Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Looted/Rewarded Gear Appearance --> Biome Based
Asgerr
Member, Alpha Two
As we know everyone will start off in different areas and then head towards even more different areas.
What I think would be cool, would be having gear be biome dependant.
So, say I level in a snowy area, my level 10 chest piece will be fur lined and looking warm and padded. This would contrast with a level 10 chest piece earned in a desert biome, would look much more breezy and colorful.
This would greatly help get the sense that, one person you came across, actually travelled all the way from a certain area of the world. It tells the story of your and everyone's character around you.
Now, I know this would require a looooot more assets to be added to the game, and might be too much. But what do you guys think? Is there a way to make it more feasible, whilst preserving the idea behind it?
What I think would be cool, would be having gear be biome dependant.
So, say I level in a snowy area, my level 10 chest piece will be fur lined and looking warm and padded. This would contrast with a level 10 chest piece earned in a desert biome, would look much more breezy and colorful.
This would greatly help get the sense that, one person you came across, actually travelled all the way from a certain area of the world. It tells the story of your and everyone's character around you.
Now, I know this would require a looooot more assets to be added to the game, and might be too much. But what do you guys think? Is there a way to make it more feasible, whilst preserving the idea behind it?
7
Comments
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Crafting
Anything that you want to bring into existence in the world is going to be built by players: Whether that is Ships, Siege engines, Weapons, Armor, etc.[10] – Jeffrey Bard
That aid I like the idea of the gear looking like it is from different biomes and offering different protections.
That said, I did do a little "RP" in FFXIV when we were proging E3S a year or two ago... I wore a swim suit.
For the first time in my MMO life a damn swim suit made sense.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Of course, we can transmog and skin over the original appearances if we wish.
Oh I'm not advocating for your gear to change once you move biomes.
Rather, let's say that the gear you get from a quest in a snowy area will be a winter version of it. A different quest elsewhere, will give the corresponding biome one.
Cosmetics will just be applied on top of any of those anyways.
Anyone who supports the idea of this post but also argues that a cosmetic shop and cosmetics/transmogs are a nonissue are hypocrites.
I've argued in length many times in favour of the ideas of this post, but so many people here will tell you immersion has no bearing on the quality of a game.
Appearance won't change the stats.
And if someone wishes to place the illusion of desert gear over actual arctic gear...they can do so.
That's not immersion-breaking for a high fantasy/high magic setting, like Ashes of Creation.
Here we go with the "it's magic" argument again.
So are you advocating for your cosmetics to be de-equipped when you get struck?
Don't use such lame excuses to justify lame mechanics
Why is it that the only characters in the game with access to these illusions are ones where the player spent money out of game?
A mage/mage can't but a tank/tank can because the tank player spent money.
Post a quote that says there won't be skins and cosmetics available for purchase in-game.
Any quotes that say they will?
I've not kept track of everything for a while but it's something I would expect them to say if it is there instead of saying if it isn't there.
In any fantasy world with a half-decent magic system Illusions are always frail magic.
Now sure, any soft magic system might have strong illusion magic, but soft magic systems are cop-out systems meant to just be there secondary to the story and only to further push the story forward. The magic in soft-magic worlds are always contrived as fuck. On a personal note, I also consider it lazy writing/world-building.
The non-frail version of illusion magic would be something like transformation magic.
But this is all magic theory-crafting.
It's painfully obvious you just want to use cosmetics for whatever reason and "Illusion magic" is nothing more than an excuse added in post.
Edit:
@Littlekenny21 is right too. How is your Tank/Tank or Tank/Fighter going to have illusion magic?
If I cast dispel magic on you is it going to destroy your cosmetic changes? No? If not then I'm sorry, you've just become a hypocrite and the immersion you claim to save through this excuse has become null and void.
The point of the thread is whether gear earned from quests, in a certain area, should look like it fits the biome of that area.
If that were a thing, you can have your own cosmetic applied to it if you want or not.
"The best skins will be in-game achievable (obviously “best” is subjective, so I’d say the most ornate and detailed/unique)."
– Steven Sharif
"I want to make sure that equitable cosmetics both from a quantity and quality standpoint are achievable through in-game achievements. Time, effort should let you be happy with what you can accomplish."
– Steven Sharif
"The most grand looking cosmetics will be from in-game achievement only."
