Character Creation is import for it make you feel unique take WoW all char look same and the are no unique about it only thing make you some what unique in is armor and then i talk about the transmong part of gear.
Take Age of Conan there you have game where Character do feel unique for the same thing as ESO have and no one is the other player char the same in looks which i think is import for then it feel like this is my character and not one else.
So is character creation import to a mmorpg? answer is YES it is.
Character creation is important, but I agree that character building is more important. I'm a big RPer in MMOs, believing in the RPG aspect of them, and I think looks aren't everything, but they help, and they go a long way. I like how this article talks about GW2's "town clothes" like it's something new. Almost 10 years ago, World of Warcraft came out, and they have what is commonly known as "RP gear", which is mundane ("gray") clothing items that are there only for looks and provide next to no armor, but look good as you're strutting around town. It's not a new concept, folks!
If you're going for a "relaxed" look in town, I don't think your armor should count, even if it's "hidden". Either you're wearing it or you aren't, and if you aren't, you don't get the benefits. Quick slots to don/doff armor is a good idea, and even WoW now gives the option for "quick armor slots" to change clothes quickly. But at the same time, if you aren't wearing your armor, having a unique looking character IS important. Maybe someone wants a fat character, or an anorexic character. Maybe they want to RP those eating disorders, and they want their character to look the part. The more detailed character creation can be, in my opinion, the better! If you have to whisper or OOC messages to people you're RPing with about what they see, because character creation doesn't allow for something, then there truly is something lacking. If you want scars, you should be able to have scars! Of course, someone will always be RPing that "half demon, half dragon Satan spawn who is the destroyer of worlds but has fallen from the grace of the gods and has come back from the dead a dozen times but will rule the world again" character you just can't accommodate for.
Character creation is important to me, I usually find myself making a character i think i like, then at around 10-15 I'll find that it isn't quite right, so I'll either redo the appearance in game if possible, or make a new character.
I've never believe in the "turning off" gear so you could see your character.
If we do this then let's not have gear. Or don't have a helmet slot and just give your character sheet "tick marks' where you can apply benefits as you earn them.
No, if we are going to have gear or helmets then my taste points to allowing easy quick ways to rmove the helmet. Maybe have it "donned" when you enter combat and removed after combat.
Or, as I always do in Obvlion and Skyrim, I have my helmet assigned to quick slot "1". When I enter combat I hit "1" and I'm wearing a helmet. Afterwards I remove it.
Additionally, why not make it so that helmets have an open face. Problem solved.
I love character creation and love being able to mold the face/body, etc to my specifications. I do tend to "check in" on my character to reinforce "who" that character is. I suppose similiar to looking in a mirror.
Maybe make it so that wearing head gear gets you a "minus" in reaction when dealing with NPC's so removing head gear is considered "polite". Though if you are talking to a warlord you might get a different reaction.
But then again these are "role play" concerns and not everyone cares for such things.
I would offer that those who don't care about tweaking every little facial features wouldn't care one way or another. Those who do care would probably welcome instances where you "not" haveing head gear or "not wearing armor" would be considered a good thing.
Ever see Dragon Age Origins' character Logain? He wears his heavy plate armor "all the time'. Even in the castle while drinking wine by the fire.
Perhaps for a more role play intensive game allowing "role play" choices that matter would work for those who care.
completely agree with Sov here, except for the Loghain comment Don't know if you ever read the Stolen Throne novel but Loghain is a character that would definitely wear his armor even in bed.
It's unbelievable to me that Ultimate Online's clothing and dye system is going on twenty years old and we still haven't seen another MMO copy it with a few partial exceptions like SWG or LotRO. It's so easy. Just give us 4 or 5 top-layer articles of clothing we can wear over armor and the ability to dye them a wide variety of non-neon colors.
Character creation is a good start but then development of said character needs to be shown in physical appearance. Growth in strength should mean bigger body. Growth in int should me alien size brain! Growth in Wisdom should me an enlarged heart/torso! growth in Dexterity should mean skinny legs and arms!
I didn't used to care that much about character creation. But when I play a game that has less options then other games I have played, I do take notice. So yeah I guess it is important. When I play a new game it should have more bells and whistles and do everything better then anything that came before it, otherwise what's no point in making a new game.
I think Dyes and Highlight abilities would go a long way toward giving people more personal individualization on their armor sets. Having a Civilian dress role would be a good thing but in reality, how many are going to use it? I find myself coming into cities for either quest lines and quest npcs, or merchants and the bank. I don't really want to just hang-out. Changing up my appearance for the duration of the time spent in the city is going to be just another hoop to jump thru. In the beginning weeks of games there seems to be a kind of fanatical race to level. How many are going to want to dress down for that? Perhaps a crafting clothing set with crafting stat bonuses ?
It matters a huge amount for anyone who takes the time to hang out in games or meet with friends and explore without helmets or in case of characters with light head cover or simply the basic size of your character. A suit of armour with a high level does not make a player legendary or awe inspiring. having the character look the part, to show what you yourself feel your avatar is like is crucial to the experience. i do understand the difference in opinion but it should be noted that many may not even know themselves how much they would like looking that little bit deeper into things that don't concern leveling or maximising stats.
also the characters appearance should be aided by flexible visual gear systems, either by separating the stats completely like some freaky hologram clothing or by making all the various armour designs applicable to different materials and mixing/matching so players can make or acquire the various designs for equally or close to good armour. like making basic materials into more fanciful forms reserved for higher level gear or vice versa, since we dont all want to look "high level" just becuz to not do so would result in a sub par character. being able to combine sets of gear into a single easy click button would be nice though, changing can be a hassle even if you make up a set of town or hiking clothes.
