Which of these large races are you most thankful for?

First, I'm a little disappointed that yall didn't mention any of the comments from the forums. Especially those addressing the absence of BARBARIANS, one of the greatest of the LARGE races to play. Ok, now with that out of the way, I kind of like all the concept art for the Iksar. I haven't been a fan of some of the other character arts you've done so far, but these are good. Just don't put the cartoon spin on them and they're all fine. I don't play Iksar too often, but when I do; I say, give me a slider in character select and let me choose any of these as options. Don't make a cookie cutter Iksar assembly line, I'm sure if these were an actual race they would each have characteristics that would set them apart other than a horn here or a different color scale there. And, don't forget the BARBARIANS ;-)

For this subject I don't care that much since I won't be playing a lizard, I'm just glad that the devs seem to want to listen to our opinion. I'm still giving my two cents because I may have some good ideas that other people would like. They're not for whole characters so much as parts of them, sometimes even parts of the parts.

I like the webbing on the heads because I think that would look interesting when colored and animated kind of like a pop-up mohawk. It could also make the lizardesses look more delicate even without the animation.



The scrawny agile looking lizard is more likable (like Rango). It would also look the most natural in clothes other than armor. On the other hand his may not be a good direction to go in for a large race since it may look like a character that would be the same size of a human if it didn't with a much longer neck. Regardless of this, the long necked look is probably my favorite. I don't think other people who'd pick lizard would actually choose this. These are just the type of lizard people I'd like to quest with.



I don't like the throat sacks on some of the lizards because it looks like a goiter. However, the throat sack feature may look good if it is completely invisible most of the time, but then appears in a bright color, like on the photo of the lizard in the picture below, whenever the character is looking up for long enough. If nothing else this would immediately lead to some commercial roleplay.



I don't want to seem harsh but I never learned how. I hate the dead-eyed lizard. Only one of the pictures actually has that problem, the one in the middle of the head page. The majority of this head I don't have anything against per se, but I really don't like how unnaturally shocked this lizard looks because its eyes. I see it as a stare normally reserved for psychopaths, which isn't right for a game as sociable as Everquest.


I would like for this race to have a wide variety of expressions, with hopefully none of them being "crazy murderer".

Other than these I guess I'd like exactly the same thing as everyone else: a more complex mesh than in EQ1.

Question: Are the Iksar supposed to be dragonkin? If not, the heavy dinosaur look wouldn't seem appropriate.

They may want to try snake with horns.

I think the ones with fins should be the other race of lizards or maybe a different bread. I like the more dragon style look. Their could be a back story or Lore about how they separated from the Ring of Scale and how now the Combine has traveled to Kunark where they will meet the Iksar and become allies against the Ring of Scale. You could say they were once dragons who lost their wings to become more like man...I don't know just an idea. However the fin ones make me think of snakes or more like a sea monster. I like the old iksar or the eq2 iksar but any of these choices also is fine..in fact the more diversity you can offer in the looks the better. I hate having a toon look like someone elses.

I don't like the ones with a crouched posture. They freed themselves from slavery, their natural posture should have their head high. They'd want to make themselves imposing at all times. Because of their history, they are not humble.

Physical strength is an important attribute, so tall and skinny is best left to the erudites.

Some have too weird proportions for my tastes.

Okay, that removes about two thirds of the designs.

I would love to see multiple choices making it to the game, some variety would be great, and they're all looking cool.

My top 3 bodies are all ties, I can't choose one over the other:

Row 1: #5
Long torso makes it snake-like, looks dangerous and indimidating, long arms but still looks strong and not skinny, it's a fun balance. It also has the best feet claws of the bunch, like a raptor. The long torso makes the legs short though, doesn't look like he can run very fast without looking funny.

Row 2: #2
Strenght and intimidation. Looks badass dangerous, I really like it. A minor flaw is that it's too much of a brute for an Iksar, maybe a different head would work? Or the eyes animation can help. I don't see how this guy could be a magic user. In fact, he looks like he probably doesn't know how to read... and cannot count above 6, because he counts on his hands. Poor fellow, he's being teased about it.

Row 2: #3
Lean, speed, efficiency, agility. The tail is very cool. Doesn't look very strong though, but it doesn't matter to him, he's like a Bruce Lee Iksar. Say it fast three times... Bruce Leeksar... hey I just found my character's name.

Heads:
They all have something interesting. I'll leave it to others to argue about it!

Armors:
The only thing I want to say is that the tail should be armored. Seriously it's a continuation of the spine, and there's probably a major artery running there. Even more so if they end up with the wide crocodile tail.

This is in response to the new concept art.

