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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

The Problem: I am the type of player who really enjoys collecting things in games, especially MMOs. After taking a look at the PvP Lockers I was excited at how easy it was to collect and organize all of your skins. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent for PvE so collecting skins is much more difficult. There is no good way to organize your skin collection, it eats up a TON of bank space, and you lose a skin every single time you transmute an item. Simply adding new PvE collection tabs for the various weapons/armor like in PvP could work, but I have a better idea.

The Solution: Skin Extractor Kits and a Skin Vendor. The Skin Extractor Kits would be purchased with gems, obtained from Black Lion Chests, or earned from daily/monthly achievements much in the same way as other items such as the Black Lion Salvage Kits. This special extractor kit would let you save the skin from an item for your character. So what happens when you save a skin? That’s what the Skin Vendor is for.
EDIT: Alternately, as stated below, the “Skin Extractor” could be a “Skin Salvage Kit” that destroys the item in the process so you can’t simply use an extractor then sell/salvage the armor or something to earn money off it after taking the skin.

The Skin Vendor (who could be located in your home instance, since we need more reasons to visit these) would simply give you free items with the skins that you have unlocked (similar to the Hall of Monuments vendor). These items would have no stats, just a generic item for the skin only. You could get any number of these (which would be soulbound, have no value, and be unable to be forged) and use a transmutation stone to apply the skin to any item you wanted.

Why This Works: Collectors are able to then have a good way to collect skins without too much hassle. They are automatically stored once extracted so no need to fill up the entire bank. You don’t lose a skin every time you want to use another one, so you can swap skins without worrying about losing one you like.

This also increases the amount of money to ArenaNet in two ways as well. People will be more likely to use transmutation stones (which are still required for the items from the Skin Vendor) to change their appearance knowing they are not losing any skins. In addition the collectors who want this convenience will pay for the Extractor Kits as well.

Example: I purchase the full Citadel of Flame armor set. I purchase a Skin Extractor from the Gem Store. I use the Skin Extractor on each piece of the Citadel of Flame armor set. I then purchase the full Arah armor set and use a Skin Extractor on each piece.

Now I go to my home instance and find the Skin Vendor. He now has a full set of Citadel of Flame and a full set of Arah items with no stats. I can “purchase” (for free) these items. I buy the Arah head piece. I then use a transmutation stone to transmute the skin from the no-stats skin item onto my current exotic head piece. Later on I decide I want to change my looks so I go back to this vendor and “purchase” the Citadel of Flame head piece. I then use a transmutation stone to transmute that onto the same headpiece as before, replacing my Arah appearance with the Citadel of Flame appearance. Since the Arah headpiece skin is still saved I don’t have to worry that transmuting over it will replace it (which would force me to go run Arah for enough tokens to buy it all over again), I can just go back to the skin vendor and get another copy and then use another transmutation stone (again, more money for ANet here, more convenience for me).

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Since it is a concern of some people that gear/money is not removed from the system this way the “Skin Extractor” could instead be a “Skin Salvage Kit” that destroys the item to permanently save the skin for you instead.

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle

(edited by Svenn.5209)

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Posted by: Smelly Bookah.6957

Smelly Bookah.6957

1) A way to unlock a skin for use permanently. This could be a special item purchased for gems/from Black Lion Chests. When you use this item on a weapon/armor piece the skin is saved permanently for your character.

Thats definitely a great idea. I would love to see something like this implemented. I hate that by transmuting you destroy one of the items. I think your idea is great as it would allow A-Net to make more money and that would also please players who like collecting cosmetic stuff (like myself).

Now some people will probably come up with contrargument saying that there must be a gold sink, but thats not very valid argument. There are enough gold sinks already and earning money is very difficult.

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Posted by: Jazneo.8213

Jazneo.8213

there transmute stone you can buy in the cash shop to keep the skin and replace the stats on them

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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

there transmute stone you can buy in the cash shop to keep the skin and replace the stats on them

I know, and I even mentioned them in my post. The problem is not being able to use the skins, but storing them. I want to own all of the dungeon sets, for example. If I did, then my bank would be filled with just tons of sets of light armor and all of the different weapons. What I’m asking for is a way to save the skins for later use without wasting all of my bank space.

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle

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Posted by: Jazneo.8213

Jazneo.8213

there transmute stone you can buy in the cash shop to keep the skin and replace the stats on them

I know, and I even mentioned them in my post. The problem is not being able to use the skins, but storing them. I want to own all of the dungeon sets, for example. If I did, then my bank would be filled with just tons of sets of light armor and all of the different weapons. What I’m asking for is a way to save the skins for later use without wasting all of my bank space.

