810 réponses à ce sujet

[Mdizzletr0n]

Cause blondes have more fun in Mass Effect... Just nobody knows about it because they are an anomaly.

So much fun that they're pretty much all dead!

[Mdizzletr0n]

Miranda was meant to be blonde because Yvonne is one.

But they thought that her CGI look better as dark hair with the black and white Cerberus uniform. And the lighting in ME2 isn't that flattering either.

I thought blonde and red shade was awful in ME3. Too shiny like plastic wigs. Then again in ME1 and ME2, black hair shade was actually dark grey and its pretty annoying that everyone in the game have darker hair than what the custom slider can offer. Only in ME3 that they finally look like actual dark hair.

I guess Drew wanted to tell us that in the future, humanity looked 'multiracial'. But I don't think blondes was that rare in MEU, just natural blondes and red heads... which is a predominantly rare and recessive trait.

They made the right call. She looks better as a brunette.

[Chardonney]

A platinum blond option in the character creation would be very nice, especially if they don't tie the eyebrow colour to the hair colour, so you can choose both yourself.  

[sjsharp2011]

Well, the blonde hair in DAI didn't really look worse than all the other hair colours.

that was my point it's no worse than any other coloured hair in DAI in fact it's probably better on this engine compared to how it was on the older engine is what I meant as well.

[Grieving Natashina]

It cracks me up that folks are debating about the "realism" of blondes in ME. For one, that's based on the same psudeo-science that states that redheads will be extinct by 2060. That has since been proven untrue, the same with blondes. For another, we are dealing with a series were someone can get blown up, crash onto a frozen planet and come back to life in two years. Where giant robots, at least millions if not billions of years old, run by a buggy VI can destroy the galaxy. The most "wise" race is a bunch of blue babes that can have children with anyone, and can live up to 1000 years. I'd go on, but I think I made my point.

This series has been and always will be science-fantasy, no matter how BW/EA tries to spin it. Sci-Fantasy has always played fast and loose with any real science, and the ME series is no different. Also, the devs have admitted that the Codex is sometimes deliberately untrue. In my opinion, it's so they can change or otherwise modify lore as they see fit.

More on topic: I don't see why not. I've been advocating for a blondes as LIs for both DA and ME (based on Natalie Dormer as a bisexual LI,) for a change of pace. I do think that blonde can be a tricky color to render right, and I haven't seen a lot of examples of a natural looking blonde. I've used Gibbed to give my current Shepard some highlights and lowlights, and it looks better. I might dig up some screenshots of her later.

At this point, I'm hoping now, that the BW teams have had a chance to work with the engine some more, they can either add in some highlights, or allow the player to do so for themselves. Or at least give us some hair options that aren't shaved and/or with sideburns, with the male pattern baldness.

As an aside, It seems like if anyone posts an idea for a character's look (such as last year when someone requested a Native American pre-set face for the CC, or the thread that asked dreds/afros as hairstyles,) they are automatically accused of "wanting to be pandered to," or that BioWare would just be "wasting time on a minority" I think some folks are looking too deeply into such threads. Sometimes players (like me) just want to see something different. No political or societal agenda, just a "Hey, this would be nice."

[Lady Artifice]

As I said, I'm not opposed to its inclusion. The reason it wasn't prevalent in ME1-3 was due to technical limitations of Unreal Engine 3. Frostbite 3 doesn't have such limitations, thus the point of this thread has largely already been rendered useless when we have examples of blonde characters in DAI, as an example. Sera comes to mind.

"As lovely as dark hair is, it's a shame that Mass Effect lore tends to consider blonde hair so extremely scarce. I believe Kahlee Sanders and Conrad Verner might be the only prominent blond NPCs of the Mass Effect universe, so it would be nice to encounter at least one more. Perhaps as a squad member."

Based on this quote from the OP, it seems to me he/she is specifically asking for either more NPCs or a companion to have blonde hair. That's more than just having a "preference for . . . good blonde hair in the game." That, in itself, could be construed as creating an arbitrary quota because of his/her preference to see a specific type of character for personal reasons.

Again, I'm not against the idea of blonde hair in the game. The more options, the more people will be pleased. As this isn't an issue with Frostbite 3, I'm sure we'll be seeing hair styles of all different flavors of colors! The point that was being made is BioWare doesn't have infinite resources and they have to prioritize what features actually make it into the game (character creation is incredibly time consuming and requires a lot of resources). BioWare has a limited budget and works on a tight schedule, so prioritizing is an integral part of game development and having blonde hair in the game, for example, would be far less of a priority than having a workable mako or a compelling story not filled with plot holes.

