Guild Wars 2

It’s not often you’ll find a post asking for more cosmetic items to be added to the game, but I’m afraid this is one. It’s also my first thread. Go easy on me pls.

Here’s why I’m saying this. I believe that vanity items in this game are far too homogenized. When I look at someone, I don’t go, “oh, what’s that he’s wearing?”
It’s not even “oh, he’s wearing that”. The first thing that comes to mind is “oh, he’s one of those guys”

There’s so few skins in the game with so little variance in between them that it’s impossible for this not to be the case. This is of course neglecting altogether the people who simply buy outfits or cultural t3 skins, and I’m estimating that’s around 66% of the community based on what I’ve seen. The rest have so little variety among them that they can effectively be boiled down to “generic underboob female ranger/thief”, “draconic armor warr/guard”, “frilly neon asian chick” and so on.

Some of it is their fault, I agree. There are people who want to look like everyone else and there are people who use only 2 dyes (or worse, only abyss) on their entire armor set. For the people who don’t, like me, I’d appreciate more options.

Selfish, right? But I might as well throw it out there. I would like more variety and customization for players. Both inside and outside the gem store. There’s too many weird trench coats and pants for medium armors. The heavy armors are mostly variations of the same basic suit of plate. And there’s barely any decent light armor skins available unless you want to play a human female china doll like all the others.

An example of skins that I think really add to the diversity in game is dungeon skins. Save for AC and CM, all the armor skins from the dungeon vendors look sufficiently different from other options. Almost every character I have uses a couple of dungeon skins at the very least. More like those would be a great idea.

I hope that with upcoming content Anet adds more skins of different kinds to the game and does so without limiting them to uniform outfits. Yes, I know people gobble those up like candy, but it’s tedious to play with others when they’re all shoddy doppelgangers. And yes, I am asking for some of those precious artist labor hours to go toward non-gemstore skins because it would mean less people using regurgitated outfits. I’m not saying outfits look bad, I’m saying everything else does, and I’d like that to change.

I’ve not been around long but I’ve not seen an update adding a skin outside the gemstore in all my time here. C’mon guys. Throw us a bone.

tl;dr-
I want everyone to be unique snowflakes, not just me

I kind of agree with you, but I don’t think is THAT limited as options offered.

Yes, I think anet should evaluate the amor style offered. For women, light armor always come either as a bikini or as a ball gown. I like those, but I also like more different stuff. For example, light armor has no simple pants for women like medium does.

Second, outfits. While I like that they exist, Anet barely releases any actual armor set now, wich is REALLY disappointing. Amor sets are far more desirable than outfits because you can mix-match stuff.

I was thinking that outfits were meant to be really outfits, like Cook, Pirate, Mad King, Witch, etc… yet we kind of see plenty that visually does not really fall into the category of somehow impersonating an iconic figure, such as Daydreamer, Crystal Nomad, Shadow Assassin (kind of), Balthazar, Anise’s clothing etc. When I see those, I only think how great they would be as actual skins. Just those 5 examples would provide a huge amount of options by mix-n-matching. Also, just make them “global” skins, so medium and heavy users would benefit too, as most of them clearly would belong to light category.

Cosmetics, the ability to make us unique, was the primary item that ANet decided to monetize in the cash shop. There are tons of skins in the game, it’s just that a number are unique, tied to exotic items that cost a fair bit of coin just to salvage for the skin (assuming the level and stats makes it worthless otherwise). So players stick with the main skins that are dropped in the game, maybe a gem shop or something that caught their eye browsing skins in the wardrobe or seen on someone else.

Behellagh.1468:

Cosmetics, the ability to make us unique, was the primary item that ANet decided to monetize in the cash shop. There are tons of skins in the game, it’s just that a number are unique, tied to exotic items that cost a fair bit of coin just to salvage for the skin (assuming the level and stats makes it worthless otherwise). So players stick with the main skins that are dropped in the game, maybe a gem shop or something that caught their eye browsing skins in the wardrobe or seen on someone else.

I see what you’re getting at. For starters, I was referring to armor skins. I’m yet to see any unique exotic armor skins. My point was that monetized cosmetics =/= uniqueness. Which is why providing the option for players to acquire and wear more varied non monetized cosmetics would make the paid-for bling that much shinier.

Sidenote: Does anyone know how long it’s been since Anet released a non-monetized skin? Have there been any since the carapace/lumi sets?

Crossflip.4390:

tl;dr-
I want everyone to be unique snowflakes, not just me

^^; what makes visual diversity so cool is keeping an open minded outlook on appearance and aesthetics. Try to take a more positive and open outlook on appearances you see more often, instead of saying “oh hes one of those guys” think “oh, he must like that out look”. Asking for visual diversity and then condescending people for using the graphics they like most doesn’t seem right to me. Remember you dress and dye your character how you like; he probably did the same. If he likes it, that’s what matters.

