DDO Devs: Pls allow us to change the look of Armour!

[AestorTheKnight]

DDO Devs Please allow us to change and, or, customise the looks of our Armour, Shields, and Helmets.

One week ago I purchased a suit of +5 Twighlight Mithril Full Plate from the Auction House for 5 million Gold Pieces.
"Awsome!!" I thought, "Now I will be able to start building that Full Plate Wearing Elven Fighter / Wizard - Eldritch Knight character ive always wanted to play. Safe in the knowledge that ill have a great suit of armour for him to wear when he reaches level 14. I hope it looks nice..."

But it looks like this:



"OMG!!" I thought, "That looks like a load of trash! There is no-way I would wear this armour on any of my characters..." So into the Bank it goes to take up a bank slot and gather dust. None of my characters will ever wear it as long as it looks like that. A waste of 5 million GP.

I dont want my +5 Twighlight Mithril Full Plate to look like a pile of trash! I want it to look like this:



Or something cool like that.

This at the moment is a problem for DDO! That suits of armour, shields, helmets, are not worn, but instead stashed away in the bank ot sold to the vendor because of their dreadful appearance. But this is only the start of the problem.

For a long time I held off wearing Dragontouched Armour on my Fighter Tank because I really didnt want to sacrifice her appearance and character by essentially becoming a sheep and looking just like every other character above level 16. But eventually I gave in because I wasnt willing to hold back my characters advancment for the sake of her looks. A lame trade off I shouldnt have to make. Anyways...

This is how she looks today, in Dragontouched Armour:



But this is NOT how I want my character to look. Not the image I want to look at for the many hours I play DDO every week. It does NOT suit her personality, nor her hereditry or her heraldry. This is how I want her to look:



An appearance that reflects my characters personality, her style of play, her ethics, her character!! So that she is an individual, and how I imagine her to be in the DDO World.

But instead I get to be a sheep, a clone, and look like everyone else:



Just like this guys:



Great isnt it that everyone looks the same past level 16.... Not...

Which brings me to my next point.

The Splash Screens that have recently appeared advertising My DDO



Wonder at the amazing diversity and individuality of the Citizens of Stormreach! See the Elven Wizard with an authentic elven robe! See the Bladesworn Warforge with a spiky docent! See the Halfling Sorceror with her orange robe of power! Gee they even have matching hats!! (What!? they are not all wearing Minos Legens, they must be gimped!)

Wouldnt it be nice if the diversity and individuality of appearance Turbine advertises really existed in DDO. But im sorry Turbine it doesnt... your Dungeons and Dragons game doesnt look like that!

It looks like this:



Can it be any more startlingly obvious!?

And yet Reavers Refuge and Dragontouched armour has been out for nearly 2 years now, and we the players have been asking for the option to change our armour appearance for as long, if not longer! So when is Turbine gonna do something about it? God only knows...

Some qoutes from other players on this issue:

Velexia about DragonTouched Outfits:

Lastly, please consider varying the look of the armor, possibly tying in to the enchantments that are on the armor? The Pajama Uniform look is really tiring.

Various colors, shapes, etc. Please.

Etc etc

Anyways - Ive outlined the problem. The solution shouldnt be so complicated. See my other Threads for a Solution:

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

Cosmetic Items: Q & A + Feedback : http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=241621

This is my final tirade on Turbine on the issue of Armour, Shield, Helmet, Weapon Appearance in DDO.. I sincerely hope they finally do something about it.

Thanks for reading! Discussion is welcome

[Aerendil]

Rofl, slam dunk


+1.

Been arguing this for quite a while now.
We need more variety of armours and weaponry; the ability to PREVIEW it before we buy it or put it on; and the ability to customize it afterwards.

Seriously. Everquest had this implemented with dyes about 10 years ago, as well as having 1359017507 times the equipment database.
Here everyone is in DT gear / Icy's / epic gear. All the melees have khopeshes or handwraps.
It's pretty bland.

[AyumiAmakusa]

Lol. HAHAHA. This post made me laugh so hard. If Turbine won't let us change the look of an armor/weapon at the VERY LEAST let us change the COLOUR of it. That's a good start. The same armor looks different in blue than metallic silver. And you can work on it from there.

[dasein18]

OP, like your post.
BTW the elven robe is Elven Craft Robe from GH, turn in relics and get the robe or armor. Nice for clerics before you get DT, black or blue scale, etc.

Seems like the devs are working in this direction. You can buy with TP bunny hats. I am sure they smell profit$ with the potential to buy clickies to make your armor look different.

I also have some really bad looking robes and +5 mithral plates. Of course you can wear the terrible looking easter splash armor from Minsunder. It is at least different if not the worst looking armor in the game.

[AestorTheKnight]

Thanks for your replies! And im happy it made y'all laugh! Hehe.

Yes as Aerendil stated this is something he and others have been asking for for ages! It really is about time DDO got a equipment appearance update.

Agreed with Ayumi that armour dyes would be a very good step in the right direction towards Armour appearance personalisation!

To answer Dasein18 - Glad you liked the post. For the sake of clarity, that actually isnt the Elf Crafted Robe, well not exactly, it shares the same Under Skin, but not the same Over Skin. Sorry to be pedantic, just a clarification.