I like all of the different face types/body types, I hope we get a wide variety of both, though I can understand the difficulty with fitting armor to too many body types. I especially like that skinny guy (gal?) second to the last in the full body drawings, it has a lot of character.

I don't like when animal inspired characters look too human, or when there's a lot (or any besides what you would find in the animal it's based on, really) of gender dimorphism (the usual example being the male looks more like an animal, the female looks more human) and I think these strike a nice balance.

Gremlins with lots of horns. Those are the ones I like.

Nice art! I'm not a fan of the shorter legs, though. Reminds me too much of the lizards at Temple of Cazic Thule in EQ1. The facial art and armor drawings are gorgeous!

Hello, this is my first post on EQN and EQNL forums! I can't wait for this game and I can not wait to play in EQNL Alpha!

This is my opinion.

Personally I love all the concept art for this race and I do not think we should choose which one(s) we like better. We should be seeing them all in game. The most important aspect of any MMO (imho) is the character creation and how one can create and altar their character to look unique and different than the person next to him/her. More importantly the way the players want their characters to look like. I believe the whole EQN and EQNL art team is phenomenal! They are creating races to look like an actual species and not some re-skin of a human with a lizard head. Like Dave Georgeson said at the reveal, "We want you to play one character, and not have the feeling of creating alts" (I am paraphrasing of course). One sure fire way to have a person play that main character is allowing the player to fully customize their character from head to toe.

I am very excited about this game! I think it has the potential of being what SOE wants, which is to altar the MMO Franchise. Wanting this game to succeed and be a Next-Gen MMO flagship, the community must see BIG changes with the whole foundation of traditional MMO character creators.

In traditional MMOs we see:

• Exact Same Body Types (sometimes slightly changing muscularity).
• Changing Skin Color (normally goes like tan, tanner, tannest, extremely dark)
• Exact Same Height (Rarely being able to slightly grow an inch taller or an inch shorter).
• 3 To 8 Different Faces (1 out of every 8 people you run into has the same face).
• 3 To 8 Different Hairstyles/Facial Hair (EQ 2 was very good about hairstyle choices when they put in SOE-mote and tweaked the characters).
• 4 To 5 Eye Colors (blue, green, brown, hazel, and occasionally we see yellow)
• Generic Hair Colors.
• Character Name

That's it! We see a lack of creation and just character in traditional MMOs. I don't want to be another statistic where I run into 1,000 or 10,000 people who looks just like me every 5 minutes. Where is the flare? Where is the sizzle? Where is MY own UNIQUE character? Honestly, he has not been created yet . Immersion is what keeps the game alive. Getting lost in a game is like reading a phenomenal book and feeling as if you are watching it all happen right in front of you. Personally, I instantly lose that immersion as soon as I see people looking just like me with the exact same body type, hair, skin tone, eyes, facial hair, etc. SOE answer our prayers!!! We need a change!

To be fair there are some awesome character creators out there and some of them are not in good MMOs, but you can spend hours creating new people. These are some things the players should see in EQNL and EQN character creator.

What I hope to see in EQNL and EQN:

• Different Body Languages (For example: how some Iskar are slightly hunched over, standing straight, and have different arm placements. for more examples DCUO and Champion Online).
• Full Body Customization (We should be able to choose the way we want to look. Let us customize the whole body and not just the muscularity. For example the Iskar bodies are all different without being over the top and fitting inside the lore boundaries).
• Faces That We Can Fully Customize (ArcheAge is great at this, I played the Korean Version, being able to completely change the multiple starting faces and make it into something totally different. You could place scars where you wanted them and they literally had sliders for every single inch of your face).
• More Hairstyles/Facial hair/Eyebrows (Let us choose the length of the hair and let us choose if we want facial hair. For example my favorite race are dwarfs and I never play as one because I always have to have a full beard and I don't see why I can't have the option to choose if I want a five o'clock shadow or no facial hair!).
• Creating Hair Color (Primary and secondary colors. For example ArcheAge gave you the color wheel and let you blend colors to make something that not a lot of people can copy).
• Creating Skin Pigment (Let us create our own skin pigment, while keeping it realistic to our race. For Example: DCUO gave you the color wheel to create your skin color).
• Creating Eye Colors (We all have different colored eyes and why not be able to make them).
• A Bio For Our Character (Loved that in LOTRO).

That is my dream character creation wishlist. I hope a lot of you feel this way and that Dave, Omeed, Rosie, Terry and Dexella are going to give us that range in making our characters not become another statistic. Let Rosie and her team keep making great art work so we have a wide variety options to choose from!

Disclaimer: The Iksar are a Medium-Large race, for everyone saying they were Medium ...Bigger than Human, Smaller than Barbarian.