Everybody likes more options! BioWare can't make everybody's dreams come true, however.

 

I would argue that a blonde companion would in no way, shape, or form have an implicit effect on the degree to which the plot is compelling, or any other story related matters. It's a purely aesthetic request.

The most glaring problem with your resources argument is that, at this point, blonde hair is so routinely included in Bioware games as to be basically a given in the CC. Assuming--as most of us are--that blondness will probably be already coded, it's unlikely that a blond companion would be a greater drain on resources than a brunette would be.

This extremely casual conversation has, I fervently promise you, absolutely nothing to do with my hopes and dreams.

A lot of things would be nice in life. The point is, we can't have our cake and eat it too. I merely was looking for a deeper understanding from the OP with regard to why exactly this would be so crucial and pivotal over other features.

 

I don't understand what on earth could have possibly led you to the bizarre conclusion that I consider this crucial, let alone that I value it over any other features.

Again, I'll attempt to explain, I made this thread because I've witnessed so much interest in the idea of a blonde companion. There has in fact, been about three threads before this one about there being a blonde companion that promptly went down in flames. I'm offering this thread to the people who are interested in discussing this feature, with the hope that it won't meet a similar fate.

If I have a personal stake in this discussion, it is reserved to the fact that I think Bioware should quietly ignore the part of their lore that previously dictated blondness is near the point of extinction in the Mass Effect timeline. They based the whole concept on reasonable sounding, but incorrect science (For reference, Han Shot First was kind enough to post a link elaborating that issue on the first page of this thread).

I would definitely not go so far as to call this pivotal or crucial. I also don't think every conversation I have needs to relate to pivotal or crucial things.

And that is the best explanation for this thread I can offer you. I hope it satisfies.

I never said I didn't care about the suggestion at all. I said I didn't care what color hair styles there were in the game, meaning BioWare can include as many as they want within their means. Nothing in my reasoning has changed, just your failure to properly construe the meaning of my rhetoric as well as leaps in logic on your part. You can attempt to "mock" me all you want if it makes you feel better about your petty attacks on an opinion you don't agree with?

Blonde hair is going to be in the game. I can't guarantee if companions or NPCs are going to have blonde hair. I'm not even sure how many humans, besides the protagonist, will be in the game. However, as I told the OP, he/she can merely make his character's hair blonde if it is that much of an issue.

This recommendation also seems remarkably odd to me. Most of the people requesting a blonde companion are doing so either because they want one to be a romance option, or because they think that there should be more blonde NPCs in general. It doesn't mean they want to play a blonde.

For example, I usually make redheaded or blonde protagonists, but it doesn't follow that I'd prefer a blonde or redheaded LI. In fact, I'm more drawn to darker features. For someone else, the reverse might be true.

edit: As for your use of the phrase, "have your cake and eat it too," that doesn't actually have anything to do with this thread. That refers to requesting two or more incompatible things simultaneously, whereas this thread only addresses one.

[Vox Draco]

[abaris]

 

Again, I'll attempt to explain, I made this thread because I've witnessed so much interest in the idea of a blonde companion. There has in fact, been about three threads before this one about there being a blonde companion that promptly went down in flames. I'm offering this thread to the people who are interested in discussing this feature, with the hope that it won't meet a similar fate. 

 

Primarily I'm interested in being able to make my player as diverse as possible. Useable blond hair would certainly fall into that category. But as I stated above, dark skin or a real and believable asian look would fit the bill also.

 

None of that is provided in any Bioware game. And little in any other game I played.

 

I don't really know what makes blond hairstyles look like straw or some doormat slapped over the characters head. I guess, it boils down to textures and shaders, since the lighter color show all the flaws that dark hairstyles sweep under the carpet. There's a reason why everything is so dark in ME3. It's not only about a desired atmosphere. It's also to hide that the textures really aren't up to scratch. Not even for the year 2012.

[Grieving Natashina]

Someone on FOG did a replica of the actual concept art for a Shep (I use a slightly modified version, with brownish-blonde hair,) and I thought the blonde looked okay.

Note: I didn't create this Shepard, but I do use a mod like this minus the beauty mark. I also found one that has the red hair, as well as the brunette version.



I don't think the textures are an issue, but that's just my opinion. I do think the devs have a poor concept on how adding low/highlights can make all the difference for hair color.

[abaris]

Someone on FOG did a replica of the actual concept art for a Shep (I use a slightly modified version, with brownish-blonde hair,) and I thought the blonde looked okay.

Note: I didn't create this Shepard, but I do use this mod. I also found one that has the red hair, as well as the brunette version.



