Guild Wars 2

‘I could really use this piece … oh wait … forgot it’s just an outfit!’

With the exception of some super hero games Guild Wars 2 definetly has one of the most powerful armor customization systems in the market. So it’s even more of a shame that the recent updates to the gemstore were just complete outfits with non-interchangeable pieces.

Come on ANet … first you introduce this amazing skin system that has us customize our character’s armor to a degree what hopefully becomes the industry’s standard and then you release some of the most amazing pieces of the game as stupid outfits?

If I wanted to dress like everyone else I would roll a dark skinned female human thief with one of those neon coloured flower hairstyles and put the tier 3 cultural chestpiece on.

If the outfits were armor skins I would’ve already spent 30-40$ or more on them. Since they’re completely useless to create an individual style I bought none to this day.

The way I see it outfits have two advantages over individual skins:
- no clipping (tremendous job btw: http://dulfy.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/gw2-ceremonial-plated-outfit-41.jpg)
- no transmutation required/easy to change

On the other hand:
- the only heavy issue with clipping would be a combination between the medium coats and leg pieces which are larger than the tight pants normally found in the medium armor category

Some suggestions for a solution:
- every outfit comes as an armor set as well (don’t care if it’s one or two seperate products in the gemstore)
- is there a way to restrict certain armor combinations? like restricting the leg piece from the ceremonial plated armor from being used with a medium coat but still being usable with the 3 medium shirts? Probably too complicated but still worth a thought
- release 3 slightly different versions for every armor type with every outfit to reduce the risk clipping without putting out 3 completely different armor sets (e.g.: medium version of ceremonial leg piece could be a much smaller pair of trousers with some of the metal ornaments on it)

I would really apreciate to see more armor sets in the future. It’s really frustrating to see awesome outfits that I can’t make any use of.

And while we are at it: more medium shirts (thanks for the glorious armor piece!!) and more heavy and light trousers would be awesome! And bring back the tribal armor!

Thank you for your attention! :*

Just wanted to add that I will NEVER buy an outfit, but have purchased several armor sets. I have no desire to look like everyone else in the game so my purchasing habits will NOT change.

If you want my Gems, make more armor sets (that are decent).

I actually buy many outfits but never armor piece. So I guess everyone is different.

I was checking the designed of the new outfits, and there dont’ seem to be a shoulder and head. The dress seemed to cover both chest and pants area so I’m not sure how to seperate those. And probably some clipping issue if they are seperated.

That being said if it is possible to make some of the outfits in to armor pieces, it’s probably not a bad idea.

Agreed with OP.

I bought the Medium Aetherblade Armor because it fit my steampunk concept for my Asura engineer, but only because I could still wear my monocle with it. The monocle was the inspiration for the look. If it had been an outfit, I would have skipped it entirely.

I did not buy the Raiment of the Lich because I can not turn off the shoulders nor dye the majority of the outfit. If it had been released as an armor set, ANet would have another ten of my dollars right now.

There’s been a lack of set armors lately, and that’s kinda sad.
I’m glad for outfits because of the quick change and simplicity, but when I want my “final look,” I’d still like to have options.

Those options include not having a longcoat for medium armor. -_-

I buy and use most outfits. It’s something I can use to change my look without the use of transmutation charges and then change back again for free when I’m tired of it. They fill a niche that armor doesn’t go into.

Perhaps it’s because I played only Guild Wars 1 previously. They had an almost identical setup with costumes. Except for helms, they weren’t modular. It was something you put on or off as one piece. They brought over the same system to this game.

Here is a link to the Guild Wars 1 costumes. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Costume
So far they’ve brought over the Lich costume and aspects of the Lunatic court costume.

Astral Projections.7320:

I buy and use most outfits. It’s something I can use to change my look without the use of transmutation charges and then change back again for free when I’m tired of it. They fill a niche that armor doesn’t go into.

So, in the best of all worlds, we’d be able to buy the skin as either an armor set or costume.

Advantage of buying the armor set would be more customization at the expense of requiring transmutation stones and more complicated use.

Advantage of the costume set would be ease of use and frequency of use without additional cost at the expense of customization.

About clipping… Yes, it sucks, but I’d still rather have a chance to mix and match with potential clipping than no options at all.

If ANet released these as armors, but with a disclaimer (“designed to not clip with itself; mix and match at your own risk!”) I WOULD uy the majority of the armors.

