Changing your character at level 1

[Karkarov]

So this came up in the first dev stream and Josh himself suggested we discuss it on the forums, so .... yeah someone has to make the thread, may as well be me.

Long and short of it, with the game restarting at level 1, how do people feel about having the ability to change your character?  If you feel you should be able to change them, how much should be open to change?

Is it okay to change your class?  Change your appearance such as beard style, or hair color?  What about changing your subrace?  How about your entire race in and of itself?  Maybe you used to be a lady and suddenly you want to be a guy?

Edit:
Some people have gotten really specific and added in options I didn't fully consider at first so I am just going to repost my opinion here in bullet form

Cosmetics, like hair style or skin color - Yes

Class - Yes

First level skill choices even if you stay the same Class - Yes

Stats - Yes, it would be sort of asinine to let you change class but not adjust your stats to compensate for the new class

Voice Package - Yes, it has been years your voice may have changed and your "attitude" can also shift, attitude was a big factor in your voice choice
Background, assuming it is even still in game - No, you got beat down, but Eothas didn't time travel and make you change your life choices

Subculture - No
Race - No

Sex - No, again you got a beat down, not the most advanced plastic surgery Eora has ever seen.

Name - No

Feel free to continue to weigh in with your own opinions folks!

Edited February 3, 2017 by Karkarov

[Greensleeve]

I'm basically with you on this. Class, basic appearance, portrait (gotta get to use those new portraits), attributes, absolutely. But sex and race? Would prefer not to. 

[JerekKruger]

Interesting question. On the one hand it probably doesn't make much sense from an in game perspective to allow changes to race and appearance (class changes fit the current premise of the game). On the other hand, unless the Conquest System equivalent allows you to affect every single decision from PoE that importing does, I don't want to force people to replay PoE just to get the exact setup they want for PoE2.

 

Given that anyone can always choose not to use customisation options, I think I tend towards allowing effectively unlimited changes to imported characters.

 

At a minimum I'd agree with you that we should be able to change skin colour, hair and beard style etc., since the graphics are different in PoE2 so the imported options might not suit a given players aesthetics.

 

EDIT: I should note that whilst I generally favour allowing race and gender changes, I wouldn't use them myself. I am planning on playing a canonical play through once I have some more idea of the companions in PoE2 and I intend to stick with race, gender, class etc. when importing.

Edited February 2, 2017 by JerekKruger

[Ganrich]

I'm fine with everything but race and sex. That would be silly IMHO. Eothas' munching your soul can explain class, and hair style and stuff are inconsequential.

[Greensleeve]

Interesting question. On the one hand it probably doesn't make much sense from an in game perspective to allow changes to race and appearance (class changes fit the current premise of the game). On the other hand, unless the Conquest System equivalent allows you to affect every single decision from PoE that importing does, I don't want to force people to replay PoE just to get the exact setup they want for PoE2.

 

Given that anyone can always choose not to use customisation options, I think I tend towards allowing effectively unlimited changes to imported characters.

 

At a minimum I'd agree with you that we should be able to change skin colour, hair and beard style etc., since the graphics are different in PoE2 so the imported options might not suit a given players aesthetics.

 

EDIT: I should note that whilst I generally favour allowing race and gender changes, I wouldn't use them myself. I am planning on playing a canonical play through once I have some more idea of the companions in PoE2 and I intend to stick with race, gender, class etc. when importing.

 

Worth pointing out that Josh mentioned he wanted a "tiered" system for determining story states from PoE1. From the very basic "Let me dive into this game now" all the way to "I want to pick states for literally everything" and maybe something in between. So I feel as though replaying the game won't require replaying PoE1 quite as much. 

[JerekKruger]

Worth pointing out that Josh mentioned he wanted a "tiered" system for determining story states from PoE1. From the very basic "Let me dive into this game now" all the way to "I want to pick states for literally everything" and maybe something in between. So I feel as though replaying the game won't require replaying PoE1 quite as much. 

 

 

If that is the case, then I don't really mind. It makes no difference to me whether I import a save, or go through the most detailed version of the conquest equivalent to reproduce that save.

[Yonjuro]

One way to do it would be to have two options, continue a game or use a save for convenience. That is:

 

1. Import a character from a save - name, appearance, gender race, class not changeable

 

or

 

2. Import the decisions from a save and make a new character (strictly for convenience, to set your old decisions as defaults).

[jones092201]

I think the change race gender could be really interesting. Remember you essentially die at the start of the game and ,as an awakened soul, maybe you could have jumped into another body--functionally giving the player the option at the start of the game to play the same character in a different body

Or maybe galvino is there, and in one moment of brilliance, replicates the expirement he did on the devil of caroc

 

 

The full narrative scope of this would be difficult to do adequate justice though, since it would involve a lot of responsive flags from characters you knew: 'so, this orlan female is actually the amau watcher I knew a few years back?'

