Palia is an upcoming MMORPG marketed as a community simulator. Rather than focusing on the RPG and combative elements of MMOs that one would find in World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy 14, Palia will focus on the connective aspects of gaming. Inspired by Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Stardew Valley, players will work together to create their second home within Palia, the developers over at Singularity 6 have said.
However, in a PR event, the developers revealed a somewhat concerning aspect pertaining to Palia's character creation. Players are limited to creating human characters, but this ties into the game's lore. But additionally, the game will only feature two body types at launch, which will may be poorly received by players. It's worth keeping in mind, however, that Palia is still very far off. Only a cinematic trailer has been revealed and it hasn't entered Pre-Alpha yet, meaning there's still much time to make some necessary changes, including a more expansive character customization system.
Palia's Character Customization System
The fact that gamers can only play Palia as humans is already somewhat limiting, though not unheard of, in a fantasy world that features many different coexisting races. The Korean MMORPGs Lost Ark and MapleStory, for example, only allow players to assume the roles of humans and instead focuses on classes. But during the PR event, Singularity 6 explained that, at launch, there will only be two body types available, though Palia will also feature an "extensive" character customization process.
However, the developer wants to stay away from saying that there are only male and female body types in Palia, though one will appear more masculine and the other feminine. Hairstyles will be shared between each body type, much like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it's otherwise a bit vague as of right now. Currently, Palia doesn't address varying factors such as weight and body shape and instead makes it sound as if there will only be two stagnant options.
Looking at Palia's announcement trailer, the characters present as masculine and feminine but with no variation in body shapes. If this is how Palia delivers, it's likely to upset many fans who want to tailor their characters specifically, especially to make their character feel like a virtual version of themselves like Singularity 6 wants.
The Gaming Industry's Attitude Towards Character Customization
Character customization has always played an important role in video games, often allowing players to recreate versions of themselves within games. At the very least, advanced creation systems are fun systems to design characters with a specific idea in mind, but they're often virtual versions of the player that they grow attached to.
For example, people treat their version of Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect trilogy as their own. Shepard is with them through three games and their decisions track throughout, heavily influencing gameplay. The Commander's personality can be tailored between Renegade and Paragon as well. It makes the entire experience far more personal.
But looking toward a less positive example, Cyberpunk 2077 received a lot of backlash for its character creation, which CD Projekt Red had also claimed to be extensive. It also claimed to contain trans representation, but its character customization tools didn't reflect such a statement, defining a character's gender identity but their genitalia and voice tone. While Palia won't be this complex, looking to be a kid-friendly MMORPG, bodies are something that folks often tie to their persona, and leaving this out of the game may make Palia feel less like a second home for players.
Palia is currently in development.