Ultimate Customization: Fixing Generic Faces and Silhouettes Across the Game

One of the biggest immersion issues in the game right now is how generic players and silhouettes are handled.

Across multiple modes, especially Franchise and online play, seeing blank silhouettes instead of actual player images makes the game feel unfinished. Even if a player does not have a real photo, people still want to see something that represents an actual person.

There is already a system in Madden that solves this without breaking licensing rules.

• Let users fully edit the generic face assigned to any player or even their height and weight 
• Once edited, replace the silhouette or licensed photo with that generic face
• Allow this for any player, even ones that currently have a real photo. Player "real" photo is then removed not breaking any licensing rules. It's almost like they just become a created player.

For players without image rights, they can still start with a blank silhouette. But as soon as we edit the generic face that was assigned to them, that should automatically become their player image.

That way every player ends up looking like a real person instead of a placeholder.

I understand that in online modes you are locked to official rosters and cannot edit players. That part makes sense. But even in those modes, silhouettes should not exist.

If a player does not have a licensed photo, the game should automatically use the generic face already assigned to that player as their portrait. That way online play still stays within licensing rules, but no one is looking at blank silhouettes.

Right now, I end up recreating tons of players who don't have face scans every year because the default faces and hairstyles look nothing like them. It takes hours for something that should be simple, especially when we already have generic faces in the game that could be used properly.

This also connects to the bigger customization gap:

• More hairstyles and the ability to edit hair and head size even on scanned players.
• New player face models especially younger looking mods.  Too Many of the generic faces look old when it's now a younger game and future drafted players should look young. 
• Real equipment options like different stick colorways and skate variations that already exist in real life
• Helmet size, shin pad profiles, and gear fit options
• Tape jobs, jersey style, and shoulder pad adjustments

Customization should not stop just because a player has a scan or a licensed photo. If anything, those players should still be fully editable so we can keep things accurate over time. This includes customization within franchise mode. Players ratings are constantly changing. If we're not  getting GM connected; and even if wedid, we should be able to fully edit players within franchise mode, including changing generic faces, hair styles, height, weight and especially attributes. We should not be locked out of this, Madden currently allows you to edit players attributes and ratings within franchise mode.  

If face scans are going to take time to roll out do to licensing and the developers, waiting for players to be worthy, at least give us the tools to bridge the gap ourselves and have complete editing in customization over generic placeholders. 

Fixing how generic faces and silhouettes work would be a huge step toward that, and it would improve every mode, not just Franchise.

hope the developers take the time to read this and implement it in Nhl 27. Please relay to the community manager and any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you!