Then them cash shop item be useless. if they add that. they have to make money as well lol if they did that that hurt the cash shop item. They want you to spend money and replace your item with the transmute stone the reason the gem trade was made so you can be able replace your skins item without worry about using real money.

plus they making event with skin weapons you can use in the fashion slot

(edited by Jazneo.8213)

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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

there transmute stone you can buy in the cash shop to keep the skin and replace the stats on them

I know, and I even mentioned them in my post. The problem is not being able to use the skins, but storing them. I want to own all of the dungeon sets, for example. If I did, then my bank would be filled with just tons of sets of light armor and all of the different weapons. What I’m asking for is a way to save the skins for later use without wasting all of my bank space.

Then them cash shop item be useless. if they add that. they have to make money as well lol if they did that that hurt the cash shop item

I recommend that you re-read the original post. I addressed this issue. I suggested multiple ways to still require these transmutation stones and even another item to add to the gem shop so they can make money as well. If anything this would give them more ways to make money from the gem store. I’m not asking for anything for free (and in fact I’m saying I would spend even more money if this were implemented), I am just asking for an easier way to store and track these items.

From the original post:
“Since this is a cosmetic thing that is already monetized (via transmutation stones) you could keep these same methods so people can’t circumvent the monetization, like unlocking the skins for unlimited uses but still requiring transmutation stones to apply the skin to a weapon/armor piece.”

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle

(edited by Svenn.5209)

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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

I think this is even more relevant now with all the new Halloween skins to collect. I want a copy of each in case I want to use them, but again this takes up a lot of space to try and store these not to mention tracking which I have and not being able to swap between various skins without losing old skins.

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle

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Posted by: AresOnasis.4703

AresOnasis.4703

Hopefully this gets enough traction to where ArenaNet has to implement this. It’s a fantastic idea.

This is especially relevant considering they put a max on bank space, which doesn’t make sense at all.

Your faith is your weakness.

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Posted by: MithranArkanere.8957

MithranArkanere.8957

It’ll be nice if you could transmute Fine Tansmutation stones in the mystic forge into such items. Since one is unlikely to use more than 5 fine stones on an item, 5..10 would do as a base, then some other materials like philosopher stones, and din, you got your alternate method of acquisition for the skin extractors.

SUGGEST-A-TRON says:
PAY—ONCE—UNLOCKS—ARE—ALWAYS—BETTER.
No exceptions!

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Posted by: Munki.9452

Munki.9452

I really really hope Arena Net gives this serious consideration. It would be a HUGE improvement for the transmutation system.

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Posted by: OptimusPrimeisOP.7546

OptimusPrimeisOP.7546

I need this! It was the only reason why I played DCUO for as long as I did. I am even fine with taking a penalty on both sides (storing and withdrawing), as long as it isn’t too crazy.

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Posted by: fantomethetaru.3416

fantomethetaru.3416

I completely agree with this. Many times I have yearned to buy a full armor set (cultural, dungeon, order etc.) but held back because of how ridiculously expensive it would be if those armor sets do not have the stats for my build. Because then I’d have to buy another full set of rares or exotics to transmute over (which can get rather pricey).

As the above poster mention, DCUO is a perfect example of how to handle multiple equipment skins. DCUO seemed to have streamlined it even further by immediately unlocking, and making accessible, the skins that you have obtained, so that you can play around with it at any time without the extra step of going to a npc and re-buying the skin. I am all for having it to be cash shop related if that means ANet does something about it.

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Posted by: pazbi.7029

pazbi.7029

I totally agree with this approach, I have around 7 of my bank slots used up by all the quest and rare skin drops I’ve found during my game time. Its disheartening to think that if I want a different skin for a weapon I have to permanently destroy the previous one, especially when they are soulbound quest rewards and I know I can’t get them again.

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Posted by: Ganondorf.5230

Ganondorf.5230

I 100% support this. I’m only Level 58, but my bank space is already almost maxed out due to the skins I want to keep (and I only have the minimum bank space). I really hope they implement something like this in the near future.

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Posted by: Kaldo.4170

Kaldo.4170

I’d like this very much. It’s very convenient for players, profitable for ANet and generally a smart mechanic.

