Aerendil
10-08-2008, 08:27 AM
I'll preface this by saying that I'm not overly shallow when it comes to my characters' appearance. I'd wager I'm somewhere in the middle of the gaming community mentality, between those obsessed with appearances who take a good 30min or more on the character creation appearance page, and those who couldn't give a toss what their character looks like so long as he or she is wielding a +5 W/P rapier.
That said, when I play the PnP D&D (or rather, when I *played* D&D, I should say), during character creation I generally envisioned what my character looked like. I wasn't thinking so much about what prestige class I would take down the road, as I was about "what will his armour look like?", or "what weapon do I see him carrying?".
So suffice to say I do take my ingame character's appearance semi-seriously. I'd like him to look *somewhat* similar to how I envision him, and I do give allowances for the fact that I am not a DDO lead designer and can't control what weapons/armor designs appear in game.
At which point I thought I'd make a list of what I'd like to see ingame. Or, at the very least, considered to be put ingame.
So any additional ideas / opinions are certainly welcome!
Again, as I'm not a dev, I have no idea what additional costs and/or resources would be required to add this "wishlist" ingame. I'm merely putting the ideas out there, that's all.
So that said, here goes:
- I'll start with the Auctioneer. I'd love to be able to "preview" what armour I'm buying before I actually equip it.
It's a possibility in various other games (for example, EQ2) where you can go to an auction house / broker / whatever the game calls it, and sample how your character will look with that particular item equipped.
With weapons it's pretty obvious what you're getting, but with armour that's not the case. And, let's face it, nobody wants to pay 100,000 platinum for a +5 mithril breastplate that, when equipped, looks like you're wearing pink latex.
So why not add a function that will allow us to see what our character looks like with <insert armour piece here> equipped?
- Speaking of armour, I'd love to see additional armour skins ingame. Right now I'd wager Outfits have it the worst. There's what? 4 or 5 different outfits, and that's it? And a couple of them look like I've had javelins stuck into my back. Although, I must admit, some Robes aren't much better. I've seen some that resemble pajamas with a built-in backpack.
Nothing inspires fear in an enemy like seeing an Archmage approaching in pastel pajamas, I tell you.
What ever happened to the traditional robes and outfits of modern fantasy Wizards? I'd love to be able to equip my Wizards and Sorcerers in blood red robes with silver runes on them, or something similar. Some perhaps with hoods, and others without. There's a wealth of various designs that could be implemented here, and we need only pick up a random Keith Parkinson, Todd Lockwood, Michael Whelan, or various other artist's drawing for endless examples.
Similarly, a Monk would feel so much more like a Monk if I had a proper martial arts gi. You could even have various colours and top / pant combinations, such as the western traditional Karate or Judo outfit (the thicker cotton top) as well as the more Asian montsuki + hakama combination. Heck, you could even add various kimono for both men and women.
As for as light armour goes, I'd love to see some additional chain put ingame. Maybe even coloured chain (i.e. a black chainmail top). I've equipped +3 chain shirts before, to see my character suddenly look like he's wearing a grey chain shirt over white pajamas. Or some even resemble a patchwork 1-piece outfit where each patch was a different colour. What the...?!
So suffice to say, some new models here are sorely needed IMO. Not to slag the original dev team, but variety is the spice of life, and it's always nice to add new graphics to keep the playerbase happy!
Nobody wants to have to grind 14 levels before they can look reasonable with their VoD armour or dragonplate.
Give us a chance to enjoy looking at our character from the start, and the grinding experience will assuredly be more enjoyable.
- Weapons. There are a large number of weapons that not only *could* be implemented ingame, but have been requested for a long while now.
Monks are begging for siangham and sai. Warriors and Barbarians have been asking for spears, polearms, and the like for a while too.
And where is my Valenar Elf's double-bladed scimitar?!?
I've even seen numerous cries from gamers just to implement spears. They don't care if they swing it like a quarterstaff. They'll happily wait for the proper animations to be coded. They just want their spears!
Speaking of which, quarterstaves, double-bladed swords and scimatars and the like could be implemented using the DND rules for double weapons. This would go a long way in helping staff Monks feel loved (and not forgotten), not to mention improving life for those THF people out there.
