How customized is your character?

[DougGraves]

Obvious things like title and bio.  But do you customize the colors of individual powers?  Have you customized what your long distance teleport looks like?  Do you set a stance for when you fly?

[The_Warpact]

It largely depends, typically if I really like my toon then I give them a bio, colors for powers, etc.

Example, one farmer I have a bio, colors, etc the other farmer I dont. But, I really have to like the toon, if I don't I typically just delete them.

Edited February 18, 2021 by The_Warpact

[Sabrehawk]

I customize basically everything.

[Grindingsucks]

I usually customize everything.  It's a big part of the fun of the game, for me.

[KauaiJim]

I tend to customize the powerset powers when either the original colors are not part of the theme - 'Super Pickle' my Water/WP sentinel has the water abilities colored bright yellowish green to resemble pickle juice.  Some powersets do line up thematically color-wise like like mind sets having the purple-pink colors matching the outfit on that toon so I leave them be.  Some are so darn ugly that I don't like them and turn them off or change them to an option I prefer (i.e. spines/stone).  Some are so ugly I refuse to take them because they cannot be changed (part of bio/stone).  They are GREAT abilities but the look bothers me so much it 'breaks' the theme for me (i.e. Granite). 

 

Now that we can turn it off one of the things I always do now on every toon is go back to Icon or Ms Liberty and turn off that darn 'Pig Pen' style dust cloud when sprinting.  I also tend to turn off the flight affect.  Teleports I tend to leave as it.

 

In a nutshell - part of the enjoyment for me in CoX is coming up with a complete character from top to bottom.  I spend literally HOURS in the costume creator tweaking and adjusting and touching things up getting them just so.  Sometimes I go back to a toon I created some time ago and change it because I get an idea that improves the theme.  I've even swapped names on a couple pairs of toons because when I was finished with them the names fit thematically better when switched.  An example of two names I switched would be Celestri and Wysper.   I originally had my peacebringer named Wysper and my stalker named Celestri.  It worked, but to me 'Wysper' better fit a stalker and 'Celestri' better fit the peacebringer.

 

I go back and adjust things like belts, chest symbols, hair, etc. too sometimes.  Also, I try to create a huge variety in the different costumes and colors, etc.  I want my toons to feel unique and well thought out to me.  And they do.  This game is awsome!  For me the only other MMO's that even come close to CoX character customization-wise are CO, SWTOR. AoC and TSW.  And even then this game beats them handily IMO.

 

I LOVE THIS GAME.  There is NO replacement for it.  Not even CO (which started out okay but was nerfed into holy oblivion shortly after launch).  I have two lifetime accounts in CO which give me access to most everything and guess where I would still rather be.  When I take off FLYING as a SUPR HERO I don't want it to feel like an elderly person 'accelerating' at a stop light by simply removing your foot from the brake and slowly rolling forward faster.  That's what it feels like to me.  Not to go completely off subject (sorry) but my point is that I can really feel invested in my toons in CoX and that I have something I created.  And I go ape nuts with that.  I'm not just rolling a toon - I'm creating a SUPER HERO!  

Edited February 18, 2021 by KauaiJim
spotted a typo in record time lol

[Snarky]

I would customize every power animation if possible.  My main uses Storm Elementals.  You can customize the summoning, but not the colors of the elementals.  slightly irked about that.  It is customization that still makes this game a standout as superior among games over a decade newer than it.  

 

I was just saying to somebody today "I can go play generic Orc 789, or I can go into the City and make nearly anything."

[Techwright]

Customized? Uh...oh, not much. 😏

 

*Stuffs fuzzy dice in pocket and turns off the underbody LED lighting*

[SwitchFade]

I r the customs then I can't get a passport to go through creating costumes because over at the icon they take inf like OMG REAL MONEY

 

Then it's gone to the Americans. 🤪 Bbq

[Rishidian]

Initially, I do the costume and don't worry about the powers, stance, etc.  I try to remember that I'm going to spend a significant amount of time looking at their back side, so I want to make that view interesting.

