First of all: the character creation looks AMAZING! It looks like so much fun to play with, and I can't wait to start creating character(s).... or well.... I guess that is where the issue with this Community Update is.
It seems to me, from what I understand, that we are going to have this AMAZING character creation setup, where you can color the tip of your Tiefling's horns, have your character have different color eyes with the heterochromia feature etc. etc. - SO SO COOL, and then well... bummer... we are not really going to be able to use it, are we....?
If we pick an Origin character as our main character (excluding the Urge), we don't even get to see the character creation menu at all, as all other recruitable characters in the game are premade, and not customizable with relation to their race, name or appearance. Some of us (a lot I think) had hoped that the hirelings would be fully customizable, and would make up for this apparent lack of customizability. But according to this Community Update, they are not.
If we choose to play as a custom main character, the game allows us to create and customize ONE character per play-through, which means we get to play around with all the cool features that they developed for us ONCE in what might be 200 hours... and for some, that don't replay the game, never again - that just seems like SUCH a waste and a shame, if you consider how much time went into creating that part of the game.
One custom character is not enough! I have ideas for so many more! And I know I am not the only one!
Having 12 premade "temporary" hireling characters, that you can't change name, race or appearance of just feels so counterintuitive and wrong when the character creation is so elaborate and so fun to play with, and is just sitting there begging to be utilized! That is one of the things I love most about CRPG's: creating my own characters and having them blend in with the premade characters.
I think it is completely fair to compare BG3 with games like Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 (games that are highly influenced by Baldur's Gate 1 and 2), where you could make up to 8 completely custom characters (not temporary I might add!), and change your group setup throughout the game, mixing them with the premade characters however you wanted, so you didn't miss out on their individual quests. Having BG3 allow for something like that it would be my one and only wish for this game for now. I know that modders are probably going to make it possible later on, but I really don't see why Larian don't just implement it into the game to begin with. Especially seeing as it seems that they are really intent on making the game open for many different kinds of ways to play. So why not this way? If I can kill all the premade characters, why can't I create my own? I would say that the first scenario is far more "gamebreaking" than the latter.
So Larian: why can't we play with our own customized characters - it's really a small thing to ask at this point and would be extremely easy to implement. And those that want to play with the hirelings as they are, they still get to do just that, it wouldn't really be taking anything away from that - just adding another option of how one wishes to play, and making players like me enjoy the game a whole lot more. (I was planning to create some of the characters from BG1 and BG2 that would still be alive at the time of BG3, like Aerie etc.)
Pretty please, Larian, with owlbear on top!
