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

[moorewr]

Now i want to quit DDO and play champions

Go for it - there's an unlimited free trial!

I put maybe five hours in before I wandered back to DDO. YMMV.

[AestorTheKnight]

never seen an ingame gm.

I dont think I have ever seen a Game Master Avatar on the U.S. Servers either.

But in DDO Europe, they used to frequently appear inside the quest with an Avatar that you could see. Often it was a level 1 Wizard or Bard, appearing inside a level 18 instance.

[Alabore]

Yeah it was quite funny! But what was really cool was how amazingly helpful and open about their work these GM's where.

You clearly met like-minded folks - people who actually played the game, and loved the immersion factor.
I am sure we could try and get Turbine devs to show interest about this side of the game, while allowing for both f2p and p2p players to have worthwhile options.

Maybe we could start asking or working on a model viewer program.
If we could check models from outside the game - NWN2 had such a tool - we could point out what we'd like to see more.

Personally, I'd love to have more chainmail under my plate suits.
And I'd like to try a chainmail texture with a vest or backpack overmesh; it would be perfect for a "thuggish" rogue/ranger or rogue/fighter.
Sweet Mithras, I have folders full of old sketches of mine - if Turbine devs/artists need some extra pointers on fantasy and historical armours, I'd be happy to oblige.



Not that they'd need external help with art, but it's just to show community cares about DnD beyond the strict producer/customer level.

Over all the Codemasters GMs were just incredibly helpful and easy going.

They were fans, in addition to being moderators.
That helps when designing and running a game.
It can give extra insight on what players would like to play, as devs would love to play it in the first place.

I havent. The reason for this is that the Turbine Game Masters are much more strict.

Well... we'll see.
If they share the same game tools as CM GMs, maybe we can reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.

Go for it - there's an unlimited free trial!

Thanks for the bit of info.
I am going to check that.
I ache for some cheesy super-hero action.
In yellow spandex!

[MarkusWolfe]

Personally, I'd love to have more chainmail under my plate suits.
And I'd like to try a chainmail texture with a vest or backpack overmesh; it would be perfect for a "thuggish" rogue/ranger or rogue/fighter.
Sweet Mithras, I have folders full of old sketches of mine - if Turbine devs/artists need some extra pointers on fantasy and historical armours, I'd be happy to oblige.



Not that they'd need external help with art, but it's just to show community cares about DnD beyond the strict producer/customer level.

Heh, yeah. We'd all love to totally mix up the under and over meshes. I myself just started a nice drawing today. The helmet is inspired by the black dragon's horns, but the rest will be straight from DDO armor/outfits. I've still got my Favorite Mithril Fullplate TM, but I haven't got the furry bits I need. If someone could put up 2 monk outfits, one with tiger fur around the waist and the other with thick light orange fur around the neck, that would be very helpful.

[gurugeorge]

Now i want to quit DDO and play champions

It's one of those love it or hate it games - if you like dreaming up lots of different superheroes with different combinations of powers and whacky looks, you'll love it. And for a month or two it can be great fun in that way, but while the powerset system does have some depth and the combat is just as dynamic as DDO's, if not more so, the rest of the game doesn't have as much depth and longevity as a game like, say, LOTRO (or even our beloved DDO for that matter). It's a fun game, and it's worth the trial just to experience the character creation, it's quite a phenomenon really, but if you like a game that's a second job, you won't like Champions.

Pretty much like City of Heroes was, in fact: very good at scratching a particular itch, but a bit of a one trick pony, a bit shallow, a casual pick-up-and-play sort of MMO.

(Sorry don't mean to derail the thread any further - but I do believe that Cryptic are showing the way of the future - there's simply no reason not to have tons of looks customisation in ANY MMO these days. I've often thought that crafting could be real crafting in that way - if crafters could creatively make armours with unique personalised looks, that would make crafting have some purpose in these sorts of games, and not be so cookie-cutter.)

[Kerashana]

I will second this NEED MORE VARIETY in armor and weapons

[MarkusWolfe]

What's this? Second page?

BUMP!

[BangsLiekWhoa]

I still like the idea of using one piece of equipment for the skin and another for the stats.

[AncientPlasma]

Meh, isn't that purple armor in the 2nd snapshot the Flametouched Full Plate? Because I own a +1 Flametouched full Plate and it looks like that.

[AestorTheKnight]

Meh, isn't that purple armor in the 2nd snapshot the Flametouched Full Plate? Because I own a +1 Flametouched full Plate and it looks like that.

No - the Purple Armour in the 2nd Screenshot is not Flametouched Full Flate. Its regular +5 Steel Full Plate.

Generic Armour appearances never have any specific appearance associated with them. For example Adamantine Full Plate is never black. The appearance of generic chest loot is always random.

That being said... I have noticed a slight tendency of Flametouched Full Plate to be bronze.

[Alabore]

It's one of those love it or hate it games.
It's a fun game, and it's worth the trial just to experience the character creation.

I downloaded and installed the trial version.
Character creation offers staggering variety in appearance customisation - but I'll admit face customisation felt a bit lacking, compared to DDO.
I still love DDO chars better.

It would be great if we could pick body shape and animation sets as they allowed in CO.
It don't see why my human rogue should be as tall and brawny as my human barbarian.

Choosing initial stats was much simpler: pick a couple powers, a starting template for stats, and you're ready do go.
It is true what they said above: we get to customise chars to the individual skill point, yet outwardly we tend to run an army of clones.

Polite nudge to Turbine/DDO devs: CO is offering advanced character customisation in a trial game.
I could customise my avatar down to the individual link of armour - and it was part of the initial trial offer.
Reskins could be unlocked by playing.
And they had cloaks...



Broccoli or beholder?
Celery or cloaks...?

