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Is visual progression important?
worddog
Member
I've seen some of the early founder cosmetics, they are really sick. I know Intrepid says the best skins will be earned in game, but that isn't necessarily up to them.
Vanity is subjective, and some of those founder skins looked really good. Imagine a world where max level players are walking around in cash shop armor, with cash shop weapons, with cash shop mounts, and cash shop pets, and cash shop houses, with cash shop freeholds, with cash shop titles.
I just don't want to see cool looking players with legendary armor and weapons being outshined by the low level players in comparably cool looking costumes.
What would really really suck is if I found a cash shop costume that I liked more than my own gear that I worked really hard for.
Vanity is subjective, and some of those founder skins looked really good. Imagine a world where max level players are walking around in cash shop armor, with cash shop weapons, with cash shop mounts, and cash shop pets, and cash shop houses, with cash shop freeholds, with cash shop titles.
I just don't want to see cool looking players with legendary armor and weapons being outshined by the low level players in comparably cool looking costumes.
What would really really suck is if I found a cash shop costume that I liked more than my own gear that I worked really hard for.
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They'd have to lie at the very minimum. The only real way they could take a 180 is by putting founder skins into the game which they said they wouldn't. And I'm not saying they should.
I'm more wondering if they'll put a decent amount of effort into balancing it. Like if there is a single cosmetic in the cash shop that is more appealing than any legendary gear.
Like I know even myself I will just walk around in cash shop stuff if I like how it looks more than my own gear. I'd just be sad to see everyone doing that to the point I can't even tell what a legendary item looks like compared to a cash shop item.
Well they said the really good stuff like legendaries that you earn in game WILL look better, not even just on par. And yeah exactly what you said, that is a real challenge.
I'm okay with there not being visual progression as long as the game is fun but just food for thought you know.
Players could always just shit on anyone who has a store-bought cosmetic instead of an earned one. It's toxic as hell and wouldn't really change anything, but it might deter some people from wearing them.
My problem is just not even knowing its a cash shop cosmetic. Like if I'm not browsing through the shop I just wouldn't even know. If there was something that told other players it was from the cash shop in game I'd like that a lot.
Agreed
I'm gonna find a couple of looks I like and stick to those, no matter what gear I get.
I prefer my characters to have a signature look - similar to Superman, Batman and Gandalf.
Primarily, I just want to quickly have a uniquely reconizable outfit - and keep that forever.
Changing outfits is mostly for parties and events.
Especially when there’s an xmog system: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Appearance_slots
Yeah I assumed appearance just wouldn't really matter much in the game and that's fine if everything else they're working on turns out good.
If there are reskins than I'm totally happy with that. I just assumed when they said exclusive they meant that.
It's like going to a concert: You - as a member of the crowd - know about what to expect from the experience, and you get there at the same time as everyone else. However? Some people have really cool swag and outfits and jackets that have been customized or that you can tell they spent some money on. This doesn't mean they're any less/more of a fan, does it?
No. Some people just arrive from a background that provided them a chance to look better. Won't there be upper-classmen accompanying the Return? Won't there be people whose "backgrounds" might include coming from a royal court, or a pre-existing faction/group that held sway/influence on Sanctus?
They don't start with any inherent advantage - they just look better than you do. You should be able to play and progress and it'll be cool to see how your looted/reward gear will grow and change and evolve as you reach higher levels - but you shouldn't be able to enforce this for other players.
I'd rather see your armor/outfit creation, rather than whatever default-colored mis-match of armor lies underneath.
The problem is that paying real money to look good isn't interesting. If every character I see looks like the main character than I just won't care what anyone looks like anymore. If everyone looks special no one looks special. And I think that takes away from people who actually earn cool looking gear through their achievements in the world.
All I see on their shop is them saying the cosmetics are only available through the monthly packs. I don't see where they say reskins will be available.
Sorry if that was misleading, I meant to say that IF reskins are available in-game which I think is what will happen, it will likely be impossible to replicate 100%, likely with a unique color or some small detail that is otherwise unavailable. Thus, they were never lying and they also let players get their MTX fix for free through in-game efforts rather than paying real money.
I'm alright with that, I just don't want the cash shop to be the end game for vanity items.
But the reality is that it's 2022 and cosmetic shops are a huge part of the revenue of videogames.
Without it modern games cant meet the budgets.
If somebody is up to the task let them make their own beautiful mmo, with deep gameplay, good balance and variety and on top of it, true visual progression and no gear skins. The rest is pointless talk.
Looks are subjective.
There is other forms of displaying achievements.
Displaying? I don't think so. Displaying is inherently visual. I'm including titles and everything when I say that. The real money cosmetics include like every visual aspect of the game.
What in the world are you talking about? Have you played MMO's before?
What about 2 years in, when there's been time for people to flesh out characters? Will everyone's customization and "main character"-ness be too much for you to handle?
Why care about where someone you've never met before and never heard of and may never come across again obtained what they are using for their appearance set of gear?
Yours truly has never understood the concern expressed by posts like these. In short, I guess I just feel like you're too concerned about what other people are wearing. There'll be a cash shop - it will exist. If you really, REALLY want to, you can spend time memorizing which fabric texture/coloring-scheme drops of a certain style of gear come from low, medium, and high-end raid bosses, and which ones came from the cash shop. At the end of the day, though?
What's it matter?
It's not that it's bad it's just you can't have everything at once.
If everyone can look cool, than looking cool doesn't mean very much.
If not everyone can look cool, than people who look cool matter more.
There's a reason not everyone gets legendary armor and weapons, the exclusivity makes them more valuable.
However, the separation of ‘looking awesome’ and ‘being awesome’ is a core economic driver to sell you more ‘awesome looking’ visuals. The irony being the more you chase ‘looking awesome’ the less and less you focus on ‘being awesome.’
Interesting people don’t buy distressed jeans. Their jeans are torn because they do interesting things. If I want to make a buck, I just tap into a person who wants to be perceived as interesting, but isn’t interested in being what they want to be perceived as.
That separation is where you get ridiculous phrases like ‘visual progression.’
I get where you at coming from but at the end of the day its cosmetic. If they don't have actual high-level geears then they can get their ass kicked while looking good. Also from what I've seen they've been tunning down the epicness of these cosmetic
Well actual visual progression is literally just how your gear looks from level 1-50 and then from rare-legendary gear. Like that is a very real thing. Visual progression is a way to display power progression, they go hand in hand.