The Unofficial Appearance Customization Thread

[VicSkimmr]

I wish they added plain casual Star Wars gear, not super "fancy" metal spikes and all that stuff. (example: Plain Jedi robes like Obi Wan's in Episode IV or Darth Sidious' plain black robes)

 

That plain casual gear you're referring to is in game in multiple places. I doubt you'll find Sidious' plain robe as the sith are a lot more flamboyant in this era.

[illgot]

If the dev comments are to be believed, everything will be available in a moddable form. It certainly seems like an overwhelming majority of the gear will be and that the best gear will be moddable crit-crafted gear.

 

once this is possible (like it was back in beta when all items were modable), they then need to lower the cost of transferring mods after the original item.

 

At a cost of nearly 750k to remove end game mods from a set of gear, it is just too expensive to remove more than once or twice.

 

Bioware created their own problem.

 

Since they combined their appearance system and mod system, now they have to balance six features. Their appearance system, their mod system, crafted mods, set PvP mods, set PvE mods, and the cost.

Edited March 27, 2012 by illgot

[JeramieCrowe]

I wish they added plain casual Star Wars gear, not super "fancy" metal spikes and all that stuff. (example: Plain Jedi robes like Obi Wan's in Episode IV or Darth Sidious' plain black robes)

 

These are already ingame.

[JeramieCrowe]

once this is possible (like it was back in beta when all items were modable), they then need to lower the cost of transferring mods after the original item.

 

At a cost of nearly 750k to remove end game mods from a set of gear, it is just too expensive to remove more than once or twice.

 

Bioware created their own problem.

 

Since they combined their appearance system and mod system, now they have to balance six features. Their appearance system, their mod system, crafted mods, set PvP mods, set PvE mods, and the cost.

 

How is it too expensive? When you can make at least 200k per day at level 50 on dailies alone, that's one complete mod removal every 3.5 days. I doubt you'll even be getting the gear that fast...

[Devlonir]

Would not mind the comic crap if it was the exception in TOR. The issue being it's the norm.

 

Is it? Because really.. most Republic Armor looks 100% Star Wars movie to me except the endgame PvE and PVP gear. And even some of those look very Star Wars to me (love the Consular PVP Rags for example..)

 

Imperial Armor, especially Sith, does look very flamboyant and big.. but you know: That's what Sith are in this era. Seeing they CAN openly be Sith unlike in the movie era. I also love the art direction of the Warrior myself, some armors are so beautiful and great links towards Vader.

 

Honestly.. people complain about a handful of possible sets for each class, which happen to be the endgame versions, and say that art direction is the 'norm'. You should really look up the word Norm in the dictionary and find out what it really means.

[VicSkimmr]

Yeah, all of the leveling armors are extremely star warsy in my opinion. It makes sense for the end game sets to be "out there."

 

I like the current T1 sets for the most part (inquisitor gear notwithstanding) and I like the new gear for the most part (don't like the jedi knight gear).

 

 

The imperial agent continues to look awesome

[Matte_Black]

once this is possible (like it was back in beta when all items were modable), they then need to lower the cost of transferring mods after the original item.

 

At a cost of nearly 750k to remove end game mods from a set of gear, it is just too expensive to remove more than once or twice.

 

Bioware created their own problem.

 

Since they combined their appearance system and mod system, now they have to balance six features. Their appearance system, their mod system, crafted mods, set PvP mods, set PvE mods, and the cost.

 

I agree the cost may need to comedown somewhat but, that will likely be based on BioWare's internal metrics that detail how much people are really swapping mods in and out. I think that reduction will be on much smaller scale than what you desire should it happen at all.

 

You need to understand that BioWare and many players are not looking for an appearance customization system that does what appearance tabs allow. You may want it to but, that is not the goal of this system. The intention is for players to develop unique signature looks to their liking, not to constantly change your looks while remaining optimally statted.

 

Your problem with the expense is similar to the people complaining about the cost for respeccing. The system is designed for more static and consistent characters and the occasional re-spec. When you try to use it for dual speccing, like when you try to use the customization system for frequent costume changes, the expenses become prohibitive because that is not what they are designed for.

[pyrobot]

I agree the cost may need to comedown somewhat but, that will likely be based on BioWare's internal metrics that detail how much people are really swapping mods in and out. I think that reduction will be on much smaller scale than what you desire should it happen at all.

 

You need to understand that BioWare and many players are not looking for an appearance customization system that does what appearance tabs allow. You may want it to but, that is not the goal of this system. The intention is for players to develop unique signature looks to their liking, not to constantly change your looks while remaining optimally statted.

 

Your problem with the expense is similar to the people complaining about the cost for respeccing. The system is designed for more static and consistent characters and the occasional re-spec. When you try to use it for dual speccing, like when you try to use the customization system for frequent costume changes, the expenses become prohibitive because that is not what they are designed for.

