Got a look I like for my toon, why doesnt this game allow me to keep it?

[MasterKayote]

The mod system sucks. They had the chance to really give players the option of looking how they like within their respective armor by just giving the moddable armor all their stats from the mods you put in them ... but no, they just HAD to add another stat that is completely independent of the mods. I found a very nice looking lightsaber in the 20s ... cant use it anymore because id be down 100+ force power. So its sitting in my cargo hold now in hopes they some day get their head out of their on *** and stop restricting everything just for the sake of restricting it.

 

Why? Just, why? Same goes for the epics. Whats the point? I cannot fathom any logical reason why they did this.

[Chorizo]

I'd like this feature too, but to be fair, LOTRO didn't have their cosmetic system until the Book 12 Update which was almost a year after launch, if not more than a year. We can't expect any game to have every feature ever wanted, and certainly not at launch.

[MattieP]

I'd like an appearance tab. down the road. Probably the last thing I care about right now. Fix the major bugs first.

[LrdStryfe]

I don't really think an appereance tap is necessary right now.

 

Sure, there are items that I think look better than others, but I don't have a problem with replacing something that I think looks cool with someone that's actually better.

 

The only problems I've ever had with how something looks is only with the headpiece, and if I don't like it I just turn "Show Headgear" off until i get something that looks better.

[MisterWratten]

I find the current system to be an excellent alternative to the appearance tab, in theory. It sort of makes sense in a realistic way. (It makes more sense than, say, magically having some other clothes appear over your real ones.)

 

The biggest flaw of the current system is that once you hit max level and do those things, it becomes pointless.

 

Until they implement a system that will allow me to keep my orange gear even through Ops and other high-level content, I think the current system with the orange gear is unsatisfactory.

[MisterWratten]

The mod system sucks. They had the chance to really give players the option of looking how they like within their respective armor by just giving the moddable armor all their stats from the mods you put in them ... but no, they just HAD to add another stat that is completely independent of the mods. I found a very nice looking lightsaber in the 20s ... cant use it anymore because id be down 100+ force power. So its sitting in my cargo hold now in hopes they some day get their head out of their on *** and stop restricting everything just for the sake of restricting it.

 

Why? Just, why? Same goes for the epics. Whats the point? I cannot fathom any logical reason why they did this.

 

Possible double post, here, but I just wanted to point out here that the higher level your hilt is, the more force power you get. So if you get a higher level hilt (e.g. Resolve Hilt 13, etc.) you should see your force level go up.

 

Unless I'm mistaken, this is how it works, as I often strip all the mods out of the items I like so I can easily switch them between pieces, and an empty lightsaber is an empty lightsaber.

[Lajkos]

Huh?

 

Say you have an orange piece of gear that isn't that great, but you love the look.

 

10 levels later, the stats are obviously not that great. Go to your current planet's comm vendor and get the mods there, stick them in the orange gear.. and it's instantly as good as anything you can get at that level.

 

The system isn't hard to understand. Mods give you the ability to continually upgrading without sacrificing your "look" and also make it so you don't have to replace your gear every few levels for that "next best thing."

 

this. I have the same orange gear for almost 10 level by upgrading the mods in them.

 

But i stil would like an "appearance tab" since i found some great looking green and blues but with poor stats

[PibbyPib]

The orange gear thing is kind of growing on me, but I'd really like an EASY way to get orange gear that uses any model I've seen. I had a really cool looking set of armor on my agent around level 30 that was all blue. Now it's all orange gear that looks like complete ***.

 

Seriously-- have you looked at the mid-range Agent gear? It looks like something a garbageman would wear in the Matrix.

[Baizak]

OP, orange mod gear delivers. It may take time and it may not be the exact color, but I have found an Orange mod piece for every look I have enjoyed in the game so far, and that is quite a few of them actually.

[Granyala]

Huh?

 

Say you have an orange piece of gear that isn't that great, but you love the look.

 

10 levels later, the stats are obviously not that great. Go to your current planet's comm vendor and get the mods there, stick them in the orange gear.. and it's instantly as good as anything you can get at that level.

 

The system isn't hard to understand. Mods give you the ability to continually upgrading without sacrificing your "look" and also make it so you don't have to replace your gear every few levels for that "next best thing."

 

Huh?

 

Until you get to 50, where Mods are LOCKED in their gear and the pieces have set bonuses ....you HAVE TO USE the butt ugly Lv 50 epixx.

