TL;DR: IS VISUAL CUSTOMIZATION PART OF GAMEPLAY? DISCUSS

TL;DR: IS VISUAL CUSTOMIZATION PART OF GAMEPLAY? DISCUSS

I strongly believe it is. Selling skins on launch is equal to selling other parts of the game.

This going to be an autistic wall of test, but bear with me for a while if you want my reasoning.

Do you think that skins, costumes and all other types of in-game cosmetics are not tied to gameplay? There is a statement that I hear from time to time, it goes kinda like this

Is that so? Major factor, primary even, is to have fun while playing videogame. "Fun" not as in "happy-happy joy-joy lets laugh like retards", but as in "feeling of content while performing tasks, overcoming challenges and indulging into activities game presents". There are plenty of serious and dark games that are no way happy or joyous to play through, but still perceived as "fun" because you feel content while playing them.

Here comes my idea of character's appearance factoring into enjoyment coming from video game. Remember backlash Diablo 3 received because of WoW aesthetic? Imagine if the last souls game or MGS was done in some cartoony, overtly bright style. While I absolutely love both western and eastern (anime) cartoon style, you can't argue that visual presentation fitting gameplay mechanics is universally beneficial for the game. If light platformer about jumping on enemies heads and collecting gems was done in turbo-realistic serious tone without any satire to it, shit would be just as difficult to stomach.

What I'm trying to say is that ability to customize your character's appearance is an essential part of enjoyment you receive from the game, and thus of gameplay.
Which means that selling character skins as DLC on launch is the same as selling chapters or levels or characters or any other gameplay content.
Being able to alter character's appearance in accordance with one's tastes is as big part of gameplay as using favorite type of weapon or adopting favorite strategy of beating challenges game presents.

Of course it depends on game in question. In games with set protagonist like Deus Ex or Planescape and sort of customization isn't needed, but EVEN THEN you could customize face of Denton, how cool is that?
But when we're talking about RPGs and, even moreso, online games, where character is stand in of player, an avatar representing you in game's world, being able to alter his or her appearance is primarily tied to your enjoyment and is inseparable part of core gameplay.

Thoughts?

I want to rape and impregnate that smug fucking elf.

If it has effects on the gameplay, yes.

MGO2 is a great example of this, you could actually customize your character to blend into the game and kill people all sneaky

That's heresy.


No, I mean is there no difference for you if you're playing as character you don't like looks of and character you do?

If your favorite MGS game give you an option to either play as Snake or as Raiden, or as Ocelot, or well, anyone, and the difference would only be aesthetic, wouldn't that add to an enjoyment of a game, thus directly enhancing gameplay?

Fuck, or rather you could change Snake's face and voice?

My favorite things in RPGs are the character customization; it was my favorite part of Dragon's Dogma
I was half tempted to pirate The Division just for the tacticool character customization.

no
Is it fun to dress up girls in cute outfits and have little pretend fashion shows?
hell yeah but it isn't gameplay. Gameplay is how you play the game, dressup is what you can do.

How is having fun not gameplay?

Do you like old school RPGs with loads of text, like Fallouts or Deus Ex? Does reading dialogue and picking answers to form your character's character count as gameplay?
If so, then why forming your character visually is not a part of gameplay?

what the fuck is all that for? in the pic.

No, it wouldn't, it would be completely pointless.
I'd still appreciate it, but it would be pointless

Because gameplay is srs business.

I have more fun creating characters than I do playing games these days.

Shit like eyelashes, eyebrows, eye color, body paint, muscle mass and so on.
I think that it's an outdated pic, and that game has like twice as much customization shit now.


I don't agree with you, but that's a legit opinion.


Elaborate please.

Tits size

yes, if a game makes a big part of it's game customization of the character or characters it's important, look at gundam breaker as an example

At least half of the fun comes from that in games where you can customize, hell, how much time do non-min-max players go when choosing armor pieces in Dark Souls?