I know I'd happily create a Fighter if I could wield a Scythe and wear black spiked armour....
Right, those are just some morning thoughts/ideas.
Feel free to add your own and/or criticize mine, folks.
That said, when I play the PnP D&D (or rather, when I *played* D&D, I should say), during character creation I generally envisioned what my character looked like. I wasn't thinking so much about what prestige class I would take down the road, as I was about "what will his armour look like?", or "what weapon do I see him carrying?".
So suffice to say I do take my ingame character's appearance semi-seriously. I'd like him to look *somewhat* similar to how I envision him, and I do give allowances for the fact that I am not a DDO lead designer and can't control what weapons/armor designs appear in game.
At which point I thought I'd make a list of what I'd like to see ingame. Or, at the very least, considered to be put ingame.
So any additional ideas / opinions are certainly welcome!
Again, as I'm not a dev, I have no idea what additional costs and/or resources would be required to add this "wishlist" ingame. I'm merely putting the ideas out there, that's all.
So that said, here goes:
- I'll start with the Auctioneer. I'd love to be able to "preview" what armour I'm buying before I actually equip it.
It's a possibility in various other games (for example, EQ2) where you can go to an auction house / broker / whatever the game calls it, and sample how your character will look with that particular item equipped.
With weapons it's pretty obvious what you're getting, but with armour that's not the case. And, let's face it, nobody wants to pay 100,000 platinum for a +5 mithril breastplate that, when equipped, looks like you're wearing pink latex.
So why not add a function that will allow us to see what our character looks like with <insert armour piece here> equipped?
- Speaking of armour, I'd love to see additional armour skins ingame. Right now I'd wager Outfits have it the worst. There's what? 4 or 5 different outfits, and that's it? And a couple of them look like I've had javelins stuck into my back. Although, I must admit, some Robes aren't much better. I've seen some that resemble pajamas with a built-in backpack.
Nothing inspires fear in an enemy like seeing an Archmage approaching in pastel pajamas, I tell you.
What ever happened to the traditional robes and outfits of modern fantasy Wizards? I'd love to be able to equip my Wizards and Sorcerers in blood red robes with silver runes on them, or something similar. Some perhaps with hoods, and others without. There's a wealth of various designs that could be implemented here, and we need only pick up a random Keith Parkinson, Todd Lockwood, Michael Whelan, or various other artist's drawing for endless examples.
Similarly, a Monk would feel so much more like a Monk if I had a proper martial arts gi. You could even have various colours and top / pant combinations, such as the western traditional Karate or Judo outfit (the thicker cotton top) as well as the more Asian montsuki + hakama combination. Heck, you could even add various kimono for both men and women.
As for as light armour goes, I'd love to see some additional chain put ingame. Maybe even coloured chain (i.e. a black chainmail top). I've equipped +3 chain shirts before, to see my character suddenly look like he's wearing a grey chain shirt over white pajamas. Or some even resemble a patchwork 1-piece outfit where each patch was a different colour. What the...?!
So suffice to say, some new models here are sorely needed IMO. Not to slag the original dev team, but variety is the spice of life, and it's always nice to add new graphics to keep the playerbase happy!
Nobody wants to have to grind 14 levels before they can look reasonable with their VoD armour or dragonplate.
Give us a chance to enjoy looking at our character from the start, and the grinding experience will assuredly be more enjoyable.
- Weapons. There are a large number of weapons that not only *could* be implemented ingame, but have been requested for a long while now.
Monks are begging for siangham and sai. Warriors and Barbarians have been asking for spears, polearms, and the like for a while too.
And where is my Valenar Elf's double-bladed scimitar?!?
I've even seen numerous cries from gamers just to implement spears. They don't care if they swing it like a quarterstaff. They'll happily wait for the proper animations to be coded. They just want their spears!
Speaking of which, quarterstaves, double-bladed swords and scimatars and the like could be implemented using the DND rules for double weapons. This would go a long way in helping staff Monks feel loved (and not forgotten), not to mention improving life for those THF people out there.
I know I'd happily create a Fighter if I could wield a Scythe and wear black spiked armour....
Right, those are just some morning thoughts/ideas.
Feel free to add your own and/or criticize mine, folks.