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Posted by: Bonefield.9813

Bonefield.9813

100% behind this idea. I love the idea of collecting armor skins, but the mechanics of it makes it hard to do. I would have a set of each of the gem store skins if I didn’t have to worry about storing them or accidentally vendoring the gear they’re on, but I only have one. And I’ve found myself planning out the one armor set I’m going to get for each of my characters, because having more than one would be expensive in terms of both in-game gold and storage space.

Please consider this, ArenaNet. It would solve so many problems.

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Posted by: The Red Blueblur.5083

The Red Blueblur.5083

I am fully behind this idea, or any implementation that would allow the saving of skins. Currently I own the T1 Charr cultural armor and will eventually be getting different armor. Not losing this completely would be amazing. As T1 isnt very costly, its not an issue in this case, but other armor can be very costly either gold wise or time wise running dungeons/collecting Karma. Bravo for the well thought out possible solution.

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Posted by: LaronX.8079

LaronX.8079

I like this idea. A-net can we have this please? There is no way ppl could exploit it. It is win win

Blub.

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Posted by: maniacshoter.7829

maniacshoter.7829

That’s a great suggestion , they could sell this extractors just like transmute stones and have a chance for them to also drop from blacklion chests and 100% map completions.
it’s really sad to have to sacrifice your set just for the skin , it would be very nice if they implement this in future updates.

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Posted by: Keahi.3620

Keahi.3620

I am 100% behind this idea, i love to change things up now and then but on my level 80 it means i either have to sacrifice my current skins or buy a new set entirely every time i want to change (with the new set actually being the cheapest option as of obtaining T3 cultural skins). If all that comes out of this is a gem store item to separate the skin from the item, i will be satisfied.

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Posted by: Zyfram Tyrjala.4561

Zyfram Tyrjala.4561

I’m a collector, and this would keep me playing for ages.

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Posted by: Daeron.5276

Daeron.5276

Agree, this is why im not collecting in pve right now

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Posted by: Illharess.6509

Illharess.6509

I’d love this, character-bound or otherwise.

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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

Added a small new tidbit. I had some people expressing concerns over being able to extract the skin from an item but not lose that item. Making the “Skin Extractor” a “Skin Salvage Kit” instead would destroy the item in the process of extracting the skin. This way you can’t simply extract every skin then sell/salvage the items.

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle

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Posted by: Awesome.6120

Awesome.6120

As long as tranny stones are still required I like the idea of a skin collection or “closet” that would let you swap to already acquired skins.

[SFD] – Maguuma

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Posted by: kuroioni.3147

kuroioni.3147

Love the idea! After all a lot of time is being focused in this game on acquiring new weapon/armour ‘looks’ so a good way to store and swap them is pretty much a must I’d say.
And this particular idea… well it’s really, REALLY good.

I would most definitely buy and use a lot of those skin extractors!

Anet, please consider this! m ( _ _ ) m

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Posted by: Sekacnap.3984

Sekacnap.3984

This is a fantastic idea and I would love to see something along these lines implemented. As it stands if you basically need to get multiples of everything if you want to switch between two skins on the same armor/weapon, which is very dangerous.

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Posted by: Xyrm.5602

Xyrm.5602

Yes, please! This is an awesome idea. I’ve already run into this problem after collecting the CoF and arah sets. I had a full CoF set with expensive runes (Divinity), but wanted the look of arah. Ultimately, I had to buy a second set of runes which set me back a LOT for gear stats I already had, when all I wanted was a new look.

Yes, I know, first world GW2 problems…

My Stealthy Thief:

http://tinyurl.com/adjw3ww

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Posted by: Jesseroo.8247

Jesseroo.8247

My main problem with using transmutation stones now is that if I cover up my current skin it’s lost, and I’d have to go through the trouble of getting that item all over again (for me, 40k karma is a lot just to reskin). So if I’m understanding this correctly, this doesn’t answer that problem. I would just end up destroying my exotic if I wanted to remove the skin.

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Posted by: Lunalot.8920

Lunalot.8920

I support this idea. I have multiple characters (and still plan on creating more), but the skins that I don’t have the heart to destroy are taking up so much space in my bank. And I bought quite a few additional bank tabs already.

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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

For reference:
Let’s assume you are collecting dungeon sets. There are 3 sets (Light, Medium, Heavy) of 6 pieces of armor per dungeon, plus about 19 weapons. That’s 37 bank slots per dungeon, times 8 dungeons is 296 bank slots if you want to store JUST the dungeon skins. A maxed out bank is only 240 bank slots, so you can’t even have 1 of every dungeon skin let alone karma, crafted, holiday skins, etc.

