Ambiguous Name (Alt Names crowner 23/10/2014): Only Six Helmets

This title makes literally no sense. None whatsoever. The trope has nothing to do with a game having a limited number of helmets to wear (which wouldn't be a trope anyway); it's about games with Character Customization "invalidating" the work you put into creating your character's face by making you wear face-concealing helmets. The game could have a theoretically infinite number of helmets and still fall under this trope.

In short, it's a snowclone of Only Six Faces that doesn't take into account that the two tropes don't have as much to do with each other than the title implies.

Only 10 wicks and 19 inbounds in almost 4 years of shelf life...not doing so hot. I agree that the name is completely unindicative.

If you know about Only Six Faces it makes sense. But that shouldn't be a requirement in the first place.

There's a phrase in the descripton, "Wasted Customization", that seems like a better name than the current. Either way, the page should be retitled.

Wasted Customization sounds spot on.

I like Wasted Customisation too. Lack of use is enough of a reason to rename it for me.

edited 8th Sep '14 12:18:14 PM by AnotherDuck

Concealed Customization or Concealed Customized Character would work, if you're into Added Alliterative Appeal.

Should this apply to games that have character editors that are (or can be) played largely or entirely in first person, so even if you're not wearing concealing equipment, you still won't see much of your character?

edited 8th Sep '14 5:19:44 PM by NativeJovian

Not sure. For instance, I wouldn't quite put Fallout 3 in that category, since at least from my experience I didn't feel like I was losing out on it. Well, for that reason, anyway, since it still has the helmets thing.

However, if the game is set up so that you very rarely see it, without options that would allow it, then it would probably fit.

edited 8th Sep '14 7:01:52 PM by AnotherDuck

I'd say include all customization you can't see much if at all outside the character editor. Whether players are bothered by it or not is YMMV and not relevant. But it should count only if the game is first-person only. If its optional then its the players own choice to see their character or not.

What about multiplayer games? A custom character may be as much for the other players to see than yourself. On the other hand, its probably highly genre-dependent how much players look at eachother's characters. For example a typical FPS player probably doesn't bother to look past the team colors.

Funny you should use "bother" in two ways, in opposite examples. Anyway, not bothering to look closer isn't relevant, I think. You still have the option. And I'd exclude multiplayer games, since customisation is in large to differentiate you from others and to show who you are (or pretend to be, at any rate), to an extent. Unless they still fall under the helmets clause, since then no one can see the characters' face anyway.

Yeah, it sounds like the trope is "character customization that's never, or at least rarely, seen by anyone". If the player can see it on a regular basis (even if they choose not to) it doesn't count; if other players can see it on a regular basis, it doesn't count.

I would move away from the "helmets" language, though — there are some games (like the more recent Halo multiplayers, for example) where choosing what type of completely-body-concealing armor you're wearing is the character customization.

Or racing games where you can customise your racer's helmet.

However, I find it a good analogue for the trope when the customisation is covered (rather than simply not shown on-screen), and that wouldn't apply to Halo, since you can presumably see people's armours.

I've hooked a single-prop crowner; if it needs to be a page action crowner, LMK and I'll set up the new one.

Rename is good, I like Obscured Customization.

But I think redesigning/rewriting it slightly as well would be even better though. Games that force you to wear stuff over cosmetic gear or customized facial features because of stats is really the heart of this trope. This goes for pretty much any obscuring object, like you can buy shirts in World Of Warcraft but to see em on your character you have to take off your chest armor and you are hampered by not having those stats.

Some games have options in menus to expose customization and I think it would be good to list those forced aversions here too. IE early Bioware games like Mass Effect 1 had this problem in any cutscene with helmets. It was such a big deal in ME 1 that in 2 and 3 they gave an option in the menu to turn off helmet in cutscenes or just altogether. And World Of Warcraft added an option to turn off Helmet and Cloak somewhere around The Burning Crusade.

edited 10th Oct '14 8:52:00 AM by Memers

Called the rename crowner at 14-2 in favour of a rename, and switched it out for an Alt Names crowner.

Votes bump!

Calling for Concealed Customization.

Rename executed. Any thoughts on the description, or can this be closed?

I think it needs some work, to cull the redirects if nothing else. Lemme play around with it a bit.

EDIT: How's this?

edited 15th Dec '14 6:44:04 AM by Willbyr

I like that description much better than what is currently there.

I can't think of anything that needs to be added or deleted, so I say go with it.

I like that description as well.

As no one has voiced objections, I went ahead and made the description adjustment. We should be set now.

Putting this to sleep.