And I have bpught 800gem armor sets befoe just to get the gloves, or just for the shoulders….

Gibson.4036:

Astral Projections.7320:

I buy and use most outfits. It’s something I can use to change my look without the use of transmutation charges and then change back again for free when I’m tired of it. They fill a niche that armor doesn’t go into.

So, in the best of all worlds, we’d be able to buy the skin as either an armor set or costume.

Advantage of buying the armor set would be more customization at the expense of requiring transmutation stones and more complicated use.

Advantage of the costume set would be ease of use and frequency of use without additional cost at the expense of customization.

Indeed, you’re right about that. But it might not be feasible for reasons of cost or technical problems

Here is what Curtis Johnson had to say about why they choose this system.
Source (page 18).
“We do understand and sincerely apologize that there are creative combinations of town clothes that will not exist anymore. Many have asked why remove town clothes as a concept. It boils down to we believe better armor skinning and the outfit system is something we can add more options to more often and will produce a better supported RP game for everyone with more variety in the future. In short, a healthier game.

To expand more on what I mean by better support, It helps if you think of town clothes as a 4th weight class of armor. Clothing was meant to offer visual options that break the class roles, however we were never completely happy with the way it was isolated from the rest of the game and still felt largely the same. Many pieces could have easily been mistaken for light or medium armor. In many ways it was more akin to building an alt character because town-clothes and armor were so separated. Additionally, every time we added something to town-clothes, it didn’t really help someone building their light, medium, or heavy look. And there was no way to add combat gear fairly without creating 3 versions on the back end (light, medium, and heavy). As a customization platform and sustainable expansion design it left a lot to be desired.

When we started looking at bringing more of the clothing back into armor with mix and match styles there are some fundamental incompatible things between weight classes. (part of how we set up every armor to allow many dye channels and styles per piece).. There really is no way at this point over six years since we started development to make absolutely everything work together. So we needed something new to continue to grow in the future.

Outfits give us a way to create highly stylized looks that aren’t constrained to armor slots or weight class. In addition to armor skins that are easier and cheaper to collect across characters and the account dye system we do believe the options across a players whole account are much more attractive now. You’ll see more outfits coming out this summer and additions to the game more often usable by your characters. We try not to allow too much ‘hoarder’ design where we just keep stacking more and more options on leaving lots of unsupported things hanging around. Yes, we do have to give up some of our current closet space and clothing to fit the new wardrobe in. Again, apologies for that.
As always we ask you to try out the new system of customization and see what’s available to you. I think many people will be surprised by how many pieces have become armor compatible. We hope the benefits to the outfit system and wardrobe in terms of future support and additions will be clear, and you can look forward to more new outfits coming very soon."

I don’t expect the existing outfits to be made available as armor skins. I understand the technical limitations there. And in fact I don’t have a problem with outfits being sold at all. They have their uses.

My main gripe is that outfits seem to have entirely replaced armor sets. We haven’t seen a new armor set in the gemstore since April. They have added the Glorious armor as a PVP reward (which is great), but that’s it. I’m assuming (hoping) that this is just temporary and that they’re planning to add more armor sets later, preferably ones that are obtainable in-game. If not, people will continue to complain, and for good reason.

I like both Outfits and Armor Sets. Both have their uses. I would like more armor sets in the Gem Store, though.

Arenanet should ditch armors and go purely to outfits. OBVIOUSLY allow ways for players to get certain outfits from non cash shop sources (cash shop only outfits and content only outfits aka no gems involved0. Or just take the blade and soul route with respect to outfits only and completely ditch armor.

Outfits allow for my creativity in design compared to having to make sure each armor pieces fits and blah blah and might lead to less clipping.

I suspect a lot of players are going to be angry if they do that, but when are players ever happy about anything even something positive.

silvermember.8941:

Arenanet should ditch armors and go purely to outfits. OBVIOUSLY allow ways for players to get certain outfits from non cash shop sources (cash shop only outfits and content only outfits aka no gems involved0. Or just take the blade and soul route with respect to outfits only and completely ditch armor.

Outfits allow for my creativity in design compared to having to make sure each armor pieces fits and blah blah and might lead to less clipping.

I suspect a lot of players are going to be angry if they do that, but when are players ever happy about anything even something positive.