 

Agreed completely. I don't see why it's necessary to constantly change your characters outfit though.

[Garibaldi_Scipio]

I'm with the Appearance Slot crowd. An Appearance Slot would allow players to quickly change their appearance as often as they like without breaking the bank.

 

The way it works now, and presumably the way it will work in 1.2 is that if you find a pair of gloves you like, you have to rip out the mods from the old gloves to put them into the new pair. Then half an hour later you find another pair of gloves that you think looks better. So you do the same thing, spending tons of cash ripping out mods each time you find something that looks more appealing to you. Rinse and repeat each time you find something that you like. It's all about individual taste, so the appearance slot is the best solution.

[Matte_Black]

I'm with the Appearance Slot crowd. An Appearance Slot would allow players to quickly change their appearance as often as they like without breaking the bank.

 

The way it works now, and presumably the way it will work in 1.2 is that if you find a pair of gloves you like, you have to rip out the mods from the old gloves to put them into the new pair. Then half an hour later you find another pair of gloves that you think looks better. So you do the same thing, spending tons of cash ripping out mods each time you find something that looks more appealing to you. Rinse and repeat each time you find something that you like. It's all about individual taste, so the appearance slot is the best solution.

 

Again, quick costume changes is not the goal, unique signature looks are. The expense even serves to protect player's unique looks from being quickly and easily copied.

 

I'll also point out that a little patience and tolerance are all that is needed to weather the storm that is finding a new pair of cool-looking gloves. By switching the armor mod only, those gloves will be mostly current and you can pretty quickly collect enough credits to update the rest piece by piece as you go. Unless you have a particulalry tough boss fight coming up, you should be fine rocking the gloves with your prized armoring mod and what ever others it came with and you should probably have a pretty good idea whether you should wait until before or after that notably tough fight before changing gloves.

[JeramieCrowe]

You need to understand that BioWare and many players are not looking for an appearance customization system that does what appearance tabs allow. You may want it to but, that is not the goal of this system. The intention is for players to develop unique signature looks to their liking, not to constantly change your looks while remaining optimally statted.

 

That may be the case, but it's still entirely possible to have a large wardrobe, all BiS statted. Will it take some gameplay and work? Of course! That's the way it should have always been. The a-tab has created the illusion that that's what it should be: easy with very little effort. That one element has always gone completely against the very definition of gameplay rewards.

[JeramieCrowe]

The way it works now, and presumably the way it will work in 1.2 is that if you find a pair of gloves you like, you have to rip out the mods from the old gloves to put them into the new pair. Then half an hour later you find another pair of gloves that you think looks better. So you do the same thing, spending tons of cash ripping out mods each time you find something that looks more appealing to you. Rinse and repeat each time you find something that you like. It's all about individual taste, so the appearance slot is the best solution.

 

Alternatively, there is no limit to how many of the same mods you can have. Personally, if I have 2 pairs of gloves that I like, regardless if I like one a little better than the other, I get 2 sets of mods.

 

Simple as that. No need to rip them out of one to put in the other.

[illgot]

How is it too expensive? When you can make at least 200k per day at level 50 on dailies alone, that's one complete mod removal every 3.5 days. I doubt you'll even be getting the gear that fast...

 

Bioware stated at the guild summit that only a small percentage of their players had even a million credits.

 

It is too expensive for people to enjoy. No one wants to work constantly just to change their appearance.

[Akash]

I'd rather just have an appearance tab, and cosmetic gear options that I could color or even shape, or you could do like Aion and enable the ability to change gear skins.

 

There was an entire economy in Aion built around gear skins.

 

Some of the best looking gear didn't even come from upper level content, actually.

 

I almost always reskinned my end-game gear down to some lower tier gear's looks, because endgame gear just looked ridiculously overblown. I kept a greatsword skin from about level 18, actually, because it looked like a freakin sword and not a surfboard.

 

There's no reason to not allow people to customize their characters. This has already been done in other games.

 

MMO's are about individuals, not keeping a uniform appearance.

[JediElf]

I'd love to see and appearance tab, and cosmetic gear options.

 

I'd also love to have the option to change our hairstyle, and add or remove scars.

[Akash]

For Example, on the photo below, we should at the least be able to keep an armor look after we've acquired it.

 

I really like the look of the low level armor my Vanguard has on here.

 

I'd like to be able to paint certain areas, like the white areas on the chest, gloves, and belt I'd like to be able to paint black, or copper, or gold, or something else besides white.

 

I hate that as i level up I'm going to lose this look. I'd like to be able to keep it without running around in lowbie gear :/

 

http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n639/Memnon_Adeptas/MemnoonTaris.jpg

[JeramieCrowe]

Bioware stated at the guild summit that only a small percentage of their players had even a million credits.

 

It is too expensive for people to enjoy. No one wants to work constantly just to change their appearance.

