Breakfast Topic: How do you make your characters?
by Andrew Ross 
Jun 22nd 2011 at 8:00AM
I like to consider making characters a bit of an art. My girlfriend's brother just chooses a class/race he doesn't have an alt of, hits the random appearance button, and then gives himself a name based on obscure foods or food companies. Her sister ... let's just say she could spend the whole day making her characters. My girlfriend seems to start out with a general popular character in mind and then twists it where she needs differences (or where the game forces imperfections of that character).
I'm a former roleplayer, but I'm also team oriented ... mainly for PUGs. For example, my current main is a DK I made when WotLK launched. I liked the idea of the class, I loved Death Grip, and I wanted to play a needed class without the option of a possible healer spec. (I've been a healer for years, so I feel like I've earned retirement.) Based on the character skills and theme, I chose the name of a well known nomadic warrior, but shortened his name tremendously because I love having a name that's easy to type.
For his appearance, I looked at what other people did, and tried to steer clear of a few things, like popular skin options. I love having beards (mainly because my beard in real life always develops a cowlick when it reaches epic lengths), but once in awhile I can make a feminine looking character without actually rolling a lady. I'm fickle that way.
So how do you come up with your characters? Do you randomize? Pick names based on Street Fighter characters? Or just go with the flavor of the month?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
myst Jun 22nd 2011 8:06AM
After the main, I had made my characters based on what professions I would take next, followed by what class would benefit from that profession the most in Wrath. After the 6th toon I had read about the Pre-Cata quest lines, Zalazane/Gnomerangan and wanted to participate, also as they were removing the Wrathgate questline, I decided to level another toon on the opposite faction. The last 3 were filling the slots of classes that I do not have.
At the moment I've got them to 85 and rotate the 9 toons on and off (with 1 I refuse to play due to the need to do massive rekeybinding)...
MattKrotzer Jun 22nd 2011 8:06AM
My main, Josin, was created years ago for a Star Wars writing group I was in, but her appearance and name were based on Rachel Leigh Cook in Josie and the Pussycats (a vastly underrated spoof of the music industry, IMO). Her personality was a combination of Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger.
She's grown and changed in unexpected ways since then, but that was where she started.
Peebers Jun 22nd 2011 8:14AM
Are those puma sweats?
Straz Jun 22nd 2011 8:40AM
Twill Belt and Pants.
And MattK that was a sadly underrated movie.
MattKrotzer Jun 22nd 2011 8:47AM
I'm still not convinced Parker Posey ISN'T running a behind-the-scenes conglomerate bent on controlling the minds of the youth of America...
StClair Jun 22nd 2011 1:32PM
Parker Posey can [censor] [censor] [censor] [censor] me ANY time. :)
Darky Jun 22nd 2011 8:07AM
In all honesty I just pick whatever class looks good, ie my orc dk looks bichin' in his plate, and my belf priest looks very delicate. I rarely choose a male caster because having a character who mainly casts spells yet has biceps the size of new orleans just seems wrong.
cyanea85 Jun 22nd 2011 8:11AM
For classes, I usually become obsessed with a facet of the class that intrigues me. I rolled my Paladin because I liked the idea of healing three people at once (target, Beacon, Protector of the Innocent). I rolled my warrior because I liked the seemingly frenetic pace of warrior tanking.
When it comes to race, I usually go with whatever has the best animations. For Alliance, I tend to play most Draenei because...well...I think a lot of Alliance races are a little ridiculous and Draenei females have the most sensible looking ones (no stupid spins or jumps or poses).
When it comes to names, I either use a name from something I've written or click the Randomize button until I find something good, and tweak it to my satisfaction.
cyanea85 Jun 22nd 2011 8:12AM
I also base my class choices on starting zone. Another reason why I have a lot of Draenei is pre-Cata, their starting zone was the least terrible (along with Belves)...but that's changing since the Cataclysm.
Revnah Jun 22nd 2011 8:12AM
I usually know the race and class combination I want, and then I click through all the customisation options and go with what feels right (which isn't necessary always the "prettiest" option). Sometimes I also start out with an idea in mind, for example I wanted a raven-haired dwarvess who's a holy paladin, and that's what I created. Or a brown Tauren female, because there are already so many black and white ones around.
My troll Revnah is mostly pretty, with her reddish-blond ponytail, stern face, and light-blue skin. That's also as intended, she's the star among my characters!
Kurtis Jun 22nd 2011 8:15AM
I spend most of my time on the items that can't be changed at the barber shop. Other than that, I normally have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for long before I hit the "Create new character" button.
