Build-A-Commander or Commander customization debate (mod or in-game)

We've probably all talked about commander customization a million times over, but is it really game-worthy or mod material?
And how deep should the customization be if it's implemented?
Keep those posts coming.

A little bit of commander customization in a game like this goes a long way.

OP, please elaborate more. I have no idea what you're talking about.

But what's better, 4 commanders you can customize to a degree, or 40 different commanders?

Mike

If you have 4 commanders you can customize you can create many more than 40 commanders.

4 commanders with just 4 leg options(Bipedal, quad, hover, spider, etc) creates 16 potential commanders.

4 commanders with 4 leg options with 4 head options creates 64 commanders.

Small options add up. A little customization goes a long way.

But they're only different if they're actually different. If the Leg options are the same across the 4 commanders you don't have 16 commanders, you have 4 with each one having 4 different cosmetic torsos. The other problem is customizations is you are stuck with set styles, it's even worse when a given part has to look at least halfway decent across all the different combinations, by doing many 'set' commanders you have more more creative freedom to create different commanders.

Mike

Not really. You can have 4 torsos. For sake of argument let's have an 'upright' torso, a 'squat' torso, a 'curved' torso(like a C ), and a square torso.

For each torso the placement of the 4 different types of legs creates a different look, even from a commander with a different torso but the same legs. They have a different profile.

And just 4 options is very sparse, but is easy on me because I'm terrible at math. I'm sure someone can come up with more than 4 options. The amount of different commanders you can create is exponential, rather than "How many can art department make"

Yes having 'set' commanders means each one likely has more detail, but maybe someone can't find a commander they want? What about them? Being able to create a commander means they get one they can call their own- even if someone else uses that combination.

I think customizable commanders is the way to go to make as many people as happy as possible. And the best part about it is they can add new legs/heads/arms/torsos/whatever whenever they have time to do so, which is easier to do than create an entirely new commander concept from scratch.

The problem again is making it look consistent across all the possible combinations.
That's just the cosmetics of it as well, what about the code-implementation? It's many times more complex and expensive of a system to implement and results in lower quality models that all look distinctly alike.

Set Commanders can also have new commanders added to the roster as well.

If someone doesn't like a single commander out of 40 or more, chances are being able to create a sub-par commander isn't really in line with what they want, they want something VERY specific, and throwing something together out of assorted same-y parts is not likely to lead to something they like.

Mike

I just can't agree with that viewpoint, sorry. I think customizable commanders is the way to go.

Customizable commanders is a gimmick. The "exponential" increase in number of "different" commanders is a marketing ploy. They aren't actually that different, and such systems are usually used as a method to multiply the number of pieces of an interestingly different complete set. Either so they can be sold separately, or so they can be acquired separately, grinded, traded, and so on.

Multiple discrete commanders, where each is actually relevantly different from each other commander, is a vastly superior system to allowing futile cosmetic customization. Each discrete commander can have very different properties, and every player can be aware of their characteristics without hiding "customizations" or forcing players to fudge their estimates because they can't identify whether the shoulder pixel is blue or green. Concrete predictability of performance is very important in a strategy game, and inane customization completely breaks predictability.

To say nothing of the complexity of a customization system, it adds nothing of strategic importance, and in fact adds little at all of even functional importance. A hundred customizations that each add 1% is just a pitifully empty attempt to increase the number of "choices" even if they are completely vacuous and illusory "choices."

The whole point of customizing them is to create a visually different commander. It's been stated they will all be very similar or identical stat-wise, so the only way to tell them apart is visually.

Wait, so you're not even in favor of functional customization?

As in, it has zero gameplay effect at all?

You must be kidding. What would be the point of spending so much time and effort into making such a system that does nothing?

Make the model yourself if you like.

As far as I know the developers have stated that the commanders will all behave if not identically, then very close. They don't want your commander choice to have a big impact on the game.

So yes, I am for customization even if it does not provide a functional or strategic bonus.

Sometimes we just want to look good.

And as I've already said, the best way to look good is Set Commander designs because they result in a higher quality model and are quicker and easier to create. You customize by choosing different commanders, and you'll have a lot to choose from and even more over time.

Mike

That would be cool. If they released mod tools, we could do that anyway

Unfortunately I like having something that I created. That's the draw for me for having customization.

Perhaps a happy medium could be set commanders with minor changes(Different heads or legs as I've said elsewhere) to have the high quality models while still retaining some customization to the base form, but only cosmetically and minor.

Nothing is stopping you from learning to actually make models, instead of demanding programmers who have better things to do build an automatic model assembler for you to use.

You aren't "creating" anything when you select from preset parts. You are selecting from a pool of options that were made for you.

The only issue here is whether those options are very different, or only slightly different. You seem to be asking for slightly different. Having a selection of completely different commanders really should be enough if all you are really interested in is cosmetic differences.

I'm not demanding anything. Nowhere have I said "Things must be this way!" "I must have what I want".

It was a suggestion. If you don't like it, I accept that.

They're already going to do different types of commanders, the extras don't even have to be newly created. "Oh the legs from this guy can work on that guy let's have them as an option".

Not all that difficult.

You're not demanding it, but you are saying you feel it is the best course of action for the game to take.

Except as I've been saying, that's not how you end up with different high quality models, the second you start reusing stuff like that over and over again you actively work against the idea of making distinct commanders. Imagine if you did that with units, lets take this one chassis and just slap different weapons on it, that leads to player confusion and totally skewing unit readability heavily towards "Confusing as hell" because unless weapons are comically large, the chassis has a much bigger role in unit identification then the weapon, especially when you're more zoomed out. Although Commanders aren't int eh same situation being able to tell different commanders apart easily is still fairly important in team games and is even more important when you have to deal with any potential functional differences between commanders.

Mike

I'm allowed to have opinions last time I checked. In my opinion I think customizable commanders is the best direction, yes.

I don't agree with basically the rest of your post. Sorry.