Some people just consider their own brand of fun as the only way to have fun.

Because that's an effect of playing.
It's like asking if getting tired is a sport.
Do you like old school RPGs with loads of text, like Fallouts or Deus Ex?
Only if it's a good read.
Depends. In deus ex HR there were dialog-based boss battles. You interacted with the world through your dialog choices and it was a necessary part of progressing through the game. That's gameplay. Dressup where it doesn't impact the game is not gameplay. Disguises and gear management is gameplay.

Remember it doesn't matter what part of the game you enjoy, but in the same way that "I liked this game because it had good background music" does not mean that music is gameplay, what cosmetics you put on your character (assuming it serves no purpose other than looks) is not gameplay.

You equate customization that changes gameplay (stats and shit) with cosmetics.

It's nice to look nice or cool or whatever but if it doesn't affect gameplay then it's not as important. As someone who plays a fit dark waifu in PSO2 I can tell you that going into the game, cosmetics were a priority, but as time went on the gameplay trumped it, which is why I now have like 1000+ hours in the game.

So in short, yeah, cosmetics have appeal, but the gameplay's always gonna keep you coming back in the end.

Whoa there, that's an interesting point. How is music not a part of gameplay? It adds to an overall enjoyment right?

Let's take for example DMC3, or 4. There is a royal guard technique. Game can be completed on pretty much every difficulty level without utilizing royal guard once.
However if you can use it effectively it adds a whole new layer of fun onto existing game.
You might argue RG might not even exists, but it does and it adds to the game.

Same can be said about music - it might not exist, but it does and it adds to the enjoyment of the game, and thus gameplay.

Definitely seconding this here. Music is definitely a part of the experience.

I won't agree that it affects gameplay but it does affect how you take it in, per se.

DMC3/4 would be a far different game with something like say, ska playing in the background, instead of breakbeat or rock.

I wouldn't say part of the "gameplay", but it most definitely is part of the enjoyment you can get out of the game. It's a form of content, just like good character design, but with an interactive approach. In some games it fits better than others, but if the game isn't heavily based on a pre-set story, having a character creator adds to the content.

For me, character creation was always a big deal. Even just picking the right name could take forever (and still does). It's one of the few aspects of a game where you have the ability to freely mould things into what you want.

At least for roleplaying games it is. Assuming a role is part of those games. Character customization can be part of playing that role, ergo it is part of the gameplay.

Whether you place any importance on that is whatever, but there it is.

From a meta standpoint, it's a part of the game itself. It's just as much "gameplay" as every other element in the game, like music and GRAFFIX, because without a single one of those the game would be lesser for it. Games are package deals.

Because "what you enjoy" is not gameplay. Gray things and elephants.

I don't think I can explain this any better than I already have.

Lack of customization is one of the things that turned me away from Black Desert Online. Literally everyone looks the same unless you fork over $25+ and even then the options are pretty limited. For a game that is otherwise extremely detailed that is completely unacceptable to me. I hate how much Daum butchered that poor game. It was so perfect during the Korean CBTs.

Gameplay isn't binary, you problematic shitlord. Gameplay is a spectrum.
interactivity + skill requirement = to what degree it is gameplay

What about "parts that you actively take part in"?


What

I think of it as a minigame.

It has zero consequence on the overall gameplay (in most cases) but it requires direct input, it's often fun as fuck to do, and the result becomes a part of the immersion/roleplay aspect in a story driven game.

I spend the better part of an hour building a QT. I know it serves no real purpose, but why WOULDN'T I want to make an attractive character to inhabit for the next few hundred hours?

I knew enough of the rumors for MGSV to build myself. Pity The story was hastily re-written garbage, since overall I kind of liked seeing my own ugly mug reflected in "The Truth".

everything is part of gameplay

Actually shut the fuck up you fucking retard.

nice answer

Playing dressup is a girl's thing and part of what attracted more females to video games.

If you find character customization to be a huge deal then you are cancer.