. The same with Conan, where I spent hours creating just the avatars I wanted. However, if a game has a basic avatar look that is only just okay, as long as they are basically appealing, I'm okay with it. Rift kinda skirted the edge of acceptability for me with their male dwarf, but cuteness counts as well, so it is passable.

Cosmetics, extremely important. The wardrobe and the addition of cosmetic slots puts LOTRO head and shoulders above every other MMO. Not only cosmetics for you, but cosmetic horses as well, so that your horse compliments your outfit, or your outfit compliments your horse. I've spent untold hours, acquiring the cosmetics I wanted and the horses I wanted and decided what looks good with which. Cloaks. OMG, cloaks. The view button feature on the Store was an absolute must and Turbine put it in rather quickly, indicating how important cosmetics are to the whole community.

LOTRO goes even further and allows you to see another player's cosmetic outfits with Inspect. I've spent a lot of time admiring other player's taste and sense of style and copied looks I thought were awesome. It makes the game, when you are in town and in groups, visually a treat.

So, yes. Cosmetics are very important. Are they are game breaker? No. But they do add to the enjoyment of a game, make it more personal, and extend the life of interest in it.

Most of being good, is looking good while you're doing it.

I admit, I need to get into the game-proper. Recently (and more into the past), I tend to think of character concepts and spend time in the initial Character Creation screen MUCH MORE than I do in-game.

I really need to kick myself into the actual game more.

Looks have become extremely important to me the more games I've played. I'll routinely swap out color schemes on RIFT when I get a sweet new chestpiece. I messed around in Champions Online making heroes and that was just a blast. Having a stranger compliment you on your character design is beyond cool (my favorite is a huge orange-and-yellow construction robot I made). I even spent hours tweaking my appearance in Space Marine, a shooter. Any game that gives me the option earns a special spot in my heart (assuming everything else is great too). That said, I can live without it if need be. It's not really a deal-breaker.