OMFG Armour Cosmetics!!!

[Coldin]

There should also be versions "with gear" and "without gear" - the ones with gear tend to have more coverage (and a more "armorish" profile).

Looking forward to seeing those then.

The ones offered so far aren't bad, but they feel too flat, and I'm not sold on the colors offered. (I'm still trying to figure out how people are getting some of them with blue tones instead of red)

[Depravity]

There are some really pretty armour skins that only get used on randomly generated items. It would be nice to overwrite our dragontouched etc with them.

There are some really nifty skins that only exist on named gear nobody wears, too. I'd love to have a rogue wandering around in Lhor-Tragu's Shadowed Armor on a regular basis.

[IronClan]

Is it selfish for people to say that they want cosmetic upgrades? If not, then it isn't selfish to advocate for the opposite position, either.

What about the people who just want to climb ladders successfully?

Asking for a feature that many people have asked for especially one that ships with most MMO's in the first week; is not selfish. In fact it's the opposite of selfish

On the other hand making arguments against a feature that MANY want is the very definition of selfish.

Saying things like "I'm about substance over style" is condescending and implies that everyone else is about style over substance. I want both personally, but I'm not pounding my own chest about it and claiming I don't really care then going on to rub my "substance over style" epeen...

And maybe I'm doing it wrong but I climb 99.9% of the ladders successfully the other 0.01% take droping back off and trying again. Lets not pretend that an almost totally negligible bug/engine quirk is actually worthy of stopping cosmetic development to squash.

Update 7 killed a lot of bugs,... yet at the same time they somehow managed to add new content and features, update the UI, make the AH searchable... Somehow they managed... APPEARENTLY the Art department working on the UI, and Half Orcs skins did not keep them from adding things of "substance".

I'm going to submit that this case just might be similar...

[Ganolyn]

I care not about the looks only the result.

You may have your pretty little toys....I prefer they spend time fixing all that is broken rather than playing to those who want to be pretty.

I do realize I'm in the minority....but I'll stand by substance over style any day.

This does not fix or improve anything. But hey if you feel better about yourself...hey that's something.

These kinds of posts always mystify me. You do realize that Turbine is a company with many departments with different responsibilties don't you? It's not like they all get together and say "OK, lets work on art today" or "Today is bug smashing day".

They can develop, test, improve, try to bug squash and make things pretty all at the same time. I realize that everyone's pet peeve is never at the top of the queue and never developed, tested, improved, squashed or made pretty in an acceptable amount of time for anyone, but it is what it is. Just be happy they have the money to anything fun or "frivolous" for this game and accept that things will churn out at their own pace.

[tunabomber]

All i want is to make mine look like Dragonscale armor mainly the red scale armor because it is just so badass looking.

[Maldavenous]

I'm sure this has been said but I'd prefer we have the ability to use looted armor appearances instead of just the few specific cosmetic armors.

Cosmetic armors I imagine will be like the cosmetic helms, they'll be easy to recognize, just like dragontouched armor.

The benefit of looted armors is that even the same style can have very different colors.

Also if a cosmetic system uses looted armors it'll encourage players to actually pay attention to the armor they loot instead of just selling it. There's really a very narrow spectrum of looted armor that is usable without a cosmetic system using it.

[Persnoody]

Guys these are like alpha versions of the skins, they have no 3d overlay, yet. They just put these out so we can get an idea of what they plan to do. really the only thing I don't like is that we cant reverse the skin after we add it, ok like they said, you will be able to pull these from chests and from the ddo store, the store holds preview versions for 1 point, so cool you get to try it, but for the ones you pull from chests, say you try it on, not knowing what it looks like since at this point it is all a new thing, many people don't know what to expect, then it is applied over another skin you have gotten off the ddo store, or a rare one you had pulled from a chest (chances are there will be ones you cant get off the store) that you may have liked more, with that idea in mind, I think there should be some sort of preview option built into the kit ideally, or at least a 1 step back undo potion. I understand it is still in the early stages, just voicing my opinion.

