On the reverse side of things. I hope not all high level gear will be bling and make us look like walking christmas trees. Unlike many, the main use I see in transmog is not to "look better" but to make people underestimate the true capacities of my character. Deception, disguise, if you will.
Well, while we're on the subject of words... I'd rather low level items be described as "basic", "crude" , or "unadorned" than "scrappy" and "poor". Especially those crafted by other players. Simple? Yes. Used? If from a drop, sure. Filled with holes? No.
I don't want low levels looking like beggars or as if they had equipped themselves by going grave robbing. Brand new items should look like it. Which doesn't mean they are polished to high shine, embossed, etched and gilded or that they are encrusted with gemstones. Simple forms. Plain (or painted) material.
For items dropped instead of crafted, I'm not against some wear and tear, so long as it's not to the point the object shouldn't be functional anymore. Some nicks or scratches. Patches and stitches for textile and leather ones. Signs some care or maintenance was involved.
All these could be ignored if the thematic of the item demands it of course. We don't want the Frayed Cloak of the Unearthed Zombie Ward to look pristine and just out the tailor's shop.
Oh, this gives me an idea. If item decay won't be represented visually on items, I'd like to have 2 versions of gear: pristine crafted one and a worn rugged dropped one. Full dropped items should be insanely rare, so having a rugged version of an item would be a cosmetic choice that shows either big riches or insane luck.
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HinotoriMember, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One
We're all going to be wearing costumes from the second we log in anyway. I don't see why people are so hung up on item progression. I just want a range of items and styles that look good. Sure some can look tattered and ratty for an urchin like feel for people who enjoy that. But I don't feel we need a progression path to get items that look "nice"
Personally I'll be stepping out of the gate in this costume.
The world is beautiful whenever you're here. And all the emptiness inside disappears.
Because it is a Sandbox game that allows people to play through their own fantasy? Perhaps she is some Kaelar Royal arriving on Verra from Sanctus to rule what she thinks is rightfully hers? The player races are members of sophisticated societies returning to Verra from Sanctus. There will be lots of different characters arriving through the gates.
One of the things which I really loved in World of Warcraft was the way gear progression mattered because you started off with very, very poor gear (peasant clothes and a wooden hammer for example) and you worked your way up very slowly.
Poor quality is not synonimous with bad looking, even in WoW classic, you could buy complete armor sets at level 1 that looked decent the white statless armors.
On the contrary i think that wow went the wrong way in many armor designs especially for female characters, that "armor" wasn't exacly protecting in a visual way.
If you look at the armors displayed in the cosmetic packs and those showcased you will see a big difference in design, material and coloration, yet they have all one thing in common: They seem like actual working armor visually.
The issue many people have in other games.... is when a new expansion comes out.... the new lowest gear is such an upgrade that it makes all prior gear irrelevant. 6 years after launch, people should need to go through the exact same process to obtain gear/stats and it take considerable time and them not be "be caught up" 4 months after playing. Stat progression, gear appearance, etc should be earned. Where ashes may thrive is the nodes creating new content. I want to be a level 40 still able to level as I help my new level 10 friend who is still progressing. NO progression feels bad, not be able to play with my buddy who just joined feels bad, but he should not be able to catch me in 4 months because some new catch up mechanic either. I hope they do not do phasing to where you can't team up for so many zones and content. If you phase it should be the lower level player can not do the higher content... and not vice versa.
I imagine the expansions for Ashes will add more areas to get high level materials and also have limited amounts of unique legendaries. I don't foresee a WoW type expansion.
Comments
Personally I'll be stepping out of the gate in this costume.
Poor quality is not synonimous with bad looking, even in WoW classic, you could buy complete armor sets at level 1 that looked decent the white statless armors.
On the contrary i think that wow went the wrong way in many armor designs especially for female characters, that "armor" wasn't exacly protecting in a visual way.
If you look at the armors displayed in the cosmetic packs and those showcased you will see a big difference in design, material and coloration, yet they have all one thing in common: They seem like actual working armor visually.
The changes to the world are for everyone simultaneously, not on a character basis like in world of warcraft.