 

Do you know why? Because only a small percentage of players are sticking with one character. Most that reach 50 are playing alts. That puts a damper on gaining credits on the 50.

 

Now, were you to set a goal to get 5 million credits, you could do it 18 days. Or less.

[JeramieCrowe]

For Example, on the photo below, we should at the least be able to keep an armor look after we've acquired it.

 

I really like the look of the low level armor my Vanguard has on here.

 

I'd like to be able to paint certain areas, like the white areas on the chest, gloves, and belt I'd like to be able to paint black, or copper, or gold, or something else besides white.

 

I hate that as i level up I'm going to lose this look. I'd like to be able to keep it without running around in lowbie gear :/

 

http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n639/Memnon_Adeptas/MemnoonTaris.jpg

 

Err... you can already do that in TOR...even more so after 1.2. Find some lowbie green gear you like? Get the orange version. Simple as that.

[Kharnis]

Err... you can already do that in TOR...even more so after 1.2. Find some lowbie green gear you like? Get the orange version. Simple as that.

 

Now, all we have to do is convince Bioware to create some environmentally proper moddable gear, and I'll be a happy RP nerd. Or are we geeks?

[Akash]

Err... you can already do that in TOR...even more so after 1.2. Find some lowbie green gear you like? Get the orange version. Simple as that.

 

I've yet to find a way to dye anything in ToR. I understand that is upcoming in some limited fashion, but what that will be we'll have to see.

 

Also, the pieces I have presented are non-moddable gear, as of yet I have not seen a moddable version with that color scheme.

 

Wouldn't it just be simpler to be able to reskin like Aion?

 

I think it would.

[JeramieCrowe]

I've yet to find a way to dye anything in ToR. I understand that is upcoming in some limited fashion, but what that will be we'll have to see.

 

Also, the pieces I have presented are non-moddable gear, as of yet I have not seen a moddable version with that color scheme.

 

Wouldn't it just be simpler to be able to reskin like Aion?

 

I think it would.

 

Simpler? Easier? Yes. That's the whole problem with the a-tab since its conception 8 years ago. It's too simple. It's too easy. Goes against the entire risk vs reward system of MMOs.

[bostonfnord]

Goes against the entire risk vs reward system of MMOs.

 

WHAAAaaaa? Too simple, too easy? Must be a dev defending failed system. No, just no. All of you against A-tab, Devs included... For the love of god, WHY!? You all want to talk stats, but that is not what it is about. It is about appearance! This mod system FAILS. Precious development time is being *&^&% wasted on an idea that can be solved in seconds. Put the A-tab in already and get to work on adding actual new content to the game.

 

PS. I stareted a new character the other day, and noticed, a ton of the npc's armor from 1-20 looked cooler than anything any of my other level 50 characters could ever wear. Why can;t we even get this stuff in-game?

 

Argg this game frustrates me.

[Deewe]

Simpler? Easier? Yes. That's the whole problem with the a-tab since its conception 8 years ago. It's too simple. It's too easy. Goes against the entire risk vs reward system of MMOs.

We both know you are only looking at a part of the equation.

 

It's not because you're displaying a piece of gear that it's easier to obtain. That's simply not true.

 

Also thing is A-Tab makes every item more valuable as desired either for its stats or even its look or both, all of them. We also both know in all former polls on these very forum over 75% of the voters said look > stats.

 

Wow appearance system and gear dyes have been the top#1 topic on their suggestion forums since launch. They finally have been obliged to add transmogrification due the the competitors.

 

And you are right a-tab are more easy to manage than the mods system which are actually a pain to maintain: 7 items per character x 3 mods per item x 5 companion x number of alts == you need a damn spreadsheet to manage all this mess.

Even switching mods between your character and companions is a pain.

 

Top of that the devs admitted the gear mods are less flexible than the a-tabs.

 

There's no risk in the mods system nor in non mod system it's just a pain.

[Akash]

Simpler? Easier? Yes. That's the whole problem with the a-tab since its conception 8 years ago. It's too simple. It's too easy. Goes against the entire risk vs reward system of MMOs.

 

Dude, get real.

 

When I think about simpler and easier being a problem with games, I think about things that affect gameplay.

 

Cosmetics and gameplay are two entirely different things.

[JeramieCrowe]

PS. I stareted a new character the other day, and noticed, a ton of the npc's armor from 1-20 looked cooler than anything any of my other level 50 characters could ever wear. Why can;t we even get this stuff in-game?

 

Argg this game frustrates me.

 

Orange versions of ALL green armors was created and given to the crafters.

 

From here.

 

This was as of the launch build. They gave orange schematics of ALL green armor to crafters via Underworld Trading. Almost all have been found so far.

 

So, loot a lowbie green item you really like? There is an orange version. Get it!

Edited March 28, 2012 by JeramieCrowe