Also, with the way it works, I would think there is a possibility to have like a blank kit to pull a look from another set of armor and use it as a skin, it would be a great addition to this cosmetic feature, I really hope everyones ideal of this can be fulfilled, since this is really the second half of what gives us as players our individuality (the other half being the style of build for the toon), btw there is no reason why they can't add effects to the skin kits other than looks, when I say that I'm thinking about how the hats have effects. For those that read this, I hope it came to some use for you in understanding the possibilities of what is to come of this addition to the game.

[Devonian]

So do the new skins go with the character, or with the armour? If its the Armour, this is going to be useless for low level players who outgrow armour more rapidly riding the level train. That's bad, because it creates the impression that all the cool stuff is for established players, and gets disheartening, or makes it most costly for those least invested in the game.

Much better to have new skins go with the character, and so be as good value for all characters, thus not risking a sense of exclusion by making new players pay over and over or suffer the mostly bug ugly to utterly bland basic armours.

[krud]

I care not about the looks only the result.

You may have your pretty little toys....I prefer they spend time fixing all that is broken rather than playing to those who want to be pretty.

I do realize I'm in the minority....but I'll stand by substance over style any day.

This does not fix or improve anything. But hey if you feel better about yourself...hey that's something.

Oh yes, because making another strictly by the numbers, "I don't care what race it is, only that it's max dps", "I don't care what class it is, only that it's max dps", "I don't care what weapons he uses, only that they're max dps", "it could be a pink tutu wearing gnome for all I care, as long as it's max dps" character is soooo much more interesting.

[Rav'n]

All i want is to make mine look like Dragonscale armor mainly the red scale armor because it is just so badass looking.

/Signed! But I prefer the Black Scale.

[dunklezhan]

Does applying a skin bind the armour to the toon or account, and if not, does it go WITH the armour if you sell it or give it away? And if it does, will there be a way to tell from an AH/broker entry that a skin has been applied?

[Persnoody]

So do the new skins go with the character, or with the armour? If its the Armour, this is going to be useless for low level players who outgrow armour more rapidly riding the level train. That's bad, because it creates the impression that all the cool stuff is for established players, and gets disheartening, or makes it most costly for those least invested in the game.

Much better to have new skins go with the character, and so be as good value for all characters, thus not risking a sense of exclusion by making new players pay over and over or suffer the mostly bug ugly to utterly bland basic armours.

right now, it applies to the armor, as a second look, u can toggle off to look at original skin, but when u change armor the skin doesn't carry, so really u would only want to do with with armor that u use often. think of it this way, it is a reward to those who invest, which is something that we haven't gotten in a long time, for a while now everything was for the newb player, and if the price for these kits stay the same on live as it is on lama, then it wont be that big of a deal, since on lama it is only 15 tp for a kit.

Does applying a skin bind the armour to the toon or account, and if not, does it go WITH the armour if you sell it or give it away? And if it does, will there be a way to tell from an AH/broker entry that a skin has been applied?

no the item doesn't become bound, and i am unsure if the kit carries after transfer, i think i will get one of my friends to log onto lama with me so i can test it, and so far there is no added information to armors that have a skin applied to it, but as it stands, this is basically in alpha stage, im sure there will be a lot of changes before it goes live.

[Devonian]

right now, it applies to the armor, as a second look, u can toggle off to look at original skin, but when u change armor the skin doesn't carry, so really u would only want to do with with armor that u use often. think of it this way, it is a reward to those who invest, which is something that we haven't gotten in a long time, for a while now everything was for the newb player, and if the price for these kits stay the same on live as it is on lama, then it wont be that big of a deal, since on lama it is only 15 tp for a kit.

Fair enough, I do think though that its unwise to set things up to disadvantage new players. what you will get is long term in the new hotness, and lower ranks and recent arrivals in the current bland crop of gear. If that's what they plan, I'd much rather the art resources went to spicing up the current crop of existing gears. Now Turbine will have a financial incentive to make each new gear set uglier than the one before.

