SSG: changing player's avatar against their will and without consent..why?

[Bio-Flame]

I don't have anything against adding new customization options, within lore (Bearded Man Race females is just non-LOTR, imo).
But more options is always good, so long as they are in the context of LOTR and Tolkien's works.


But why were old Man Race female's faces changed without player consent?
SSG: you stated that your goals were to increase inclusivity and representation... and then you go ahead and change old avatar's faces?


There's nothing more personal than our avatars, it's sacred. Sure, give your players the option to change their avatars, but don't force it against your players's will.
This is a red line that is not crossed nor should it be.
I've never seen a gaming company do this.


That is the very opposite of inclusivity and representation


My avatar is personal, whether SSG likes it or not, whether SSG finds it ugly, boring or old-fashioned. Whether it is stupid, small, big, scar-faced, blonde or brunette, small nosed or big nosed...
Even if SSG doesn't like my race or gender...it's MY avatar, it's MY choice. I made it that way and I should get the option to keep it as it used to be if I want it to (or change if I want it ,too).
If a player wants to change, sure, embrace it. However, it should never be forced. This almost feels like digital #### to me. I did not want nor desire this change forced upon me.


Please, respectfully, give me the option to change it back to the way my Avatar used to be. Keep the changes, just don't force us to change.
ADD new facial options without removing the pre-existing ones. That will increase representation and inclusivity...removing old avatar faces is the exact opposite

[Amarthwen]

Yes. I used only old avatar models. And cannon play new. I don't like it. My characters are not themselves anymore.

[Lambtron]

I appreciate that not everyone likes the older avatars. Whether because of their limitations, outdated styles, etc, some people wanted more options (which, in general is a good thing).
However, as raised here, some of us put a lot of effort into our characters, and have journeyed with them for many years.

Secondly, there seemed to be significance in choosing the subsets of the race of Man: Dale, Bree, Rohan and Gondor. This meant that there were aspects unique to each one, which gave them meaning. Now, all I have to do is go to the barber, and can change virtually every aspect. In my opinion, this undermines the value and uniqueness of each of those subsets. Surely that uniqueness, is what puts the 'RPG' into MMORPG?

[Winfo]

Just why? It takes a lot for me to get angry. And after the update I'm *very* angry. To change the appearance of the character's face without asked before is, in my opinion, a case of blatancy. I'm sorry for the harshness of my words! I've been playing the game since May 2007 and I've spent a lot of time with my characters, they became my companions in my game world. They seem strange to me now.

Playing LOTRO has helped and brought me joy through very difficult times in my life. You stole some of that joy from me on purpose! (If anyone thinks this is silly: you're welcome). Fun fact: I've never seen so many players standing around the barber. Perhaps an indication of how wrong you are with this decision.

I urge you to re-enable the choice between old and new looks (which, funnily enough, is still present in the options screen)! The first change back then showed that this is possible for talented developers. And you surely don't want to back down, SSG? Hm...? :-)

[Lambtron]

Playing LOTRO has helped and brought me joy through very difficult times in my life. You stole some of that joy from me on purpose! (If anyone thinks this is silly: you're welcome). Fun fact: I've never seen so many players standing around the barber. Perhaps an indication of how wrong you are with this decision.

Can confirm

[choon_blaze]

It's a really sad day for Lotro, I never thought it would go out like this.

[Bothketbog]

I don't have anything against adding new customization options, within lore (Bearded Man Race females is just non-LOTR, imo).
But more options is always good, so long as they are in the context of LOTR and Tolkien's works.


But why were old Man Race female's faces changed without player consent?...

Um, because they are actually SSG's property? I'm not going to read the whole agreement we all signed to start playing this game, but I'll assure you that "your" character actually belongs to the company. I'll be glad to be corrected on this.

[Aranaan]

Um, because they are actually SSG's property? I'm not going to read the whole agreement we all signed to start playing this game, but I'll assure you that "your" character actually belongs to the company. I'll be glad to be corrected on this.

You are right, so if you for exampled tried to sell gold or 140 level toons on ebay, that would get the account banned, because you are seeling SSGs Property.

[Dervacus]

1. Keep new avatar options

2. Fix animation and armor glitches (there are A LOT)

3. Allow use of old avatar options

For those of you with a problem with bearded women ...don't make one? lol. People can run around shooting lightning, be dressed up as Gollum, mine ore while riding a horse, etc., so how is a bearded woman ruining the game for you? Psst...FYI, women with facial hair exist in real life...