For the heads:---

When it comes to the crowns and fans on the Iksar, you have to be sure you do not make them too snakelike. The Iksar are supposed to be more akin to full blown Dragons than they are to Snakes or Wyvern. They should have broad but agile features.

The Female Iksar should have pronounced fans that actually fan in certain situations and relax in others (in and out of combat or manually toggleable)...Their nostrils should be slits rather than "holes"... (more below)

While the Male Iksar should have fairly pronounced spikes and open nostrils.


1.) I REALLY REALLY love the jaw/snout proportions on this one, they transition into each other very well, and the ridges above the eyes are a nice touch...The neck is a bit too baggy for my liking though.




2.) The eye here is awesome, I love the intensity! The jaw to Neck transition here is GREAT as well!

This concept is also how I primarily picture Male Iksar in my head, their Spikes flowing more backwards, rather than out to the sides.


2.) While I did note earlier that Female Iksar should primarily have Fans rather than large spikes, the below picture looks very feminine to me. The way the Spikes flow OUT more than they flow in, the way forehead line comes to a noticeable point at the end of the snout and then the large gap from nostril to mouth...all of these scream female to me for some reason.



For The Body:-

I quite like this concept below, with the exception of a few little things.

1.) The neck is much too thick in comparison to the body, the neck should LOOK longer but keep the same distance from the shoulders. The Iksar are supposed to be a slender yet strong race, I just dont like them having pronounced necks.

2.) The Arms are a bit long and I dont much like the hands, should be more humanoid. The arms feel a bit werewolfy to me the way they are proportioned.

3.) The hips/waist are definitely a bit too skinny here, could be pumped up a bit so he doesnt look malnourished.

The Good:

1.) The shoulders are great, not too thick or pronounced...The Iksar are agile creatures, giant muscle features are a no no, the exception being the Tail and perhaps the feet.

2.) The Chest, Legs and Tail are just about perfect in my opinion




Also, this armor...yes. XD

This is all 100% true! I like the way you think. Another good example coming out soon of a character creator with diversity is ESO. Say what you will about its gameplay or storyline plausibility, but the character creator looks extremely solid.

Hello!
This is going to be one of my first posts here, so I will try to make it short.

First of all I want to say "Amazing Job!" to the artist of these awesome conceptarts!
Now I will add a few notes about what I think about them:



1: These are my favorite body-types. Their proportions seem to fit and they look very believable. My personal favorites.

2: This body-type, to me, feels a bit odd. I think what I don't like about it are the small legs and the very thin hip. Makes him look a bit too fragile.

3: My favorite heads. I love the dragon-like look the most. I think they fit most into the fantasy world.

Note about 4 and 5:
Since I didn't want to draw over the original conceptart, I sketched these two heads myself. I didn't have a lot of time, therefore I tried to show all I wanted to say about them as good as possible... *hides in her shyness* >.<

4: This is a feature I didn't see in any of the conceptarts, except for one head. There, however, these where only hinted. I think these scales are a feature SOE should consider adding to this race as they make them look a bit more feral.Maybe as possible character customisation.

5: This is my Idea of how a female version of my drawing 4 could look like. Less aggressive features as well as a more round silouett.

I'm not sure if my post was any helpfull at all. (my lack of English writing skills sure wheren't haha... sorry. It's not my native tongue)
But I sure can't wait to see more! Keep up the great work!

Best regards
Mythori

For lack of better response I would say I like all of the types shown above I love the fact that there are different styles. As there are different types of humans there should be different looks to all races.

What I would like is to see more variation in the "ugliness" of the race. This counts for all races. Many mmo tend to lean towards the awesome looking or mega beautiful faces of their races. I would love to see more choice of flawed faces.

Same goes for body types. The only thing that might take away from my former statement is the metabolism of reptiles I don't know if snakes can actually get fat or skinny. But then again, this is fantasy

As for the Iskar, Personally all of the concept sketches look great. However the way these are designed, they make for some interesting combinations, and some work better as different sexes of Iskar.

For example, the Crests would make an excellent way to seperate the females from the males. Keep the males with more spikes and horns, this way they have a more agressive stance to their facial structure, while the females get smaller spikes, but the different head crests.

As for the builds, I think the males should be stockier, more muscular in stature. I don't really care for the hunched over look, but having a larger torso and stockier look males the males more imposing. The females on the other hand would look better being slimmer. It would also help contribute to the crests looking more natural on these more agile looking lizards. Now typically in dinosaur anatomy,the females were larger, but I don't think it works as well in a species that has evolved some intelligence. Keep the females agile looking. They may be hunters like their male counterparts, but they have evolved to trade pure muscular strength and power, for a more limber, agile, and wiry build, which leads to them being quick, agile, and able to strike with precision. The males can have evolved to become overpower and strong, so they might not get as many strikes in, but their strikes are damaging.

