Guild Wars 2

LOTR which did F2P best and has the best cosmetics system in a game so far, did it correctly, you get 2 armor layouts, one for cosmetics and one for stats(check it out and bring it to this game.

Also the fact you can’t wear them in combat is the dumbest decision i have seen from this game so far(no cosmetics in pvp and wvw is fine, lotro made it that way actually so you could tell classes apart) Who cares if people are using cosmetics in pve? it does not affect the game at all.

Did they learn nothing from lotro, tf2, dota 2 etc They all have cosmetic systems that can use items in combat, tf2 and dota 2 have amazing trading systems and make so much money they have made dota 2 F2P. I have spent real money on all 3 of those games. I have no desire to spend anymore real money on anything in this one.

+1, I definitely agree.

Reminds me of my days playing perfect world as a giant wolf in a suit, and it was definitely way more incentive for me to actually buy gems. As it stands right now, I have no interest in buying town clothes. Im also tired of seeing every medium armor class running around in the exact same armor as me because its one of the few that look good. In a game that is mostly cosmetic based after lv 80, limiting the cosmetic choices a player can make is very counter-intuitive

just my 0.02

yes but the only issue with the LoTR system is that they don’t charge you to change your appearance.

True, for the players the system is the best I have seen for customization (they do not even have limitations based Light/Medium/Heavy) but for making money it lack…

oh wait, they could have mirrored LoTRs system but required a transmute stone to place items in the appearance slot.

I am not 100% sure why ANet went with the current appearance system. It is not original, I’ve seen it in other FTP games, it is more limiting, and very irritating that social clothing actually looks better than a lot of the gear in this game to me.

I think tonics should grant you the critter abilities. I’m sure some guild would find a boss that was easy to kill as moas or boars but tonics would be more useful then.

The double-armor system would definitely be superior.

Would like to hear ANet’s response to it, what’s with all the transmutation stones (especially at level 80) and the Gem Store…

I mean, it’s not a big deal, I know you want profit to keep the game going – but surely this can be done with double-armor system as well? Make the “cosmetic” slots unlockable with gems or whatever.

There are many good ideas in LOTRO that could be adapted for GW2, and the outfit system is certainly one of them.

I would love to have cosmetic items show while in zones other than the main cities. I mean, how cool would it be to smash your opponents with a sword while dressed in a chef outfit?

Looking at the whole design of how there is a grand emphasis on appearance (armor, weapon) and the amount of time/effort to acquire special gear, they most likely will not allow cosmetic items to be allowed in non-city settings or else the motivation of acquiring special-looking gear would decrease.

Another option that might work is to allow you to default to displaying your “town clothes” any time you are not in combat and automatically switch to armor as soon as you enter combat. When you leave combat it toggles back to your town clothes.

Of course, you could also set it to display your armor all the time.

LOTRO’s cosmetic system is pretty brilliant. Instead of binding a skin to your armor, it simply temporarily displays over your armor skin if you choose. You get a couple of free cosmetic display slots and if you want more, you just buy more from the store. They also sell cosmetic wardrobes to store all the outfits you’re not wearing.

The transmutation idea in GW2 feels like another heavy-handed approach to pushing the cash shop. I completely understand that the cash shop is a major source of income post-game sale, but the corralling towards it could be a little less obvious and could use a little less cattle-prod.

Selling outfit slots instead of perma-binding a skin to another would give players more freedom and flexibility which in turn makes people happier. The option to have more sets to swap to for purchase allows Anet to make money off of this, which makes Anet/NCSoft happy.

I think the transmutation stones are actually brilliantly done, the way you can choose either pieces look, stats, AND rune. And as some of you have pointed out they are a way for ANet to make some money, which they need and deserve for their work already and continuously being put into the game.

That said, I think they could have combined their current system with that of lotro’s and allowed permanently unlocking armor skins, similar to the dye system. This UI panel could take the place of the town cloths tab, cause seriously who wears those when it takes away your ability to use skills to help you move faster in the town.