MMORPGs need visual cues

One of the things I liked best about EverQuest and EverQuest II was looking relatively unique. It is fair to say that I appeared very similar to other clerics in my guild but we are talking ten players out of an entire server population. The reward for being hardcore was that we had gear colors and textures that just weren’t available to the masses. I understand that concept might be frowned on today but the idea of visual cues is still quite appealing. If you played EverQuest at release and saw someone run by in red what set were they wearing? What if you saw someone in purple? I’d bet money that classic EQ vets know both those answers!

What I’m getting at is that MMORPGs need to offer some sort of visual distinction between low and high level characters. There should be some difference in appearance between the raider and soloist. Top PvP players should be easily recognizable if they choose to be. I’m not talking about a raw power increase here. I just want to look different. This exact concept was one of the reasons I was drawn to Warhammer Online prior to release. They promised players that as you leveled orcs would get bigger and have longer teef (Orc-ified). Dwarves would grow their beards. Elves would be more… elfish. You get the picture. The sad thing is that promise was not implemented. The idea is solid, however, and I really want someone to steal it.

Developers steal this please

Wouldn’t it be really interesting if every five to ten levels you got to return to a version of the character creator to find some new options? Imagine that at level five you’d unlock the ability to be 1% taller, perhaps add a scar and maybe even lighten your hair color towards grey. The amount of new additions to the character should be limited so everyone would be inclined not to grab them all. At each milestone more and more options would unlock that weren’t available to the previous tiers. At max level your character might be noticeably taller, broader and battle hardened. It would add a lot to the narrative of the character. Why are you larger? Where did those scars come from? The idea really intrigues me.

It would also be quite interesting if you tied this into achievements. Since we’re already creating achievements for raids, grouping and PvP, imagine if they unlocked additional visual features by doing the activities you love. At each achievement point level in your chosen path (not that you’d be limited to one path) you’d get to add an additional feature or two from a new set. Perhaps after you defeat so many dragons you could get a dragon-tooth necklace appearance. For the PvP player how about you add notches on your shoulder pads for all your kills! Beyond play style choices I think it would be interesting if guild membership allowed additional feature options. This could be guild leader assigned and allowable at certain ranks. That way without seeing a guild tag someone might recognize what guild you’re in. It should also be a feature that is stripped when you leave.

I recognize that this requires a lot of art assets but I really feel like it would add a huge amount of depth to an MMORPG. It would also help players to express themselves and recognize the achievements of others. I’d certainly be interested in playing a game that did this and I think it would add additional attachment to a character!