[Persnoody]

well when u started playing did the look of armor really matter to u? it really only matters to people who have played this a long time and are getting tired of the same old look, but ur right, it isn't good to put something in game that will be harder to get for new people (unless it is high lvl stuff) when it has no level requirement, but then again, it wouldn't be that hard to obtain, since every 100 favor u get 25 tp points, and new toons always rack up the points, and one of the draw backs being it only applies to 1 set of armor really only makes u think about what set u want to apply it to, games like this aren't built for idiots, thats one of the good things about this game, it actually requires at least a lil bit of intelligence, and if i remember correctly the kits have a warning on them saying once u apply it, u cant undo.

[cdbd3rd]

well when u started playing did the look of armor really matter to u? ....

Yes. The first set of Full Plate I got had that funky looking toe spike. Useful in a fight? Probably. Dorky looking as all get-out? Yup. Vendored it.


In fairness, more folks do drift towards seeking visual perfection as time passes, but some folks start off there.

[Alabore]

well when u started playing did the look of armor really matter to u?

Yes.
I recall the shock of being decked out in the very same outfit everybody else wore, back when doing Korthos quests.

I even spent TP to buy store armour because it looked different.
So, yes, the look of armour does really matter to me.

...

Incidentally, once out of Korthos, I started hoarding +1 armour that looked good to me.
Most of my characters still wear good looking +1 over bad looking +5.

I've been holding onto some so-so looking +5, hoping they'd implement some appearance customising.

If they keep the colour switch glitch we've seen on Lamannia as a Live feature, some of those so-so looking suits will become viable for my characters to wear.

...

So, just to make it clear again.
The way armour looks does matter to me.
I wouldn't spent significant amounts of TP on them anymore, but some of my characters do wear under-performing gear just for looks.
To me there is a significant advantage to good looking armour: I feel a deeper attachment to my characters, I'll fight harder and smarter to keep them alive.
It is like a +2 attack morale modifier for *player*.

[Persnoody]

well the point i was trying to make was, at low levels u can get a couple sets of armor that are the exact same but look differently, as u level up, the average player tends to use named gear, in turn gaining familiar looks, I stated my question wrong, because i recall buying a +2 full plate off the ddo store so i didn't look like a "Korthos inhabitant". either way my question shouldn't have been aimed at veteran players, since your minds are clouded by years of playing this game, while wearing armor that looks the same as everyone else's, but anyway the ability to finally change the way our armor looks has finally come, let us remember this time as it will soon fade.

[Razcar]

A few samples of "less patterns", "less colors", "less tight on the body" outfits should be there for people like me who like dark, mysterious characters that don't want to walk like a "musical lantern" down the road (sorry for the expression).

Mr Pink: Why can't we pick our own colors?
Joe: No way, no way. Tried it once, doesn't work. You got four guys all fighting over who's gonna be Mr. Black, but they don't know each other, so nobody wants to back down. No way. I pick. You're Mr. Pink. Be thankful you're not Mr. Yellow.

[LeofricLac]

I am surprised that turbine have not tried what certain other mmos have done

Pay a few tps for a special item that allows you to take the stats from one piece of armour and the art/skin from another, that way turbine get money, the effects aren't game breaking and we have a more diverse looking playerbase

PS, sorry if anyone already suggested this, i only skimmed it.

[cdbd3rd]

well the point i was trying to make was, at low levels u can get a couple sets of armor that are the exact same but look differently, as u level up, the average player tends to use named gear, in turn gaining familiar looks, I stated my question wrong, because i recall buying a +2 full plate off the ddo store so i didn't look like a "Korthos inhabitant". either way my question shouldn't have been aimed at veteran players, since your minds are clouded by years of playing this game, while wearing armor that looks the same as everyone else's, but anyway the ability to finally change the way our armor looks has finally come, let us remember this time as it will soon fade.

Several of my characters have "questing armor" and "town armor".