Guild Wars 2

Dear ANet

Do you realize that everytime we get an outfit, you are missing out on making sales in the Gemstore? How you ask? Because outfits are all or nothing: I have to either decide to purchase and wear the whole outfit or simply not buy it at all if there is a certain part of it I don’t like.

Do you realize I would pay MORE for an Armor set that I could mix and match with other parts because I believe it has more value to me that an outfit? Do you understand that I’m not alone when I say “Oh man, that’s a great helmet on that outfit, but the rest is ugly” and that prevents me from buying?

Just to make sure this doesn’t get dismissed as just a rant, I propose a solution: Do an experiment but offering the SAME skin in both an outfit and an armor, adjusting the price of each for what is necessary for projected revenues. See what happens. Make me eat words if I’m wrong. I will do so willingly.

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

They make outfits because it’s apparently faster, cheaper and easier. Would be nice if they had more customization options like hiding gloves/shoulders/etc like older outfits (Chef) and wearing any hat with them

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

Why do you keep calling everything ew? :s

If they make an armor set, it’ll only work on 1/3 of the classes, depending on whether they make it a heavy, medium, or light set. Mixing/matching weight class pieces is a topic that’s been done to death, so I’ll try not to get into it here.

Selling an armor as both an armor and an outfit sounds very confusing, and it’s not great business to confuse your customer. I’m pretty sure they’ve considered the argument you’re suggesting before, when they quit selling new armor skins in favor of outfits. I don’t have access to their sales data, but I don’t think they made that decision on a whim.

So rather than confuse me they get absolutely zero dollars from me.

Well played?

Doggie.3184:

They make outfits because it’s apparently faster, cheaper and easier. Would be nice if they had more customization options like hiding gloves/shoulders/etc like older outfits (Chef) and wearing any hat with them

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

Why do you keep calling everything ew? :s

It’s the initials for their account name.

Its not like the Outfit buyers are entirely pleased either…

“Please let me turn off the shoulders”

You mean like armor?

“Please let me use it with the bats/snowfall aura!”

You mean like armor?

“Please let me dye the top and bottom separately”

You mean like armor?

“Please for the love of the Six and all the Spirits (and the Eternal Alchemy too!) release an uncoupled version of each outfit — so we can USE IT LIKE ARMOR!”

Nike.2631:

So rather than confuse me they get absolutely zero dollars from me.

Well played?

And, from someone else they got all the dollaz from them. If enough people are willing to give up all the dollaz as opposed to none of the dollaz like you did, then they make more. Likely more than if both groups of people only gave up some of the dollaz. That’s where pricing analysis and market research come into play… like any successful business does.

~EW

Ayrilana.1396:

Doggie.3184:

They make outfits because it’s apparently faster, cheaper and easier. Would be nice if they had more customization options like hiding gloves/shoulders/etc like older outfits (Chef) and wearing any hat with them

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

Why do you keep calling everything ew? :s

It’s the initials for their account name.

Rather pointless when I can just see his name next to the post. Not the most pleasing initials to put together because it makes it sound like everything is yucky to him. .-. Maybe that is how he feels though, idk. There’s a lotta things to call ew: Like the issue with Outfits and Head Pieces.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

And, from someone else they got all the dollaz from them. If enough people are willing to give up all the dollaz as opposed to none of the dollaz like you did, then they make more. Likely more than if both groups of people only gave up some of the dollaz. That’s where pricing analysis and market research come into play… like any successful business does.

I agree. Intellectually. But if I let myself do a coldly rational analysis of this all I’m left with is HATING MY FELLOW PLAYERS AND THEIR STUPID LACK OF CREATIVITY.

…and I’d rather not do that.

Doggie.3184:

Ayrilana.1396:

Doggie.3184:

Why do you keep calling everything ew? :s

It’s the initials for their account name.

Rather pointless when I can just see his name next to the post. Not the most pleasing initials to put together because it makes it sound like everything is yucky to him. .-. Maybe that is how he feels though, idk. There’s a lotta things to call ew: Like the issue with Outfits and Head Pieces.

It’s just how I sign off my posts; to each their own. It wouldn’t be ~EW if I hadn’t made a bad decision when I first made this account.

~EW

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

Where did they get those numbers they crunched if they did?

See, I don’t believe Anet has really done that. I believe they offered Armors, they didn’t do well, so of all the solutions, they picked offering Outfits instead, without a whole bunch of work to see if it was the best or even a good solution.

