Guild Wars 2

You know how early on in development you figured out that people don’t like the way Dye system worked in other games, so you replaced it with what we have now? It was a great move. It works. I love it! The players love it!

Why not take it further? Why not do away with single-use Transmutation Stones and instead offer Armor and Weapons to be “Unlocked” and re-used, just like Dyes? The system is already there, and it’s proven to work. You even have something roughly similar, in spirit, with the PvP lockers.

Say, the system can be roughly the same: right-click an item, choose “Unlock skin” (or whatever) which will add it to a character’s unlocked list of “Skins” which they can “Wear” by going to the existing Dye panel and, for instance, right-clicking on their armor/weapon slot and receiving a drop-down of unlocked “Skins” to pick from. Or something.

Not too hard in concept, probably harder in execution, but overall much more pleasant for the players – especially those expected to spend months hunting down all the shiny Exotics just for their pretty looks. Right?

Cheers!

Of course TS are currently a source of income through the Gem Store. If you don’t want to change that, then simply change their function: using a Transmutation Stone will instead “Destroy” the select weapon/armor and make it available as a cosmetic “Skin.” This will still force players – bad idea, by the way – to buy TS to transmute their gear as previous, but it will give more confidence in “Going back” to the previous looks if they don’t like a certain outfit down the road. Personally, this is exactly what’s preventing me from shelling out on or hunting Transmutation Stones: they’re single-use.