Equipment Skin Customisation - Turbine?

[AestorTheKnight]

Part 1: A straight question to Turbine.
Part 2: More thoughts on this subject.
Part 3: Some positive suggestions.


Part 1: A straight question to Turbine.

The DDO Player Base wants Armour, Shield, Helmet, Weapon skin and model customisation, as far as I can tell from the overwhelming majority of DDO Players who /signed the thread:

Skin Customisation - Further Thoughts http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=220468

Showing their approval for some form of Equipment Skin customsation to be added to DDO. And all the other
threads begun by other DDO players in this Suggestions forum, mentioning or suggesting in their own way that they would like to see this feature in some form added to the game.

Please forgive me Turbine for pestering you about this matter, but the silence and complete lack of clues with
regards your reception or even consideration of this suggestion is disheartening.

The reason it is disheartening is because we, the player base have been asking for this for a long time now (I have heard word of DDO players suggesting this since 2007) and have recieved no official reply or feedback on it.
And gee whizz Lord of The Rings Online, already has it and has had this feature since the launch of the game,
as far as i know. Does not seem quite fair does it?

And the other reason it is disheartening is because it is such an incredibly simple request. All we are asking for is the ability to change the appearance (Not the stats or abilities) of our equipment, to make our characters look how
we want them to look, instead of relying on a Random Chance or a Static Armour that forces everyone to look like
a flock of sheep.

Really all I am asking for is a simple yes or no? Is that really so much to ask for? It would really make my day, and im sure a lot of other peoples too, to hear some word from Turbine as to wether we will oneday see Equipment Skin customisation in DDO.

If so, When?

If not, why on earth not???

A reply in some form would go some way to restoreing my faith in Turbine Customer relations. Thanks!




Part 2: More thoughts on this subject.

Now that I have said my peace to Turbine, more thoughts on this same matter for those of you are interested.

1. Ample mechanics obviously already exist within the DDO game for this feature to be implemented, easily, quickly
and with only a relatively small allocation of developer resources, for something that could:

a) Make a lot of DDO players a whole lot happier, Hurray!

b) Provide another source of revenue for Turbine if this feauture was implemented through the DDO Store. which would be fine, although i personally feel it should be available to Free Players as well, since it is such a simple and basic function.

2: The various crafting mechanics in DDO are already empowering the players to make the items they want. Shroud Crafting, Stone of Change Crafting, Risia Ice Festival Crafting. etc etc All of which are significantly more complex and game balance effecting than being able to change your equipments appearance which has absolutely no effect on game balance whatsoever.

3: Now a re-iteration of my personal feelings on this. I am personally sick to death of having to design my characters appearance according to a narrow set of possibilities that straight jackets my characters into a no-win scenario of:

a) Having the abilities I want for my character , but looking like a Sheep in a heard of Sheep.

b) Looking the way I want my character to look, which requires a virtual miracle of chance to loot the Skin I like from a Random Chest loot, while gimping my characters abilities in the process.

4: I am dissapointed that the DDO developers did not foresee the bland visual effect that every high level character running around in Dragontouched Armour would have on the aesthetics and immersion of this fantasy game. I personally think they should have added full Armour Skin customisation into the Game with Module 8 and Dragontouched Armour, from the start.

5: The lack of Equipment Skin Customisation is the one thing that really bugs me about DDO. And it utterly frustrates me that this feature that could so easily be implemented has been overtaken in priority by Turbine by such things as Silver Shiny Party Hats and Flourescent Coloured Hairdos! I mean come on get real...




Part 3: Some positive suggestions.

Now some more positive suggestions.

1: Add extra exclusive Appearance Add Ons to currently existing Armour Skins, such as Tribal Patterns, Arcane or Exotic looking Runes. Spirals. In a word, additional cosmetic add ons to armour skins. Of course they would best be tasteful and subtle, rather than flourescent and tacky looking.

2: DDO has had exactly the same generic armour skins for 4 years now. Add some new unique and coool looking Generic Armour, under and over Skins and Models to DDO. In the same way you added a few more Shield Designs
and a whole lot more weapons designs in or around Module 3 or 4, if I remember correctly.

3: Add extra exclusive Shield Coats of Arms, that could be applied to existing Shields to customise them.
Although this would require quite a bit more work, EVE Online has a simple modular system that allows the players to generate their own Guild Insignias. Generated from over 300 generic patterns and symbols, they are able to generate litterally thousands of different Guild Insignias. These could then be applied to shields. How refreshing it would be to not see every high level cleric running around with the Silver Flame coat of arms.

4. Allow us to change the colour of shields?

5. Anyways, other people have said it. I will say it again. Character Equipment appearance in DDO needs an update,
and their are soooo many exciting possibilities that could be implemented! I hope they are realised.

Thanks for reading. I think I will get a reputation for overly long and slightly angry posts.

Thanks to MarcusCole for bumping my original thread, and inspiring me to write this post with his comment
"Bump for Justice" hehehe.

Kind regards,
AestorTheKnight

[Danmor]

/signed

Feedback Turbine? Please?

[AestorTheKnight]

bump for justice!

[Symar-FangofLloth]

Do you know about the Three-cornered Hat? It's a step in the right direction at least.

[Gum]

Do you know about the Three-cornered Hat? It's a step in the right direction at least.

Indeed. As soon as I put this hat on, this was my thought. Imagine customizing your look, and then bottling it in a potion or something. Is this hat a start to greater things Turbine? Customization is King!

[Stamp3de]

Do you know about the Three-cornered Hat? It's a step in the right direction at least.

Which is wat I don't understand. If they have the tech for the 3 cornered hat thing, why not make all visible clothing customizable in that way?
Maybe this is just a preview I guess.

[vettkinn]

I, for one, approves of this suggestion.

[apacheizm23]

/signed

[HonricArgent]

I've been using a Three-corner Minos Legens since it came out, and it adds a lot of style to an otherwise bland outfit. I dont know how long it would take before Turbine implements a full equipment skin system, but I'd be content just to have all the Cosmetic items in the DDO Store released as hat skins. Nobody really wants a +2 luck bonus to Will saves, but a lot of people would shell out points to make their Minos look like a Green Lucky Hat. Myself, I'd pick the silver party hat.

As they exist right now, developing Cosmetic Items is a waste of time for the development team. No one wants to gimp an item slot just to have a certain look, and if no one buys them Turbine doesnt make money off the designs. Make the items more accessible, and we'll pay for the privilege. Help us help you in separating us from our money!

[NecasioGreystorm]

agreed the lack of customization at higher levels just screams laziness.
Please do something! Anything!!

[AestorTheKnight]

NecasioGreystorm wrote: "Why why why do we all my rangers have to look like mages or monks"

Very good point. Agreed Necasio, and thanks for you support!

[Tejoncito]

/SIGNED

I want my FvS to look like a... FvS... I hate the "monk" Outfits =P

[Vorn]

If the tech of the three corner hat is easy to make happen for the body slot (armor/docents) or weapon/shield slots, then I imagine a whole new line of DDO clothing and accessories will be making an appearance at the DDO store soon (tm).

[Ashiel_Dragmire]

I just want to be able to choose what my Docents look like... at least the fleshling armor gives you a general idea of what the armor will look like. What do warforged get? A friggin' spherical gem.

Do you know how many times I've bought Docents off of the AH, only to end up looking like a bipedal turtle? Too many to count. I hate that armor SO much I post it back on the AH and buy another one. Haven't gotten two turtle suits in a row yet...