This whole game is based on mix/matching armor parts to get a look you like. Outfits don’t really work there. You’re right, I don’t have data to suggest something else is better than outfits over full armor sets or even what that something else would be if it did exist, but I do know I’m not buying more outfits because I can’t customize them enough and I think Anet could experiment more too see at what pricepoints people would pay for more ability to optimize skins. My proposal is just one experiment out of many they could use to see what their optimal ROI would be for skins. In fact, I think they would be terrible not to … it’s much of what the revenue for this game is based on; skins and convenience items.

Outfits are a fraction (33% or below) of the work involved. If they reasonably believe that the ROI on revenue/cost for outfits is greater than that for an armor set, then you can be sure that you’ll be seeing more outfits. Considering that they’ve been rolling out for outfits than armor sets, it’s likely because outfits are more profitable.

Obtena.7952:

Dear ANet

Do you realize that everytime we get an outfit, you are missing out on making sales in the Gemstore? How you ask? Because outfits are all or nothing: I have to either decide to purchase and wear the whole outfit or simply not buy it at all if there is a certain part of it I don’t like.

Do you realize I would pay MORE for an Armor set that I could mix and match with other parts because I believe it has more value to me that an outfit? Do you understand that I’m not alone when I say “Oh man, that’s a great helmet on that outfit, but the rest is ugly” and that prevents me from buying?

Just to make sure this doesn’t get dismissed as just a rant, I propose a solution: Do an experiment but offering the SAME skin in both an outfit and an armor, adjusting the price of each for what is necessary for projected revenues. See what happens. Make me eat words if I’m wrong. I will do so willingly.

Awhile back alot of people complained that ANet was adding armor to the gem store and not the game. So ANet said that they would no longer add armor to the gem store and armor would only be attainable in game, bar the sets that where already in the gem store.

I’d much rather see armor sets in game. Outfits are just that, all or nothing. You like it or you don’t.

Obtena.7952:

Where did they get those numbers they crunched if they did?

Sorry to go all Matrix on you, but everything everyone does in GW2 is potential metrics for them to pull usable data from. Outfits bought off the gem store, armors bought in complete sets or partial sets from vendors, popularity/frequency of certain equipment being worn, etc. If they did it right, they could/should pull all sorts of useful trending data.

At the end of the day, they’re a business, and money is their bottom line. So, they’re going to be looking at everything they can.

I’m sorry, but you’re proposing they do a public experiment with their income that would result in information they’ve likely already obtained privately and through other means for the sole purpose of alleviating your frustration with their business model. That doesn’t seem unrealistic to you?

~EW

Sure … my point isn’t that we don’t get armor sets in the gemstore. It’s that Anet only offers the minimum of customization on the clothing skins they offer.

For a game that tries to resist vertical gear progression and instead emphasizes on skins, not putting resources into gear customization is rather backwards… I have not bought one outfit yet because of reasons already stated. There were some that I liked, well, certain parts of the outfit, but the rest of it kept my plastic in the wallet.
Expensive/time consuming or not, it is one aspect of the game that will differentiate it from the rest of the MMOs out there. Or are finances that hard that they can only spend their budget on “safe” investments? Who knows.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

That doesn’t seem unrealistic to you?

~EW

Only if they revealed how much they sold and the profits they made from them.

Obtena.7952:

Sure … my point isn’t that we don’t get armor sets in the gemstore. It’s that Anet only offers the minimum of customization on the clothing skins they offer.

As I’ve already said, alot of people complained about ANet adding armor to the gem store and not in game. So ANet said they would now only add outfits to the gem store, and armor would be acquired in game. That’s why we had the silverwaste set. If they go back on this people will be po’ed.

Also outfits do not need to be transmuted. Armors from the gem store did, this was another sticking point. People payed money for a skin that had “limited” use, as they would need charges to use them more than once.

All that might be true. It has little to do with the problem that I and others see with outfits. People complaining that they can buy stuff in the gemstore is a rather stupid reason to stop offering things in the gemstore to be quite frank. The complaint wasn’t that they offered it in the gemstore, it was that it was in the gemstore ONLY. Exploring the space of more customizable skins in the gemstore could actually HELP deal with that.

Also, If someone is buying something transmutable, it’s also ridiculous to complain about the fact it’s transmutable. It’s also much less of a problem now that we get those transmutations as game rewards.