 

(On one of my toons, I set the hips too wide for his height, and it looks emaciated with his pelvis piking out of his skin.  I got to remember to change that...)

 

After about 8 levels [(Trying to take advantage of the free costume change)(I solo almost exclusively, and never farm)] I re-examine to see if there's anything annoying (see anecdote above) or something I want to change out as I hone the concept.  It's then that I'll personalize the powers/armor/what have you.

 

I like to keep something consistent between their costumes.  I figure they are the same person no matter what costume they are wearing at the moment.  Typically, I'll keep hair color, face (shape, size, model), body shape and size, and any manifestations the same colors.  I would change hair styles and costume parts (obviously). 

 

I also do things like have multiple instances of the same overall costume, but add or remove a helmet, cape, backpack, or some kind of accessory.  It's not like this on all of my toons, as on others, I will have a specific costume for door/cave missions, and another for walking around Atlas Park - kind of work and play costumes.

 

I also realize the only person to notice will probably be me.

[KauaiJim]

7 minutes ago, Rishidian said:

I also do things like have multiple instances of the same overall costume, but add or remove a helmet, cape, backpack, or some kind of accessory.  It's not like this on all of my toons, as on others, I will have a specific costume for door/cave missions, and another for walking around Atlas Park - kind of work and play costumes.

I like this idea.  I remember now I had different 'outfits' also for my mains on Live.  Thanks for reminding me! 

Edited February 18, 2021 by KauaiJim
I guess I can't even type a short port without a typo lol

[lemming]

Some of my chars have different stuff for each costume slot, others not much different.  Though most of my tall chars have a short version for caves.  I do tend to customize power colors before anything else.

[DougGraves]

54 minutes ago, Rishidian said:

I try to remember that I'm going to spend a significant amount of time looking at their back side, so I want to make that view interesting.

 

I often forget this and find I have clipping issues in the back.  I made a large character with a tech knight butt cape and the clipping was terrible.  I noticed as soon as I created it and started running around in the world, after 30 minutes of fiddling in the costume editor.

[KauaiJim]

25 minutes ago, DougGraves said:

 

I often forget this and find I have clipping issues in the back.  I made a large character with a tech knight butt cape and the clipping was terrible.  I noticed as soon as I created it and started running around in the world, after 30 minutes of fiddling in the costume editor.

Yeah this too.  Sometimes I can combine costume pieces from different set designs and they look good together (they clip but it doesn't really show and almost looks like the pieces were designed together).  Other times I have had to adjust physique down or waist down or chest down or change backpacks or capes or wings or hair to fix clipping.  For example female hairstyles like ponytail - I like to make sure they don't clip with the rest of the outfit - or at least not often or noticeably. 

 

Sometimes I'm okay with minimal clipping when standing around but a little more during power animations or moving since it is less obvious.  Some female hair do's can clip a tiny bit into the cape and not be very noticeable.  Some backpacks look okay with clipping on large toons, others not so much.  Same with chest detail.  I look for everything but a couple of other common clipping pieces that I have had to pay attention to or change are shoulders (I often live with the clipping during crossing of arms) and shields (back of hand/forearm clipping).  Most of my shields are chosen to not clip (in addition to staying thematic) but I do have one that the back of the hand shows through but really doesn't stand out sine the shield has a lot of details and the colors match.

 

The more stuff you all bring up, the more I realize just how REALLY into this game I am. I should probably seek a twelve step program but I'm enjoying it so much! lol

Edited February 19, 2021 by KauaiJim

[Erratic1]

Of my 50ish or so characters, all but one or two have bios (I generally have a backstory in mind as I start the character, the one or two that don't I'll get around to a backstory for). 

 

Titles are less important to me, so perhaps a third of them have one intentionally set.

