Why can't we have appearance tab slots for weapons?

[AJediKnight]

Thread title pretty much says it all. There are a lot of models in the game that are pretty much squandered due to the fact that they are tied to blue, green, and white gear that cannot be slotted. I don't understand why we have no option to throw these into an appearance tab like any other clothing item and 'wear' them. I mean, what would be the harm?

[lightSaberAddiCt]

Thread title pretty much says it all. There are a lot of models in the game that are pretty much squandered due to the fact that they are tied to blue, green, and white gear that cannot be slotted. I don't understand why we have no option to throw these into an appearance tab like any other clothing item and 'wear' them. I mean, what would be the harm?

 

This has been asked for since they launched the customization of characters. I think everyone wants this. But to date, it hasn't been addressed.

[SteveTheCynic]

Thread title pretty much says it all. There are a lot of models in the game that are pretty much squandered due to the fact that they are tied to blue, green, and white gear that cannot be slotted. I don't understand why we have no option to throw these into an appearance tab like any other clothing item and 'wear' them. I mean, what would be the harm?

Because weapons aren't clothing items?

 

More seriously, that is, indeed exactly why not. Apparently there are enough differences between weapons and clothing that the solution that gave us Outfit Designer won't work for weapons, and the required solution for weapons is (a) not entirely clear, and (b) significantly harder to build without breaking stuff.

This has been asked for since they launched the customization of characters. I think everyone wants this. But to date, it hasn't been addressed.

I don't want the slot to be in Outfit Designer tabs. I want it to have its own set of tabs because my characters' weapon(s) are not part of their outfits. I want to be able to switch them around independently of each other.

[SaerethDL]

This has been asked for since they launched the customization of characters. I think everyone wants this. But to date, it hasn't been addressed.

 

They have addressed it in the recent AMA, they are working on it.. probably not at 6.0 launch but soon after, it's top priority.

[Jozandra]

Apparently there are enough differences between weapons and clothing that the solution that gave us Outfit Designer won't work for weapons, and the required solution for weapons is (a) not entirely clear, and (b) significantly harder to build without breaking stuff.

 

I truly doubt this is the reason. Everquest II has had weapon appearance options as a feature ever since they first implemented Appearance Tabs. The only difference that might actually play a part in providing this feature in game is the fact that SWtOR has very strict restrictions on which class uses which type of weapon. Beyond that, speculation is meaningless until a Dev decides to comment.

[Delani]

One common thing I'm noticing in these threads is that people feel a connection to their characters. It most likely the main reason why people have been playing this game for years!! Players can actually live within their dreams or ideas of being in a Star Wars universe. The ability to customize exactly how your characters look, play, move, who are companions are, who we kill, who we fall in love with is the game itself. Bioware should be aware of this by now (I hope) and try their hardest to focus more on character development and customization before anything. There is no reason why we shouldnt have an appearnce modifier for weapons and it adds so much more depth to our characters if we could change our weapons. Edited July 1, 2019 by Delani

[OlBuzzard]

One common thing I'm noticing in these threads is that people feel a connection to their characters. It most likely the main reason why people have been playing this game for years!! Players can actually live within their dreams or ideas of being in a Star Wars universe. The ability to customize exactly how your characters look, play, move, who are companions are, who we kill, who we fall in love with is the game itself. Bioware should be aware of this by now (I hope) and try their hardest to focus more on character development and customization before anything. There is no reason why we shouldnt have an appearnce modifier for weapons and it adds so much more depth to our characters if we could change our weapons.

 

I agree with this to a large degree. Generating entire weapons and using color or sound mods is enough. The real efforts need to be on characters / class / companions and bringing more life and content into these areas. IMO... this is the REAL foundation of the game.

[SteveTheCynic]

I truly doubt this is the reason. Everquest II has had weapon appearance options as a feature ever since they first implemented Appearance Tabs. The only difference that might actually play a part in providing this feature in game is the fact that SWtOR has very strict restrictions on which class uses which type of weapon. Beyond that, speculation is meaningless until a Dev decides to comment.

OK, you're right. They might have been lying when they said (when this question was first raised) that it was significantly harder, I guess.

[foxmob]

it is quite silly to walk around with a giant fire engine red assault cannon while wearing a black outfit.

 

another issue is the weapon sound. I have a couple of the furious weapon sets, and the sound of the assault cannon is awesome. the only other assault cannon I have found that repeats that sound (or something very close to it) is the Odessen assault cannon that you get as a legacy item. well, the Odessen one is butt ugly. but I'm stuck with it if I want a nice sound when my weapon fires.

 

this game is very much about visual aesthetics. it sacrifices a lot in terms of game play for aesthetics. this request is very much in their wheel house.

[Delani]

it is quite silly to walk around with a giant fire engine red assault cannon while wearing a black outfit.

 

another issue is the weapon sound. I have a couple of the furious weapon sets, and the sound of the assault cannon is awesome. the only other assault cannon I have found that repeats that sound (or something very close to it) is the Odessen assault cannon that you get as a legacy item. well, the Odessen one is butt ugly. but I'm stuck with it if I want a nice sound when my weapon fires.

 

this game is very much about visual aesthetics. it sacrifices a lot in terms of game play for aesthetics. this request is very much in their wheel house.

 

Aesthitics are everything in an MMO. I greatly enchances the Star Wars/MMO experience. Animations, stances. weapons armor, the way we run, the way we fight etc needs to be customizable.

