The Emperor’s New Clothes. I always thought this story is similar to how fashion is played in online games. Today however it somewhat proved true.
We’re all familiar with this fairy tale. Currently we are at the same predicament. How? We currently just had a wardrobe upgrade. Skins and dyes are now account wide. This is something I definitely loved and longed for. We all started trying out new outfits one after the other and loved the first few minutes, hours and so. However, it slowly went down as we started to see the cracks till the point that we are almost naked.
One thing notable that we all saw fall hard was our outfits. Some players (like myself) bought festive outfits and non-festive ones. Some (like myself) split the parts of it to achieve better fashion cause afterall, looking good cosmetically is part of how we feel satisfied in this game. Back then we could dye the outfits and this along with other players, we loved that aspect. Back then some of us wished we could bring them in battles cause its really stylish.
Now our outfits ended up as ‘tonics’ as players would call it now. We can’t even dye it properly nor can we split-mix-and-match things. As an example the Devil Horns, if one wants to use it you’d need to get some random headgear, skin the Devil Horns unto that then wear or salvage it just to turn it into a skin. What’s ridiculous for me now is that back then… I’d wear it with my " Fancy Winter Oufit " cause the headgear of it was not of my taste so I replaced it with that. Now, I’d need to “pay” for a transmute for an item that originally can be worn for free and I can’t even wear the “Devil Horns” with my " Fancy Winter Outfit ". I can’t even split the Winter outfit to begin with cause its now a ‘tonic-ish’ type of item.
I really really felt awkward and dismayed when I realized what was happening right before my very eyes. I was asking myself what happened? By then I started to look at my other items. The “Wintersday Earmuffs” & “Witch Hat” are now but gonna be sitting in my storage cause I don’t want them to be part of the wardrobe that I need to pay to use wherein the first place I was able to use them for free.
Next up was the trait changes and ferocity. New traits were added which was great! I don’t mind the requirements to get it cause at least it’ll give me a chance to roam the map more or I can just spend gold to unlock them. Either way its a great addition. Ferocity however, I know it was meant to nerf the damage of thieves and other classes that spike damage so much in WvW and PvP but the ratio of " at Lv.80, 15 Ferocity is equivalent to 1% Critical Damage ". I’m not sure if intensive research was done but for me and some players that ratio is so unproportionate. Overall, if one wants to efficiently get a good hold with Ferocity they will opt to get Ascended Gear. This is another awkward moment for me. I play a lot of MMOs out in the market and two of my favorites is Realm Reborn and Guild Wars 2.
My qualms with Realm Reborn is that it has too much Gil Sink and not enough Gil Gain but that was back then. The devs did their best to resolve it and by far the effect is well received by many as it resolves the issue of the lack of Gil early in the game. Fashion updates for their game is currently on-going and I’ve got to be honest, its way better than how the devs of Guild Wars 2 handled it. Realm Reborn armors past 50 can be attained by casual players but in Guild Wars 2, that ascended gear, that’s not gonna be something for casual gamers.
(Cont’d on next post)
(edited by Lockon.5312)