The additional skin tones and hairstyles are beautiful options! Everyone should be able to make a character that resembles real life people. Tolkien said that Middle-earth is a reflection of the real world and guess what, these appearances exist in the real world. Sure, you can argue that the Race of Man from such-and-such area generally look like this and that or are based on such-and-such historical people and I say to you that you should go back and learn your history because peoples in the real world, historically...they got around, like, a lot! And Tolkien contradicted himself many times when describing the appearance of Elves for example, hair colors, eye colors, bearded, not bearded, etc. Study the migration of the Race of Man in Middle-earth...it's not linear by any means, same with Elves, and Hobbits, and Dwarves. Funny that people have an issue with this and are in an uproar over people looking like real life peoples but are okay with fantastical races like ents, and orcs, and talking spiders, etc., that don't exist in the real world.

For those of you that claim, "Oh, but it's lore-breaking!" Sorry to break it to you, but it's not. And if you're concerned with the game breaking lore, I hate to break it to you, but it's been doing that since day one. Kind of had to to be a video game.

These new options should have been available since day one. Thank you SSG! Now please fix the glitches, thank you :]

[TesalionLortus]

The additional skin tones and hairstyles are beautiful options! Everyone should be able to make a character that resembles real life people. Tolkien said that Middle-earth is a reflection of the real world and guess what, these appearances exist in the real world. Sure, you can argue that the Race of Man from such-and-such area generally look like this and that or are based on such-and-such historical people and I say to you that you should go back and learn your history because peoples in the real world, historically...they got around, like, a lot! And Tolkien contradicted himself many times when describing the appearance of Elves for example, hair colors, eye colors, bearded, not bearded, etc. Study the migration of the Race of Man in Middle-earth...it's not linear by any means

You know there is something called culture assimilation right? (would concern hairstyles, appearances, etc). Plus, smaller assimilated groups/travelers (unlike entire dynasties or tribes) would average out over many years. Tolkien's reflection and in-universe ruleset were of historical one (the furthest in time you could claim would be medieval), not modern one. Also, I happen to know my history and be passionate about it, so I find it a bit offensive when you claim it like that, that "everyone else should go and learn history." We know our history and anthropology, I think. Do you?

[Dervacus]

Watch this and maybe you'll get a better idea as to what I'm talking about. The Race of Men in Middle-earth is a long, splintering journey. They start as one, split up, meet back up again, split up more, and travel, and go to war, and trade, and conquer, and intermarry, etc. and all that over and over and over. Yes, tribes developed, but they didn't remain static. My point is, they got around, just like people in the real world.

[TesalionLortus]

Watch this and maybe you'll get a better idea as to what I'm talking about.

Well, you're still doing it. As if I didn't have any. None of which means it resulted in some modern NYC diversity (newsflash, you don't find that sort of diversity in Eastern Europe, for example, not even this very day, because there were no extremely relaxed/generous migration policies in place). At best, the entire tribes from which certain groups had split from would have to be of a certain race/ethnicity to begin with, more uniformly, and stay that way (and they were clearly not interbreeding with the elves). But we know what the end results actually looked like, more or less, and whom they were based on from real history (men of Rohan, Numenoreans, Northmen etc). So, in other words, diversity in Middle-earth all fine, but don't try to pretend it's not half-assed without providing some sort of lore appropriate origins to choose from and just telling everyone to have a go at it with a Breelander character. Because this is not in any way appreciative of real world history, anthropology nor Tolkien/SSG's own lore.

[Radhruin_EU]

For those of you with a problem with bearded women ...don't make one? lol. People can run around shooting lightning, be dressed up as Gollum, mine ore while riding a horse, etc., so how is a bearded woman ruining the game for you? Psst...FYI, women with facial hair exist in real life...

I know women who are a bit fuzzy around the edges, so to speak, of course that's commonplace but that's not the same as sprouting a full and bushy beard - let alone the cartoonish results the game actually gives, which look absurd. You're equivocating between two different things.

The additional skin tones and hairstyles are beautiful options! Everyone should be able to make a character that resembles real life people. Tolkien said that Middle-earth is a reflection of the real world and guess what, these appearances exist in the real world. Sure, you can argue that the Race of Man from such-and-such area generally look like this and that or are based on such-and-such historical people and I say to you that you should go back and learn your history because peoples in the real world, historically...they got around, like, a lot!

