Hey @khaleesibot !
I have a few points I'd like to make regarding customization and I'll try to do so in the most concise, structured way possible! :)
- Infinite Pirate Generator (IPG)
First and foremost, thank you so, so much for including the 'Save' feature within the IPG. I was one of those vocal critics of the system and even made my own mockup and I was SO happy to see it implemented. I honestly believe that without the save mechanic, we would have had some very angry players in the long run dealing with the whole 'what if?' issue.
With that said, I still wish there were some fine tuning for the IPG - filters to allow certain body types or gender to only display. I know it's very late at this stage to go back and redo the system but I think given the nature of the IPG, there should have been a tiny bit more control... which leads me to my next point!
I believe that there should be an NPC located somewhere on an outpost that serves as a Barber/Aesthetician. Here is where we could see a full blown customization process come into play. What if a players realizes the pirate he/she chose isn't the right fit for them? What if that player is now level 20+ within their Trade Companies - they surely aren't going to delete that character so in essence, they're stuck with their pirate.
Here is where the Barber/Aesthetician comes into play. Allow players to use those filters as mentioned before to tweak and change their pirate - FOR A PRICE. The more changes you make to your pirate, the higher the overall gold cost to modify them.
To make it even more interesting, allow this NPC to introduce new hairstyles/ beard types / hair colors and more over time. Give players an incentive to go back and check out this particular NPC!
Allow pirates to be able to choose from a selection of tattoos/ scars for their character. These would NOT include tattoos that are only acquired through certain achievements/ in-game events. Again, charge players for the amount of modifications they are making.
This could be done in a style similar to 'For Honor'. A forearm for example has 'X styles to choose from', while the shoulder blade has 'Y styles to choose from'. This would eliminate players placing tattoos on random parts of their bodies, making for some terribly odd looking characters.
- Clothing Types/ Outfits/ Skins
From what we've seen so far (and this is important to remember we've only seen a limited amount thus far) it seems the only options we have are limited to a different color variation for more or less the same piece of clothing/skin.
I do hope that there are many more skins available to come (I believe/hope most of them are tucked away behind the legend status) as the ones we see at the moment are all similar in style and scope.
Something I would suggest here that could be added to the previous Barber/ Aesthetician would be the ability to change DYES for clothing.
This would probably require a new system entirely to allow dye channels to be implemented but I strongly believe this is more in line with 'be the pirate you want to be'. As much as I like the sets we currently have I can't help to think "Oh, that would look better in green.” Or - “I wish that hat were red."
Allow players the opportunity to either acquire/ purchase actual vials of dye that can then allow even further unique looks for our pirates.
This is similar to the comment above regarding the available clothing styles. From what we've seen so far, we have a basic set of options to customize (we know there is more such as the Joanna Dark / Banjo-Kazooie Figureheads) but I would love to see some more options. Whether it is the ability to again, change the overall color scheme regardless of what hull/sails we choose would add another layer of personalization to game.
These are just my two cents - if I think of anything else, I'll add it to this post, cheers!
~ Captain Jay
The Crow's Nest