Apart the world there are mostly 2 things the players keep looking at in this game:

 

• The UI
  
• Characters and companions
  

 

The first one being tricky since there's no UI mods let's start focusing on the first one the Toons™.

 

For now we have:

1. Character customization kiosk
   
2. Gear mods
   
3. Gear dyes
   
4. Unify colors
   
5. Companions appearance kits
   
6. Helmet toggle
   

 

A good list, still a bit lacking as the way they are implemented restricts a lot the possibilities or are cumbersome to use.

 

 

Character customization kiosk

 

Adding more options would be very much welcome especially as we keep staring at our characters during cut scene.

So how about:

• More tattoos and body tattoos
  
• Makeup + choose tattoos colors
  
• More piercings + separate each so players can finely select which combination they want.
  
• More scars types
  
• More hair choices
  
• Wrinkles!
  

 

Q&A from Vancouver Community Cantina

Q: Will we ever see more specific customization options? for some example I would like little things like moving my eye patch to the other eye, having a left-handed jedi (moving saber to other hand) obviously hood toggle comes up. little things like that add a lot for me.

A: Yep those are definitely things we would like to have in the game and are looking into doing. it’s just a question of how much work needs to go into it and if we feel it will benefit enough people as some of those things can even if it doesn’t seem that way on the surface, actually be quite technically challenging and require a lot of re working of models.

 

 

Gear mods && helmet toggle

 

[new] As per the Unnamed STWOR podcast it was mentioned during the NY cantina tour that the devs are working on separating gear look from stats. For 3.0 if possible (Shadow of Revan) or as soon as possible if not.

 

Gear mods aren't really convenient to use, from comparing mods to switching them especially considering the fast leveling process and the myriad of mods a player has to manage for his character + his companions (and alts)

 

It's more a UI thing, although switching gear and still being efficient is quite a job. Gear tabs could really make the system more friendly.

 

Then as a side effect, players will buy(grind for) more gear as willing to switch more often their character look.

 

To the same extend hiding specific slot pieces comes with using specific gear.

As such slot toggles would be very much welcome.

 

Ideally slots for shoulder and back would be implemented, at least for new gear and the most famous hood toggle.

 

 

Gear dyes && unify colors

 

For sure being able to sell gear dyes in the CM for around $20 is kind of crazy, especially since people can't even remove them once used.

 

Unlocking a color for a character or eventually for the legacy could really mitigate the issue here.

 

Then there's no consistency of how the dyes color applies on gear, ending with different shades depending on the object.

 

Also on too many gear pieces people can't dye important parts of the gear.

 

In the end people could use having the primary and secondary colors separated in two different slots and having a 3rd gear dyes for the area that aren't actually changed by the gear dyes.

 

Not much to say about unify color that it most of the time works well.

 

 

Companions appearance kits

 

Emmanuel Lusinchi himsleft said (before leaving) that they were not happy with companions kits and were looking forward something more like the character customization. (source)

 

Q: Any plans for customization of your companions?

A: Funny story, we planned to have customizations with your companions from the very beginning but the we changed our mind. Players then asked – why don’t you have customization? Yes, you are right. We are going to continue to introduce new skins for companions but it is not a great system – it is a ok system we introduced into the game very quickly (actually I implemented it so I can brag about it a little bit). We are working on a much better system but it is not the highest priority atm although it is very important. There is a cognitive dissonance when you have two sith warriors meet up with identical Vette.

 

 

Seems to me it's especially needed as too often people see twins of their companions running around.

 

Then, game play wise, why obliging player to be stuck with a specific companions as healer or thank whenever they don't like it at all? Not very fun at all.

 

Set companions skills apart their appearance in, why not, role kits!

Well in fact like it was in beta.

 

 

Question is: would any of the above make the game more appealing to you or are you comfortable with the current setup?

Edited October 13, 2014 by Deewe

More facial option would be appreciated, sure. I want those long flowing curls on my Miralian Huntress (and I wouldn't even mind to pay for them, even if I already have the Human Haristyles).

I would also welcome removal of Cyborg species and adding the option to have cybernetics on all characters (we already saw Chiss with cybernetics during BH event). Players who already have finished cyborg would get free unlock on cybernetics slider.

Body tattoos are apparently problematic because of how body models are written in the game code (basically, every character with body type X has the same body), so I feel that those are not needed, as rewriting it could prove very complicated.

 

Adding a "social" gear tab (I imagine it like the one used in Terraria) might not be a bad idea, assuming BW would find a way to keep the existing credit sink of mods removal/augmenting in (possibly a fee to unlock the social gear slot and to place items in it?}. This could be integrated with the slot toggles (or people could use the "invisible" armor we have now)

Slots for capes and shoulderpads seem like a lot of work to make sure there is not model collision, etc. Not needed, in my opinion.

