Appearance/Costume Tab NOW!

[OddballEasyEight]

Do you honestly think that the Devs are sitting around say "Geez an appearance tab would be a great idea, but the guy that suggested it was rude so we can't do it."?

 

Your post post is far more rude, annoying and immature than what the Op wrote. You think that maybe his intent was stylistic choice and little hyperbole rather an actual demand? Take a deep breath and chill out.

 

Do you really believe that the Devs are sitting around and waiting for you to come up with an idea that has been around since before the game was in development?

Surely they thought about this during desing and decided against it.

Just because the OP starts demanding it doesn't mean they'll change their minds and completely redesign their entire appearance system.

[DarthDymond]

Do you really believe that the Devs are sitting around and waiting for you to come up with an idea that has been around since before the game was in development?

Surely they thought about this during desing and decided against it.

Just because the OP starts demanding it doesn't mean they'll change their minds and completely redesign their entire appearance system.

The tone with which OP demanded this, and the fact that it was a demand in the first place, was douchey as hell, but since launch we've seen the addition of Adaptive Armor, the Collections system, and the Dye system - so it's not like there haven't been some pretty darn significant overhauls to the appearance system already.

 

Personally, I agree that an Appearance tab won't fly, but I also thought they'd never put in Dyes because it'd prevent them from adding recolors to the CM. "Surely they thought about this during design and decided against it" is just not a good argument against a new feature.

You sound like a little kid. Shhhhh. You want LotRO? Go play LotRO. You want WoW? Go play WoW.

And this line of thinking is just ridiculous. "Hey, this other game has a cool feature I think would make SWTOR more enjoyable too" "Screw you, hater! You love that game so much, go play it instead!" By that logic:

 

"Hey a Group Finder would be nice." "GO BACK TO WOW!"

"Free-flight Space PVP would be cool." "GO BACK TO STAR CONFLICT!"

"The location markers should really be a gameplay feature, not an item in the CM packs." "GO BACK TO WOW!"

etc., etc., etc.

[branmakmuffin]

Not if they limited what types of armors can be placed in the A-Tab.

OK, keep dreaming if it helps you cope. Would it be nice? Sure.

 

But it's never going to happen. Ever.

Edited December 27, 2013 by branmakmuffin

[Elyx]

Do you really believe that the Devs are sitting around and waiting for you to come up with an idea that has been around since before the game was in development?

Surely they thought about this during desing and decided against it.

Just because the OP starts demanding it doesn't mean they'll change their minds and completely redesign their entire appearance system.

 

The Devs have changed their minds about allot of things. And if they're willing to put as much effort into designing a space combat system that not everyone plays, they should be willing to put effort into a cosmetic system that allot of people will take advantage of.

 

I played LotRO, and they're system is much like what the OP is asking for. and I know plenty of peeps in that game (including myself) that never thought they'd use a cosmetic system until an easy one was dropped at their door. and yes, I did invest real currency to unlock more then the free ones. its a system that many have asked for, many more will probably use once its in place, and ts another avenue for CC purchases.

 

Keep in mind that they don't make money off of us building and spending credits...they make money off of us spending CC in the store. This option would not reduce spending CC at all...it would increase it. It's a win/win for both sides really. PLUS....with more people having more creds freed up, they may also be more willing to spend them in the GMT on cartel market purchases, further motivating people to spend more real money on the market.

[Sportiva]

Do you really believe that the Devs are sitting around and waiting for you to come up with an idea that has been around since before the game was in development?

Surely they thought about this during desing and decided against it.

Just because the OP starts demanding it doesn't mean they'll change their minds and completely redesign their entire appearance system.

 

No doubt that this idea has been around since release, but things have changed. The mod system has a lot of good elements to it and will probably be adopted by future MMO's. However, it also has some limitations; namely the cost and hassle of switching out the mods to change appearances.

 

Obviously, circumstances have changed since the initial roll-out of the mod system. At launch there were relatively few moddable armor sets. Around 1.2 or 1.3 (IIRC) Bioware introduced a lot of changes to the mod system, and they again made changes when the set bonuses began to transfer with the armor mods.

 

Now that adaptive armor sets have become such a big source of revenue for them, it only make sense that the game system makes it easier to switch appearances. Increased flexibility in the appearance system, can only lead to more purchase of CM armor set. IMO, the easiest way to do it would be an A-Tab; however, I'm sure there are adaptation that could also be made to the current mod system.

 

For whatever reason, people decide to attack the OP personally and try to delegitimize his suggestion because he "demanded" something. Sure, he could have written the request in a hundred different ways. And for all I know, the OP could be a reprobate; but I struggle to see how any of that detracts from the validity of his suggestion.