Actually as far as the female human light armor goes, there is a really good diversity of looks and styles. They range from super skimpy T3 cultural to ascalon heavy robe look, with a large range of options in between. The male selection is a little (ok ALOT) more limited but there are still some good options. I think some of the heavy armor is the same way, gladiators vs cultural vs draconic. I will agree medium armor is extremely trench coat heavy. Some similarities are good and make sense, for instance heavy armor shouldn’t really have alot of super light cloth style looks, while light shouldn’t have alot of heavy platemail parts.

The dye thing… I’m one of the people that uses 2 – 3 colors tones on my armor set, but I always thought using 1, 2, or 3 was color coordinating. Nothing wrong with that, it tends too look a bit better in my opinion. Once again same type of thing, if the player using it is happy with it, then that’s great.

Out of curiosity have people been rude or made negative comments about your choice of armor/colors? Your post seems a bit judgemental on the appearance of others based on your view on beauty and aesthetics.

Tl;dr

More options would be great, but we have quite a few good ones as is (minus medium). If people aren’t judging/hating on your look return the favor.

Edit: Non money skin since lumi… well there has been… nope… umm… hrm… nope nothing

Male human, using only 3 dyes (does this make me one of those guys?)

The options are limited so you download is a finite size. As an example of the opposite look at second life: user content that needs to be downloaded every time it comes in range.

Even with the limitations users can help make things different. For example, my elementalist has an outfit that looks good on her. I also use it for my engineer but with a color scheme that is more evocative of leather armor.

Maybe an incentive not to be a clone would help? Achievements for dying things (that are then worn for at least a day) maybe?

Miku.6297:

Crossflip.4390:

tl;dr-
I want everyone to be unique snowflakes, not just me

^^; what makes visual diversity so cool is keeping an open minded outlook on appearance and aesthetics. Try to take a more positive and open outlook on appearances you see more often, instead of saying “oh hes one of those guys” think “oh, he must like that out look”. Asking for visual diversity and then condescending people for using the graphics they like most doesn’t seem right to me. Remember you dress and dye your character how you like; he probably did the same. If he likes it, that’s what matters.

My apologies, didn’t mean to sound rude at all. I don’t want to dismiss anyone’s choices.

My point is that selecting armor skins for characters feels like picking the best of a bunch of bad choices. I’m sure many of the people wearing the generic skins would probably have picked otherwise given the option, and I’m basically asking for Anet to give us that option. That way people who want to go for a look won’t have to resemble all the others pigeonholed into that look for lack of a better option.

I have to agree, It kind of makes me sad seeing so many generic people running around, Outfits have ruined what was supposed to be one of the pve “endgames” – looking different.

I’m so tired of trench coats on medium armor wearers that I changed my thief from male to female so i could use something else that wasn’t a freaking trench coat!

Ahh ok, that makes sense.

I agree some choices are pretty limited (medium is the worst), it’s like A-net decided all medium users wanted trench or long coats, and so they made a ton of them; then realized you couldn’t see the pants most of the time so they just made generic pants and called it done xD

Miku.6297:

Ahh ok, that makes sense.

I agree some choices are pretty limited (medium is the worst), it’s like A-net decided all medium users wanted trench or long coats, and so they made a ton of them; then realized you couldn’t see the pants most of the time so they just made generic pants and called it done xD

I have to agree on this. I feel like my female human ele has tons of choices, and her outfit (Carapace shoulders, top, gloves, feathered head piece and winged legs/boots) looks absolutely gorgeous… I often wish I had HER body, let me tell ya

My male Norn ranger who has become my main, however? His choices seem just soo limited. I’ve unlocked a lot of armor skins, but out of all of them I’m at a loss to find something that’s actually RANGERLY that doesn’t make him look like a fat blob, or hairy beast (predatory anyone? if only there was ‘manscaping’ available!).

When I go through my skins, I’m at a total loss of what I would put him in that’s even REMOTELY druidic, if I were to decide to take the elite spec. (Arcane outfit, see fat blob comment) The only thing that I feel looks good on him is sneaktheif top and legs, illustrious boots and gloves, emblazoned head and carapace shoulders. It just feels like the majority medium armor seems more geared mostly towards thieves with some engineers in there and very little ranger.

Is all of this a cosmetic only issue? Of course, but hey, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting my toons to be attractive and appealing, particularly my ranger, since I spend most of my time in game staring at him

A bit offtopic: one can dream about some outfits being converted into skins for HoT and those clothing tonics being changed to costumes instead?