Regardless, those two points have little to do with asking Anet to explore the space of more customization on skins they offer in the Gemstore and I attest they should do so to optimize revenue.

BrotherBelial.3094:

I’d much rather see armor sets in game. Outfits are just that, all or nothing. You like it or you don’t.

I’d be ok seeing armor sets in the game if they weren’t coming out at a pace best measured in geological terms. You’d think leystone armor had to actually be pressed into existence over the course of thousands of years on the bottom of shallow magically-charged lake beds.

At least when they were in the store the bean-counters saw a direct and tangible connection be tween “make the Character Art team do the 10-times-as-much-work” and “Getting Paid For It”. This “Make the Players do 600 hours of Repetitive Nonsense for Armor” backfired and THEY KNOW IT.

They didn’t have that data before. Now they do. Time to iterate.

HoT introduced bladed, leystone, legendary, guild armour skins. In a few months they will have made twice as many outfits. It is getting really nad if the game is bringing out more cash shop outfits rather than in game armours.

They should sell the outfits as separate pieces as well as a whole outfit. Maybe give the individual parts to people who already bought the outfit.

How could they sell separate pieces of Outfits without redesigning each piece so that it would work with different armor weights? Which would make them Armor pieces and not Outfits.

Considering the amount of work that would involve, would the playerbase be willing to pay the same price (or nearly the same price) for a piece as for an entire Outfit? Would the playerbase lament, yet again, that these Armor pieces were not attainable in-game? Would the playerbase be content to wait months and months for Outfit/Armor offerings? Would the designers/creators have to put other game content on hold because of the time (up to 10 times as much) spent creating these Outfit/Armor offerings?

Food for thought…

I tend to agree that outfits with separate pieces would be wonderful. As for additional work? Sure they would need to make sure that some of the covered graphics (often gloves or the top of boots) display correctly, but the majority of the outfit is already there. Additionally, other existing armor sets often have their gloves or shoes stop abruptly when used with a different coat or pants.

They certainly don’t have to design a new outfit for each of the 3 weight classes, nor do they have to sell them separately. There are numerous head items that are shared between weight classes and they have no issues.

Obtena.7952:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

Where did they get those numbers they crunched if they did?

See, I don’t believe Anet has really done that. I believe they offered Armors, they didn’t do well, so of all the solutions, they picked offering Outfits instead, without a whole bunch of work to see if it was the best or even a good solution.

Why would you believe a multi-million dollar corporation would try to guess what’s profitable? They have stated time and again that armors are by far and away the most expensive asset to design and that outfits are much, much cheaper to make.

In particular, outfits are easier because five designs cover all possible configurations, whereas armor pieces need to matched against every possible other piece of armor. Outfits have fewer dye channels (four total, compared to 16-32 per armor set).

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Obtena.7952:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

Where did they get those numbers they crunched if they did?

See, I don’t believe Anet has really done that. I believe they offered Armors, they didn’t do well, so of all the solutions, they picked offering Outfits instead, without a whole bunch of work to see if it was the best or even a good solution.

Why would you believe a multi-million dollar corporation would try to guess what’s profitable? They have stated time and again that armors are by far and away the most expensive asset to design and that outfits are much, much cheaper to make.

In particular, outfits are easier because five designs cover all possible configurations, whereas armor pieces need to matched against every possible other piece of armor. Outfits have fewer dye channels (four total, compared to 16-32 per armor set).

You’re not saying anything here I’m not aware of, yet I still want Anet to explore more customizable clothing options in the gemstore because I see elements I like, but not willing to purchase because it’s so limiting.

how do you dye outfits? does it have to be paid dye?

sophiewhite.3149:

how do you dye outfits? does it have to be paid dye?

You equip an outfit and there are dye channels for the entire outfit.

They make outfits because it’s drastically easier to build an outfit than it is to build 18 armor pieces.

Sarrs.4831:

They make outfits because it’s drastically easier to build an outfit than it is to build 18 armor pieces.

Some people are willing to pay more for more customizable gear. Anet should explore that space more, considering it’s their revenue.

• It’s my guess that ANet would be quite happy to crank out cosmetic options for gem sales at a faster pace and with more options for customization than outfits offer. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but to my thinking why wouldn’t they want to offer more stuff for people to buy?

• That they don’t suggests that making these skins is relatively time-consuming. There were a fair amount of armors offered in the store in the first year after launch. However, how many of those had been in process already at launch. We don’t know that either. We do know that since, armor has been slow to appear but that outfits come with much greater frequency.