I don't think the textures are an issue, but that's just my opinion. I do think the devs have a poor concept on how adding low/highlights can make all the difference for hair color.

 

I guess it's more in the shader department. I found that red is as light as it gets when creating a halfway believable hairstyle with what we already have. Brown, at least the lighter shades, and blond tend to be on the doormat side.

[Grieving Natashina]

I guess it's more in the shader department. I found that red is as light as it gets when creating a halfway believable hairstyle with what we already have. Brown, at least the lighter shades, and blond tend to be on the doormat side.

I've found that it's really adding low/highlights that can make the difference between doormat and a decent looking color for hair. Also, I have found that the default Sheperd hair looks a lot better even with the non-modded colors than on other hairstyles. I think with a little extra time and care, they could give us an option for a decent looking blonde.

Going a little more back on topic, I hope they have better blonde NPCs. Other than Sanders, most of them looked pretty awful. I'll admit, I laughed my tail off when I saw Conrad in ME3. He looked like a skater that got bleach-blonde hairlights. That looked pretty absurd, and I would have rather seen Conrad go grey.

[abaris]

Going a little more back on topic, I hope they have better blonde NPCs. Other than Sanders, most of them looked pretty awful. I'll admit, I laughed my tail off when I saw Conrad in ME3. He looked like a skater that got bleach-blonde hairlights. That looked pretty absurd, and I would have rather seen Conrad go grey.

 

Conrad looked like wearing a very bad wig, complete with bleached beard.

[Grieving Natashina]

Conrad looked like wearing a very bad wig, complete with bleached beard.

My first thought was that Conrad reminded me Guy Fieri, if Conrad had put on around 50lbs or so.

[Mdizzletr0n]

It cracks me up that folks are debating about the "realism" of blondes in ME. For one, that's based on the same psudeo-science that states that redheads will be extinct by 2060. That has since been proven untrue, the same with blondes. For another, we are dealing with a series were someone can get blown up, crash onto a frozen planet and come back to life in two years. Where giant robots, at least millions if not billions of years old, run by a buggy VI can destroy the galaxy. The most "wise" race is a bunch of blue babes that can have children with anyone, and can live up to 1000 years. I'd go on, but I think I made my point.

This series has been and always will be science-fantasy, no matter how BW/EA tries to spin it. Sci-Fantasy has always played fast and loose with any real science, and the ME series is no different. Also, the devs have admitted that the Codex is sometimes deliberately untrue. In my opinion, it's so they can change or otherwise modify lore as they see fit.

More on topic: I don't see why not. I've been advocating for a blondes as LIs for both DA and ME (based on Natalie Dormer as a bisexual LI,) for a change of pace. I do think that blonde can be a tricky color to render right, and I haven't seen a lot of examples of a natural looking blonde. I've used Gibbed to give my current Shepard some highlights and lowlights, and it looks better. I might dig up some screenshots of her later.

At point, I'm hoping now, that the BW teams have had a chance to work with the engine some more, they can either add in some highlights, or allow the player to do so for themselves. Or at least give us some hair options that aren't shaved and/or with sideburns, with the male pattern baldness.

As an aside, It seems like if anyone posts an idea for a character's look (such as last year when someone requested a Native American pre-set face for the CC, or the thread that asked dreds/afros as hairstyles,) they are automatically accused of "wanting to be pandered to," or that BioWare would just be "wasting time on a minority" I think some folks are looking too deeply into such threads. Sometimes players (like me) just want to see something different. No political or societal agenda, just a "Hey, this would be nice."

Mouse face? No thanks, she'd float out from the airlock. Such a downgrade from Yvonne S.

Also, people want blondes for " realism " but think the addition of chubby companions or NPCs and children are nonsense. Lol OK.

[Grieving Natashina]

Mouse face? No thanks, she'd float out from the airlock. Such a downgrade from Yvonne S.
Also, people want blondes for " realism " but think the addition of chubby companions or NPCs and children are nonsense. Lol OK.

I didn't find Yvonne attractive in the slightest. I didn't even like Miranda until after her loyalty mission, and even then I wasn't fond of her until ME3. Different strokes for different folks there.

I offered the counterpoint that the devs have given themselves a way to change the lore if folks are that worried that blondes are unrealistic. "Blondes aren't any more rare than they were in the 21st Century" or something like that. Boom, problem solved. I'm wondering if you misunderstood me by mistake.

I don't want it for realism, far from it. Please, there isn't many natural blondes now, so I don't see how having more blondes in the ME series could be called realistic or not in any case. I want it for something different from what we've had before, such as more blonde NPCs/LIs. The same with most of these threads, this is about having fun with some ideas. My tune has never changed, and I know the OP enough to where I know that she feels the same way. We often post in threads about aesthetics because we'd like some different ideas for BW games.

