Perhaps less skulls on Robes ... ?

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Hello,

I noticed over the years that Robes have a great tendency to have skulls attached to them. Why is that so ?

I don't know what these skulls are meant to represent, actually. Might ? Power ? Power over death (Pale Masters) ?

I've recently seen that in the Ship-Mage's Attire, the Robe Of Celebration, the Shadow Robe, and it occurs extremely often on random loot robes. Also on cosmetic robes and light armor from the DDO store.

I do know that this is a matter of taste, but I don't like it.

Especially in the case of the Ship-Mage's Attire, i don't like it. It should have been an octopus, that would have been fitting far better.What i mean with that is, that there are robes where a skull just doesn't look good. Yes, I know, you'll be saying "this isn't about looking good". But, that's what i believe, not every Robe is suitable for having a skull asttached to it, because of the Robe's "theme" or colouring.

The Crimson Chain is a special case. The skull fits thematically to that, but still, the armor as such doesn't look as "dirty" as I'd expect from Drooam troops. I might be biased as well, but it looks in my opinion "too good" for Droaam troops. I would have liked to have a version of it without the skull.
I still don't quite understand, though, what skulls on belts are meant to represent.

I would have liked a Robe of Celebration without the skull. It looks great for a Pale Master or a Druid, but for any other kind of magic user, it just looks a bit ... unfitting. An elemental focused sorceror having a skull on the clothing ? Why ? There should be a star on the robe instead of the skull, for example.

As much as I love the rest of the Ship-Mage's Attire, I'm not gonna use it. Yes, I could use another cosmetic item on top of it, but in the back of my mind that skull would still be present.

Maybe I'm just too sensitive for this gaming age. I know, people are used to wear the most ugly looking stuff as long as it provides power for their characters. If there were Rags with incredible power on them, everyone in Stormreach and beyond would suddenly be wearing it. Imagine that ! Lots of people dressed in rags running around in Eveningstar !

I think it would be a nice idea to look at the question "how much does this application fit thematically to that kind of armor ?" Again, because of that, I can rationalize the skull on the belt of the Crimson Chain, even when I don't like it at all. At least, I can understand it.
What I don't understand, however, is, why the Ship-Mage's attire doesn't use an octopus instead of a skull as the cloth application.

Besides, I'm fully expecting LOTS of skulls fro the Isle of Dread ! Even if I might not like them, I can fully understand why they would be there !

Alrik

[Annex]

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!

I used to complain about this _constantly_. "The Robe of Celebration is great except for the Chihuahua skull sniffing at my..." Oh dear. The memories.

It would be interesting to survey all the cosmetic items issued after my numerous complaints to see if they had any influence on design.

The real problem is that DDO is a small game with a small art budget.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

except for the Chihuahua skull sniffing at my..." Oh dear. The memories.

Well, in the case of the Crimson Chain it's rather a skull sniffing ...


I seriously wonder what skulls on armor are meant to represent, actually ?

You know, as far as I can tell, skulls are meant to represent danger, aggression, death -> and therefore power. The one who puts the skull of a dead enemy on a spike problably wants to show with that that he is powerful, and has probably slain that enemy by himself (or by herself, which is not so likely. I don't have heard, read or seen about females using skulls as trophies in games).

Looking at that, I assume that skulls on robes and on other kinds of armor are there to represent power as well. A skull on a Necromancer's robe might perhaps symbolize that he or she has power over death (and over undeath, too).

I realize that these tiny skulls can act as brooches, holding parts of the clothing together - but I have [inever[/i] seen brooches in DDO consisting of anything else but tiny skulls.
Like, in my example, of the Ship-Mages Attire, or with the Giantcraft Robe, or with Antithesis, which both mimic the look of a lot of standard non-named robes.

Nobody in the art team ever used butterflies for robe brooches, for example. Or a leaf. Only tiny skulls.

[Ulfo]

But but but... skullz looks good!

I like it! 8)

[Annex]

Perhaps, some day, someone in the art department will answer your question. The Lord of the Rings Online features numerous armors with floral and leaf motifs but very few items with skulls. Maybe the artists feel skull and bone motifs are appropriate for DDO because of the heavy emphasis on difficulty and constant death.

