I'm glad to see you back. The more the merrier. It's a wonderful life. Nonetheless, I'm not a nice guy. I should probably be wearing something evil looking. I am going to reply without any reservations.

My take on the luclin models is that, if you have the luclin model turned on for your current character, then others will see the luclin model. Conversely, if you do not have the luclin model turned on for your current character's race, then others will see the classic model. Anything else and I would vote for only classic models.

A poll was held a while ago and the majority of people voted to keep using classic models. I was surprised that so many felt this way. I of course voted against using luclin models, but I made a post detailing the idea of only showing the luclin model if the player being viewed has the luclin model turned on for that race. So it would be on a per player basis (not universal), but also require additional coding (this is not just client-side).

Why do I feel this way? Because the luclin models change the character of your race. Ogre's go from being callous, stupid and vagrant, to being ruthless and imposing warriors. Humans go from being reasonably generic, everything from a fighter to a caster, to being steroid meat heads. Essentially, most of the luclin male models were pumped full of testosterone by the looks of it. Or they're made to look younger, more impressive and heroic, with varying amounts of success. I mean, just look at the human females. Breasts do not make the woman! There's positively zero argument that there's no difference between the classic models and the luclin models. The difference is obvious for all to see. All that aside, when a player picks a race, they often pick it based on how it looks. How you look to other players matters, whether it's the race you chose, your appearance, your name, or your gear. This how other players should see you. I'd agree with a universal luclin on/off IF, and only IF, there was a lower poly version of the luclin models that would be used if it was off.

Did I say that the classic models seem to be more generic (melee <-> caster)? Also, if you examine the facial textures for the classic models you will note vastly more differences between them than you will in the luclin models. For example, the position of the eyes/nose/mouth/ears? is a constant in the luclin models because of the 3d engine limits. In the classic models, it's a facial texture more than it's a facial model - more flexibility.

If only the developers had stayed truer to the character of the original models, none of this would be a concern. This is their fault, not ours. They, unfortunately, ignored the impact your appearance has on your gameplay. How can they not know? Players pick armour and weapons often based on how they look. They choose a name and/or title that fits them. They change their appearance (their hair, face, maybe add a beard). They dye their armour different colors. How can ANYONE not see how this is a significant part of gameplay????? This is not a slap in the face. It's just an example of a crowd of people who do not understand the term RPG. This is the example they're giving us. They're telling us they don't understand and seem incapable of learning.

If I was a big company and changed things on a whim and then turned around and blamed the players when they complained, who's the bully??? SOE is ultimately going to lose customers over things like this. While SOE has full ownership of eq and can do what it wants, we as customers can choose not to play. The newbie islands ("tutorials") they make to consolidate players, the NGE debacle, the Vanguard mess, the tendency they have to use the same concepts and developers on multiple projects, makes them look very mediocre and opportunistic. Just think for half a second, if a tutorial was so important, it would have been put in during beta not several years later. The "tutorials" they make are made to put a shrinking population into one zone. They don't think ahead very well, and overuse what they trust. And on impulse will abandon their so called "convictions".

People spend $$$ (real money, lots of it) in Second Life on clothes. Virtual clothes. Case Closed.