Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
Imagination could go wild with ways in which players could find, earn or make dyes. The cave behind a frozen wall thaws with a random chance to spawn a dangerous flower mob who once defeated drops a calyx which can be used as an ingredient.
I also like the guild colour palette idea.
However I’m also on the fence like Dezzrevas is above with regards to progression or unlocks. But no limit to imagination or risk reward so I wouldn’t waste an opportunity to add some AOS creative license.
Cheers
When people run by you with bright pink or cheerleader costumes on in a fantasy rpg = no thanks.
Having a account bound dye collection wardrobe a huge plus. Dye collecting become it's own minigame. Just try not to abuse cash shop dyes, if any at all. Since they're technically "cosmetic".
Edit: DYE CONSISTENCY. We get it, there are different materials that will apply the same color differently. If I apply a forest green to metal, and then leather I don't expect them to be the same. I do, however, expect an attempt that when applying colors to the same armor, that unless specified, all metals should maintain the same saturation level across the same shade intensity of color. So the a green and a purple with the same black/white values should be fairly even with color range. GW2 had such a major issue of the same dye changing drastically from item to item, making it's own struggle of finding a color in the same value but different intensity to match gear really rough if there was no saturation match. This meant many items simply could not be styled together without a very stark color contrast leading to a messy color theme.
...Lets not forget fashion, like Fashion Wars 2, can be an end-game of it's own for a lot of players. There needs to be a lot more cosmetic chase that isn't just end game unlocks or cash shop unlocks.
Also, when it comes to dying something like a piece of gear, I'd love to be able to dye as many parts of the piece of gear as possible. The same goes for furniture, mounts, etc. Now having said that, when it comes to the way that you all tried to explain it on the stream, I would have a see an in-game example of it before I comment on it.
I will say this though...not every color needs to be in the game. Or I should clarify, not all brightness levels need to be available to players. If you want to be a dwarf paladin rocking full pink and yellow plate armor, go for it. BUT! Limit the brightness scale so they don't "glow" and ruin immersion.
Listening to the current stream and Steven talking about the two dye channel system on the paper doll, it sounds ok but at first thought limiting. I think i'd have to see it in action to really give proper feedback.
However, i think the application of the dye to a new piece of gear you find should be a manual opt in step. When ever I find new gear, I like to see what it looks like "as is". How it drops and how the designers intend it to look. This really helps players discover potential new styles or looks.
I'd also like to hear more explanation about how the dye system works as a mechanic in the game. Are they craftable things? is it a profession you can pursue? If items come with certain dyes on them, perhaps we could break them down and analyze their color tones so we could then apply that color to other pieces?
The idea of the two channel system is a good idea, and I think will help keep the game in a more realistic state. But imo the idea needs a little more refinement and options.
Also we should not forget the еnvironment.
Here are two completely different types of MMO: L2 and FF14. In L2 you have dark fantasy gothic bla bla stuff, in FF14 you have colorful everything...literally everything. You can be a full armored dragoon or pink rabbit. Imagine if you have to balance between these two environments and characters.
Overall: dying is awesome! I believe we should have it! But at which point it becomes too much - depends on the mood, vibe and environment of the game.
So the choice is yours after all.
Dye on gear should never EVER overtake the texture inherent in the armor.
Customization when it comes to dye can be done wrong very easily. It has already been mentioned that you can mix-match colors across your armor. I'm very satisfied with that, because as much as I want people to have fun, I don't want to see a multicolored power ranger running around. That being said, the reason that texture is so important, is not only to retain a sense of reality.. but also dye being a perfect paint that flawlessly colors your set of armor has no personality whatsoever. Guild Wars 2 has this issue. You start to look like a power ranger because your chain mail no longer looks like chain, your wood shield doesn't look like wood. Everything without texture begins to look like a plastic depiction of whatever you're using.
