Character Gender & General Feedback

I created this account back in 2017 to give POE1 a try with a Witch and gave up on the game after the first 2 levels.

I'm surprised this time I've stuck long enough to reach level 19 (I think), with the same choice - Minions Witch.

Other than some stuttering (happened mostly in act 1 woods when overcrowded with monsters and foliage, and was solved by some rendering settings, thanks to global chat), slightly overtuned difficulty and annoying respec cost, I actually like the game quite a bit.

My biggest gripe so far is that I cannot choose to be a male on this character, which I'd like to be able to for immersion purposes. I never liked playing female characters in any game and I usually give up if I don't have the option.

Has this been or could it be considered? I'd very much appreciate it.

"

blossomdead#5781 wrote:

I created this account back in 2017 to give POE1 a try with a Witch and gave up on the game after the first 2 levels.

I'm surprised this time I've stuck long enough to reach level 19 (I think), with the same choice - Minions Witch.

Other than some stuttering (happened mostly in act 1 woods when overcroded with monsters and foliage, and was solved by some rendering settings, thanks to global chat), slightly overtuned difficulty and annoying respec cost, I actually like the game quite a bit.

My biggest gripe so far is that I cannot choose to be a male on this character, which I'd like to be able to for immersion purposes. I never liked playing female characters in any game and I usually give up if I don't have the option.

Has this been or could it be considered? I'd very much appreciate it.

No one ever complains about not being able to make Superman a woman or Lara Croft a man. Same applies with PoE, they are characters in their own right.

Unfortunately, the playerbase is....kinda ugly...on this issue. It tends to attract the sorts of arguments that make anyone reading them feel dirty.

Short version: Jonathan has not taken it off the table, but he considers it a low priority at the moment and should it ever come, it would likely be in the form of prohibitively expensive MTXes some time in the medium to far future. You are vanishingly unlikely to be able to play a male Witch during Early Access, or any time shortly thereafter.

I absolutely feel you, I dislike playing male characters if I don't have to and outright feel uncomfortable and icky on certain male characters this game favors. But we're kinda up a creek without a paddle on this issue, nor are we going to have any luck convincing anyone else this is actually an important issue.

Super sucks.

I see, then it's at least some mildly good news. Perhaps by the end of early access they will provide the option, I'll be looking out.

I'am pretty sure ggg won't change anything in this direction. but I agree. It's kidna weird that we have gender lock in the game where have such deep build customization. I wish they change this in future. This not comparable with Superman and Lara croft, because these characters has story behind their personality... and in POE there is not story around the classes. You'll get similar experience no matter you play Male or Female char. I think the reaso here is that animation development will cost some time and just not worth it. Returns over Investment is poor

Easy solution comes to mind.
they could make a male and female "Scion"

their first skill point can be any starter skill after this all other starter points are deactivated - making you go along a chosen path

didn't they say all chars share the animations?

this way they have male/female version of basically any class

"

blossomdead#5781 wrote:

My biggest gripe so far is that I cannot choose to be a male on this character, which I'd like to be able to for immersion purposes. I never liked playing female characters in any game and I usually give up if I don't have the option.

Has this been or could it be considered? I'd very much appreciate it.

You mistake this game for an RGP with a character creator. You do not create characters here, you play as characters that were already created. Witch is not a class you can apply to any random person, witch is a specific person with a specific story within the game.

Asking to change her gender is kind of like asking why you can't make Kratos in God of War a woman, because you prefer playing as women. Because Kratos is a man. That's part of his character, and changing that would be silly. Same thing with the witch. She is a woman, that's part of her character.

As for immersion, I keep seeing this argument when guys don't want to play as women, and I don't understand it. Isn't the whole point of RPG's that the character you're playing isn't you? The fantasy of playing Kratos isn't the fantasy of being me, it's the fantasy of being a greek god. I don't need to be a greek god in real life to be immersed into that fantasy, because the entire point of fantasy is to dream of being something other than myself.

So why would you need the fantasy character to share your traits in order to be immersed? Doesn't that defeat the whole point of fantasy?

No, go away.

"

Infereon#4585 wrote:

This not comparable with Superman and Lara croft, because these characters has story behind their personality... and in POE there is not story around the classes.

There is, though. The Warrior is Renly's son, the Sorceress is a Maraketh woman who was taken captive, the Ranger is a survivalist who lives alone in the forest near the village.

These aren't blank canvases, the characters absolutely have story behind them. It was the same in PoE1. These aren't gender-locked classes, they are specific characters with specific stories.

Personally I like it more when characters are set in stone. It makes it more immersive for me, since I'm playing as that character and not some character I made.

Nevertheless, I see why people would want it. But I don't think it's a priority (nor should it be) for GGG anytime soon. Don't expect this even at the 1.0 launch.