During the Menace of the Underdark era, art direction varied dramatically from everything before and since. Clothing was more elaborate and sophisticated. The skulls mostly disappeared. It was a really hopeful time. I was very happy when Lynnabel revived some of those items in the Hall of Heroes.

Just today I made a plea for more Cosmetic Items in a thread about Filigree Removers but I fear the DDO population has shrunk below the point where they can recover the development cost of new outfits.

Have you seen the new Cosmetic Items for The Isle of Dread? They feature lots of dinosaur bones and skulls. Ulfo will be very pleased.

[Aelonwy]

I would also be pleased to see less skulls in the cosmetics.
Themes I would enjoy seeing new item appearances:

• Art Nouveau type elven Elegance
• More Steampunk gears and gadgetry with shades of Victorian
• Art Deco-esque Dwarven Magnificence
• Celtic tribal (thinking Plains halflings but could subtly hide a Jedi-style robe in here)
• Drow Goth Spider style
• All things Dragon - scales, stylized flames, claws, wings, perhaps with a Nordic Vikings flavor
• Leather and furs and bare chested barbarians... oh my!
• Ocean/aquatic themed shells, scales, starfish, rainbow hued for something tropical or dark and tentacled for something Lovecraftian/Illithid
• Nature based plant and animal themed items - Leaf Shield, Acorn Helm, Armor made of or growing mushrooms, Armor made of or growing crystals, Crown of Flowers, Cloak of flowers, Turtle Shell Buckler, Cloak that looks like butterfly wings, Helm that looks like a beetle or scarab, Feathered helm or robes.

All I can think of off the top of my head.

[Alisonique]

I would also be pleased to see less skulls in the cosmetics.
Themes I would enjoy seeing new item appearances:

• Art Nouveau type elven Elegance
• More Steampunk gears and gadgetry with shades of Victorian
• Art Deco-esque Dwarven Magnificence
• Celtic tribal (thinking Plains halflings but could subtly hide a Jedi-style robe in here)
• Drow Goth Spider style
• All things Dragon - scales, stylized flames, claws, wings, perhaps with a Nordic Vikings flavor
• Leather and furs and bare chested barbarians... oh my!
• Ocean/aquatic themed shells, scales, starfish, rainbow hued for something tropical or dark and tentacled for something Lovecraftian/Illithid
• Nature based plant and animal themed items - Leaf Shield, Acorn Helm, Armor made of or growing mushrooms, Armor made of or growing crystals, Crown of Flowers, Cloak of flowers, Turtle Shell Buckler, Cloak that looks like butterfly wings, Helm that looks like a beetle or scarab, Feathered helm or robes.

All I can think of off the top of my head.

That would do very nicely , just wish someone who can make a difference actually reads this!

[Annex]

That would do very nicely , just wish someone who can make a difference actually reads this!

That art direction for DDO is flat out terrible (exceptions exist) and the art budget very obviously tiny. Some really good artists work for Standing Stone Games but they spend most of their time on The Lord of the Rings Online. That game gets really nice Armor and Clothing pieces on a regular basis. We cannot even get realistic looking basic Armor and Robes. That is really sad because the game creators labored so diligently to accurately describe armor and weapons.

Edit: To be clear, I mean art direction when it comes to armor and clothing, not landscape stuff.

[GoldyGopher]

I wholeheartedly agree there are far too many skulls (and ugly ones at that) on way to many of the armor and cosmetics. Many of them just feel out of place and distract from the rest of the artwork... like the three skulls on the Saltmarsh Smuggler's Cloak.

That doesn't mean I think there shouldn't be any cosmetics with skulls, rather a lot fewer than what we have today.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

like the three skulls on the Saltmarsh Smuggler's Cloak.

I agree. That's kind of an ... overkill, so to say.

Artists should always ask themselves : "What do I want to express with this item on my clothing / armor ?"
And : "What does this item represent in this world ?"

I'm not against skulls as such.

It's only that I have the feeling as if there is someone who likes skulls far too much.

At least they didn't add a Crystal Skull to the Feywild.

[Dendrix]

I loved the lizardman cosmetics from Saltmarsh, it let me have a full body illusion of being another race.
Such a shame that it's not been followed through onto the new expansion.
I be willing to pay for a full cosmetic set that let me look like other D&D fantastical races, like a kobold or an angel or an Ogre.

but yes, less skulls