But to be honest... The Bunny Hats are more of the same problem as far as I am concerned. You see too many people wearing them. Sure it might be the Devs working out the Technology to alter equipment appearances but from my point of view the Devs are wasteing time working on gimmicks when they should be trying to provide a real fix for a problem that has been in DDO for far too long now.

And the Mindsunder gear is more of the same problem. But I appreciate your words of advice, thanks Desein18

Your guys encouragement has prompted me to think about writing a definitive outline for the Appearance Options DDO "SHOULD" have implemented. Because At the moment I am concerned that the DDO devs are approaching this from the wrong angle, that of exclusive exclusive Cosmetic Items in the DDO Store. Which is NOT an adequate fix in my oppinion.

Hehehe, once again glad this made you dudes laugh!

[shagath]

Haha, that was some funny original post.

[azrael4h]

+1. This is something that should have been in the game from day one. Instead of running a scam to boost store revenue with Nerfdate 5, this would have a more pronounced effect, please pretty much everyone, and not cause lost revenue from lost players.

Which is why it won't be done, ever. It makes too much sense.

[Alabore]

But to be honest... The Bunny Hats are more of the same problem as far as I am concerned. You see too many people wearing them. Sure it might be the Devs working out the Technology to alter equipment appearances but from my point of view the Devs are wasteing time working on gimmicks when they should be trying to provide a real fix for a problem that has been in DDO for far too long now.
...
Your guys encouragement has prompted me to think about writing a definitive outline for the Appearance Options DDO "SHOULD" have implemented. Because At the moment I am concerned that the DDO devs are approaching this from the wrong angle, that of exclusive exclusive Cosmetic Items in the DDO Store. Which is NOT an adequate fix in my oppinion.

+1

I signed petitions on appearance customisation before.
I'll sign this one now.

...

I share your concerns on how they are currently implementing appearance change.
While bunny hats and tricornes proved they could alter a character's appearance on the go, they are no solution to true gear customisation.

We already mentioned it: adding shops that provide garment customisation that worked like appearance customisation works in char creation.
Maybe tied to favour or unlocked account-wide as a store option.

One-shot hair tonics felt very clunky for me.
I burnt some points. I wasn't happy. I reverted to original appearance. Regretted spending points. Stopped spending points.
And once novelty wore off, my store-bought hats started gathering dust in my bank too.

I'd rather buy or grind for a lasting service that repays itself, like shared banking, and get a customising smithy, a tailor or - the horror... - a hair saloon, than spend points on hair tonic once, and regret doing it.

[dopamine]

wow that mithril full plate is freakin ugly, i learned my lesson..don't buy armor off the AH. once bought a +5 adamantine full plate and it was purple!!
someone mentioned EQ armor dyes, that would be so great in this game..but doubt we'll see it

[Redlotusninjagrl]

Everyone is wearing dragontouched armor so I decided that I wanted to get the blue dragonscale to look different and because it is so sexy! I do wish we could customize a bit more.

[~Sandthefloor]

Perhaps they take all the looks for each type of equipment (even weapons, possibly), and there can be a Forge that will, for a price (of DDO MONEY, NOT TURBINE POINTS), let you select another look and a base color... and even a name. Kind of like Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, with its weapon forge. (While you're at it, you could maybe buy some expensive bonuses to equipment, like maybe a +2 insight to attack or a +5 misc to Disable Device )

Would bring some new looks to a group for sure.

Edit: Oh yes, lest i forget, +1 Rep to you Aestor.

[karnokvolrath]

+1

While the horse is dead....i say beat the s--t out of it.

/signed.

[AestorTheKnight]

Smooth Floors 4tw! Thanks for your post and your support Sandthefloor! I very much like the suggestion to add another Special Altar to customise appearance AND add aditional unique bonus's to Armour, Helmets Shields. This would be an excellent fix for this problem and a great addition to DDO!

I also like the idea of associating certain Prestige Enhancments / Paths with Armour appearance or customisation, as long as it does not limit the player to looking a certain way - because this would cause a bias towards a certain kind of appearance, which is not good, and would be more of the same problem.

Appearance should NOT be linked to abilities / bonus's!

Freedom of expression - individuality is paramount.

+1

While the horse is dead....i say beat the s--t out of it.

/signed.

Rofl

[Quarterling]

+1
While the horse is dead....i say beat the s--t out of it.

Don't worry, a cleric just raised it so we can beat it some more!

/beaten and signed

[Taeon]

I agree, I wish they'd do what they did in LotRo. Have slots for the armor, weapons, etc with stats and then extra slots for armor that has the look the you like. That's like last night, I found armor that I loved the look of but my old had better stats. Be nice to keep the stats but use the looks of the one you like.

[AestorTheKnight]

Bump for fun and... justice!

[Seikojin]

In one of the more recent interviews there was a sentance or three about changing the look of armor. I can't find it though

[EazyWeazy]

Man I hope they finally get around to this.

[Dalmeros]

Turbine has to do this some day. People are always asking for customizing their armors. I, like many others, hope that the pirate and bunny hats are just the beginning of many custom cosmetics to follow, especially armors.
I've been hoarding good looking armors and robes for a while now, hope to use them soon

[rdasca]

I hope it happens also, not only do most of my toons look like every other 16+ toon of the same class, but Turbine is recycling armor skins, look at the icy and then look at the veteran monk robe you get when creating a level 4 monk, same skin .... meh.