 

Lots of good opportunities for humor, though- (another thing mentioned in stream)

[Bill Gates' Son]

Did sex made much of a difference in PoE1?  Because my gender didn't really have much of an impact in the game from what I remember.

[Blarghagh]

Pretty much the only difference I remember is the sniveling guy who greets you at Gilded Vale asking if you've ever given birth to a Hollowborn.

[Gromnir]

like others, we would leave sex and race as being fixed.  am also suggesting culture should remain locked-in.  

 

however, given how the skills system is likely entire revamped, we would allow players to alter their backgrounds.  is no story-supported rationale for allowing background to change, but am thinking one must also needs be practical and fair. am suspecting if backgrounds exist in poe2, they will be providing different bonuses. allow change.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Harrow]

Here's a narrative way to change the Watcher's race or sex:

 

Open up with Eder telling someone the story of his travels with the Watcher. If you choose to change the Watcher's race or sex, he says something like, "Y'know, people get some parts of the story wrong. Sometimes I think nobody in the whole Dyrwood has any idea what the Watcher really looks like. What he/she's really like is..." Basically, like the race/sex you had in PoE1 was actually an incorrect rumor. People somehow thought the Watcher was a male dwarf but actually she's a female aumaua, and Eder's baffled how people could get the story that wrong. Rumors take on a life of their own, right?

 

It's not a big deal either way. We'll be able to simulate PoE1 game states in PoE2, so if you can't change race/sex with an imported save but you want to change, just make a new Watcher and choose the things you want at the start. But being able to change wouldn't be too bad and could easily just be shrugged off with a joke.

[DexGames]

Maybe a mix of all...

Like, having the choice to only upload the Choices & Consequences you made in Pillars 1, but not your Character.

 

Because you have to remember that IF your character died in the 1st Pillars, the consequences he's made are still there, Raedric is still an as**ole, etc. 

I don't really know, I've mixed feelings about that.

I'll be ok on whatever choice they would come up with, but it's ok if they give us the possibility to change everything on our character (Race/Sex, etc), because, as mentioned : It's a "Possibility".

 

If you don't wanna change these for RP purposes, then it's up to you, just select the same Sex & Race you had in the first Game.

It's not that hard.

Edited February 2, 2017 by DexGames

[Faerunner]

I'm pretty much on board with those who said anything but race and sex. Your soul got munched on and you got depowered, so I guess it makes sense that your character would relearn combat techniques (class), skills (stealth, mechanics, etc), and even personality (maybe your soul was Clever before but became Stoic after that change).

 

Artificial changes like hair, beard, tanning/paling, etc. makes sense because the second game takes place some odd years later and, well, people change in that time. And the portrait should be able to change to reflect that change.

 

Having one's soul munched on (spiritual) doesn't seem like it would translate over to physical changes (your species and genitals), but then I'm not a developer.

 

The only way I could see "race change" working is if they introduced / revealed a type of godlike that occurs when Eothas touches your soul. Someone on another thread mentioned the possibility of your character emerging from the Eothas soul-munching as a godlike since a god literally touched your soul. If they made it optional that your character was changed by the experience and emerged from the god's jaws as an Eothas godlike (fire godlike being from Magran)... yeah, I could see that working. Provided it was optional, there was an in-game explanation (like, describing how your soul felt being mashed touched by the soul of a god and giving you the option to lean into the sensation or rejecting it--if you lean into it your soul is affected and you come out godlike, but if you reject it your soul remains mostly untouched and you emerge as you were), and you still have the same body model as your old race (so, like, if you were an orlan before then you emerge an orlan godlike--you don't emerge an elf godlike).

 

But that's a big fat "IF" with lots of variables. Long story short, I'm okay with any change up to race and sex.

[Osvir]

I'll reiterate my idea from a different thread:

 

What if Eothas kills the body of the Watcher, and the Watcher soul tethers itself to someone in Naasitaq or Deadfire Archipelago?

 

Like, Eothas sucks half of the Watcher's soul, but he/she manages to escape with some of it.

 

Other than that...

 

Beard, Hair, mostly.

 

I'd probably re-make my Orlan Barbarian regardless.

Edited February 2, 2017 by Osvir

[jones092201]

I'll reiterate my idea from a different thread:

What if Eothas kills the body of the Watcher, and the Watcher soul tethers itself to someone in Naasitaq or Deadfire Archipelago?

Like, Eothas sucks half of the Watcher's soul, but he/she manages to escape with some of it.

Other than that...

Beard, Hair, mostly.

I'd probably re-make my Orlan Barbarian regardless.

I said this above, too. Not so much that I want it in, but that the lore could fitted tothat kind of transference

[IndiraLightfoot]

I'm basically with you on this. Class, basic appearance, portrait (gotta get to use those new portraits), attributes, absolutely. But sex and race? Would prefer not to. 