Good point! No one was happy when the wardrobe was released. Players hate character customization and would prefer not to spend gems on new armor sets (one for each weight class!) and transmutation charges for future applications.

silvermember.8941:

Outfits allow for my creativity in design compared to having to make sure each armor pieces fits and blah blah and might lead to less clipping.

Who needs variety when we can all wear tracksuits. I could finally unleash my creativity when choosing between all dem’ screamin’ colors and brands of white sneakers.

Armani’s got nuttin’ on my fancy neon orange Reebok. #schweg

I also will never buy an outfit, I value customization. I get that some people like the ability to just “throw on” an outfit without needing to transmute, so I don’t think the feature should be eliminated completely, but they should fix it by:

1. Making it so that when you buy an Outfit, you receive the Outfit but also unlock the full skin in pieces that you can transmute onto any existing armor as you see fit. They’ve expressed that the outfit torsos might not be compatible with all types of armors due to the way they are skinned and link up with the legs, but the easy solution there is to cause the torso to override the legs in these cases, as the CoF armors do.

2. Make it so that you can buy a “blank outfit” from the gem store, one that you can imprint with whatever you have on when you activate it and it remembers that armor combination. This allows you to put on several different looks, and then store them on your account as outfits, allowing you to switch between them without spending transmutation charges (though of course establishing each one would cost about as much as buying six charges).

Agreed – however outfits are the “easy” way out and that’s the one they seem to be favoring during this period.

I dislike outfits – there are parts of certain outfits that would go really well with my armor – the ceremonial helm would be awesome on my character but unfortunately that’s not how outfits work.

I’m also pretty disappointed with the flow of new armor sets into the game ( even if it’s just the gem store) in general.

In a cosmetically driven game I find it really weird that they don’t really release new armor sets as often as you’d think.

Plus – fans – including myself have been practically begging for GW1 armor to be added to this game and so far – nothing.

Same here not be able to use individual parts prevent me from buing outfits. Thins thing must go out of the game and all outfits needs to be changed into regular skins

The last armor sets were released even before we got the wardrobe i think .. its really
time for some new sets

Remember that the last two sets, I think, had their own torch and pitchfork moments. First was the modified Human Cultural Light Armor for Flamekissed and then their was the Zodiac which had some taste questions and in turn a small tweak caused blow back from players who already had it.

They can’t win from losing. Throw in complaints about clipping caused by mixing armors and Charr tails, armor is a lot more of a hassle than an outfit.

Rampart Strider and Incarnate armor were the last sets i think.

http://dulfy.net/2014/04/15/gw2-rampart-strider-and-incarnate-armor-skins/

The only good thing about outfits is that it’s easier to level not worrying about your look. Just slap on some masterwork pieces and keep going. Beyond that though, once I hit 80 I want to customize my look with full gear.

What I’d prefer to see is anet start designing and selling single pieces of armor. Instead of a whole set, put out a coat or leggings. Make them with the intent of mix and matching, and work off of existing sets to promote the customization we all want. Like the medium magitech leggings. They look great, but have very few options.

Sell quality single pieces for 300-400 gems designed for mix and match, and make more money for less work.

Freeelancer.2860:

silvermember.8941:

Outfits allow for my creativity in design compared to having to make sure each armor pieces fits and blah blah and might lead to less clipping.

Who needs variety when we can all wear tracksuits. I could finally unleash my creativity when choosing between all dem’ screamin’ colors and brands of white sneakers.

Armani’s got nuttin’ on my fancy neon orange Reebok. #schweg

Except that most people end up with the same look. Then people spend hours writing essays on how clipping is terrible.

Also illusion of choice is not really a choice.

Behellagh.1468:

Remember that the last two sets, I think, had their own torch and pitchfork moments. First was the modified Human Cultural Light Armor for Flamekissed and then their was the Zodiac which had some taste questions and in turn a small tweak caused blow back from players who already had it.

They can’t win from losing. Throw in complaints about clipping caused by mixing armors and Charr tails, armor is a lot more of a hassle than an outfit.

I keep hearing this “They can’t win, so why bother” argument, but they obviously can win, and the wardrobe is proof. People loved it and I frequently see it cited as one of the best additions to the game since release. Why? Because players love customizing their looks. The wardrobe was also good from a profit standpoint, since 1) it gave players an incentive to collect tons of skins (which means more people playing the game to earn gold/items, not to mention more people buying skins from the gemstore), and 2) it provided a necessary platform for the implementation of collections since it made collecting skins much easier and more feasible. The wardrobe was added because, despite the hassle and resources involved, it was important for the game’s longevity. And the same is true of new armor sets.