 

Yeah ... FAIL Bioware.. you had an awesome and unique System and you botched it.

[Darkeus]

Do people still not understand the Orange gear and how it is made to be modded so that you can keep your style and have it stay really good?

[Granyala]

Do people still not understand the Orange gear and how it is made to be modded so that you can keep your style and have it stay really good?

 

Do people still not understand that the modability is OVER once you reach 50 and start to war PvP/Operations epics?

[Tricky-Ha]

I also really want an appearance tab and armor dyes please.

 

me too. Would be very cool.

[Tommyjc]

Signed, want appearance tab.

[Kalvac]

While I agree an appearance system would be nice, like many people have said, there are many more important things to do with a new game. It took LOTRO about a year to add said system and it took WoW seven years. Yes, seven years. It is a nice thought to have an appearance system before 2019, but you know what, this game is still amazing even if I have to look differently then I would like.

[TUXs]

I agree, this is one of the reasons why I liked RIFT but don't get me wrong I like SWTOR better. I would love to see color dyes and Costume slots for characters.

 

I liked RIFT cuz my hairy man ******s showed in nearly every outfit I had. They stuck out like fingers, taunting my enemy, daring them to come closer, begging them to twist em. Otherwise, RIFT blew.

 

There's no need for a appearance tab. NONE! So you look like crap for a few levels, big deal. You'll eventually have access to, and a reason to, BUY orange gear, mods, enhancements etc. An appearance tab is a poor substitute for giving crafters the ability to craft good armor.

[Oktaine]

Without reading this entire thread I just want to chime as one opposed to an appearance tab. I Really like the idea of having to search the galaxy for just the right look for my toons. An appearance tab is kind of a cop-out to creating more looks in orange items by the devs.

[Skjaldmey]

I agree with the OP.

 

I think moddable gear is a reasonable alternative, but it just disheartens me a bit as I will likely be doing mostly PvP when I hit 50, and I am a bit discouraged that I cannot strip expertise armor mods from the end game PvP gear to customize my favorite outfit.

 

We waited 7 years for WoW to finally give us transmorgrification to customize our PvP gear. It was like the greatest thing ever, and we enjoyed it for about a week before we all quit to play SWTOR, lol.

 

Aion got it right right at the start. EQ2 added it a little later, but at least got it a few years before WoW finally did. People like to customize their armor. It´s always a guaranteed hit. It was a smashing hit with players in WoW for sure.

 

I think modding is a fine and perhaps creative alternative to the usual "outfit tabs" such as EQ2 or "model swapping" like Aion or WoW, but I just wish it could be expanded a bit to allow for more end game viability and color options as well.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Skjaldmey

[Donjin]

I think this is a great idea. Being a long term MMO junky I like the idea of being able to customize your toon/character. For many it’s just a game avatar and in a few months they won’t bother playing that often anyway. But for the die-hards that character is an emulation of you. So why not have the ability to customize or set what you are wearing.

 

EQ did an great job of this by allowing players to dye their armor. There was nothing more epic than seeing a group of 35 or 40 guild members riding on horseback across a plain or through a forest, on their way to a raid or something. People got to know guilds and could recognize them just based on their armor colors.

 

WOW … did this using guild tabards but being able to color your armor or keep a specific set for its look would be ideal too. I wore my PVP Field Marshal gear for ever because of how it looked as well as what it represented. Even after it wasn’t “epic” enough to wear anymore for stats I still kept it in the bank for ages. I’ve opted not to join a guild or at least not wear their tabard because the colors or design sucked. Take it from a longtime gamer how your gear looks is important.

 

Heck even in a “free to play” game such as Exteel you can purchase paint to customize your mechs armor. It wouldn’t be that difficult to implement in SWTOR. They already have the slots for gear upgrades all they need to do is add a slot for dyes or paints. Which would add another item someone could learn to craft and sell in the market. Either way vanity gear or at the very least the ability to dye the color of your gear would be legend … wait for it … dary.

[VanorDM]

Do people still not understand that the modability is OVER once you reach 50 and start to war PvP/Operations epics?

 

That however is a lot easier to fix then adding in a appearance tab. Which something I'd rather not see, did it in LotRO and found it was a bit meh... Once you got something you liked you were done, I like that orange gear I have to work at it a bit.

 

Yes lvl 50 end game raid gear is better then orange gear. Which is a problem for end game raider types. Which means it doesn't effect everyone, but is still something that needs to be fixed.