That being said... I have noticed a slight tendency of Flametouched Full Plate to be bronze.

I noticed - especially since they toned down elemental effects for non-burst weapons - some special alloys are differently hued from mundane steel.

I think flametouched blades looked reddish.

[AestorTheKnight]

Broccoli or beholder?
Celery or cloaks...?.

yep lol

I noticed - especially since they toned down elemental effects for non-burst weapons - some special alloys are differently hued from mundane steel.

I think flametouched blades looked reddish.

Yes - that is correct and has always been that way. On weapons: Adamantine is black, Byeshk is purple, Flametouched is bronze, Greensteel is green, Cold Iron is well just same as normal steel! Darkwood bows are made from darker coloured Wood.

[MarkusWolfe]

I downloaded and installed the trial version.
Character creation offers staggering variety in appearance customisation - but I'll admit face customisation felt a bit lacking, compared to DDO.
I still love DDO chars better.

It would be great if we could pick body shape and animation sets as they allowed in CO.
It don't see why my human rogue should be as tall and brawny as my human barbarian.

My thought on that is to have Strength increase the size of your arms, shoulders and upper torso, while Con makes your entire torso thicker. Your Strength and Con together with your race determine your overall height.

[Keir-X]

My thought on that is to have Strength increase the size of your arms, shoulders and upper torso, while Con makes your entire torso thicker. Your Strength and Con together with your race determine your overall height.

I agree... at least every time your STR bonus goes up (non-magically) you should be that much larger.

There definitely needs to be clothing customization in this game. Even if through the DDO store. I have had to wear some hideous outfits that I couldn't preview just to get the good mojo... what is so wrong with this Eberron place that the best mages are enchanting tiger skin loin-cloths over fur-collared kung-fu outfits? I'd rather buy a cosmetic gear option to look like a ragged pirate or wino.

[Shaamis]

We have requested this for years and I would think that eventually it may get implemented.

<Shaamis bursts through the door, Everfull Mug in hand, sloshing some of the fragrant, frothy, yet tantalizingly tasty beverage on just about everyone>

Shaamis here.

Neverwinter Nights had this WAAAAAAAAAAAAY before DDO, there is no way they CAN'T do it.

It's just a matter of whether it's worth it for them to do it.

I'm not going to suggest anything other than that.

I'm outta here.

<takes a big ol' drink from his mug, then leaves the way he came in, drunk, and loud.>

[AestorTheKnight]

...Neverwinter Nights had this WAAAAAAAAAAAAY before DDO, there is no way they CAN'T do it.

It's just a matter of whether it's worth it for them to do it.

Its also a matter of whether they care about the fact that their DDO Game Characters look rubbish. And that their customers dont particularly like that.

[AestorTheKnight]

Sinnibyte has kindly started a new thread on the General Discussion Forum, with some great links to Videos showing Armour and Equipment Appearance Customisation in other Games.

You can read his post and get the links here:

The whole "appearance" thing - http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=268190

Cheers to Sinnibyte for carrying on the campaign.

[gurugeorge]

Choosing initial stats was much simpler: pick a couple powers, a starting template for stats, and you're ready do go.

Just as an aside, the CO system has a touch of depth that's quite interesting, and is one of those flashes of sheer genius that Cryptic occasionally show. Basically, there are stats, as in most games, and those stats are connected with various utility abilities and gear, etc. But in terms of damage, what they've done is that you pick any two of your stats (one early on, another later in the game) to be "superstats", and they are what boost your damage (they get a hike in points when you superstat them that's the same for everyone, and then they rise faster than the other stats automatically as you level, and you can emphasise them with gear too).

Basically, what this means is that no matter what "flavour" your character has in terms of rp and utility, your damage will always be roughly on a par with everyone else's so long as you stay in "balanced" mode (there are modes you can switch between that will give extra boosts to damage, tanking or utility, but again, that option to switch is the same for everyone).

Exceedingly neat trick, and works out quite well in practice - enabling tanks, healers and cc-ers to solo and hit pretty hard, etc., etc. You can still get an edge and specialise and min-max a bit, but there's no need to be useless at damage.

Hehe, sounds like I'm touting for CO. Actually at the moment I am in love with DDO, but looking at those cozzie comp screenies made me nostaligic for CO again. I guess, like many folks seem to be these days, I'm an "MMO tourist", and hop from one to the other as my mood takes me these days

[AestorTheKnight]

The CO superstat system sounds like it is "Normalising" everyone to be basically the same, just different class's. And also removes the need for players to "use their head" when developing the build of their character. I would never want such a system in DDO.

But the level of appearance customisation available in CO, would certainly be awsome in DDO.

[Narcissistic_Martyr]

Dear Turbine,

I feel that you could make a significant amount of money by introducing armor and weapon customization and selling it to f2p and premium members for 1000-2000 tp for unlimited customization and charging 50-100 tp for a single shot customization. Another item that you could potentially charge more for is the ability to change named armors. Additionally I feel that giving VIPs unlimited armor customization would be a nice perk considering they pay you $10-$15 a month every month.

Turbine, I suppose the question is how much time will it take to recoup the investment this will take to make? That is something I cannot answer. However, let us look at the other benefits.

1. You make the long term players happy and give them another reason to stick around and keep playing their $10-15 a month. Granted they'll grumble about how long it took for the feature to be implemented, but no matter what you do that will happen.

2. You increase the appeal of the game to new players by offering customization of their avatar's looks. Especially if you make a new Korthos quest (perhaps given by a brightly colored warforged who desperately wants to change the color of his/her/its docent, but needs something from somewhere to do so) that allows them to earn a free armor change token.

3. You make me personally very, very happy as the lack of customization is my only major gripe about the game.

Thank you for your time.