Outfits allow more skins to be added more frequently

Unfortunately, for me, that means fewer available skins. 1. I have a hard time justifying the expense of 700 to 800 gems for a short term novelty item, but not for something I can incorporate into my final look for a character. 2. The lack of customization means I have to enjoy the entire design, which isn’t the case for any set in the game. I purchased Aetherblade Medium because I could still wear the Panscopic Monocle. I would have bought Raiment of the Lich if it had more dye channels, and more importantly allowed me to turn off or replace the shoulders.

I realize this may not be true for other players, and they may enjoy more frequent one-size-fits-all outfits. ArenaNet has, however, lost some income they might otherwise have gotten from me if these looks had been made as armor skins.

Clipping

I have a really hard time understanding why people are so bothered by the clipping in a game where people can clip their entire characters through each other due to lack of collision detection.

Sure, there are a few instances of really bizarre clipping, but for the most part I find them easily ignorable. Then again, I don’t play any Charr characters.

I’d rather have a lot more variety and customization, and have it be up to the player to find pieces that work together rather than make us safe from the horrors of clipping by adding cookie cutter outfits into the game.

silvermember.8941:

Freeelancer.2860:

silvermember.8941:

Outfits allow for my creativity in design compared to having to make sure each armor pieces fits and blah blah and might lead to less clipping.

Who needs variety when we can all wear tracksuits. I could finally unleash my creativity when choosing between all dem’ screamin’ colors and brands of white sneakers.

Armani’s got nuttin’ on my fancy neon orange Reebok. #schweg

Except that most people end up with the same look. Then people spend hours writing essays on how clipping is terrible.

Also illusion of choice is not really a choice.

I don’t really care about most people and their lack of imagination/style/time/care or whatever else is preventing them from tailoring their custom looks.
I’ve been regularly complemented on my ensembles, and I’ve seen some pretty awesome works of imagination both ingame and on forums.. None of that would be possible if we all wore uniforms.

One set with 4 color scheme has allot less variety (and thus opportunity for expressing creativity) then 6 armor parts each with 1-4 color choices. I don’t think you need a math or art degree to figure that one out.

Actually I love the outfit concept. It’s very cool and I don’t have to fudge around with my armors and skinning.

I bought my first outfit last night (hexed). Honestly it’s the first time I even explored the feature. I like it so much I’m actually considering buying some off the gem store (gasp).

Shanks.2907:

What I’d prefer to see is anet start designing and selling single pieces of armor. Instead of a whole set, put out a coat or leggings. Make them with the intent of mix and matching, and work off of existing sets to promote the customization we all want. Like the medium magitech leggings. They look great, but have very few options.

Sell quality single pieces for 300-400 gems designed for mix and match, and make more money for less work.

They have (the Lawless stuff), and people complained about that as well.

I started off playing this game thoroughly impressed with the customization available, from dying to transmuting so seeing two people wearing the EXACT same things was almost an impossibility. As of late though the outfits have just been a huge disappointment. I’ve bought a few armor skins since launch and it was nice because I could substitute other items if they looked better than what the armor skin came with. These outfits though, I’m just not ever going to buy any of them. Starting off not being limited to all or nothing when it came to the skins doesn’t make these outfits appealing in the least. I don’t want to be forced to wear the whole thing if I only like the chest or legs or something. And yes, some of the older skins were impressive enough that I bought the whole thing just for one piece.

Hyper Cutter.9376:

Shanks.2907:

What I’d prefer to see is anet start designing and selling single pieces of armor. Instead of a whole set, put out a coat or leggings. Make them with the intent of mix and matching, and work off of existing sets to promote the customization we all want. Like the medium magitech leggings. They look great, but have very few options.

Sell quality single pieces for 300-400 gems designed for mix and match, and make more money for less work.

They have (the Lawless stuff), and people complained about that as well.

That’s because the Lawless items look offensively weird, because there is absolutely no context for them in guild wars. So iirc, everybody’s reaction was, “What IS that and WHY”, a lot more than outrage over missing pants.

The toxic shoulders and gloves were also released as individual parts and I recall no outrage. In fact, looking around in PvE, they appear to be quite popular. I see them frequently as parts of matched ensembles.

I have yet to see ANY player with a Lawless helmet/gloves/boots.