[branmakmuffin]

No doubt that this idea has been around since release, but things have changed. The mod system has a lot of good elements to it and will probably be adopted by future MMO's. However, it also has some limitations; namely the cost and hassle of switching out the mods to change appearances.

There is nothing good about TOR's "mod system" compared to full-blown appearance tabs like LotRO's, where you can equip the appearance of any item even if you cannot equip the item. You can even apply dye to the "appearance" multiple times, creating multiple copies of the "appearance" of different colors.

 

But this is what we are stuck with.

[Primarch_PWnD]

Personally, I cannot take a suggestion seriously when:

 

a) it's not in the Suggestion Box;

b) it's filled with rudeness, shouting and exclamation marks.

 

I wonder if BW are similarly put off?

 

If Bioware refuses to implement a change because the suggestion came from someone they deem "rude", simply because they're deemed "rude", it's no wonder they're surprised when subs leave because nothing's changed......

 

Honestly, does ignoring suggestions from your community based on grammar and punctuation sound like a good idea to you?

 

Also, I haven't bought anything from the CM for months and months now because I don't have the will to grind the credits to swap the outfit and re-augment. A full outfit change with augments is easily over 2-mil. So, I haven't been logging in as frequently, and as more time passes I wonder why I keep paying my sub ($15 is cheap enough for now, but for how long?).

 

When simply looking "cool" in a video game requires that much time and energy, it's a bad system.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Primarch_PWnD

[Sportiva]

There is nothing good about TOR's "mod system" compared to full-blown appearance tabs like LotRO's, where you can equip the appearance of any item even if you cannot equip the item. You can even apply dye to the "appearance" multiple times, creating multiple copies of the "appearance" of different colors.

 

But this is what we are stuck with.

 

That's untrue. For min/maxxing the mod system is phenomenal.

[Sportiva]

 

When simply looking "cool" in a video game requires that much time and energy, it's a bad system.

 

Well said.

[agamemnon-]

People are expecting too much from EA. Turbine has shown at least a little bit of care and concern for customers.

 

If it doesn't bring in a large amount a money in a minimum amount of time, EA won't do it, plain and simple.

 

As we all know, according to EA, Money>Customers Satisfaction

 

Despite the fact that anyone even with the vaguest idea of economics knows that long term customer satisfaction leads to more dollars.

Edited December 27, 2013 by agamemnon-

[Gwena]

Though I'm sure the original post could have been phrased more politely, I do agree with the idea and have seen it posted many times in the suggestions forum. Back at launch I'd have said such an idea was ridiculous, but things have changed. There's the CM, which Bioware uses to make money by offering many new purely cosmetic armor sets each month. And then there's augments, which make changing gear at endgame even more expensive.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only person that would enjoy having several outfits and being able to change when going from, say, Makeb to Ilum, or Nar Shaddaa to Alderaan, but it is simply too expensive. So instead, as I approach 55 on a character, I decide on one look and "finish" my character's single outfit, and that is that. It takes a really awesome new piece or set to get me to even consider buying something new for that character.

 

My suggestion: subscribers each get one free appearance tab. Appearance tabs could also be unlocked via credits (through Legacy) or CC. Bioware gets money, subscribers get a nice perk, everyone can buy appearance tabs, and the current mod system sticks around as a great way to customize stats and a viable way to customize your look for F2P players and folks that only want one outfit.

 

(Hey, a girl can dream! )

[Ratajack]

Not if they limited what types of armors can be placed in the A-Tab.

 

Then you would have people crying that they were restricted in what armors they could put in the A-tab.

 

"Why can't I put <insert specific armor set here> in the A-tab?"

[illgot]

Yeah, an appearance tab would completely invalidate the game's current cosmetic armor system and remove the need for a lot (most?) of the CM armors.

 

This is never going to happen. Ever.

 

how so?

 

Current tab works the same way it does now. This is the "free" appearance tab. Costs nothing to access but charges money to remove mod from one armor to place it in another set. Casual players that are still leveling up or players that do not want to spend credits to access the appearance tabs can use the current system.

 

Players can purchase multiple appearance tabs. First one costs 250k, second one costs 500k, third one costs 1 million. To switch between appearance tabs could have a small fee of 5k.

 

With this system a player could have 4 different looks. The first one is our current system and the second, third, and fourth are the new appearance tabs. This encourages people to collect more than just one look (aka buy more sets from the Cartel Market), creates two new money sinks, and gives people the option to adjust their look multiple times with ease.