• There was player demand for skins to earn in game. Given that outfits are easier to produce, the decision was made to sell those and make armor for gameplay rewards. If outfits were mix-and-match like armor, they’d be harder to make. In fact, they’d be armor skins. At that point, there would be posts angrily demanding that these items be in-game rewards because ANet “promised.”

The posts that cite Anet’s decision to make armor sets in-game rewards and outfits gem store items are spot on. If memory serves, there were a fair number of tirades in the forums from players who wanted this change (armors in-game, outfits gem store) and I seem to recall Anet making a formal announcement that this would be their strategy going forward.

So, while some may agree or disagree with this direction, it does seem that player input, at the very least, helped to shape this strategy.

These points are spot on and I also believe that player input was considered in that approach. I’m not sure what the fixation is on these facts, I’m not in any disagreement with them and from what I can see, no one else is either.

I’m simply asking Anet to consider that there is a gap in their approach to offering customizable clothing items in the gemstore. Armor is the end of one spectrum, outfits are the other; I think there is a more middle ground and if they were to offer it, people would gladly spend gems they are holding on them.

People that spend gems already spending on cosmetic and convenience items, so it stands that there is a portion of those people who would actually spend MORE gems on skins if they could get more than just a few colours on an outfit.

Ironclad. Really? Can we PLEASE have some cool looking outfits or armor sets?

Ironclad is what made me make this thread … there are actually elements of it I would love to use, but other parts of it that I think are as plain as skins you get from whites or blues.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

How could they sell separate pieces of Outfits without redesigning each piece so that it would work with different armor weights? Which would make them Armor pieces and not Outfits.

The outfits are PLAINLY built on the standard armor rigs and could be broken up into pieces for the weight class associated with that rig. Does Balthazar’s blatantly heavy armor need to be made to into pieces that work with the medium and light rig? No. It does not. Freeing it up to be mix-and-match’ed with just heavy armor professions will be fine. People who are used to designing their look via armor pieces are well acquainted with the differences between the rigs. Similarly the Crystal Nomad outfit is blatantly built over the medium armor rig and so on.

Considering the amount of work that would involve, would the playerbase be willing to pay the same price (or nearly the same price) for a piece as for an entire Outfit?

I’ll pay what I was paying before or even a bit more. Absence doth make the wallet grow wider.

Would the playerbase lament, yet again, that these Armor pieces were not attainable in-game?

There comes a point when you realize its ok to ignore the lamentation of people who aren’t giving you money. They’re not actually customers. And as I’ve been told a million times before, nothing in the store is unattainable in-game since you can BUY GEMS with coin.

Would the playerbase be content to wait months and months for Outfit/Armor offerings?

As opposed to years or never? Yeah, try me. I’ll cheerful take armor at the pace they proved they could produce it prior to the Evil Dictate.

Would the designers/creators have to put other game content on hold because of the time (up to 10 times as much) spent creating these Outfit/Armor offerings?

The character art team seems to be able to keep up with their non-make another *@#ing outfit every month duties. I think we should see if they can handle it rather than try to imagine obstacles into existence.

How long is it going to take for you people to realize anet has stated that the god kitten armor sets are going to be obtained INGAME ONLY?

Ayrilana.1396:

Doggie.3184:

They make outfits because it’s apparently faster, cheaper and easier. Would be nice if they had more customization options like hiding gloves/shoulders/etc like older outfits (Chef) and wearing any hat with them

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

Why do you keep calling everything ew? :s

It’s the initials for their account name.

Ephermal Wallaby is the forums official representative for the Department of Redundancy Department.

Aidan Savage.2078:

How long is it going to take for you people to realize anet has stated that the god kitten armor sets are going to be obtained INGAME ONLY?

It not a law of physics. Its a strategy put forth by a marketing hack not some unquestionable messiah. And we’re seeing quite a few “strategies” they had going into HoT under review if not outright reversal.

The OP is certain to be correct in asserting that the current implementation of outfits is costing Anet some sales. On the other hand it may be yielding greater profits than the alternatives he proposes. Only Anet has all of the data.

It’s because their philosophy is, “minimum effort for maximum dolla’.” Apply that to every aspect of the game, and here we are today.

“Fix PvP balance!”
- “Ok, we’ll just remove some amulets.”
“Fix WvW!”
- “Ok, we’ll make EoTM.”
“Fix dungeons!”
- “Ok, we’ll make fractals.”