– Steven Sharif
"[T]he intent behind my approach to these cosmetics, as well as the cosmetics that will be achievable in the game, is to provide a richer experience of visual diversity than we are typically accustomed to in the MMORPGs we have played in the past. There will be legendary cosmetics that are ONLY achievable in game and players can know won't be offered in some cosmetic shop in the future undermining their accomplishment."
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/271565#Comment_271565
Due to cosmetics players will be able to look different than their gear. We either accept that or go find a different game.
I would like there to be an "authentic" feel to the world, but that is in the hands of the developers and the cosmetics that they make available.
Thanks for the quotes and the link. This has helped my opinion shift.
Now I see the quotes I do vaguely remember seeing those first ones a while ago. I originally interpreted as the default skin on a piece of gear but that second one does specifically say "equitable cosmetics".
I think I'd prefer them to be racial-node types, rather than biome type.
Doesn't matter how anyone feels about the cash shop, it's there and that's not going to change. But how does transmog go against this? What if a desert node player goes to the cold mountains in their desert gear, untransmogged? Guess we need to get a hot/cold meter in the game. May as well add hunger/thirst too.
This is why people will tell you this, because most immersion arguments are full of holes themselves and more people care about the actual gameplay, not something or someone they'll see for 5 seconds and never see again.
Ah yes the classic, "If it's not 100% then why even bother" argument. EVERY argument is full of holes when you use that ridiculous line of thought.
Just because you can't go full immersion does not mean go NO immersion.
Every game should strive to add immersion until adding said immersion interferes with gameplay.
To answer you directly though, transmog inherently devalues OP's concept. I don't even know why I need to explain that.
OP is advocating for themed/immersive visuals, well transmog throws theme/immersiveness out the window. It's pretty much the core idea behind transmog. To ignore the visuals of the gear you acquired and replace it with whatever you want. It's silly that I have to explain that.
Edit: You also imply that people who value immersion DON'T value gameplay. They are not mutually exclusive and it's pretty condescending of you to imply such.
And you act like there will be 0% immersion.
You explained less than nothing, now that's silly. OP's concept is just moving where a set may be obtained or creating zone themed armors. Transmog does not inherently throw immersion out the window, where do you even get that idea? But nothing is stopping anyone from living in the mountains, using the mountain themed armor as their transmog or other appropriate looking armor, sounds pretty immersive to me. The core theme of transmog is to throw immersion out the window? That's your personal bias of it getting in the way.
Or are you saying back in the pre transmog days of MMO's, leveling characters wearing 7 different set items was more immersive? How about top raid and pvp teams equipped with the same gear and "unique" named legendary weapons?
I enjoy immersion. If it was exclusively up to me there'd be no costumes that make you look like Jon Snow or the grim reaper version #723 and there'd be nothing crazy looking in general. But it's not up to me. And even if every single person on this forum agreed one way or another it'd still be a minority of people speaking out.
Show me where I said or implied there is 0% immersion?
All I ever argue on this forum about cosmetics/transmog is that we should always strive for more immersion so long as it doesn't interfere with the desired gameplay.
I explained nothing because why do I need to explain something that is so basic? It's like explaining what walking is. We all know what walking is.
But since you apparently can't see the obvious...
Let's start with a scenario.
You say nothing is stopping anyone from living in the mountains using mountain themed transmogs? You're right.
But if they were living in the mountains in OP's scenario, they'd look like they lived in the mountains anyways. What's your point here?
Someone's visiting from the desert? It'd be cool to know he's from the desert as I pass by him.
If transmog exists, any desert-looking person I see is just a random person with transmog. They aren't "from the desert"
The problem here is you're confusing aesthetics with immersion. Immersion utilizes aesthetics, but aesthetics doesn't need to utilize immersion.
And as such yes, I do prefer the mismatched gear, as long as each piece is part of a thematic set, because if that's the case it's most likely that person is slowly working towards a full set of one of those pieces, and I get to see the person in the middle of his journey. I'd rather people with mediocre armor look mediocre, than have everyone always look stylish and amazing.
Look, I'm going to play the game even if it's not as immersive as I'd like because the mechanics are promising. But ever bit of immersion counts towards a better experience for all. It's the little details that people notice.
Sure we can't have perfection, but that doesn't mean we can't constantly strive for it.
https://knightsofember.com/forums/members/winner909098.54
The argument is directly related to it, and it's not about the store at all.
Edit: I'm arguing directly in favour of what Asgerr described. Biome-dependent visual gear is only really a valuable thing if gear's base visual is valuable.
Thank you!