Shanks.2907:

The only good thing about outfits is that it’s easier to level not worrying about your look. Just slap on some masterwork pieces and keep going. Beyond that though, once I hit 80 I want to customize my look with full gear.

Rather than having uniforms, I’d much rather see an “Outfit Template” item where you can save your current mix-n-match armor as an outfit. Buy as many templates as you want alternate looks.

Flexibility of mix-n-match, convenience of outfits.

What I’d prefer to see is anet start designing and selling single pieces of armor. Instead of a whole set, put out a coat or leggings. Make them with the intent of mix and matching, and work off of existing sets to promote the customization we all want. Like the medium magitech leggings. They look great, but have very few options.

Sell quality single pieces for 300-400 gems designed for mix and match, and make more money for less work.

They’ve been doing that with the Scarlet (helmet, shoulders, gloves), Toxic (shoulders, gloves), and Outlaw (helmet, shoulders, gloves, and boots) pieces. I’m not a fan of being charged 1/2 the price of a full set for 1/6th the work, but to each their own.

Hyper Cutter.9376:

Shanks.2907:

Sell quality single pieces for 300-400 gems designed for mix and match, and make more money for less work.

They have (the Lawless stuff), and people complained about that as well.

They should release chest and leg armor instead as single pieces .. since that is what
at least i mainly use.

Bought for example Atherblade Heavy 2 times before the wardrobe just because of
the legs. And Brahams heavy also 2 times just for the chest piece.

I would also buy Rainment of the Lich or the Noble Outfit just for the chest piece,
also maybe the Ninja Outfit .. however i don’t really like the leg parts, so no way.

Beldin.5498:

Hyper Cutter.9376:

Shanks.2907:

Sell quality single pieces for 300-400 gems designed for mix and match, and make more money for less work.

They have (the Lawless stuff), and people complained about that as well.

They should release chest and leg armor instead as single pieces .. since that is what
at least i mainly use.

Bought for example Atherblade Heavy 2 times before the wardrobe just because of
the legs. And Brahams heavy also 2 times just for the chest piece.

I would also buy Rainment of the Lich or the Noble Outfit just for the chest piece,
also maybe the Ninja Outfit .. however i don’t really like the leg parts, so no way.

I’m in a similar situation with the ceremonial plated outfit. I really love the shoulders, gloves, boots and helmet for my guardian, don’t particularly love the pants, but I’d use them as well, but the chest piece with the fluffy sleeves and that thing around the neck are deal breakers for me. If I could replace the chest armor for another one, I’d have bought it right away when it was released. As it is, no thanks.

So it looks like they’re adding Assassin’s Creed armor to the game (to celebrate Unity coming out perhaps), but it’s another accursed “outfit.” Please guys, please take the time to figure out how to release these things as full armor sets too.

Totally agree! I would LOVE to see more actual armor sets added since we have barely got anything new except the new PvP ones and the currently added one of the Living Story, but that’s it!
We would like to see mooore armors!
I’ve been suggested this armor(s) like a million time already, but please add this mesmerish dress already!!!
And the beautiful hairstyle of the first picture too...!

The only outfit I’ve bought to date was the Cook’s Outfit. Why? Because Sylvari have a serious dearth of plant-style armor.

This. /15chars

Let`s see… =D

Outfits that I`ve bought:
Witch`s Outfit

Armor Skins that I`ve bought:
Aetherblade Medium Armor Skin
Braham’s Heavy Armor Skin
Incarnate Light Armor Skin
Krytan Medium Armor Skin
Magitech Medium Armor Skin
Phalanx Heavy-Armor Skin
Phoenix Light Armor Skin
Profane Light Armor Skin
Strider’s Medium Armor Skin
Trickster’s Light-Armor Skin
Viper’s Medium-Armor Skin

I love mix and match armor parts… so the outfits are not really interesting for me. And I know a lot people that actually feel the same. Only positive thing is, that I didn`t spend money on skins since half a year… =D (When have the last armor skins been released in Gemstore? Something around April?)

(And I pray, if Anise`s Armor will make it one day to gemstore, it will be an armor-set again. ~~)

If it wouldnt be for the darn TAILCLIPPING that many armour sets have on Charr… Then I would have got far more. They are doing a nice job om some outfits for charr… if they could just do a habit of doing it on every single armour as well – THAT would make me incredibly happy!