Seriously, everything they’ve done in the past couple years has been all about minimizing effort and maximizing their dollars. The state of HoT at launch being so unfinished is just another prime example. They’ve lost a lot of players because of this business paradigm.

The irony is, a cheaply made product will be treated as such. The more love you put into your product, the more others will love it as well. Art that takes a long time to produce and is polished well will sell for thousands more than something that is just slapped together and tossed into the community.

The only outfit I bought is the ninja, and even that I regretted. Haven’t purchased an outfit since. They’re just a cheap novelty. Nothing special.

This game has so much potential, but Anet keeps missing the mark.

Aidan Savage.2078:

How long is it going to take for you people to realize anet has stated that the god kitten armor sets are going to be obtained INGAME ONLY?

And how many new armor sets did they put into HoT?

Obtena.7952:

Sarrs.4831:

They make outfits because it’s drastically easier to build an outfit than it is to build 18 armor pieces.

Some people are willing to pay more for more customizable gear. Anet should explore that space more, considering it’s their revenue.

I would pay almost double for a really cool armor set than an outfit. I haven’t bought an outfit other than the ninja, which I never use.

I really wish humans or humanoid races were the only playable races in GW2. Imagine how much more armor we would have. There would be no need to spend resources to fit Charr, Asura, or oversized Norn.

Obtena.7952:

All that might be true. It has little to do with the problem that I and others see with outfits. People complaining that they can buy stuff in the gemstore is a rather stupid reason to stop offering things in the gemstore to be quite frank. The complaint wasn’t that they offered it in the gemstore, it was that it was in the gemstore ONLY. Exploring the space of more customizable skins in the gemstore could actually HELP deal with that.

Also, If someone is buying something transmutable, it’s also ridiculous to complain about the fact it’s transmutable. It’s also much less of a problem now that we get those transmutations as game rewards.

Regardless, those two points have little to do with asking Anet to explore the space of more customization on skins they offer in the Gemstore and I attest they should do so to optimize revenue.

I’m sorry but if I buy something of the gem store, I don’t expect to have to buy another item from it to keep.using it. Not everyone is swimming in T stones. So if I had spent £10(just for the sake of argument) on an armor skin from the gem store, I’d expect it to work the same way as the HoM/achievement skins. No T stones needed.

Also ANet has said outfits are easier to make, they don’t have to worry about parts matching up with other parts. So it’s never going to happen. Deal with it and move on.

Nike.2631:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

How could they sell separate pieces of Outfits without redesigning each piece so that it would work with different armor weights? Which would make them Armor pieces and not Outfits.

The outfits are PLAINLY built on the standard armor rigs and could be broken up into pieces for the weight class associated with that rig. Does Balthazar’s blatantly heavy armor need to be made to into pieces that work with the medium and light rig? No. It does not. Freeing it up to be mix-and-match’ed with just heavy armor professions will be fine. People who are used to designing their look via armor pieces are well acquainted with the differences between the rigs. Similarly the Crystal Nomad outfit is blatantly built over the medium armor rig and so on.

Considering the amount of work that would involve, would the playerbase be willing to pay the same price (or nearly the same price) for a piece as for an entire Outfit?

I’ll pay what I was paying before or even a bit more. Absence doth make the wallet grow wider.

Would the playerbase lament, yet again, that these Armor pieces were not attainable in-game?

There comes a point when you realize its ok to ignore the lamentation of people who aren’t giving you money. They’re not actually customers. And as I’ve been told a million times before, nothing in the store is unattainable in-game since you can BUY GEMS with coin.

Would the playerbase be content to wait months and months for Outfit/Armor offerings?

As opposed to years or never? Yeah, try me. I’ll cheerful take armor at the pace they proved they could produce it prior to the Evil Dictate.

Would the designers/creators have to put other game content on hold because of the time (up to 10 times as much) spent creating these Outfit/Armor offerings?

The character art team seems to be able to keep up with their non-make another *@#ing outfit every month duties. I think we should see if they can handle it rather than try to imagine obstacles into existence.

I think many players use Outfits on a variety of weight classes. If one thinks there would be no outcry over Armor sets only being usable on one weight, when previously they were offered for all 3, then one might be surprised.

Only ArenaNet knows who is giving them money, and who might give them money. I’m guessing those who make the decisions were hired because of some talent or experience, rather than what some might promise to do.