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle

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Posted by: Graendal.5496

Graendal.5496

This would be fantastic. It would enable players to customize their characters even more beyond the dye customization. Right now I’m having trouble deciding on which cultural/dungeon set or combination I want to get. If this system was just copied over from PvP I would be very happy.

Asura Mesmer – Graendal Kamarile
Balthazar’s Army [GWAM]

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Posted by: Cross.6437

Cross.6437

I could get behind this. I’m level 80 and I’ve never once used a transmutation stone for the simple reason that I didn’t want to continually destroy skins as I looted and crafted better equipment. It just seemed like such a waste. To counter that, I’m only going to buy one transmutation stone (for each piece of the set) after I’ve managed to create the best gear I can and find the skins I want.

But if I had a way of storing skins like collectables without loosing skins in the process, I’d be salvaging skins like crazy because I get more use out of the salvage. And if skin salvaging is gem-based, that means you’ll be getting more money from me.

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Posted by: Jdodge.4679

Jdodge.4679

This is well thought out. Big kudos. 10/10. Please implement, ANet.

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Posted by: Kyle.3856

Kyle.3856

Good idea but… How about a slight variation? Like a Skin bank?

You could go to the banker and choose to either deposit the weapon/armor turning it in to a skin-only or trade it with one already in the bank. You could make it use one of the in place currencies such as karma or even make the currency transmutation stones. This gets rid of the need for the skin extractor and simplifies it a bit.

Kyne
Free of Fate
Sanctum of Rall

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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

Good idea but… How about a slight variation? Like a Skin bank?

You could go to the banker and choose to either deposit the weapon/armor turning it in to a skin-only or trade it with one already in the bank. You could make it use one of the in place currencies such as karma or even make the currency transmutation stones. This gets rid of the need for the skin extractor and simplifies it a bit.

This actually requires quite a bit more implementation on ArenaNet’s end (and thus less likely to happen). One of the reasons I chose this method was because it uses systems already in place in the game: the HoM vendor setup, the normal transmutation stones, etc. None of it is a large system to implement, just the new skin salvage kit and adding the blank items with each skin.

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle

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Posted by: Kyle.3856

Kyle.3856

I’m not sure exactly how they have the HoM configured but I would think that there would have to be some flags or a variable associated with the account for each level of HoM you achieved on your character. The HoM vendor then sells those particular items.

The easiest way to do your idea then would be to create a list of all weapon skins and have the vendor sell them. But if you did it that way it would be hard to distinguish what that person already has and its not clean. Then you would have to have a variable of whether or not that skin (and all others) has been obtained. The HoM vendor is not the same thing and this would require some implementation either way.

Kyne
Free of Fate
Sanctum of Rall

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Posted by: Shadow of Time.3126

Shadow of Time.3126

Though I am not much of a skin collector, I find this idea brilliant. The forums need more constructive ideas like this. And with this implemented I might even pay just for the skin extractor!

The closer you get to the light, the bigger your shadow grows…

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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

I’m not sure exactly how they have the HoM configured but I would think that there would have to be some flags or a variable associated with the account for each level of HoM you achieved on your character. The HoM vendor then sells those particular items.

The easiest way to do your idea then would be to create a list of all weapon skins and have the vendor sell them. But if you did it that way it would be hard to distinguish what that person already has and its not clean. Then you would have to have a variable of whether or not that skin (and all others) has been obtained. The HoM vendor is not the same thing and this would require some implementation either way.

You are right, my method is not 100% free and easy to implement. It would still take some time. I don’t know what their code looks like, but it shouldn’t be hard to simply have a flag for each set to know whether that character has unlocked it yet.

It’s still more simple than designing a brand new interface and/or a new method of interaction to swap skins on an item I would think.

Either way, I’d be happy with pretty much any implementation that lets me save and store skins for repeated use.

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle

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Posted by: Kalendel.5406

Kalendel.5406

I had to log in just to add my support for this idea. I love collecting skins and whatnot. Once WoW added the transmutation ability, I ran around in my tier 2 set all the time. I very much like the idea of a scavenging kit so the original item is destroyed just for the skin. I’d venture so far as to say you’d get no crafting materials from it as well so that it’s understood you are ONLY going to get the skin and there would be no abuse of the rares mats or ectos (God only knows that it would be discovered whether it was more profitable or not to use that kit in general).