 

The fix is fairly easy concept wise. Make mods that are tied to a slot, like say chest only, or legs only, and either let them be pulled out of purple gear perhaps even destroying the rest of the mods... Or have the mods drop, give them set bonuses as well.

 

Then orange gear is truly as good as anything out there.

[Vodalus]

someone has it .. just find that person and have them make it for you .. that's how a community is built .. you DO know what a community is, right?

 

why does it HAVE to be the person who wants the gear, have to be the one that makes or they are complaining up a storm?

 

there are hundreds of thousands of people playing this game

 

get out there and make friends and you can aquire anything achievable in this game

 

I am glad someone can see it clearly.

 

The randomness of the drops is greatly mitigated if people will just socialize and cooridinate a little. The overwhelming percentage of orange loot I have seen is regularly sold by NPC vendors, dropped on a particular mission or crafted by players. For the most part, if it is orange it will have a clear source to obtain it from and things will only get easier as more schematics filter out and the vendors and quests get mapped out and recorded.

 

Do you guys just not understand what random is? The schematics are just as random for anyone else as they are for me. Random + Random is still. . . wait for it. . . Random. The very best that can happen is to increase your odds, but it will always be subject to random luck.

 

Community does not make random less random. It simply increases the odds that someone, somewhere in the community may get the schematic for the item you want. Your meeting up with that specific person who has the specific schematic you want is another layer of randomness. And, btw, the population caps on the servers. . . no so big.

 

GTN, you say? I've been checking it at least once per play session. But, then, that thing is a joke. Minimum of 4 load screens, each way, to get to it from a questing planet, ridiculously cumbersome interface, lacking in sort options; as a result, it's not the most flourishing game market system. Of course, if the person who did happen to win the Underworld Trading lottery for the item I want decides to post the schematic, instead of producing the pieces, and I just happen to be logged in at the time that his 1 or 2 day max listing is posted, how would I know? What I know is I want the orange appearance of green-item <XX>, that doesn't mean I know the name of the orange schematic. There's no way to preview the item made by a schematic sitting on the gtn.

 

So, then, spam chat for hours on end? Hoping to catch the person who won that lottery? Since the chat is split by zone, I guess I'd have to sit at fleet all day and spam chat.

 

Some math (using low-ball estimates) for the probability of getting the schematic you for any given item:

 

[4 classes] X [7 visible slots] X [15 unique appearances/slot] = 420 item schematics

 

frequency of getting a schematic from UT mission = .2 (my personal experience is nowhere near that high, but I'll be generous- very generous- and go with 1 in 5)

 

1/420 * .2 = .000476

 

Even if you multiply that by 1000 people, you are still only at a probability of .476. (Of course, you still have to factor the added layers of probability that you can even connect with the person who may get it.)

 

So, you guys can talk about grandiose ideas like "community" all you want (which I'm all for, btw), but it doesn't change the numbers or the reality in the game. I'm playing the game. I'm trying to improve my character's appearance. I see the reality in the game.

 

The fact is that appearance customization in this game is primarily based upon random luck. Everything else that is discussed is simply a way to influence the odds.

[shinyelf]

I really dont understand most people here, what is the next thing if you get the appearance tab? lightsabers at level 1? free speeders? zero class progression?

 

While you may answer no to all of the above you still need to look at the biger picture, the game has flaws, appearance tab=fluff/padding. When the flaws are sorted out BW could begin making things like A-Tabs (wont bother writing the entire word any more), or perhaps they should have a group work on it when they cant conveniently stuff more personel into the bug fixin department, but until then i think you need to be happy that you have orage gear.

 

And if there is ever implemented an A-Tab then what? are you just going to pick up the first set of armor that comes your way and never change? The game is still going to need some senes of progression, right? The truth of the matter is that what most of the posters in here wants is a shop that gives away every single piece of gear with max stats at first convenience, personally i dont belive that would work.

 

There is of course another aspect to take into consideration, the ingame economy, further down the line more people will reach max craft skill, and they will gather schematics, and they will make their products, and they will sell their products.

In the end that will lead to a blossoming economy, not neccesarily based on credits, but perhaps trading of gear, now wouldnt that be nice? As a bonus it might even improve the community, heck you could even add a server tab to the forum where you could request pieces of tailormade pieces for your char.

