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A well thought out post, it reflects some of what i've been saying for a while. Everybody enjoying the same choices everywhere is not a victory of choice, is a defeat of diversity.

I came to create Khanid characters because they were the cutest laser-firing race. I named them after how they looked in the old CC. I created Indahmawar to try to win a beauty contest (which my main Ishtanchuk had won the year before; indah was second on her try). So this is how I became involved with RP my characters, and thent the new CC was both exciting and a hard blow. It had very few choices but I figured they would just iterate it until giving us back the old identity traits. This no longer looks like the plan; whatever we get new, it's going to be maximum-profited by handing it over to everybody, which means that in turn it must be the average (enter brand store)-looking stuff or else it won't fit to every race. Average one-size-fits-all diversity, much as the new skin types, is produced not out of "it is better", but out of "it is cheaper" (needs less resources, delivers more use per resource allocated).

Which may make sense from a business POV, but is not even close to being "excellent". And that is so even aside of leaving behind a whole race...



Oh yes.. i've been asking for lavander/violet/plum lipstick and eyeshadow since Incarna. Crucible delivered coral pink, but that's been all for now...

Houm...

That may be because there's too few choices to pick from. If, say, there were only 24 hairdos and half of them were racially locked, then people obviously would ask acces to the other half. But then, if every race had 24 "universal" hairdos and 24 "racial" hairdos, the need for options would be less.

Saying I want restrictions doesn't mean I'm saying players should have fewer choices. Right now there is very little for everyone to choose from. Thus, as Indahmawar Fazmarai said, people will ask for no restrictions because this is the only way to get more choice.

For skin tone, I think CCP has made a mistake making them available to all bloodlines the way they did, most importantly because now we'll have unrealistic results. The classic CC set precedence regarding which groups have which predominant skin color. Thus other tones should only have become available with the upcoming racial blending feature, and even then only those tones which would be necessary and appropriate to mix the chosen heritages.

But this isn't to say there should only be a handful of shades each or that each EVE ethnic group which falls predominantly into a category of white, black, red, yellow, or olive should all have the same colors to pick from. Even staying within the realistic skin tone spectrum there are so many excellent hues that could be available! And, with 20,000 years to work with, think about the environments the New Eden ancestors lived in before space flight became common again. Not every EVE world has a yellow sun like ours. What permanent impact might generations of living under a blue or red sun have had on skin pigmentation?

Restrictions to preserve and enhance bloodline uniqueness and diversity can go further: to hair, tattoos, clothing, and so on. A system could be built which compromises on the issue of people who want access to "everything" without making all EVE avatars look like cookie cutouts. Clothing is an easy example.

Let's call common clothing and adornments, like t-shirts, jeans, jackets, glasses, running shoes and simple boots "tier 1". This clothing would essentially be most of the 20th and 21st century-esque models we currently see in the CC. This clothing is simple and makes anyone look like "regular Joe Smith". They should be available to everyone in a variety of colors regardless of race or bloodline. There should be a few different models at this level.

"Tier 2" clothes and adornments are more numerous than tier 1 and are empire specific. They should introduce particular styles, designs, traits, and colors which make it obvious what part of the map they came from. Each empire's specific clothing should be directly inspired by the playable bloodlines in that empire. For example, tier 2 Amarr would include Amarr robes with hoods. These robes would be markedly different than tier 2 Intaki robes available in the Federation. Some tier 2 clothes would also be fancier versions of certain tier 1 clothes. All tier 2 clothes would only be available to players with characters from the specific empire, and to "immigrants" who have sufficient standings with the specific empire. For example, an Intaki player would have access to all tier 2 Federation clothes but not any tier 2 Amarr clothes unless the Intaki player had sufficient Amarr Empire standings. Standings are already used to restrict movement of players from one area of the map to another, so I think it also makes sense that retailers would not make their wares available to someone with poor standings.

The ultimate clothes and adornments would be "tier 3". These models should be less numerous than tier 2 but the most fancy and have aspects to them which no other clothing has. These clothes would always only be available to specific bloodlines. For example, a tier 3 True Amarr robe can only be worn by True Amarr. A tier 3 Reborn Intaki robe can only be worn by Reborn Intaki.

Racial blending should also factor into this idea. If someone decides to be half Deteis and half Intaki, the player should gain access to the tier 2 and specific bloodline clothes of both. Racial blending should only allow a limited number of blends though. New Eden mutts would be silly.

How does a player obtain tier 2 and 3 clothes? The CC should be smart enough to unlock the right clothes based on bloodline and standings.

Apply this same idea to hair, tattoos, jewelry, etc. This is how you start to get "the best character creator in the biz". It will actually allow for more truly unique characters without stifling the creation process and, by touching on standings, it begins to meaningfully integrate avatar creation with player action within the game.

We've had 20,000 years of technological growth regarding hair dye and hair gel. Everyone should have access to all hairstyles and should be able to have ANY colour that they want, even neon green or purple or whatever else you may choose. Other suggestions are cool though.

There was a bug in the history slider. I fixed it last Wednesday and it was deployed on Thursday, so it should be safe to try out the new colors
I have also fixed vanillacherry and all the characters (except one) that changed colors because of this bug.

I'm sorry, I have not heard anything more about the Khanid color. It was being looked into, and the guys seemed to be considering adding new colors to the color wheel, but I don't think anything has been decided yet.

Yes

there are plenty of caucasian skintones.

Take a look at this image... I think colors C2-C7 could work for you.

I would say no, as I too noticed how the new skintones are somewhat dull/faded (?) compared to the old ones. I was thinking to swap color for one of my girls and she looked like her skin was dehydrated, it lacked that kind of shine his older color has.