Hey, I just noticed a suggestion I had about armour looks would have been much better posted on this discussion than having it's own thread.

Hey, I recently posted a suggestion that built upon not just being about the change the colour of your armour but also the colour pattern and it's style slightly. Just have a look for 'Armour styles moddable' post, would be great to hear any constructive feedback!

Hey, I've recently added a suggestion which may help with this. More than welcome to read it and pitch in with feedback guys. I won't post a link of anything, just looks for Armour styles moddable.

The way colour crystals and unify to chest work is up to speculation I agree. There are many ways they could have implemented the system, now personally I will be very surprised if it is not the same for both which is a system of knowing the value of a skin which either a crystal points to or which is similar to the chest piece and then applying that to the item(s). If it is, this system could be expanded upon. To state it would not work without explaining reasons why is not constructive. To state it would take too much work is being too narrow minded. To state it's not supported by other MMORPGs is a positive thing and would bring an aura of initiative to something that people find important. Making their character look a way that they take a sense of pride in. Finally yes it would take more work than the current system, hence why it is in suggestions. This is a place to offer ideas to further improve the game. The Orange gear system is good, but it could be great!

This suggestion isn't to replace the current system. It's to enhance it in future released armour. The like of the colour of an item being moddable is already in place, as seen in crystals for weapons and the unify chestpiece feature. Now depending on how the mod system is written it could quite easily be a process of 'Hey mod changes the look, ok ID of mod, go look at table of list of looks it can be and voila' or it could be a mod would have to change the item ID to be able to change the actual look. I don't know, hopefully the game has been future proofed to allow more mod slots into items and hasn't been hard-coded to 5.

Suggestion for extra tweaks and customisation will always add time to development. It would be easier to create 3-4 varying styles of a base set of armour than it would to create 3-4 totally different types of armour. As a personal example I am currently wearing a set of armour called RD-17A Phalanx which I like but for 2 things, the shoulder part is too flashy and the back sash/tail seems too impractical. Having the ability to keep the general theme of the armour but change these minor points would be a boon, this extends to the Trooper War Hero set which seems to be a mixture of extra armour (which I personally would see as pointless for a healing commando type) and impractical with the front sash and back tail cloth. Having other mods that can be spread throughout the crafting crewskills (For example colour mods could possibly be made by Biochem) even more wouldn't hurt either. Finally having 4 styles of armour with 4 different colours would take a total 80 schematics (5 for full armour x 4 Styles x 4 colours) which is all concentrated in either Synthweaving or Amormech. Using my suggested system to get all the variations it would take 12 Schematics (5 for full armour, '1 base style' then 3 schematics for total of 4 styles + 4 for colour) which are spread over crewskills and therefore benefitting more crafters.

Your right on all counts, The whole concept is much, much more complicated. I'm one of the wierd ones that likes it complicated heh, having the extra effort put into the appearance of my character always gives me a stronger attachment to the guy, which I'm sure many others would appreciate. Just like there are many out there who would be of your point of view also.

I will use Trooper armour as an example for this suggestion as that's what I have the most experience in using, heh. My suggestion follows along similar lines as the current mod system, just with 2-3 extra slots which will affect the appearance of the armour itself. The 3 mods will cover the armour style, colour pattern and colour theme for a set of appearance customisable armour (This feature could be purely for future sets of armour, much like how set-bonuses in mods is only for current new gear). With each new set of armour released there will be a base style, which will be fairly minimal in detail (Heavy armour shows plates for protection etc, but no asymmetric extra plate like on the War Hero set). Currently I have though up of 3 style mods that will add to the appearance of the armour. One set around elegant/ornamental/formal dress/honour guard style which will make any piece it is placed in that little bit flashy (Pipping around edges, showing medals, stylised shoulder armour), another set around rugged/scout/well travelled that will give armour a look that it's used and practical (Survival pouches, weather protection, knife pouches) and finally another set to make armour more menacing/defensive (Extra plating like the asymmetrical shoulders on War Hero set, Spikes, Trophies) Finally the last 2 mods will affect the colour pattern and actual colours of the armour. This would allow people to pick and choose to a style they like but the actual armour base itself should be recognisable.