The naming process normally takes the longest. I want my characters' names to match their culture. So my Tauren all have Lakota names, my Trolls have Zandalari names (and apostrophes, thanks to MRP), my Draenei all have Russian-based or -sounding names, etc. Beyond that, the name normally also says something about their class or role. For example, my Tauren druid's name is Lakota for "crazy red bear" and my Draenei hunter's name is derived from an eastern European spelling of Orion (the patron saint of hunters).
Kurtis Jun 22nd 2011 8:20AM
Somebody above mentioned creating a character for a specific look. I've done this too - after running my undead warlock through the first several starter zones, I went back and created a belf huntress who wears only black (or dark colors when she can't get black) and is patterned off of Sylvanas' dark rangers. Even her pet lion is black.
Tabasa Jun 22nd 2011 8:16AM
I've always spent a lot of time on the character creation screen. Admittedly there's a few looks I tend to gravitate to consistently, but I do try to have some variety when I'm rolling characters. I tend to usually go for young and pretty on female characters, while my male characters admittedly have a little more variety (I also love sticking epic beards on male characters, which makes Dwarves and Gnomes fun to play with).
Names are always what I take the longest on. Being an RPer at heart, even when I'm not actually on an RP server, I like to try to put a lot of thought into the names. Even when I'm not bothering to try to make a name fit the race exactly (guilty confession : Tabasa, who has always been my RP main, has both her first and last name taken from Capcom characters), I still like to have names that actually fit the character in my head, as opposed to more "screen name"-y stuff.
...and then there's this most recent server I've just started on, where I decided on a whim to make every character a MLP:FiM character. I was delighted to find out that the name Pinkamena wasn't taken, and my main there is now a hyper bouncy Blood Elf Hunter version of Pinkie Pie. Even better, being a hunter, all of her pets are also MLP references (She always has her pet crocolisk Gummy out by default, of course. He's got no teeth!).
Ravy Jun 22nd 2011 9:47AM
XD
That is awesome. I am wanting to make pony themed characters too...but my server is full. (I'm an altaholic.)
Guess that means I will have to find an alt server.
Mortenebra Jun 22nd 2011 10:33AM
I spend a really really REALLY long time on names, too. For a while, I named a bunch of my alts after characters from Privateer Press' "Iron Kingdoms" universe, like my undead priest named Mortenebra. But then a friend of mine gave me a Latin-English dictionary for my birthday while I was studying Latin during college. The majority of my alts now have Latin-derived names, like my main alt Saluxis, who was originally a holy paladin before dual-specs (she's now holy/prot). Her name breaks down like this:
salue/salve (to save) + lux (light) = "the saving light"
I originally wrote her name as "Salluxis" to preserve the "sal" and "lux" but thought it looked silly and dreaded having everyone call her Sally. Nothing wrong with the name Sally, mind you-- but it's just not the nickname I had in mind for my plate-wearing, mace-wielding healer.
Noyou Jun 22nd 2011 8:16AM
My first toon I had no clue. Made him a human mage. Named him Shakakhan. Was going for Chaka khan (like the 80s group) but I had a slight spelling malfunction. He sat at lvl 13 because I had a slight player malfunction. I think I did as good a job that I could on his appearance. My second toon was a Dwarf hunter and rightly so. Pretty much all dwarves look alike- lets be honest. He's one of my favorites to this day. After that I went for races that I didn't have as well as classes and professions. Funny how time goes I started playing my mage a lot this expac and he is now the first alt up out of the box. Get's a lot more playing time than my main. At one point I toyed around with race changing him to a Gnome. But I really wanted the Spectral steed from Baradin Wardens and Gnomes just look silly on most mounts. I try to take my time when making a toon, getting the look right and the name right since those cost real $$ to change. Hairstyle I am not so picky on because you can redo that as soon as you hit a major city plus you get that awesome achieve "Shave and a haircut!" Huzzah!
Yams Jun 22nd 2011 8:39AM
O.o
Chaka Khan is a funk singer from the 70s, not an 80s band.
MattKrotzer Jun 22nd 2011 8:54AM
She was still with Rufus until 1978. Most of her success was in the 80's, though her biggest hits "Tell Me Something Good" (with Rufus in 1975) and "I'm Every Woman" (1979) did come in the 70s.
She won 3 Grammy awards in the 70s, and 6 in the 80s. (5 in the 90s, incidentally.)
70's or 80's are both perfectly acceptable.
Matthew Jun 22nd 2011 1:11PM
Chaka Khan is most noted for two things.
The left one and the right one.
luvar07 Jun 22nd 2011 8:16AM
I always have the class/race combo decided when I create my characters. The hardest part for me is coming up with the name.
After hitting that randomize button a few times and being notified that each of those are already taken, I usually get lazy and look at one of my other characters, and alter the first letter. I'm lazy that way.