And here you're equivocating between what the game now includes (the sort of diversity you might see in modern times in a major city, i.e.. reflecting modern society) and historical times. Two very different things. Then there's how the variety of different people you might find in places in a historical setting would vary really widely with location, especially when comparing port cities and other places on trade routes with far less travelled places and it would always be much less than what you'd see nowadays because it was a heck of a lot more difficult and dangerous to travel long distances back then. And then there's the effect Sauron has on Middle-earth, turning different peoples against each other to serve his own purposes so there are artificial barriers to what might otherwise be friendly exchanges and trade between different peoples. So in that respect, of course Middle-earth isn't like the real world because we didn't have a physically incarnate demonic power stirring up fear and hatred, oddly enough. So what the game's done here simply reflects modern times (and modern times in a major city, at that), is now the exact same everywhere (so no attempt at any sort of realism) and ignores the existence and powerful influence of the eponymous 'Lord of the Rings' so there's no justifying that in any terms other than what the devs actually said it was: being about player representation. It has nothing to do with Middle-earth as a setting.

And Tolkien contradicted himself many times when describing the appearance of Elves for example, hair colors, eye colors, bearded, not bearded, etc. Study the migration of the Race of Man in Middle-earth...it's not linear by any means, same with Elves, and Hobbits, and Dwarves. Funny that people have an issue with this and are in an uproar over people looking like real life peoples but are okay with fantastical races like ents, and orcs, and talking spiders, etc., that don't exist in the real world.

I'm going to call shenanigans on this straight away because Tolkien didn't invent the idea of Elves and here they're clearly inspired by Nordic / Germanic and Celtic myth; hence the way they've always been depicted as looking. The thing with the beards is strictly limited and otherwise Elves are definitively beardless. Hair colour and eye colour don't affect the gist of what these Elves represent, either. This isn't generic fantasy, these aren't generic Elves - they're very close to their Northern European mythological origins.

Dwarves can have darker skin if you like, mythologically speaking that'd be entirely appropriate but the idea of them having a human-like range of diversity is just pure projection (the representation thing again), nothing to do with Middle-earth as a setting. Tolkien's Dwarves are definitively not human, unlike the extended sense in which Elves and hobbits are; they're their own thing.

And hobbits: by inspiration they're like little Victorian English country folk. That's it. That's all. Tolkien was harking back to his childhood memories of a small village in rural Warwickshire. So they're stereotypically 'English', and that's that. Meant to remind the original English audience of themselves. (Complete with being generally small-minded, parochial, insular and needing to get out more, imaginatively speaking).

For those of you that claim, "Oh, but it's lore-breaking!" Sorry to break it to you, but it's not. And if you're concerned with the game breaking lore, I hate to break it to you, but it's been doing that since day one. Kind of had to to be a video game.

So first off, oh yes it damn well is and secondly, no, this specific thing is not an inevitable consequence of it being a game as anyone can see from the fact it's only now been added after sixteen years. No, these options shouldn't have been available since day one as this isn't a generic fantasy and you've done nothing to demonstrate that they should have been.

[Radhruin_EU]

Watch this and maybe you'll get a better idea as to what I'm talking about. The Race of Men in Middle-earth is a long, splintering journey. They start as one, split up, meet back up again, split up more, and travel, and go to war, and trade, and conquer, and intermarry, etc. and all that over and over and over. Yes, tribes developed, but they didn't remain static. My point is, they got around, just like people in the real world.

I don't see why you think this helps your case at all, as it's all about Tolkien's proto-'European' peoples. That's why all the illustrations shown in the video show them that way. The peoples who splintered off along the way were the ancestors of the Northmen and the Men of the White Mountains, seemingly roughly 'Germanic' and 'Celtic' respectively; some of the latter were the ancestors of the Dunlendings and the Bree-folk. The Edain continued on to Beleriand, and after the end of the First Age they became the ancestors of the Numenoreans. What's this got to do with casually dropping modern diversity onto Middle-earth? It shows why the game handled things the way it did originally, and for the last sixteen years. It also shows why the movies were cast the way they were, and just how much Rings of Power messed Tolkien's work about. (And how LOTRO is now following in RoP's footsteps).

