I think character customization really takes away from an engaging story. The MC becomes a blank slate, while if you don’t have customization, you can really see the way that the author wants to portray their character.
Of course! My favorite stories include customizable and non-customizable main characters. It doesn’t have to be a requirement nor a reason for readers not to read your story.
Most of the stories I read are customizable, but I really don’t mind reading a story without customizations. As long the story have good material and draws me in without customization, then yes I would!
I agree with a lot of you. It’s not necessary for me to customize characters,
Like @TheSunflowerQueen said:
But I would probably lean towards non-customizable because the character is specific to the story and therefore the story would most likely be better thought out .
Thanks everybody. That’s great because my newest story doesn’t have customization and I know a lot of ones I’ve read do so I wanted to know what everyone else thought about it.
I think customization is good for if you want the reader to feel like they’re living in the story, and non-customization is good when you already have a strong main character who’s story the reader is just observing, if that makes any sense. I’ll totally read stories without customization as long as I don’t really hate the mc’s look
I personally think that it, in a way, ruins the main character and the story altogether. Like, if you want to write a story about a normal girl living in a normal world, then make the main character normal, make them special, or else the player is going to make them have some really weird hairstyles or skin colours to make them appear unnormal, thus ruining the story as it was intended.
It actually annoys me when I have to customize a million and one characters. I don’t think customization is that big of a deal, if the story is good and there are a good amount of choices.
I enjoy stories without character customization or limited character customization because it isn’t about the character looking like you or how you want them to look, it’s about the character development and sometimes the look of the character is a big part of the story. I also love stories that have customization just as much.
A character’s nose shouldn’t affect the plot. Just saying.
As you can tell, I’m a plot person. I am more invested with character personality, character development and the emotions or memories that they managed to evoke from within me. I feel that CC takes away from the story. I like to read a story and see how the author envisioned the characters. I can be immersed in the story and feel that I am living in the story regardless of CC options.
Another reason is, not all the MCs acts the same way or feel the same way as the readers do so when the MCs do certain choices that is opposite of what I usually would have done is a bit off-putting to read. For example, if the MC is pro-abortion and I am pro-life, and there is no options to choose from and I had customized my MC, it is a bit hard to swallow and read. I can understand that the readers are playing as the MC and not as themselves. Sometimes I find the MC in scenarios that are extremely uncomfortable or I’m reading scenes that deal with sensitive topics. To read those scenes with CC is well… you get the point. That is one of the reason why I tend to skip CC options.
I think the best would be putting CC but including a skip CC option too. Put an option, “This looks great/This is perfect” etc for those that wish to skip the CC entirely and just get on with the story.
You cater to both groups that wants CC and to those that don’t care about CC.
To be honest, I don’t think character customization is at all necessary. I’m going to state my opinion down below…please don’t judge.
Let’s just think of the real world. Once you’re born, unless you get plastic surgery (plz don’t, it ain’t necessary) you can’t really change how a character looks. Also, eye color or the skin tone may actually influence the story a lot.
Not only that, but it’s kind of making me think that if you customize the “crush” or the “boyfriend” in the story, it’s like the MC can’t fall in love with the boy on the inside. It’s like she’s falling in love with the “looks.”
I dunno, what do you guys think?
Precisely. What matters most is in the inside. This important message, if that’s what the author intended, tend to get lost in translation with CC of love interests. Also, a reason why I tend to avoid makeover stories like a plague. These kind of stories, for the most part, tend to send a message that nobody would like you or notice you if you wear glasses and not dolled up in tight or revealing clothes and makeup.
I don’t really like choosing the names of characters and i don’t like it when we get to customise the best friends and that. I just like to customise the MC and the love inerest/s. If you still want the characters to look like how you made them then choose limited customisation because if you don’t i feel like your fan mail would get FILLED with people asking to customise. But in the end it is really just your decision.