 

Consider the last piece, to me it sounds like a nice idea (sorry about the lack of structure, but im in a hurry right now)

[Karast]

Personally I can't wait for an appearance system, and in the short term a dye system. Character appearance is a very important aspect to any MMO from a great deal of players. If your going to be spending several hours or more a week looking at your character it helps if you actually like the way it looks. Its really dissatisfying when you dislike the look of your character and having the option to customize your character with your own personal touches helps bring you a greater sense of connection with the character and the game in general.

[Vodalus]

I really dont understand most people here, what is the next thing if you get the appearance tab? lightsabers at level 1? free speeders? zero class progression?

 

While you may answer no to all of the above you still need to look at the biger picture, the game has flaws, appearance tab=fluff/padding. When the flaws are sorted out BW could begin making things like A-Tabs (wont bother writing the entire word any more), or perhaps they should have a group work on it when they cant conveniently stuff more personel into the bug fixin department, but until then i think you need to be happy that you have orage gear.

 

I'm not sure I see the relevance of your questions about lightsabers @ lvl 1 or free speeders or zero class progression, so I'll just do as you guessed and say "no". As for the rest of the above, where you actually begin making a point about an Atab, I don't disagree that there are some issues that are more pressing. I don't think you'll find anyone (well, there's always 1) in any of the threads relating to this topic that would say that they should put an Atab in before they fix the error 9000, fps slowdowns, shadows optimization, etc. Most would probably even place the UI (especially the Godawful GTN) above an Atab. But that doesn't mean the issue shouldn't be discussed.

 

And no, I'm not going to be happy that I have orange gear. They had a system with a lot of potential in their modable gear, and they blew it. I would take any of the beta build versions of modable gear that I played, other than the August build, over this one. The all or none mod slot gear, with a few purple hybrid pieces, system is a joke. When I kill a mob and see the blue or purple glow coming from the corpse, I get that normal MMO sense of joy over a good drop. . . for a split second. Then I remember that it's going to be a worthless unmodable item. The only time blue or purple glows are good is when the drop turns out to be a blue or purple mod. And don't even get me started on the random UT schematics again (see my post above for my opinion there).

 

The mod system could have been great, not quite as flexible or convenient as an Atab, but sufficient for customization, more interesting, and great in its own way. They blew it.

 

And if there is ever implemented an A-Tab then what? are you just going to pick up the first set of armor that comes your way and never change? The game is still going to need some senes of progression, right? The truth of the matter is that what most of the posters in here wants is a shop that gives away every single piece of gear with max stats at first convenience, personally i dont belive that would work.

 

There is of course another aspect to take into consideration, the ingame economy, further down the line more people will reach max craft skill, and they will gather schematics, and they will make their products, and they will sell their products.

In the end that will lead to a blossoming economy, not neccesarily based on credits, but perhaps trading of gear, now wouldnt that be nice? As a bonus it might even improve the community, heck you could even add a server tab to the forum where you could request pieces of tailormade pieces for your char.

 

Consider the last piece, to me it sounds like a nice idea (sorry about the lack of structure, but im in a hurry right now)

 

Neither the "never change" point of the above, nor the "economy" point, are any different than we have now.

 

Personally, I do change my gear a lot, more so with an Atab. With the mod system, getting new orange gear is infrequent, at best. The odds of preferring the new item over my current is less. With an Atab, every new item I get has the potential to be something I like better and can use for its appearance. Green, blue, purple items in the current system cannot be used that way. So even if I do like them better, and would change to that look, I can't. (Unless I get lucky and win the UT lottery for an orange version of the green item; blue is usually just a recolor of green at best, though color can be important, but purple is totally out of the question for an orange version at the moment).

 

So, to sum up:

 

-Mod system as implemented= less customization (random is not customization; green items only)

 

-Mod system as implemented= entire segments of gear being useless for the majority of the game (green/blue; purple until endgame where set bonuses, pvp stats, or augment slots make it the BIS over modded gear)

 

-Mod system as implemented= people change their appearances less frequently

 

-Atab (or a better version of the mod system)= none of the above

 

Unfortunately, since we are in live and people have gear and maxed out characters and such, they can't completely overhaul the mod system again. The only solution at this point is an Atab-type of feature.

 

(*BTW, I have a very detailed example of a mod system that would not have suffered from these problems that I posted on the testing forums if anyone wants to know how this system might have worked.)

[DrakusMa]

I agree, this is one of the reasons why I liked RIFT but don't get me wrong I like SWTOR better. I would love to see color dyes and Costume slots for characters.

 

I do not beleive Rift had appearance slots at launch either.