That video you linked to doesn't even talk about the rest of Men, the ones who hadn't escaped Morgoth's influence and had had no contact with the Elves. Some of them turn up in the Silmarillion as the Easterlings but they're clearly distinguished from the Edain not just by that but by how they look: they're described as swarthy, with dark eyes and hair. They're clearly distinct from the Men Tolkien chiefly wrote about, and they stay that way. That same broad divide was still around in the Third Age. The Men who'd stayed in the East or had gone into the South fell under Sauron's sway after Morgoth's downfall and they've been taught to hate and fear the Elves and anyone who sides with them, hence that huge cultural divide between the Men who live in the West and everybody else. It's not shown as being in any way natural, it's all down to the influence of profound evil. Hence why once Sauron is out of the way and the Fourth Age comes along, something more like reality could start to take shape. But not in the Third Age, not while Sauron's still around as an evil king and god to much of mankind. So it's not like the real world, because of the influence of evil on the one hand and the presence of the Elves on the other and it's written in the style of myth and legend. (And from an overwhelmingly and purposefully North-Western European perspective, at that).

[VanguardIV]

It also shows why the movies were cast the way they were, and just how much Rings of Power messed Tolkien's work about. (And how LOTRO is now following in RoP's footsteps).

It's an MMO. If they want to add more customizations, let them.

They've made a ton of changes for gameplay purposes, I see no reason why people have to whine now and complain to the devs..

The same people should have stopped playing when rune-keepers came out, when Moria cam out with its Nameless Alien's in eggs, the game allowed dwarves to enter Lothlorien,

the game let's elf/beornings/hobbits/dwarf characters enter Rohan without any form of long-term anymosity and also giving them war-steeds, and making them a Thane (and in-game this assumes every character with the title is a Thane of Hytbold simultaneously)

the game allows dwarves, humans, beornings and etc. to own houses in the Shire.

the game allows elves/dwarves/hobbits to own mead halls in Rohan.

And many more.

The simplest answer is this: use lore to justify it, use real-world inspirations Tolkien based the game to explain why it shouldn't be there, nothing will change it's there and more of it will probably come in the future. Players are willing to overlook changes when it fits their narrative but instantly do a 180 when it doesn't.

If people dislike it so much, let them leave or quit. Nothing or no one is prompting you to if it bothers you so much you have no choice too, and it sure as hell won't bother the majority of players who are either indifferent or glad with the new customization options.

edit: Include as well the mounts: Boars that have thunder hoofs, instant teleport items, a horse as someone said "poops out snowflakes" (this made me laugh lol but idk which steed this is), firework pigs, the firework throne, Nurzum's whole deal, the Oath Stones, Minstrels with a kamehameha blast of light, Burglars stealthing in broad daylight, Hobbits being lore-masters, the millions of high-elves being stabbed by the witch-king in the intro, etc. etc.

[Baggins]

I'm going to call shenanigans on this straight away because Tolkien didn't invent the idea of Elves and here they're clearly inspired by Nordic / Germanic and Celtic myth; hence the way they've always been depicted as looking. The thing with the beards is strictly limited and otherwise Elves are definitively beardless. Hair colour and eye colour don't affect the gist of what these Elves represent, either. This isn't generic fantasy, these aren't generic Elves - they're very close to their Northern European mythological origins.

I wouldn’t recommend using word Nordic. Tolkien hated that term with a passion … anything but Nordic… Northern European, Northwest European, but not Nordic. Germanic, Norse for something but definitely not Nordic.

“I have spent most of my life, since I was your age, studying Germanic matters (in the general sense that includes England and Scandinavia). There is a great deal more force (and truth) than ignorant people imagine in the ‘Germanic’ ideal. I was much attracted by it as an undergraduate (when Hitler was, I suppose, dabbling in paint, and had not heard of it), in reaction against the ‘Classics’. You have to understand the good in things, to detect the real evil. But no one ever calls on me to ‘broadcast’, or do a postscript! Yet I suppose I know better than most what is the truth about this ‘Nordic’ nonsense. Anyway,”