 

If anything, appearance tabs create a whole new market for Cartel Market armor and increases the desire for Cartel Market armor, not removes the need.

Edited December 28, 2013 by illgot

[mecher]

Nope, can't say I support wasting development time on something like this.

 

Not in a game that has moddable armor. Sorry fools, but SW:TOR has very limited development time and budget.

[Rabenschwinge]

Well, the development of the game went into quite an opposite direction. During beta they said "We have so many different outfits, an entire wall full of concept cards, we don't need any customization."

 

I was stupid enough to believe that would actually work. They said they didn't have appearance tab, so I was actually suspecting they meant that game stats and visual appearance were only loosely related. We knew that they planned different outfits for different classes and that they had different looks for different tiers, but I though that was all the restriction there was. A bit more similar to games like Champions Online or The Secret World, where looks and powers and abilities are largely unrelated. When open beta came out it was a blow in the face.

 

It was a slow process but eventually customizable gear became important, we didn't have to wear Rakata anymore and more and more choice of customizable gear came into the game. By now we can make one look as we please, from a growing variety of choices, because Bioware eventually figured out that player do enjoy to have more control over their characters' looks and they are willing to spend money and effort into it.

 

The frustrating thing about it is, that with every step in that direction that is actually an improvement is a step away from the ideal. I can understand that the devs don't want the players to change their characters' appearance every other minute, but with a good set of appearance tabs I could actually have different variants of a given character's concept that works with the respective environment.

 

My characters in Champions Online usually have different looks for the desert, icy plains, underwater, toxic areas, normal city zones, the jungle and so forth. Sometimes the differences are only marginal - a variant of the same thing for a different environment while retaining the character's visual identity. In SW:TOR I would have to keep the outfits fully slotted and equiped with augment slots in my inventory to do the same thing. Effectively the stuff is always the same, regardless whether you're on Ilum, Nar Shada... Hell, even Han wore something different than his default scoundrel look when he was on Hoth.

 

While I would have preferred a game in which the looks of a character holds no relevance to game stats in the first place (it's not really plausible that your right sock makes you smarter while your hat increases your lightsaber damage anyway, so you could put the stuff in non visual slots in the first place) I believe some appearance tabs, outfit manager, whatever you wanna call it, would be a good addendum to the game by now. As soon as possible, because every good looking outfit on the cartel market only makes it harder to change in that direction.

[Sportiva]

It was a slow process but eventually customizable gear became important, we didn't have to wear Rakata anymore and more and more choice of customizable gear came into the game. By now we can make one look as we please, from a growing variety of choices, because Bioware eventually figured out that player do enjoy to have more control over their characters' looks and they are willing to spend money and effort into it.

 

Once Bioware realize that their current system is inhibiting CM revenues because changing appearance is too cumbersome, they will institute change to the appearance system. No clue if it will be an appearance tab or maybe just changes to the mod system, but they will make a change.

 

The demand for new armor set had to be decreasing (AND BEFORE ANYONE ASKS FOR EVIDENCE) this is based only on my intuition and common sense. As someone mentioned earlier, in order to spend 1+ million credits in changing your appearance, the new outfit really needs to be something special.

[Talahar]

Just another one of really really dumb design decisions made during development of this game.

So much potential squandered. The mind boggles at the thought of what could have been.

[AlexDougherty]

which is why I am passing on the Thermal Gear as well. Looks great, but only appropriate on two planets. For the cost it would take to use that gear with the current system I have zero desire to own this set.

 

I already have Calo Nord's outfit, which if you abandon the hat (Battersea Hat's Home anyone) looks good on most planets (not Tattooine but I'll manage)

[branmakmuffin]

how so?

If I can cosmetically euip any old green quality item that looks like a given CM armor (take, just for one example, the Adept Scout earpiece), there is no need to buy that CM armor. Sure, there are a some CM armors that are unique (e.g., the Rascal's Toothpick).

[Rabenschwinge]

I don't think that green items can compete seriously with cartel market stuff, certainly not the central pieces, chest and legs. I can't speak for everyone else but I personally would definitely acquire more cartel market items if there were appearance tabs.

 

However, I am not a friend of appearance tabs in which you put items directly anyway. What I would find ideal would be a combination of the "wardrobe" in The Lord of the Rings Online and a system with drop down menus to define your look from your wardrobe with some control feature like the outfit manager in The Secret World.

 

• You may add items to your wardrobe. To use an item in a given "appearance tab" (though simply "outfit" might be a better term then) you click that slot in the appearance tab and you get a list of the items in your wardrobe which are viable for that slot.
  