 

Splitting dyes into Primary and Secondary slot is a thing I was hoping since the system was introduced. Also, if this was done, adding more dye slots to color those armor pieces that do use more than two color maps would be nice.

I am fine with dyes being one-time use, as it helps the crafters.

 

I feel that companions should not be freely modified, as the existing appearance kits still let them preserve some of their "personality". Maybe a severely limited modification, yes, but certainly not freeform like with player characters.

Return of the role kits would be an awesome thing, even though I might favor them being slightly limited to reflect companion's background. For some reason, I have hard time imagining Lord Scourge or Skadge healing me.

I"m an altoholic and, according to my husband, I spend a ridiculously long time choosing each character's appearance. I would buy every single new customization they came up with. I'm compulsive that way I would most like to see more faces and hair styles, some species need them far more than others though.

 

I would be giddy with joy if they implemented appearance tabs!

 

More companion customizations are badly needed. A kiosk like they have for characters would be the best, but if that's unworkable, just lots and lots more, especially for the romance options. LotRO did some community contests for horse trappings, and I think something like that would be fun for companions. Let the community design and vote on a few companion customizations a year!

The main things I want are more eye colors for each race minus the chiss, more skin colors, more tat options for the races that use them, and more hair options for all races.

Great post, I agree.

 

New character customizations are something I really want. At this point, I'd actually be pretty happy just to have existing options available to more races. Y'know, like the newer "human only" hair. >.< I'd also like to see some of the Twi'lek/Mirialan/Human eye colors be shared. And I'd imagine that new color options in general (hair color, skin color, etc) would be easier than things that must be modeled, like hairstyles and faces.

 

And yes, Companion customization really could use improvement. New kits come out so slowly, and for some characters, they are distinctly lacking either in variety (Andronikos clearly has an aversion to hair), attractiveness (mutton chops, full face paint, and a mohawk is perfect for the romance option!) or quantity (Rusk customizations? Nah, no one likes him anyway). I'd also like to see one alternate combat role made available to each one, in accordance with their character. Bet we'd see a lot fewer Quinns and Tharans running around. xD

 

As for the dye system, it'd be great if they split it to allow use of both a primary and a secondary dye, but I'm not holding my breath. I'd be happy if they just released more dyes, but with colors that don't look like they belong in a Crayola 24-pack. I want the fancy colors that are from the 96-pack, dangit!

Actually found the right event for the companion customization topic: MCM 2012 Expo SWTOR Panel, once again Dulfy nailed it

 

Q: Any plans for customization of your companions?

A: Funny story, we planned to have customizations with your companions from the very beginning but the we changed our mind. Players then asked – why don’t you have customization? Yes, you are right. We are going to continue to introduce new skins for companions but it is not a great system – it is a ok system we introduced into the game very quickly (actually I implemented it so I can brag about it a little bit). We are working on a much better system but it is not the highest priority atm although it is very important. There is a cognitive dissonance when you have two sith warriors meet up with identical Vette.

I would absolutely LOVE more customization options. Currently I find myself constantly reusing a handful of faces and hairstyles.

As for the tattoos, I agree it might not be worth it if it takes too much design time. They could probably work around that by making them "outfits" though. (similar to the relaxed vestments and other outfits that show a lot of skin).

Back when I still played Neverwinter Nights there were a few community mods that did the exact same thing, for example a chest "armor" that left your character bare chested except for twin dragon tattoos on your back and front.

Actually found the right event for the companion customization topic: MCM 2012 Expo SWTOR Panel, once again Dulfy nailed it

 

they are right in a way it's messed up when you run into another warrior and they have the exact same Vette as you but then again it is also messed up when all male Warriors have the same voice which is why I wish they would have either had multiple voice options or had the voices set by race instead of class.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Anaesha

Question is: would any of the above make the game more appealing to you or are you comfortable with the current setup?

 

More than comfortable with the current setup.

 

I have like three LV55's characters for each class for the most part and I still haven't used ever single available customization for each companion.

 

The kind of stuff you talk about is not bar per se but I wouldn't find it exactly a priority, over some other basic stuff that we're not going to get for a serious while.

 

Again...

 

EACH COMPANION HAS LIKE THREE TO FOUR(!!!) DIFFERENT CUSTOMIZATIONS AVAILABLE.

 

You can't possibly tell me you've used them all already.

 

they are right in a way it's messed up when you run into another warrior in they have the exact same Vette as you but then again it is also messed up when all make Warriors have the same voice which is why I wish they would have either had multiple voice options or had the voices set by race instead of class.