I'm excited to see the first pass of dye systems, and as always.. Thanks for reading,
Chaos
for example I am playing a rougue and have a silk material top and leather pants and boots I don't want to be forced for everything to be blue just to get a blue top. But maybe black leather instead
While locking the dying process to apply for the whole armor set you are wearing and not individual pieces, there should be a set of secondary and even potentially tertiary options that “match well” with the primary color for the dye you are selecting (maybe only for premium dyes?). For example, choosing a primary red dye may give the player the option of X number or complimentary colors to be slotted into the secondary color palette of that set (e.g. red primary, gold secondary or red primary, but dark red as secondary, etc.)
an example of the "black" end of the spectrum as it's not as well known...most people have seen polished white gold and silver.
The way Guildwars 2 handles it is done very well, but there is always room for improvement.
-Naruir
The risk with 100% dying is a loss of armor visual identity and even armor type.
Thanks
Like if someone wants pink plate armor they should be able to however, what does metal look like if it is colored pink and not painted? That should be the kind of colors we see.
Pink would look different depending on if it's metal, leather, or cloth. Basically the material of what the color is dyeing should be just as important as the color itself.
1st Idea:
Create a clear/translucent/transmog dye that can be put into both channels that will allow your armor to show its base look. Allowing someone to wear a clown-suit if they wish, or allow people who are into transmog to more fully customize the way each individual piece looks.
2nd Idea:
Allow more dye channels to be accessed through crafting to allow further customization of pieces. You mentioned 2 dye channels: 1 being 15-20% of a armor piece's look and the other being 30-35% of the armor piece's look for 50% and the other 50% was not changeable. Allow crafters to create master/advanced transmog dyes that can alter specific channels for each armor piece individually and can alter the 50% that is not normally affected by the 2 dye channels normally used.
3rd Idea:
Create a Fashion Designer profession that would be able to specialize in helping players who want to transmog gear to be able to fully customize gear with much greater specificity. Maybe allow another 2-4 channels for the 50% that is not normally able to be changed with normal dyeing. I don't believe that much has been said about what professions will be available exactly or how they will work specifically, so this idea is a bit out there considering the lack of information we have thus far but it is a conversation starter if nothing else.
Further support for these ideas:
You have consistently talked about wanting to reward people for how much effort they put in to whatever aspect of the game they are in to. Some people are really into transmog and some are not. I think it makes a lot of sense to have 2 channels that allow most players to fairly easily have a decent cohesive look without a whole lot of effort. But for those that really want to customize their look, it will be very dissatisfying to not have more options other than the two dye channels for your entire character. I think the dyes that would be used for transmog though would be more expensive/harder to get. Steven has said that people can truly hone their craft in a profession and become well known and have a great reputation for being great at their profession. I think it would be cool to have someone who was a fashion designer and they could get certain customizations that others don't have and could make the appearance of gear really unique. Potentially even being able to amalgamate two different pieces of gear to get something unique. How I picture this is if you think about a cosplayer or someone in a parade potentially - they will take a piece of clothing, usually cloth, and add a lot of elaborate feathers to it or sequins to get a specific look. The fashion designer could potentially take a cloth piece and mix it with a leather piece that has feathers or just with a feather. There could be potentially appearance upgrade slots for armor to make them unique. I picture this working potentially like wows enchanting feature. You enchant a weapon and get a specific look to the weapon signifying the effect, but instead if you mix a metal chest piece with some gems then you get back a gem crested chest piece and maybe a new dye slot that can customize the color of the gems. These dyes for transmog would be more expensive than dyes for the regular 2 channel dyes as someone going to this length to fully customize their gear is wanting a the novelty of a fully unique look that others wont have and it should come at a premium.
A variation of the Fashion Designer profession:
Allow all players to have a closet/transmog panel. Allow anyone to craft a blueprint or design a particular fashion. They could potentially sell these designs on an auction house. I would think it important to not reveal what they did to make it so someone cant just look at it and recreate it, unless they are just extremely familiar with the way armors look. Crafters such as leather workers or tailors or blacksmiths could add customization slots or combine armors with other armors/items for unique looks.