As far as chubby NPCs/companions, I personally don't care either way. If the devs want to create different builds, like in ToR, I support that. I also don't have a problem with kids on the Ark/Not-Citadel. In fact, I think it adds to the world by having some kids around. They don't have to interact much with the player, but it makes a lot of sense to see them there. So long as BioWare doesn't use the image of a child to convey the loss of innocence for an entire galaxy, again.

[Undead Han]

Mouse face? No thanks, she'd float out from the airlock. Such a downgrade from Yvonne S.

Also, people want blondes for " realism " but think the addition of chubby companions or NPCs and children are nonsense. Lol OK.

 

There is a solid argument against obese companions on the basis of realism, unlike any argument against blondes. A guy who looks like he'd need to be hooked up to an oxygen tank after a sprint would not have the prerequisite physical conditioning to be doing any of the things the core cast gets up to throughout the game.

 

I wouldn't have a problem with obese NPCs in the game world, and the more the game universe resembles the real world, the better...but they should not be squad mates.

[Midnight Bliss]

Someone on FOG did a replica of the actual concept art for a Shep (I use a slightly modified version, with brownish-blonde hair,) and I thought the blonde looked okay.

Note: I didn't create this Shepard, but I do use a mod like this minus the beauty mark. I also found one that has the red hair, as well as the brunette version.



I don't think the textures are an issue, but that's just my opinion. I do think the devs have a poor concept on how adding low/highlights can make all the difference for hair color.

Rite Aid wants their 5$ blonde hair dye back.

[Grieving Natashina]

Rite Aid wants their 5$ blonde hair dye back.

You must not have bought much hair dye then, because dyes can't add high/lowlights like that. I used to dye my hair a lot when I was younger. You have to go to a salon to have your hair dyed those colors, because a bottle can't do those layers of color.

We figure we can agree to disagree here. In my opinion, compared to the default colors, that's a huge improvement. Now, when it comes to most of the hair colors that even in DA:I have, those look like a bucket of paint that got dumped onto my character's head, then froze in a hairstyle like formation.

At this point, we're talking a completely new engine and I think FB is more capable of better hair colors than DA:I showed. DA:I was the first RPG on this engine, and I think there was some major missteps along the way. I'm well aware that hair has always been a weak point in BioWare games, but I still think that a decent looking blonde is not out of the realm of possibility.

So, why not blonde NPCs or LIs? <shrug> I can't see any reason why not. There isn't any reason to include them either, but I don't see anything wrong with making a simple request. If it happens, awesome. If not, oh well. It's probably too late at this point to change anything. At this point in DA:I's dev cycle, they were starting to work on the lighting for cinematics. Posters have commented that lighting can affect haircolor, particularly in cut scenes. So we might get a blonde, we might not.

This thread is harmless, and meant to invoke a friendly discussion about possible looks. It sure beats another troll thread like the ones we've had lately.

I'm not usually attracted to blondes IRL (male or female) but that's just me. I'm not going to say my opinion is right or wrong. I think that aesthetics are one of the most subjective topics that the BSN brings up. If you think the hair on that particular Shep looks terrible, then who am I to say you're wrong? Personally, that's too platinum of a blonde for my own taste.

To each their own. I'd like to have a male burnette LI that sounds/looks like James Purfoy more than a blonde, but I support Lady's idea.

[Midnight Bliss]

You must not have bought much hair dye then, because dyes can't add high/lowlights like that. I used to dye my hair a lot when I was younger. You have to go to a salon to have your hair dyed those colors, because a bottle can't do those layers of color.

We figure we can agree to disagree here. In my opinion, compared to the default colors, that's a huge improvement. Now, when it comes to most of the hair colors that even in DA:I have, those look like a bucket of paint that got dumped onto my character's head, then froze in a hairstyle like formation.

At this point, we're talking a completely new engine and I think FB is more capable of better hair colors than DA:I showed. DA:I was the first RPG on this engine, and I think there was some major missteps along the way. I'm well aware that hair has always been a weak point in BioWare games, but I still think that a decent looking blonde is not out of the realm of possibility.

So, why not a blonde? <shrug> I can't see any excuse to exclude blondes. There isn't any reason to include them either, but I don't see anything wrong with making a simple request. If it happens, awesome. If not, oh well. It's probably too late at this point to change anything. At this point in DA:I's dev cycle, they were starting to work on the lighting for cinematics. Posters have commented that lighting can affect haircolor, particularly in cut scenes. So we might get a blonde, we might not.