Precisely, not race and sex. And if it weren't for the new graphics, I'd say no to changing appearances too, but class and attributes, for sure.

 

Btw, they've said that we will be able to redo our choices in PoE1 at the start of PoE2, like in DA:I, as well.

[Shiroco]

So this came up in the first dev stream and Josh himself suggested we discuss it on the forums, so .... yeah someone has to make the thread, may as well be me.

 

Long and short of it, with the game restarting at level 1, how do people feel about having the ability to change your character?  If you feel you should be able to change them, how much should be open to change?

 

Is it okay to change your class?  Change your appearance such as beard style, or hair color?  What about changing your subrace?  How about your entire race in and of itself?  Maybe you used to be a lady and suddenly you want to be a guy?

 

Personally I feel like class should be open to change, as should basic character changes such as skin color or hair style.  Should you be able to change the rest?  Like race or sex?  No I don't think so.  But feel free to weigh in with your own opinions folks!

Exactly what I thought when I heard that. A class change is pretty reasonable considering the quite substantial overhaul of the classes. But changing the race or sex of an importet character is going too far. If you can change everything then that wouldn't be the character that adventured through the original. 

[Osvir]

 

I'll reiterate my idea from a different thread:

What if Eothas kills the body of the Watcher, and the Watcher soul tethers itself to someone in Naasitaq or Deadfire Archipelago?

Like, Eothas sucks half of the Watcher's soul, but he/she manages to escape with some of it.

Other than that...

Beard, Hair, mostly.

I'd probably re-make my Orlan Barbarian regardless.

I said this above, too. Not so much that I want it in, but that the lore could fitted tothat kind of transference

I'm ambivalent, but:

 

Would explain Level 1 a lot.

 

Wouldn't explain how we'd keep physical talents.

 

Other than that, could Eothas soul sucking cause any physical changes? Face~

 

Not so keen on race or gender change (unless, new host body). Reading this thread sounds like a hard "No" though.

Edited February 2, 2017 by Osvir

[mumbogumshoe]

Honestly... what's the point of importing your chatacter if you then change significant aspects of it. It seems strange to import a character but then go through the whole character creation process again anyway. I can see customizing appearance again and, if they significantly change or add some abilities, let me choose new ones. But race, sex, class, stats? I wouldn't.

[WotanAnubis]

Pretty much the only difference I remember is the sniveling guy who greets you at Gilded Vale asking if you've ever given birth to a Hollowborn.

 

I'm still kind of annoyed I couldn't answer that guy with "I'm a Godlike. What do you think?"

 

I can only assume he was blind.

[FlintlockJazz]

Honestly... what's the point of importing your chatacter if you then change significant aspects of it. It seems strange to import a character but then go through the whole character creation process again anyway. I can see customizing appearance again and, if they significantly change or add some abilities, let me choose new ones. But race, sex, class, stats? I wouldn't.

This.  Maybe the illness I got at the moment is making me grouchy but I'm kinda like if you feel 'forced' to play the first game again because its not 'just right' then maybe you don't like the game in the first place, plus with the option to choose all the options with a new character then I don't see why they can't just do that if its so important.  Gender, race, and class should stay the same, since you can multiclass you can add another class that you want anyway.

 

As to appearance, beards can shaven and hair grown long, and the faces were just a choice of presets anyway.  I really, really don't like the idea given of the character reincarnating into a new body.  I'm sorry, but I really don't like that, it sounds incredibly contrived and I feel that if they are going that far then they may as well ditch the Watcher from the first game entirely and instead have you play a whole new character and have the import feature just bring over the choices you made in the previous game.

[JerekKruger]

Honestly... what's the point of importing your chatacter if you then change significant aspects of it. It seems strange to import a character but then go through the whole character creation process again anyway. I can see customizing appearance again and, if they significantly change or add some abilities, let me choose new ones. But race, sex, class, stats? I wouldn't.

 

Well that really depends on whether the conquest equivalent covers every single imported choice, or only some subset of them. I can understand someone wanting to import all their decisions over whilst, effectively, creating a new class. I also don't see the harm in allowing people to change everything about their character since no one is forced to do so.

 

Of course, if the conquest system covers everything, then that provides a way to create new characters with whatever choices a player wants without needing to import. That said, even in this case I don't see any particularly reason to disallow full customisation for imported characters since, once again, everyone is free to not use any part of said customisation.

[helmino]

For me not the race and sex, but the class for sure

[InsaneCommander]

The only thing I really want to change is Aloth's ending for one of my characters. I checked my screenshots and it's the same for the two times I finished the game. But I want to see a different Aloth when I play PoE2 a second time.

 

If there is a new death godlike portrait for my second character, then I might use it, because I had a custom one in the first game.

 

As for class, since we go back to level 1, I don't see the point of forcing it to stay the same. It would only be for the first level, so why not let people change it?