Inspiration for this idea:
I am not personally a transmogger but I enjoy watching Asmongold's transmog competitions. Some people put a whole lot of effort into making some extremely cool looking gear sets with limited resources in wow especially in the dyeing department. That being said, I think that for those that are into it, making it a prestige thing they have to work for to achieve is something that I think they would enjoy and allow them to look really cool and truly unique. I think I might would get into transmog more if I knew I could make anything I wanted. I understand that making a system like this is a huge undertaking and may not be able to make it at launch as that would be a whole lot of work for the art team to make assets for not only all the armor but then several variations on each armor piece based on what you mixed it with and additional dye colorations that affect parts of armor that right now are set in stone to give a certain look to the entire game/all characters. Nevertheless, I think it is an extremely cool concept. You asked for ideas and these are mine.
I think the aquisition of the materials / crafting of the dyes needs to be tied to hunting monsters / gathering / farming / player skills, so that dyes are an actual product on the in-game market.
As an example, in OSRS you take woad leaves for Blue, onions for Yellow, redberries for Red, and take them to a witch. (a barebones system with all mats spawning in several locations in the world and crafted by an npc) After you make the base dyes you can combine them to get different colors (orange, green, purple). I'd rather the game have this, but getting or unlocking a level to make a premium/more rare/exotic color dye to be a part of the game's economy.
This would also help to stave off power creep - you can make bosses and monsters drop materials for crafting cosmetic dyes instead of the next biggest ax. Imagine killing a super rare Faerie Dragon, which drops a viridian gland, which you can take to an alchemist to brew a majestic emerald dye, with sparkles as if its magic or made of actual gem stones.
If you care about farming (growing plants) as much as I do in mmos, then please, if there's going to be farming, make it BIG, as in, sow a field of like, 40x40 player sized squares of space, and add a COMFORTABLE way of gathering a large amount, instead of how most MMOS do it either by clicking once to gather the entire field, avoiding the process of harvesting which is also pleasurable, or clicking on every single piece of grain, similar to Stardew Valley (not a mmorpg, but still). I'd rather there be a comfortable method of like swinging a harvesting scythe then gathering up all you've cut down in heaps.
I'm eager to see a demo of that.
Or my first idea - make it sparkle as if it's not just paint but a thin cover of gems of that color. What would a shoulder coated in a layer of fine emeralds look like in the sun?
I am talking Thunderfury, Blessed blade of Windseeker or Blades of Azzinoth level of rarity if anyone from your team played WoW
Now I am going of topic, but I have to say this- Face of Sorrow and Stillsoul Plate suck. For starters, I cant tell for which level are they and that should be noticed immediately. Its poorly designed compared to other armorsets and the use of glowing eyes make it sooooo cheesy if its a low level armor. Will you guys stop doing that? Everything glows! Mob eyes, low level weapons glow, level 20 armor glows-Why?
Even those small low level mobs like goblins have glowing eyes? That should be reserved for high level mobs.
I COMMEND you for your latest armor though. That armor made out of reddish bronze leaves is sick!
Why can't we go fully black, white, red, navy etc? Up to 50% means that the gold and silver pieces are most likely to stay unchanged. I like mixing metals in my jewelry but I'd like to be able to change let's say a silver chest piece to better match the rest of my gold set.
I understand the concern but how did we get from ''the game with the most amount of customizations'' to ''you can only have 1 accent color per set and by the way all your sets are gonna be that exact color unless you keep reapplying dyes to your paper doll''?
And like a broken record I'm going back to my now catchphrase - what about the Whispering Watcher?! You can have a green purple lion/bird hybrid with a human head and Medusa ''hairstyle'' but you can't mix and match colors? What realism are we talking about here?