Middle-earth. . . . corresponds spiritually to Nordic Europe. Not Nordic, please! A word I personally dislike; it is associated, though of French origin, with racialist theories. Geographically Northern is usually better. But examination will show that even this is inapplicable (geographically or spiritually) to ‘Middle-earth’. This is an old word, not invented by me, as reference to a dictionary such as the Shorter Oxford will show. It meant the habitable lands of our world, set amid the surrounding Ocean. The action of the story takes place in the North-west of ‘Middle-earth’, equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean. But this is not a purely ‘Nordic’ area in any sense. If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence. The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy. Auden has asserted that for me ‘the North is a sacred direction’. That is not true. The North-west of Europe, where I (and most of my ancestors) have lived, has my affection, as a man’s home should. I love its atmosphere, and know more of its histories and languages than I do of other parts; but it is not ‘sacred’, nor does it exhaust my affections. I have, for instance, a particular love for the Latin language, and among its descendants for Spanish. That it is untrue for my story, a mere reading of the synopses should show. The North was the seat of the fortresses of the Devil. The progress of the tale ends in what is far more like the re-establishment of an effective Holy Roman Empire with its seat in Rome than anything that would be devised by a ‘Nordic’.”

I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. The name is the modern form (appearing in the 13th century and still in use) of midden-erd > middel-erd, an ancient name for the oikoumen?, the abiding place of Men, the objectively real world, in use specifically opposed to imaginary worlds (as Fairyland) or unseen worlds (as Heaven or Hell). The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified by the enchantment of distance in time.”

Do not laugh! But once upon a time (my crest has long since fallen) I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story–the larger founded on the lesser in contact with the earth, the lesser drawing splendour from the vast backcloths–which I could dedicate simply to: to England; to my country. It should possess the tone and quality that I desired, somewhat cool and clear, be redolent of our ‘air’ (the clime and soil of the North West, meaning Britain and the hither parts of Europe: not Italy or the Aegean, still less the East), and, while possessing (if I could achieve it) the fair elusive beauty that some call Celtic (though it is rarely found in genuine ancient Celtic things), it should be ‘high’, purged of the gross, and fit for the more adult mind of a land long now steeped in poetry. I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. Absurd. Of course, such an overweening purpose did not develop all at once. The mere stories were the thing. They arose in my mind as ‘given’ things, and as they came, separately, so too the links grew. An absorbing, though continually interrupted labour (especially since, even apart from the necessities of life, the mind would wing to the other pole and spend itself on the linguistics): yet always I had the sense of recording what was already ‘there’, somewhere: not of ‘inventing’.”

“The ‘dwarves’ of my legends are far nearer to the dwarfs of Germanic [legends] than are the Elves, but still in many ways very different from them. The legends of their dealings with Elves (and Men) in The Silmarillion, and in The L.R., and of the Orc-dwarf wars have no counterpart known to me. In Völuspá, Eikinskjaldi rendered Oakenshield is a separate name, not a nickname; and the use of the name as a surname and the legend of its origin will not be found in Norse. Gandalfr is a dwarf-name in Völuspá!”

[Radhruin_EU]

It's an MMO. If they want to add more customizations, let them.

Not without limit. No MMO does that They all draw a line *somewhere*.

They've made a ton of changes for gameplay purposes, I see no reason why people have to whine now and complain to the devs.

This isn't a gameplay thing so that's a red herring. It's unnecessary, people hadn't been asking for it, it's anachronistic, there's no way to justify it in lore, it's tone-deaf for a game based on LOTR (to the extent that we might reasonably wonder what the heck they might do next) and to top it all it's been implemented poorly.

[Silmelin]

and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama

As some one who enjoys creating things I've always thought this a beautiful line

[Radhruin_EU]

As some one who enjoys creating things I've always thought this a beautiful line

Pity it's so often quoted out of context

[VanguardIV]

Not without limit. No MMO does that They all draw a line *somewhere*.


This isn't a gameplay thing so that's a red herring. It's unnecessary, people hadn't been asking for it, it's anachronistic, there's no way to justify it in lore, it's tone-deaf for a game based on LOTR (to the extent that we might reasonably wonder what the heck they might do next) and to top it all it's been implemented poorly.

Then customization, call it that if it makes you feel better.

Because either way the small minority complains and whines, while the rest continue and both never bother unless it breaks their own narrative.

Whether its customization, like being able to play hobbits from the shire who are also lore-masters; or them adding a new race which the lore purists will whine about, at the end of the day the results are the same: most like it while a few will not forgetting that the game changes at least a majority of things either for a gameplay or customization reason.

And if this is the "limit" then you all should have stopped playing when Moria came out, but clearly since those people whining haven't, it's safe to say this is a selective complaint just because it doesn't fit the narrative you/they like.