• To add an item to the wardrobe you need to drag it into it. A terminal is available wherever your cargo access is.
  
• Dragging an item into your wardrobe does not make it disappear from your inventory. However, if you do it, and it is "bind on equip" it will be bound to you.
  
• To address the concerns that branmakmuffin mentioned, it might be made so that only modable items may be added to the wardrobe. (Not sure whether that is really such a good idea, but I could live with it.)
  
• You don't need to keep the original of the item once it is in your wardrobe.
  
• Unlike The Lord of the Rings Online, you should be able to color each slot in an appearance tab using a dye, but that consumes the dye (or alternatively override by "unify color"). A dye in the item itself before adding it to the wardrobe can thus be overriden.
  
• The space in the wardrobe is limited. A subscriber gets enough space for two full outfits. To get more space you need to spend cartel coins.
  

 

Another, straightforward approach to appearance tabs might be limited in so far that only customizable gear may be used in appearance tabs.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Rabenschwinge

[Sportiva]

If I can cosmetically euip any old green quality item that looks like a given CM armor (take, just for one example, the Adept Scout earpiece), there is no need to buy that CM armor. Sure, there are a some CM armors that are unique (e.g., the Rascal's Toothpick).

 

I don't think that is too big of a concern. All of the green items are restricted to a certain armor type and many of the items can only be equipped by specific classes.

 

If there were an A-Tab I would certainly buy a lot more CM armor sets, because there would be an easy way to change my appearance. As it is now, I haven't found a CM armor set in quite some time that made me want to use as any of my characters' look long-term, but there is stuff I would've bought for a short term look.

[illgot]

If I can cosmetically euip any old green quality item that looks like a given CM armor (take, just for one example, the Adept Scout earpiece), there is no need to buy that CM armor. Sure, there are a some CM armors that are unique (e.g., the Rascal's Toothpick).

 

Who says appearance tabs will accept any armor? It may only accept modable gear.

 

Even if an appearance tab could use any armor, that would not diminish the desire to collect multiple outfits from the CM.

 

Many weapon and clothing designs are unique to the CM. People are not going to pass up armors like Revan, Mira, Sensuous Dress, etc. if they can use any gear in their appearance tabs. I know this because LOTRO works the same way. You can use any gear in the appearance tabs but people still use a lot of cash shop outfits.

 

Plus you are forgetting one major benefit to CM outfits, once collected they can be duplicated at zero cost which is one of the reasons I collect so many sets. I love certain items and want to use them across multiple characters.

Edited December 28, 2013 by illgot

[branmakmuffin]

Who says appearance tabs will accept any armor? It may only accept modable gear.

Who says? I dunno. Who says? At the moment, no one says. And even if it's restricted to moddable armor, there are plenty of moddable armors that looks like CM armors (e.g., the Hooligan stuff looks very similar to the Clandestine Officer stuff). So yeah, you can clamp down on what you can equip cosmetically. You could make it so you could only equip CM items in the cosmetic slots. But then we're no longer talking about a full--featured cosmetic armor system.

[illgot]

Who says? I dunno. Who says? At the moment, no one says. And even if it's restricted to moddable armor, there are plenty of moddable armors that looks like CM armors (e.g., the Hooligan stuff looks very similar to the Clandestine Officer stuff). So yeah, you can clamp down on what you can equip cosmetically. You could make it so you could only equip CM items in the cosmetic slots. But then we're no longer talking about a full--featured cosmetic armor system.

 

basically you just disproved your own fear. We can currently use any modable gear available, yet CM outfits are a huge success. Give players access to use multiple outfits with the ability switch any time with ease and people will want and collect more than just one specific look per character.

 

Check out LOTRO, they allow any gear to be used in their multiple outfit tabs (which by the way can be layered) and they still sell a lot of cash shop outfits because those outfits are unique to the cash shop.

Edited December 28, 2013 by illgot

[branmakmuffin]

basically you just disproved your own fear.

It's hardly a fear. Your hyperbole cup runneth over. Just to make it clear, I would like a system like LotRO's as much as the next person would.

 

We can currently use any modable gear available, yet CM outfits are a huge success.

Sure, because they look the same on both factions and they can be equipped on any character regardless of armor proficiency or level.

 

Give players access to use multiple CM outfits and switch any time they desire to fit their environment with ease and people will want and collect more than just one specific look per character.

If you want to lock it down like that, then sure, it seems like it might work and not upset things.

Edited December 28, 2013 by branmakmuffin