If the character art team takes 10 times as long to do what they have to do, something has to weight. Surely it would be the content that doesn’t end up in the Gem Store.

Designing outfits takes considerably less time than designing proper armor sets while they are being sold for the same price. I know it can be hard to understand that this is a business and not a friendship for some people. No company will tell their customers that is all about maximizing revenue with minimal efforts. That is how the world works.
The ones who have been around for 3+ years should have noticed how we slowly progressed towards a typical F2P system instead of a B2P model with a very convenient and friendly cash shop.

And honestly, I disagree with their decision as much as I disagree with the account wide inventory slot system and prices. Taking myself and friends as an example I already know that they would have gotten quite a bit of my money if they put in some effort and were less greedy (I know how silly it is to actually earn more money by being less greedy).
I’d probably have bought a dozen of their cash shop outfits by now if they were actually armor sets. Bought the Phoenix light armor set just for the shoes.
On the other hand, outfits just bore me after a while. I gave up on buying them even if I quite like the thing. The only one that feels worth your while is the wedding outfit.

its sad that everyones argument against more armours is “money”
the players can’t be happy because the company wouldn’t be making as much money…
they’d still be making lots of money, but not grabbing as much as with easy cashgrabs.

you’re thinking way too much about whats profitable for Anet
and way to less about what’s good for the players.
are you gamers, or are you employees?

BrotherBelial.3094:

Obtena.7952:

Dear ANet

Do you realize that everytime we get an outfit, you are missing out on making sales in the Gemstore? How you ask? Because outfits are all or nothing: I have to either decide to purchase and wear the whole outfit or simply not buy it at all if there is a certain part of it I don’t like.

Do you realize I would pay MORE for an Armor set that I could mix and match with other parts because I believe it has more value to me that an outfit? Do you understand that I’m not alone when I say “Oh man, that’s a great helmet on that outfit, but the rest is ugly” and that prevents me from buying?

Just to make sure this doesn’t get dismissed as just a rant, I propose a solution: Do an experiment but offering the SAME skin in both an outfit and an armor, adjusting the price of each for what is necessary for projected revenues. See what happens. Make me eat words if I’m wrong. I will do so willingly.

Awhile back alot of people complained that ANet was adding armor to the gem store and not the game. So ANet said that they would no longer add armor to the gem store and armor would only be attainable in game, bar the sets that where already in the gem store.

I’d much rather see armor sets in game. Outfits are just that, all or nothing. You like it or you don’t.

This.

The decision to split outfits and armors into:

- outfits via the gemstore
- armors ingame

was one of their better decisions. This way the gemstore stays unmandatory and the outfits are a hit or miss. Armors on the otherhand are now mostly ingame only and can be attained without spending money on them for mix and matching.

Now we could argue that the ratio of outfits to armors added is skewed as there are way more outfits added into the game than armors, but that would be a different topic now right?

Obtena.7952:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Obtena.7952:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

You assume that they didn’t already crunch those numbers and do such a market analysis behind the scenes.

~EW

Where did they get those numbers they crunched if they did?

See, I don’t believe Anet has really done that. I believe they offered Armors, they didn’t do well, so of all the solutions, they picked offering Outfits instead, without a whole bunch of work to see if it was the best or even a good solution.

Why would you believe a multi-million dollar corporation would try to guess what’s profitable? They have stated time and again that armors are by far and away the most expensive asset to design and that outfits are much, much cheaper to make.

In particular, outfits are easier because five designs cover all possible configurations, whereas armor pieces need to matched against every possible other piece of armor. Outfits have fewer dye channels (four total, compared to 16-32 per armor set).

You’re not saying anything here I’m not aware of, yet I still want Anet to explore more customizable clothing options in the gemstore because I see elements I like, but not willing to purchase because it’s so limiting.

You said that you don’t believe that ANet crunched the numbers. I asked why you would think that. In addition, I also reviewed why it’s likely that the cost:benefit analysis would show that outfits are a more economically efficient use of their resources.

On the other hand, perhaps you just don’t care about efficiency. Perhaps you’d prefer to see 1-2 additional gem shop armor sets per year over the likely 10-15 outfits, even if it means losing an armor set obtained via PvE|PvP|WvW.

I can see why some would make that choice. My main reason for preferring the 10-15 outfits is that I only like about one design in 5 or 10, so 10 outfits (for me) means at least one that I like, while adding another armor set or three probably means I won’t like any of them.