 

The more you try to have things different, the more the little(?) things will bring you down. True story.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Darth_Wicked

 

EACH COMPANION HAS LIKE THREE TO FOUR(!!!) DIFFERENT CUSTOMIZATIONS AVAILABLE.

 

 

Some of them have way more than that. Especially if you add in the ones coming from packs, rep vendors and events.

EACH COMPANION HAS LIKE THREE TO FOUR(!!!) DIFFERENT CUSTOMIZATIONS AVAILABLE.

 

Not completely true Scorpio as far as I know has Zero customizations.

Not completely true Scorpio as far as I know has Zero customizations.

 

Scorpio, Rusk and Skadge are indeed noteworthy exceptions. Even so, three companions(!) out of forty(!!!) or so.

Scorpio, Rusk and Skadge are indeed noteworthy exceptions. Even so, three companions(!) out of forty(!!!) or so.

 

I think you can add most of the robots and aliens. I'd have to look, but I don't think Ashara and Xalek have many either, and neither does M1-4X.

The romanceable ones on the other hand have a ton, some of them are probably above 10 now.

Can't have our characters snogging someone ugly!

The more the merrier!!

The romanceable ones on the other hand have a ton, some of them are probably above 10 now.

Can't have our characters snogging someone ugly!

 

That's the problem. For nearly every companion 9 out of 10 customizations are ugly. Or in some cases 10 out of 10. I would like all of my characters to have their companions look different, but I like them to be attractive rather than "interesting". Of course what one person finds attractive is different than another, which is why we need variety.

You can get more customization for more cartel coins! Every $10000 you spend on cartel coins, you can ask a developer to develop something that has to do with customization for you! Once they finish it, they will release it on the cartel market for you, and you only. Once it is up there, you can get it for another $10000 worth of cartel coins! Unlock across legacy? Sure! $100000 worth of cartel coins please! Edited July 15, 2014 by theSCARAYone

I wish they would have either had multiple voice options or had the voices set by race instead of class.

Actually the issue lies in the fact that the VO is mostly tied to the class story. Thus they'd have to record every class sentences more than twice (one for male and one for female) which would have been even more insane, budget wise.

 

Although it would indeed have been nice.

 

Back on the topic

EACH COMPANION HAS LIKE THREE TO FOUR(!!!) DIFFERENT CUSTOMIZATIONS AVAILABLE.

 

You can't possibly tell me you've used them all already.

Some even have 10 and it's not enough and yes I used them all.

 

On many companions, most if not all the companions kits aren't fitting my liking.

Agreed it's a matter of personal opinions. Still the actual system, in that way is lacking.

 

Interesting enough the lead designer, at the time, approves this vision

Edited July 15, 2014 by Deewe

an example for Mako her base appearance looks 100% better then any of her customization options and for Kira the only one of her's that I found I like was the blond one from Taris. (forgot which number it was) Edited July 15, 2014 by Anaesha

I think you can add most of the robots and aliens. I'd have to look, but I don't think Ashara and Xalek have many either, and neither does M1-4X.

 

All three of those companions have multiple customizations. The only 3 Companions with Zero customizations are Rusk, Skadge, and Scorpio. Only sEAtan knows why.

Edited July 18, 2014 by ishist

I would like to see some hair color options. Example: i would like to add a little gray to some of my characters hair. A little at the temples to give a slightly older appearance. As it is now whatever hair color you choose your whole head is that color.

All three of those companions have multiple customizations. The only 3 Companions with Zero customizations are Rusk, Skadge, and Scorpio. Only EA knows why.

I could be wrong (as it's been a while), but I think that M1-4X's customizations are only decal changes with the same chassis.

 

Some of the customization options for HK-51 dramatically change his chassis. It would be nice to see some other options for Forex along these lines.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Khevar

I would like to see some hair color options. Example: i would like to add a little gray to some of my characters hair. A little at the temples to give a slightly older appearance. As it is now whatever hair color you choose your whole head is that color.

There's indeed some issue how colors are applied to the hair and more options, the better.

 

Still I'm surprised so far there's no new entries to the list.

I'm wondering if Bioware made decent revenue off of the additional customization options via CC or if it wasn't that much seller? I know I've purchased cc's for customization before, hopefully it has been a decent seller and they would be willing to further increase customization choices.

 

But that would be the key thing - did they make enough profit from it to be able to devote time to add more customization.

personally, i would love to be able to quickly "load" my keybinds as quickly as i load my UI.

 

and, yes, more toon customization options...that dont require me to spend CCs.

With how popular the longhaired female human look is, you'd think it'd be a gold mine to offer that via the Cartel Market to other species, and add in more long hair options for all.