I was struck by the complexity and the level of detail when making my character.
Now that I have been playing for a few days I wish I would have made different choices. But then I had no clue what I was getting myself into
Perhaps a character development process over a period of levels would work better? Say a three stage character development.
The First stage would be at the very beginning, before you even enter the game. It would include Race choice, Name, gender, an average array of stats to get you started. The very most basics that will allow you to venture through the game - Let\'s say it gets you through a \"Tutorial Level\" where you are given more information on what choices you have available to you in the way of character development.
The Tutorial Level is more of a childhood, thus your childhood is decided there, in order to move out into the \"real world\" you fill out more character information, which would include that family and personal history segment, that would include \"tweaking\" the look of your character, that would let you decide the mannerisms of your character, i.e. dignified, honorable, bawdy, etc. By the end of this level most players would have a fair idea of what is available to them in the skills department and know which childhood events and what their parent\'s did for a living would be more to their favor when they enter the \"real\" world.
Then at a higher level, 5 or 10th level you get one last chance to change a few things, and more options. By this time you should know the world enough to know what you are doing and where you intent to take the character.
Maybe the first levels in the real world would be \"apprenticeships\" Where you try on a particular field, say Warrior Class - at the end of the apprenticeship you have the option of trying on another apprenticeship or taking what you got and moving on.
Having been an apprentice would give you a slight edge in say warrior classes even if you decide to go Magic - thus a Major and a Minor in fields of study sort of thing.
In real life people rarely have a clue where they are going in life until they have lived a little, perhaps the game world could reflect this by giving a player some real game experience before they rush out and start training in one specific field to discover that that is not what they really wanted to Major in.
Just an idea - not a wish.