I think it’s sad that they removed clothing mix and match and we got those tonics… well, I can live with that but it’s pretty bad that they can’t be dyed at all. Converting them into outfits would only increase the coolness factor.

I think part of the problem is that some people choose armor for prestige (how hard it is to get), while others go by appearance.

T3 cultural armors and Celestial/Abyss dyes are expensive for the average player so are semi-prestige items. Some armors are just the base skins that come with crafted lvl 80 exotics so are common for players still gearing up. Outfits are an easy way to change appearance without going through the time to make a custom outfit.

I personally build custom appearances by finding a unique looking piece to start with (could be a weapon, armor piece, or back item), then build out the rest to thematically synergize. Sometimes this takes a few hours because I have all the skins unlocked, but it can take months for harder to get parts.

I have 8 characters with 2 sets of mix and match armor each, but that likely isn’t very common. It seems people either don’t have the time or prefer the lazy way to customize appearance.

I’m all for openness, but kitten is it to keep that open-mindedness when the creativity delves into the same old full-blown Shadow Abyss or two-toned combo with some other cliché color like red or blue, with no tertiary colors to blend, synergize, or distinctify.

/rant

Geneaux.9547:

I’m all for openness, but kitten is it to keep that open-mindedness when the creativity delves into the same old full-blown Shadow Abyss or two-toned combo with some other cliché color like red or blue, with no tertiary colors to blend, synergize, or distinctify.

/rant

Hmm well I guess blame society for what people think is “cool” or “in style” ^^; Can’t really get mad at people for liking the graphic/color combo they like though.

The dungeon armor sets and event sets mostly look nice and varied. Need more like them. Track sets, token sets, crafted sets w/e.

The outfits that are released in the store are a finished look. Buying an entire outfit does not make me want to go out to find any more pieces to craft that perfect look. Selling armor set skins will make me want to both PAY AND PLAY more.

The end game is a large part cosmetic, you can’t keep players interested by selling “done for you” cosmetic sets.

The weapons need to be able to be dyed, or I’m not going to buy anything unless it is the perfect fit, and that doesn’t happen often.

Be done with the cliche looks already, I get it I wear light armor so I’m always on my way to a fancy dance somewhere…

Untamed.2461:

I think part of the problem is that some people choose armor for prestige (how hard it is to get), while others go by appearance.

GW1 was the same way, so many sets of FoW armor dyed black…

Hyper Cutter.9376:

Untamed.2461:

I think part of the problem is that some people choose armor for prestige (how hard it is to get), while others go by appearance.

GW1 was the same way, so many sets of FoW armor dyed black…

I bet if they removed Black and White dyes from the game, you’d start seeing more variety.

I personally find black dyed armor to be one of, if not, the most unappealing thing in the game. It’s even worse when every single dye channel is that color.

Crossflip.4390:

It’s not often you’ll find a post asking for more cosmetic items to be added to the game, but I’m afraid this is one. It’s also my first thread. Go easy on me pls.

Here’s why I’m saying this. I believe that vanity items in this game are far too homogenized. When I look at someone, I don’t go, “oh, what’s that he’s wearing?”
It’s not even “oh, he’s wearing that”. The first thing that comes to mind is “oh, he’s one of those guys”

There’s so few skins in the game with so little variance in between them that it’s impossible for this not to be the case. This is of course neglecting altogether the people who simply buy outfits or cultural t3 skins, and I’m estimating that’s around 66% of the community based on what I’ve seen. The rest have so little variety among them that they can effectively be boiled down to “generic underboob female ranger/thief”, “draconic armor warr/guard”, “frilly neon asian chick” and so on.

Some of it is their fault, I agree. There are people who want to look like everyone else and there are people who use only 2 dyes (or worse, only abyss) on their entire armor set. For the people who don’t, like me, I’d appreciate more options.

Selfish, right? But I might as well throw it out there. I would like more variety and customization for players. Both inside and outside the gem store. There’s too many weird trench coats and pants for medium armors. The heavy armors are mostly variations of the same basic suit of plate. And there’s barely any decent light armor skins available unless you want to play a human female china doll like all the others.

An example of skins that I think really add to the diversity in game is dungeon skins. Save for AC and CM, all the armor skins from the dungeon vendors look sufficiently different from other options. Almost every character I have uses a couple of dungeon skins at the very least. More like those would be a great idea.

I hope that with upcoming content Anet adds more skins of different kinds to the game and does so without limiting them to uniform outfits. Yes, I know people gobble those up like candy, but it’s tedious to play with others when they’re all shoddy doppelgangers. And yes, I am asking for some of those precious artist labor hours to go toward non-gemstore skins because it would mean less people using regurgitated outfits. I’m not saying outfits look bad, I’m saying everything else does, and I’d like that to change.