 

 If I am not using the default animation (which is a lot of the time) then I will choose color effects for the powers and/or alternate animations. The most involved of my characters, a color mage, had different colors set for every power.

[Replacement]

I have vague headcannon for every character I stick with. I write a bio for maybe 1 in 8. I customize power sets to mesh together, or at least explain each other.

I change the shape sliders for head shape on just about everyone.

I try my best to not use the same face on multiple characters (someone around here has a spreadsheet for tracking that, and I envy their initiative).

At least 4 costume slots are almost always minor variant outfits, with the rest tending towards particular themes.

 

And I have never, ever, in all of retail or HC, ever set a title, let alone color it.

[Virtual Green]

I try to customize everything when playing a character : the costume, the powers, the UI, the titles..

What I've always loved, and will always love, first and foremost about the game is the ability to customize everything about a character.

[Hew]

Rolls some dice,  mashes buttons, wins

[Carnifax]

I'd always recolour too. Mostly to reduce the impact. Takes some trial and error sometimes because you can colour individual powers in the editor but you don't see the impact of 3 shields running til you're back in-game.

 

Ice shields can be really ugly for example so I spent ages recolouring them on my Ice scrapper til they were where I wanted them.

 

Burn too is a power which needs recolouring or it's "I can't see a frigging thing".

[Arcanum]

Pretty customized, I'd say.

Edited February 19, 2021 by GM Arcanum

[Bionic_Flea]

HAX!

[Aeroprism]

It wil depend on the character.  Some characters I just roll for the powersrts with no idea in mind so I will make 1-2 costumes, make a gobal theme for their power color and that's it.

 

Then i have characters based on something else.  Example: I am a HUGE Phantasy Star fan (hence the username) and I made 4-5 of my CoH characters based on that game.  These guys will get more attention to their costume, more power details etc.

 

Then I also have characters that are themed as a group.  I have a bunch of female characters who all belong to the same heoric formation, think Power Rangers but CoH style so, their costumes and names are all linked on a theme.

 

And finally, I have 2-3 characters that I really REALLY like, those get 5-6 different costumes for different situations, full power customisation, bio etc. 

 

CoH is marvelously adaptable in so many ways.

[Shred Monkey]

I generally make just a costume that has 1 main color and 1 accent color... and almost every power is colored to be one of those 2 colors.  Hair/skin might be additional colors.   But that's also my style.  I generally choose bold colors and big features so they're more cartoony looking toons to begin with.  I also use black a lot to cover up odd clipping and mis-matched textures in my pieces.

 

That said, the one costume I have will get updated constantly throughout the life of the toon.  Sometimes drastically as a new idea forms.  I've come to accept this so much that I actually now will typically start a new toon with a throw-away name and costume.  Then I slowly morph into the concept over time.  Usually somewhere around level 35 is when I finally get dialed in.  I don't stop editing my costume, but there comes a point where, I end up reverting back to the previous version almost every time.

[Greycat]

Depends completely on the character (and what customizations are available.) Some get a lot of customization done, others are bog standard.

[srmalloy]

Virtually all of my characters get customized. The most necessary being any character with a Radiation powerset -- radiation is not toxic green; that's a misperception from radium illumination, which is actually the color given off by the phosphor in the paint, not the radium. Any glow from radiation comes from Cherenkov radiation, which is a different color entirely. For Fire Blast, one of the things I do is scale the color of the blasts up as their damage rises -- the tier-1 is red, scaling up through orange, yellow, pale blue, and white to show more energy in the blast.

 

The floating runes in Mystic Flight go unless there's a thematic reason for the character to have them, though. For most characters, though, it's tying the powers together with my concept for the character.

[Coyotedancer]

18 hours ago, Sabrehawk said:

I customize basically everything.

Same. 

 

It's pretty much a matter of "If the colors CAN be changed, they WILL BE changed". And/Or I'll make use of No FX options,