This thread is harmless, and meant to invoke a friendly discussion about possible looks. It sure beats another troll thread like the ones we've had lately.

I'm not usually attracted to blondes IRL (male or female) but that's just me. I'm not going to say my opinion is right or wrong. I think that aesthetics are one of the most subjective topics that the BSN brings up. If you think it looks terrible, then who am I to say you're wrong? Personally, that's too platinum of a blonde for my own taste.

To each their own. I'd like to have a male burnette LI that sounds/looks like James Purfoy more than a blonde, but I support Lady's idea.

Actually I apologize, I re-read my comment which was meant to be tongue in check and realized that I sounded like a dick unintentionally.

 

I agree it looks better than most blonde hair I've seen in games, I think what threw me off was the bottom left and upper right pictures, it looks really synthetic to me and made me think of inexpensive hair color, but looking at the other ones again I wonder if it might be lighting? I know ME3 has some weird light that causes some textures to look weird in several scenes, maybe that's it.

[Grieving Natashina]

Actually I apologize, I re-read my comment which was meant to be tongue in check and realized that I sounded like a dick unintentionally.

I agree it looks better than most blonde hair I've seen in games, I think what threw me off was the bottom left and upper right pictures, it looks really synthetic to me and made me think of inexpensive hair color, but looking at the other ones again I wonder if it might be lighting? I know ME3 has some weird light that causes some textures to look weird in several scenes, maybe that's it.

Hey, no worries. I do appreciate the apology though, and Odin knows I've done the same thing. I'd toss you a like if I could, but I'm out. I may have read more into your post than intended. I've been running a fever this week, so my ability to read tone in text is probably off.

I honestly think it's the lighting. I thought that Miranda as a blonde looked awful, but I honestly blame the weird lighting ME2. Also, I think some of the lighting for ME3, particularly in the Embassies, left a lot to be desired. I'm also going to mention again the low/highlights in the hair. I've taken a look at the default blonde color for Shep and the highlights match the base hair color according to Gibbed. That's a perfect way to create a paint job, in game or IRL.

[rashie]

About realism of blondes, only about 2% of the population is naturally blonde even today at an adult age, rest of them are all coloured by dyes. Red hair also sits at a similar statistical level, and you may note that was what was chosen for ME3 shepard.

 

I see no reason why that couldn't still be happening 200-300 years out. Realism really isn't an argument against it when it comes to including such characters, it just needs to play well with lighting and graphics, which at least DA:I seemed to handle a lot better than the mass effect games did.

[NKnight7]

Biovar pls, give us some platinum blonde already!

 

Ciri was one of my favorite parts of that game, maybe a blonde in Andromeda can have a cool scar too.

[slimgrin]

Someone on FOG did a replica of the actual concept art for a Shep (I use a slightly modified version, with brownish-blonde hair,) and I thought the blonde looked okay.

Note: I didn't create this Shepard, but I do use a mod like this minus the beauty mark. I also found one that has the red hair, as well as the brunette version.



I don't think the textures are an issue, but that's just my opinion. I do think the devs have a poor concept on how adding low/highlights can make all the difference for hair color.

 

 

Whoever did this did a good job, because most graphic engines can't get the color or reflective sheen of blonde hair right. 

[Mdizzletr0n]

There is a solid argument against obese companions on the basis of realism, unlike any argument against blondes. A guy who looks like he'd need to be hooked up to an oxygen tank after a sprint would not have the prerequisite physical conditioning to be doing any of the things the core cast gets up to throughout the game.

I wouldn't have a problem with obese NPCs in the game world, and the more the game universe resembles the real world, the better...but they should not be squad mates.

I never said obese. I said chubby. Not the same.

[Onewomanarmy]

Someone on FOG did a replica of the actual concept art for a Shep (I use a slightly modified version, with brownish-blonde hair,) and I thought the blonde looked okay.

Note: I didn't create this Shepard, but I do use a mod like this minus the beauty mark. I also found one that has the red hair, as well as the brunette version.



I don't think the textures are an issue, but that's just my opinion. I do think the devs have a poor concept on how adding low/highlights can make all the difference for hair color.

 

This might be for another thread but still, you mentioned she had a beauty mark, see... that's another feature I'd love for the CC to have, the ability to insert a beauty mark on the face at the desired place. I always create my characters so they somewhat look and represent me best possible way and I have a beauty mark above my right lip, I'd LOVE to be able to make my character with such a beauty mark as well, it would make her feel much more like me, a little detail like that. 

 

It shouldn't be too hard for bioware to implement, I don't understand why it's not possible.