If a butterfly learnt to speak, to live in human society, paid its bills, had a job, lived in a fancy house and married a human, is it human?
Now what if that same butterfly knew how to write code better than any human and had years of experience in the game industry, would that make it a game designer?
If u wouldn't let a construction worker design your house, then why let a programmer design your world?
If I cannot create a character I'm comfortable looking at, I don't feel comfortable playing the game either. This is one of the reasons I have never got further than character creation in Vanguard and Runescape, and didn't play FFXIV much furhter than the beginning (that game has lots of other turn-offs to finish the deal for me).
As someone that can spend hours getting my character to look just the way i want, it's extremely important.
I've been saying this for 4 years now, but anything short of Aion's character creator is a step backwards. It's the only aspect of that game i can stand but it's well done.
There are detractors that'll say some people go overboard with disproportionate characters, but there are ways to prevent that. Giving players less options is not the way to go about it though.
In my opinion, character creation seems to be the most overlooked aspect of new MMO's and i just don't get it.
Comments
Cosmetics and customization options are cool additions to any game, but I don't think that's what people want to hear from the ESO devs right now...
How's the world? What's the philosophy behind ESO combat? Endgame? Leveling? Quest system? We need more details on those...
Character Creation is import for it make you feel unique take WoW all char look same and the are no unique about it only thing make you some what unique in is armor and then i talk about the transmong part of gear.
Take Age of Conan there you have game where Character do feel unique for the same thing as ESO have and no one is the other player char the same in looks which i think is import for then it feel like this is my character and not one else.
So is character creation import to a mmorpg? answer is YES it is.
Character creation is important, but I agree that character building is more important. I'm a big RPer in MMOs, believing in the RPG aspect of them, and I think looks aren't everything, but they help, and they go a long way. I like how this article talks about GW2's "town clothes" like it's something new. Almost 10 years ago, World of Warcraft came out, and they have what is commonly known as "RP gear", which is mundane ("gray") clothing items that are there only for looks and provide next to no armor, but look good as you're strutting around town. It's not a new concept, folks!
If you're going for a "relaxed" look in town, I don't think your armor should count, even if it's "hidden". Either you're wearing it or you aren't, and if you aren't, you don't get the benefits. Quick slots to don/doff armor is a good idea, and even WoW now gives the option for "quick armor slots" to change clothes quickly. But at the same time, if you aren't wearing your armor, having a unique looking character IS important. Maybe someone wants a fat character, or an anorexic character. Maybe they want to RP those eating disorders, and they want their character to look the part. The more detailed character creation can be, in my opinion, the better! If you have to whisper or OOC messages to people you're RPing with about what they see, because character creation doesn't allow for something, then there truly is something lacking. If you want scars, you should be able to have scars! Of course, someone will always be RPing that "half demon, half dragon Satan spawn who is the destroyer of worlds but has fallen from the grace of the gods and has come back from the dead a dozen times but will rule the world again" character you just can't accommodate for.
Character creation is important to me, I usually find myself making a character i think i like, then at around 10-15 I'll find that it isn't quite right, so I'll either redo the appearance in game if possible, or make a new character.
Happens in almost every game.
It doesn't matter if armor can cover it up...
completely agree with Sov here, except for the Loghain comment
Don't know if you ever read the Stolen Throne novel but Loghain is a character that would definitely wear his armor even in bed. 
To me, character creation is needed. Even more so in a MMORPG.
It makes your character feel special. feel more like a hero or "chosen one."
In WOW i remember always bumping into people who look exactly like me, in TESO i dont think/hope that will not happen (thank god.)
It matters a huge amount for anyone who takes the time to hang out in games or meet with friends and explore without helmets or in case of characters with light head cover or simply the basic size of your character. A suit of armour with a high level does not make a player legendary or awe inspiring. having the character look the part, to show what you yourself feel your avatar is like is crucial to the experience. i do understand the difference in opinion but it should be noted that many may not even know themselves how much they would like looking that little bit deeper into things that don't concern leveling or maximising stats.
also the characters appearance should be aided by flexible visual gear systems, either by separating the stats completely like some freaky hologram clothing or by making all the various armour designs applicable to different materials and mixing/matching so players can make or acquire the various designs for equally or close to good armour. like making basic materials into more fanciful forms reserved for higher level gear or vice versa, since we dont all want to look "high level" just becuz to not do so would result in a sub par character. being able to combine sets of gear into a single easy click button would be nice though, changing can be a hassle even if you make up a set of town or hiking clothes.
If a butterfly learnt to speak, to live in human society, paid its bills, had a job, lived in a fancy house and married a human, is it human?
Now what if that same butterfly knew how to write code better than any human and had years of experience in the game industry, would that make it a game designer?
If u wouldn't let a construction worker design your house, then why let a programmer design your world?
For me it is often a make or break feature.
If I cannot create a character I'm comfortable looking at, I don't feel comfortable playing the game either. This is one of the reasons I have never got further than character creation in Vanguard and Runescape, and didn't play FFXIV much furhter than the beginning (that game has lots of other turn-offs to finish the deal for me).
As someone that can spend hours getting my character to look just the way i want, it's extremely important.
I've been saying this for 4 years now, but anything short of Aion's character creator is a step backwards. It's the only aspect of that game i can stand but it's well done.
There are detractors that'll say some people go overboard with disproportionate characters, but there are ways to prevent that. Giving players less options is not the way to go about it though.
In my opinion, character creation seems to be the most overlooked aspect of new MMO's and i just don't get it.