Complain about men being able to cross-dress while you're at it since there is clearly a very shaky ground on which the minority will whine.

[Silmelin]

Pity it's so often quoted out of context

Out of context? In what way? It's just a beautiful line he wrote one time, and I like it because I'm an artist who sculpts and paints (though not a super talented one XD)

[TesalionLortus]

most like it while a few will not forgetting that the game changes at least a majority of things either for a gameplay or customization reason.

Way to tell me you have low standards without telling me you have low standards... or just not paying any attention to anything. "Majority of things?" Maybe you mistook with RoP? You're forgetting this game was respected for its quality and integrity, that's what drew many people to it in the first place. The majority of things was usually somewhat justified through lore and the game's own storytelling, with most things added and filled in the blanks, not outright changed, and most of it making sense within the game's own established world. Whereas releasing this avatar update without any appropriate origins to choose from was probably one of the most half-assed things they've ever done creatively.

Because either way the small minority complains and whines, while the rest continue

It's almost like fanaticism. Anyone who doesn't like something or a fraction of something = minority, everyone else = majority. Always the same argument. On what basis? None but own ego.

Also, here is a secret, even if that was a minority... it is perfectly possible to try to be more mindful of said portion of player base. You said it yourself, "the rest continue" because you don't have any opinions/feedback about quality of these things, you just take it as it was given, silently. So if the devs were a little bit more mindful of the other group, who have all this more sensitive feedback for them and actually pay attention, the rest would still just continue. No difference. The game would be better for it, perhaps, and actually grow, not take step forward, 2 steps back, forward again and bug fixing, take down a new feature because didn't work out, step forward again, 2 steps back, and so on and so on. Maybe then devs wouldn't waste time fixing what doesn't need fixing and new update would deliver in abundance for everyone from the start. And you wouldn't need to come here to mock people who found some legit problems with update. (Now, I don't mean any beards, just everything else relating to the update and there is quite a lot).

[Radhruin_EU]

Out of context? In what way? It's just a beautiful line he wrote one time, and I like it because I'm an artist who sculpts and paints (though not a super talented one XD)

That it was just a youthful fancy he'd entertained once upon a time, and that he goes on to dismiss it as absurd. *That* context.

[Silmelin]

That it was just a youthful fancy he'd entertained once upon a time, and that he goes on to dismiss it as absurd. *That* context.

I'm sorry, I'm still confused English isn't my native language, but I always took it as him talking about how he had wanted to build something big with history and legends and stuff, but leaving room for others to build upon it by creating things like poetry and paintings and drama and other kinds of art I might be misunderstanding his words, but it's still a very beautiful thought: to leave room for others to create and build upon one's creation

[Rylnconn]

I don't have anything against adding new customization options, within lore (Bearded Man Race females is just non-LOTR, imo).
But more options is always good, so long as they are in the context of LOTR and Tolkien's works.


But why were old Man Race female's faces changed without player consent?
SSG: you stated that your goals were to increase inclusivity and representation... and then you go ahead and change old avatar's faces?


There's nothing more personal than our avatars, it's sacred. Sure, give your players the option to change their avatars, but don't force it against your players's will.
This is a red line that is not crossed nor should it be.
I've never seen a gaming company do this.


That is the very opposite of inclusivity and representation


My avatar is personal, whether SSG likes it or not, whether SSG finds it ugly, boring or old-fashioned. Whether it is stupid, small, big, scar-faced, blonde or brunette, small nosed or big nosed...
Even if SSG doesn't like my race or gender...it's MY avatar, it's MY choice. I made it that way and I should get the option to keep it as it used to be if I want it to (or change if I want it ,too).
If a player wants to change, sure, embrace it. However, it should never be forced. This almost feels like digital #### to me. I did not want nor desire this change forced upon me.


Please, respectfully, give me the option to change it back to the way my Avatar used to be. Keep the changes, just don't force us to change.
ADD new facial options without removing the pre-existing ones. That will increase representation and inclusivity...removing old avatar faces is the exact opposite

I concure , my female humans look so far removed from what they once were its very disconcerting and in some examples quite hideous .
I spent the better part of 2 hours trying to get my Female captains appearence vaguely remotely the same as she once was and the results were not very promising . She still bares no resmblence to the beauty she once was .
ssg give us the option .