I also hate gender lock, hope they will reconsider it
They should change the name of the Warlock. How am I supposed to play a male witch as a female.
war·lock
/ˈwôrˌläk/
noun
noun: warlock ; plural noun: warlocks
- a man who practices witchcraft; a sorcerer.
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Depends on the customers, many customers hate being gender locked, a lot of women do and arpgs are really popular with female customers for some reason.
I agree with this its a pretty big error as warlocks were male witches.
Hey Dante, not sure why you replied specifically to this quote to say that 1)many customers hate gender lock and 2)females play video games. My post had nothing to do with either of those points.
It was entirely about the reception D3 received at launch, and that to reference D3 as an example in regards to the topic at hand is folly. D3 wasn’t successful at launch. And even if it was deemed successful(likely only strictly in the monetary sense) it’s a foregone conclusion that what success you may point to had absolutely nothing to do with the gender availability. It is 100000% predicated on being the lone sequel to the greatest ARPG to ever be made.
If you disagree with my last statement, feel free to check some yt reviews from may, june, etc of 2012. Finding one that is positive is already going to be a needle in a haystack. I doubt finding any that are positive and suggesting gender selection is even likely, much less one that is positive, mentions gender selection and paints such a feature as to be the defining factor in their choice to purchase and/or overall enjoyment.
tldr; none of what you replied with was a topic in the post you quoted.
Sorry if this comes off as combative or rude, just trying to point out the facts of the situation.
GGG recently sold a large portion of their company to Tencent… seems like they have more than enough resources now. To suggest our devs are in the same position isn’t exactly genuine.
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I’m not sure what is meant by this statement and I don’t want to make any assumptions. With that said, women have played and enjoyed video games for decades, and that includes ARPGs.
A lot of people are saying it doesn’t matter to them. That’s cool. It doesn’t need to matter to everyone. It’s not an all-or-nothing discussion. People on both sides just need to respect the fact that those with an alternate view are not wrong just because they have an alternate view. For every person who thinks it’s a waste of development resources to offer the player two character models instead of one, there’s a person for whom that could literally be a purchase decision. Opinions, by their very definition, are neither right or wrong. They’re opinions.
I’m happy Mike has taken the time to talk with the community about this. I understand resource constraints and I’m excited to hear that it’s something that could come down the line. It is a feature I consider important in games and it has caused me to purchase or not purchase games in the past.
ARPGs can be a bit of a gray area for customization because when your screen is full of enemies/blood/whatever you can’t see your character anyway. Even so, the number of times I’ve heard my Mage shout something without actually realizing it was my character shouting (because I always play female characters) is kind of humorous. 
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That depends on how you measure success. D3 sold an obscene amount of units at launch, which is a measure of success, but the launch did have one or two mild technical issues… Needless to say, the latter had nothing to do with the classes having both female & male versions. As you say, the lack of gender-locked classes might have had an impact on the initial sales, but I’d be incredibly surprised if that had any measurable impact compared to the fans of D2 thinking “holy **** we’ve finally got a sequel to the genre defining D2 after 11 years!”.
It could also do with some verifiable numbers to back up the assertion that female gamers like arpgs more than other genres.
Hi! You seem new to the internet. I’d just like to say, we don’t do things like that here (*), so you can take your logic, compassion & general getting-along-with-people-who-disagree-with-you and go somewhere else. The internet is for rabid arguments by people who have gargled from the toilet of ignorance rather than drunk deep from the fountain of knowledge.
Thanks.
(*) the internet in general, not this forum. This forum is n… ni… nice.
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NO U
Did I answer it right? (Thanks for the laugh. I needed one this morning!)
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If I had any compassion & “getting along with people” I would. But then I wouldn’t be an accountant. So I’ll stick with the cash & not-having-to-deal-with-people thanks.
If EHG decided to turn the game into a retro Atari 2600 aesthetic, it wouldn’t make a difference. I don’t care so much about assets (graphics/sound) because gameplay has been always what matters most to me. As long as blowing up scores of mobs feels good and I feel rewarded in my characters development. Couldn’t care less.
Down the line after release and the resources free up to allow the possibility, of course. I just feel there are other far more important issues at hand in the games development right now.
I’m totally in for alternate genders for each class. This is something i look forward to in any ARPG, and if there is a little bit of personalisation as well it’s even better. A few faces / hair / eyes options etc.
It is something i loved in D3 and Grim Dawn. It’s the non gameplay related feature i’m waiting for the most in PoE (it has been hinted that i might come, after PoE 2 is released. Here’s a funny and useless anecdote : I made probably more than 100 characters in PoE. Played every class and a lot of different spells / builds in 3K hours and mostly in HC. The only thing i never played is the Templar. I find the character model so repelling that i cannot build around it. As soon as the alternate genders kick in, i’ll buy the templar one and make a new build. )
It is even more important if you plan to go the “MTX” route like PoE. Being able to customize your character is very important to me in any ARPG. It helps me getting attached to my characters, and feel like every one of them is special and different. And not my XXth Acolyte character.
I also feel this is what these games are about. Personnalise almost all aspect of your character from spells to the gear it is wearing. Why not its hair and gender ?
Anyway, i think like most of us do, i get it that it’s not a main feature and not necessary for the game. It’s just that having the option does not hurt anyone at worse, and at best it makes a lot of people happy. I would certainly be one of them.
If any facial customization were implemented, I feel it should only be done client side for that player’s benefit because lets be honest, the color of your eyebrows is not going to be very noticeable through that Boneclamor barbute helmit you are wearing. The only time you are going to have a chance to notice your “customization” is going to be at the character screen and even then it will be dependent on what gear you are wearing.
As for the genders being locked, it certainly doesn’t seem as simple as just adding a female character and calling it done. You then have to design a female version of all the Sentinel only gear (and a male version of every acolyte only gear etc), and unless you want your girl to walk like man you’re going to have to animate that new character model appropriately.
Of course I would never be against unlocking genders, I am just sympathetic to the developers and the technical/manpower issues involved.
I would definitely put it on a road map and if resources and time allowed, implement it. If for no other reason than to quell this undying controversy.
That assumes any cutscenes would be “in-engine” rather than, pre-rendered like the intro cinematics.
Do they actually animate male and female characters differently in arpgs?
Which is what they said.
What do cut scenes have to do with anything? I’m talking EYEBROWS.
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If they ever introduce custom character models they should do it completely. When I can choose the eyebrows of my character I also want to see that customisation during any cut scenes. Else, what’s the point?
You don’t see the characters face elsewhere. While playing you can’t see any details even if you won’t put a helmet on. So it’s only the character creation itself and the one cut szene we have right now where such details in customisation are visible.
I’d also like to pause combat (in SP, obviously) & be able to zoom in to my character to see the haggard look from not having enough tea. Or see him (a Sentinel) flinch in pain as he walks due to gout & bleeding gums from scurvy.
Exactly, no point in letting you change the color of your eyebrows if you aren’t going to see them. And if you are an “all or nothing” kind of person where you demand your new eyebrows be included in cut scenes, all the reason never to allow customization.
You’ve officially converted me to the “no player customization” camp.