ANet, this is a very valid suggestion, much more so than all the “I’ll quit if you don’t give me my Halloween skin” complaints.

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Posted by: Pay.8713

Pay.8713

This would be amazing and would actually encourage use of the gem store since you’d be more likely to transmute items if they were readily accessible (as well as the use of an item to first add it).

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Posted by: Kyle.3856

Kyle.3856

I’m not sure exactly how they have the HoM configured but I would think that there would have to be some flags or a variable associated with the account for each level of HoM you achieved on your character. The HoM vendor then sells those particular items.

The easiest way to do your idea then would be to create a list of all weapon skins and have the vendor sell them. But if you did it that way it would be hard to distinguish what that person already has and its not clean. Then you would have to have a variable of whether or not that skin (and all others) has been obtained. The HoM vendor is not the same thing and this would require some implementation either way.

You are right, my method is not 100% free and easy to implement. It would still take some time. I don’t know what their code looks like, but it shouldn’t be hard to simply have a flag for each set to know whether that character has unlocked it yet.

It’s still more simple than designing a brand new interface and/or a new method of interaction to swap skins on an item I would think.

Either way, I’d be happy with pretty much any implementation that lets me save and store skins for repeated use.

An interface is easy though… its the stuff behind the scenes that’s more likely to have complications. Anet will take its time with whatever method they think is best anyways regardless of simplicity. They really just need to know that the desire/need is there. Either way though, it will probably be awhile before we see anything along these lines.

Great idea though.

Kyne
Free of Fate
Sanctum of Rall

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Posted by: Strifey.7215

Strifey.7215

Very good idea for the skin salvage kits.

That way you still need to use transmutation stones, you still have to acquire (and lose) the item once, but you can freely use skins on alts or if you want to change around skins every so often.

This also remedies my issues with legendaries and the fact that you spend 100s of hours to acquire an item that can only be used on one of your characters.

I would be 1000x more likely to grind for skins or use mats on skins if I knew I could use it in the future on other characters or switch back to it without wasting bank slots. That’s the reason I’m not bothering with some of the named exotics, because I don’t want 10 different weapons and armor sitting in my bank and only being allowed to be used for one character. No one who is getting expensive named exotics or legendaries is doing it for the stats, it’s all for the skins.

Guard/War/Mesmer and Dungeon Guides:
https://www.youtube.com/user/strife025

(edited by Strifey.7215)

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Posted by: malcalypse.2487

malcalypse.2487

i love this idea

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Posted by: Faalagorn.7324

Faalagorn.7324

I’ll repost the thing I wrote on reddit ^^:

Brilliant! Just a question though – instead of using a merchant, why not just use the same exact tabs as in PvP Locker? Once you unlock and place a skin there, you can pick it up as many times as you want (that would eliminate the need to go to Hall of Monumnents as well, which would be convenient – no need to keep the stone and would make instant bankers a tiny tiny bit more useful)

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Posted by: Monchichi.9301

Monchichi.9301

I really like this idea. However I would like to not have it extract the skin as an item, just save the skin to your home instance vendor. I definitely would pay gems for a kit to save skins for me.

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Posted by: Kyle.3856

Kyle.3856

I’ll repost the thing I wrote on reddit ^^:

Brilliant! Just a question though – instead of using a merchant, why not just use the same exact tabs as in PvP Locker? Once you unlock and place a skin there, you can pick it up as many times as you want (that would eliminate the need to go to Hall of Monumnents as well, which would be convenient – no need to keep the stone and would make instant bankers a tiny tiny bit more useful)

There is no form of currency tied to those and I think the available skins might be different (and there might be more) in PvE. Although if you read my above conversation with the OP we pretty much agree that a new interface would need to be implemented. It could end up looking very similar to the PvP locker.

Kyne
Free of Fate
Sanctum of Rall

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Posted by: Sylv.1960

Sylv.1960

Please do this. You can already save your skin by buying a white and transmuting the skin to it before you put a new skin on. This just simplifies the process and also makes it more clear and convenient.

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Posted by: Nelien.7968

Nelien.7968

Yes, please, this needs to happen.

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Posted by: Svenn.5209

Svenn.5209

I really like this idea. However I would like to not have it extract the skin as an item, just save the skin to your home instance vendor. I definitely would pay gems for a kit to save skins for me.

Yeah, I’m not sure if that was clear but that was what I wanted. When you “Extract” it then it’s simply available there. It doesn’t need to create a new item.

Svenn Ethir – Seeds of War – Stormbluff Isle