That being said, I think the armor should be kept along the lines of the middle 3 designs. Their armor should mostly be additional, because they have scaly skin and are already naturally armor. Most of their armor should be complimentary, thus bracers, belts, shoulder pads, partial breastplates, thigh armor, maybe some shin guards. Their armor should also fit their spike theme, and thus have extra spikes, jagged edges, essentially look like additional jagged scales added for extra protection. Since they have natural scales, creating their armor to look like additional large scales would fit as well. I do like the addition of the cloaks, it gives them a regal look to them. The leather armor should also be scale like in look, sharing a very similar styling with layer panels, but maybe just studded with small spikes, not large spikes. For cloth, well perhaps having the female designs have some influence from arabian styles, with loose flowing cloth designs, mid drifts showing. Also the females could have some of that ornamental chain jewelry for their faces sort of like an ornamental veil without the cloth elements. Also with the cloth look, they could have extra jewelry or even some spiked bracers to keep with the style.

As for coloration, I think a mix between natural earthy tones would be good, but allow some mix of greens and blues for maybe aquatic like breeds. Since they are based off reptiles, they really give me that feel of a beefy looking Iquana. so perhaps have some seperate clans or tribes in the fluff, thus where the majority are from desert regions, and have the earthy tones of browns and tans, even some dark greys, with accent bright colors being oranges, yellows and reds. Then have other tribes come from forests or swamp areas, and have them in greens and teal shades, with accent colors of blues and purples, maybe some reds. This would definitely give some variety in looks and styles and most of those accent colors can be applied to the underbelly of the iskar and to the crests the females have.

I dig them all. Awesome all around designs. I know its hard to say this from this end, but I think all these should be used. Why not have the option to make your Iksar more snakelike, or bulked up and dragon like? But I do understand this means ALOT of work from the modelers on the job. Great overall designs and awesome armor concepts as well. Love everything you guys are putting out.

Thanks for sharing the concept art and giving us the opportunity for feedback. I will start with artistic preference which is the focus of the thread.

I prefer the more agile elongated body types. I think it visualizes the racial perks of the Iksar without taking away from the strength of the race. We have other races that are more apt to be thuggish. I think there should be variety between fans and spikes for head adornments. I do like the draconian look and think the head shape should avoid becoming too snake like. I am not a fan of the heavy dinosaur features. I know that we will not be dealing with typical class structures, but for ease of visualization this is how I would like to see concepts play out.




Two things I would like to focus on for the development side of things, which I have thankfully seen repeated throughout the forum.

First, embrace the reptilian qualities and avoid the pitfalls of making the race too humanoid. I know this was a requirement in the past to get armor models to line up properly, but I have faith you can work past those issues. The concept art does a great job of expressing the extended torso and agile nature of the Iksar. Be careful of clawed hands and feet to make sure they articulate properly and can grasp weapons and fit into armor without issues. Make sure that their stance and parkour type movements are unique and reflective of these reptilian traits.

Secondly, variety and color are so important. Everyone wants options in character creation so think about ways you can blend several features into making a cohesive race. I am a big fan of the webbed fan, be it on the neck as in the concept art, on the sides, or even as a hood. It would be especially cool if it were made in such a way to flare up when in combat. The more draconian spines and horns are also a nice touch and should be given the option to continue thematically along the back, arms, and legs. Coloration should extended past the greys and greens with a variety of accent colors available. I am a big fan of garnet and gold coloring in my reptiles.

Again, great job to the artists.

And as always this is just my two cents.

First post here. I had to come out and support the Iksar, one of my favorite races. I had an Iksar Fury in EQ2 and I loved him. His name was Sthyss and he rocked. Boney head-crest, emerald green and black scales...he looked the coolest of all my characters. I'd love it if they went with more of the EQ2 look. That said...from what I saw in the concept art these are my favorites.

They should have done this with the Kerra - maybe the negative response to that design made them decide to let players have a say. Wise move.

Anyway, here are my favorites.

Bah! Giants > ALL ('cept dragons )

Post just wanted to say what i liked. 5, 8,9,10, and 15. They look like they could be an imposing body type. I don't care for the smaller snake like ones, due to them looking weaker, and more frail.

I like all of the heads, and can see where some of the more stooped forward could have some really cool heads/necks.

I will admit this is probably due to playing most EQ as an iksar, and liking the model upgrade they got there.