[foxmob]

Aesthitics are everything in an MMO. I greatly enchances the Star Wars/MMO experience. Animations, stances. weapons armor, the way we run, the way we fight etc needs to be customizable.

 

disagree there. I would never play wow for the aesthetics. everything looks stupid there. but those stupid cartoonish characters are easy to render, easy on the backend. they also have much more fluid game play. realism in the renders is much more important in swtor, imo.

[Delani]

disagree there. I would never play wow for the aesthetics. everything looks stupid there. but those stupid cartoonish characters are easy to render, easy on the backend. they also have much more fluid game play. realism in the renders is much more important in swtor, imo.

 

Good point, people also play runescape which graphically looks bad as well but is easy to service and has fluid gameplay. I should have only said Star Wars MMO because I guarentee you, a lot of players log in everyday to this game because it is a Star Wars game. Adding more customization to the universe and furthering the development of the foundation will drastically enchance the experience for players and may increase the likelihood that they stick around long term. In terms of SWTOR getting a better engine for more fliud gameplay and perhaps larger scale action is another story. I have no idea what they can do to increase performance but performance is also a HUGE contributor to the experience. More customization and better performance both help construct a stable foundation for an MMO. ;)

[denavin]

I would never play wow

 

You could have stopped right there. I rather swim in a pool of acid than play WoW

[MadDutchman]

I truly doubt this is the reason. Everquest II has had weapon appearance options as a feature ever since they first implemented Appearance Tabs. The only difference that might actually play a part in providing this feature in game is the fact that SWtOR has very strict restrictions on which class uses which type of weapon. Beyond that, speculation is meaningless until a Dev decides to comment.

 

What another game can and cannot do is completely irrelevant. They are totally different code bases.

 

They have commented on it in the past (I'm too lazy to go dig up the posts, it was many years ago), but it basically boiled down to, not as easy as people think it is due to earlier design decisions.

 

It's also been on their TODO list (that is, moving from the want list to the list of things being given actual attention) for a good 2 years now. If it were as easy as waving their hands, we'd have it by now.

[TonyTricicolo]

In the beginning, we had hybrid specs where we'd allocate points where we wanted. Although there was freedom, the more diverse you were the more you'd gimp yourself. Then they decided to separate classes. They wanted distinction, so you'd be able to recognize a class simply off their appearance(clothing and abilities). Soon after adaptive armor, the appearance tab, and the cartel market came out. This negated their desire for class distinction to a degree. For example, a Sith Juggernaut Warrior can dress up like a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter while still retaining it's abilities. Now, with the release of 6.0, the idea is to allow us to play the way we want with more customization via set bonuses and tactical items. So 7 or so years later and countless iterations of dev teams, with each one having their own "vision" of what classes should look like, we almost come full circle. I don't think it will be very long until they remove weapon restrictions.

[MingusPho]

So 7 or so years later and countless iterations of dev teams, with each one having their own "vision" of what classes should look like, we almost come full circle. I don't think it will be very long until they remove weapon restrictions.

 

Oh man, I hope you're right!

[Delani]

In the beginning, we had hybrid specs where we'd allocate points where we wanted. Although there was freedom, the more diverse you were the more you'd gimp yourself. Then they decided to separate classes. They wanted distinction, so you'd be able to recognize a class simply off their appearance(clothing and abilities). Soon after adaptive armor, the appearance tab, and the cartel market came out. This negated their desire for class distinction to a degree. For example, a Sith Juggernaut Warrior can dress up like a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter while still retaining it's abilities. Now, with the release of 6.0, the idea is to allow us to play the way we want with more customization via set bonuses and tactical items. So 7 or so years later and countless iterations of dev teams, with each one having their own "vision" of what classes should look like, we almost come full circle. I don't think it will be very long until they remove weapon restrictions.

 

Restrictions are not good for the online world. We live in a real life world full of restrictions. In the video game people should be as free as possible. No limitations at all.

[Jozandra]

we almost come full circle. I don't think it will be very long until they remove weapon restrictions.

 

Considering SWtOR was based on KotOR I & II, this would not be a bad idea. As with the original series, each class would/should get bonuses or penalties for using different weapon types. Personally, I would love that option as I have tons of cool looking weapons from the CM sitting unused because I don't want to play a ton of Commandos/Snipers etc.

[Kellorion]

Hopefully we can also get a Trooper and Agent sidearm customization slot.

[Chelan]

disagree there. I would never play wow for the aesthetics. everything looks stupid there. but those stupid cartoonish characters are easy to render, easy on the backend. they also have much more fluid game play. realism in the renders is much more important in swtor, imo.

 

Uh, I think you're confused or don't know what aesthetics mean? You're actually supporting the other guy's point. If aesthetics are not important then you would play WoW since the reason you said you wouldn't play it is because you think it looks stupid. Maybe you think WoW is the only MMO that has aesthetics? Or you think having aesthetics mean it has cartoonish graphics?

 

[OlBuzzard]

You could have stopped right there. I rather swim in a pool of acid than play WoW

 

Ummm.. hey ! That might a bit over the top IMO..

Although as it was pointed out certainly not for the aesthetics. We could still learn a lot from WoW... including what NOT to do ! As of late WoW did make some really bad choices.

 

That aside: back on topic. IMO... the only real problem I have with appearance slots for the weapons is that it might turn into more and more of a shop and find what you REALLY want on the CM... and pay even more for it.

 

Please... I'm not trying to start something. This is my ONLY concern for what has been suggested!