I’ve not been around long but I’ve not seen an update adding a skin outside the gemstore in all my time here. C’mon guys. Throw us a bone.

tl;dr-
I want everyone to be unique snowflakes, not just me

I am tremendously according to this post, all of which should be reviewed and do things as homogénas, lead to the variety and thus able to adapt to everyone’s taste, why, if there are 20 or 30 coats of medium armor they are all long except one? why if there is a lot of light armor and pants for men all except one of them wear skirts?
 
There is little variety in physical customization, takes asking for more since starting the game but nothing .. eg few whiskers were added along with new hairstyles? answer = 0.

I hope we hear and stop making a monotonous and homogeneous game.

yhvh.8703:

I kind of agree with you, but I don’t think is THAT limited as options offered.

Second, outfits. While I like that they exist, Anet barely releases any actual armor set now, wich is REALLY disappointing. Amor sets are far more desirable than outfits because you can mix-match stuff.

hit the nail on the head there. I’m someone that likes my armor to look like, kitten forbid, armor. Dresses, bikinis, trenchcoats, what have you, simply don’t cut it for me. the fact that light armor across the board (for men too) falls into two categories: robe or flamboyant looking whatever, shows that there’s little design variety. Especially with Reaper coming out, i’d rather my necro not look like a Jesuit priest from 1347.
Even worse, Trechcoats. I’m not really interested in my characters looking like a mall flasher or, just as scary, a mall goth. Why isn’t scaled armor a thing for medium armor as well? Can’t we get more creative with material types too? Maybe thick leather should look like thick leather and have leather plates on it? (Off topic, i’m not sure why chainmail is classified as heavy armor..)

Well i’m done ranting.

Most of my problems customizing my characters come from gender lock-outs that ArenaNet puts on characters, especially my asura and charr.

Oh, and those awful clipping issues (weapon clipping, tail clipping, etc.).

Lightsbane.9012:

yhvh.8703:

I kind of agree with you, but I don’t think is THAT limited as options offered.

Second, outfits. While I like that they exist, Anet barely releases any actual armor set now, wich is REALLY disappointing. Amor sets are far more desirable than outfits because you can mix-match stuff.

hit the nail on the head there. I’m someone that likes my armor to look like, kitten forbid, armor. Dresses, bikinis, trenchcoats, what have you, simply don’t cut it for me. the fact that light armor across the board (for men too) falls into two categories: robe or flamboyant looking whatever, shows that there’s little design variety. Especially with Reaper coming out, i’d rather my necro not look like a Jesuit priest from 1347.
Even worse, Trechcoats. I’m not really interested in my characters looking like a mall flasher or, just as scary, a mall goth. Why isn’t scaled armor a thing for medium armor as well? Can’t we get more creative with material types too? Maybe thick leather should look like thick leather and have leather plates on it? (Off topic, i’m not sure why chainmail is classified as heavy armor..)

Well i’m done ranting.

There are a few medium armors without trenchcoats. And for light, you can wear the forgeman’s armor (SE dungeon) which looks like heavy metal armor.

Hannelore.8153:

Most of my problems customizing my characters come from gender lock-outs that ArenaNet puts on characters, especially my asura and charr.

Oh, and those awful clipping issues (weapon clipping, tail clipping, etc.).

Lightsbane.9012:

yhvh.8703:

I kind of agree with you, but I don’t think is THAT limited as options offered.

Second, outfits. While I like that they exist, Anet barely releases any actual armor set now, wich is REALLY disappointing. Amor sets are far more desirable than outfits because you can mix-match stuff.

hit the nail on the head there. I’m someone that likes my armor to look like, kitten forbid, armor. Dresses, bikinis, trenchcoats, what have you, simply don’t cut it for me. the fact that light armor across the board (for men too) falls into two categories: robe or flamboyant looking whatever, shows that there’s little design variety. Especially with Reaper coming out, i’d rather my necro not look like a Jesuit priest from 1347.
Even worse, Trechcoats. I’m not really interested in my characters looking like a mall flasher or, just as scary, a mall goth. Why isn’t scaled armor a thing for medium armor as well? Can’t we get more creative with material types too? Maybe thick leather should look like thick leather and have leather plates on it? (Off topic, i’m not sure why chainmail is classified as heavy armor..)

Well i’m done ranting.

There are a few medium armors without trenchcoats. And for light, you can wear the forgeman’s armor (SE dungeon) which looks like heavy metal armor.

I wasn’t really a fan of the forgeman’s set, sadly. I really liked the Roman-esque theme they had going with the Vigil’s honor medium set, it was pretty well done.