Hi there! I was playing yesterday with some guildies. We were talking about things that would make the game more interesting, and someone suggested the ability to color weapons and having more options for color customization. Well, right out of the box this is a problem because as we know, ascended weapons depend on color (less so than they used to since the update allowing us to stat change, but still) And then I thought, why not add a mastery track for coloration? It’s a huge part of the game, and I know tons of players that would love the ability to change other aspects of their appearance.
What I envision is this: A mastery track that allows you to add color to weapons, auras, and back pieces. Now you might say that this would fundamentally change items and ruin the incentive to go for certain weapons over others. And although this is true in some cases (namely spinal blades) for most things, like legendaries, the color and the “essence” (saturation, aura texture, finish material etc.) are two totally separate ideas.
Consider twilight: (I will attach a simple photoshop edit to clarify this point) changing the base colors changes the appearance of the item to better match certain armors, character themes, etc. but the essence of the item remains almost exactly the same. It is still much more “grimdark” than its sunny counterpart.
So what exactly separates “color” mastery from other “petty” or novel ideas?
For one, dyes are free to apply. So unlike transmutation, or character appearance, there is no monetary dis-incentive for Arenanet. Secondly, Guild Wars 2 is a hugely aesthetic game. Indeed, most people would agree that appearance is a huge part of the game (there is an entire Subreddit dedicated to character dyes and themes).
I think having the added level of customization would be awesome, think blue Mawdrey or a Bolt with green lightning. Let me know what you guys think and if any of you have had other ideas for mastery tracks.
