Guild Wars 2

Any profession could use any armor type, and the armor types were distinguished not only by armor rating but also by movement speed and endurance regeneration? I.e. you had less armor but moved faster and recovered endurance faster in lighter armor.

It would require some retooling of certain professions/abilities I’m sure, but I think it would be pretty cool to open those tactical options and add diversity.

Ehh, I feel that would make this game an online version of Skyrim. Armor stats don’t really add THAT much to the defence of any class. (Not sure on the difference between full light and full heavy in terms of def rating.) Mostly the armor is for looks. I don’t really want to see elementalists in full heavy armor.

Also it would require a large reworking of most of the classes to make sure that they are balanced with all amors. (I could see D/D eles in full heavy being ridiculously OP).

I could see a system working like that.

It wouldn’t be a Guild Wars system. Is it how the Elder Scrolls Online system will work?

In GW2, mostly armor is for looks. There’s minimal difference between light med heavy, given that damage-taken is inversely proportional to (armor + toughness), and there’s about 10% diff in armor-value between armor types.

Would be neat, and kinda make sense.

I liked, for instance, how Assassins in Age of Conan were purely cloth wearers which makes sense, lighter easier to sneak/evade.

Conversely it would make sense for a Necro to maybe don some Heavy or Medium armor since they tend to take punishment.

the reason for armour being restricted by class is so that in a nut shell, if i see someone wearing heavy armour, i can deduce they are a warrior or a guardian instantly. if i see someone wearing light armour i know they are an ele necro or mesmer instantly.

there’s actually a reason for it, that is about functionality.

this game lacks visual cues above coupled with a poor ui as is. it doesn’t need the ones it does have removed.

dirtyklingon.2918:

the reason for armour being restricted by class is so that in a nut shell, if i see someone wearing heavy armour, i can deduce they are a warrior or a guardian instantly. if i see someone wearing light armour i know they are an ele necro or mesmer instantly.

there’s actually a reason for it, that is about functionality.

this game lacks visual cues above coupled with a poor ui as is. it doesn’t need the ones it does have removed.

Frankly, I don’t really see this as that valid a point. Why exactly should it be necessary that someone’s profession be visually obvious? You can see someone’s class by clicking on them anyway.

Einlanzer.1627:

dirtyklingon.2918:

the reason for armour being restricted by class is so that in a nut shell, if i see someone wearing heavy armour, i can deduce they are a warrior or a guardian instantly. if i see someone wearing light armour i know they are an ele necro or mesmer instantly.

there’s actually a reason for it, that is about functionality.

this game lacks visual cues above coupled with a poor ui as is. it doesn’t need the ones it does have removed.

Frankly, I don’t really see this as that valid a point. Why exactly should it be necessary that someone’s profession be visually obvious? You can see someone’s class by clicking on them anyway.

because play the game not the ui.

adnit’s perfectly valid, as it’s the basis for having armour have a visual effect at all. rather than simply playing dress up, which is a fringe side effect of the fundamental reasoning for having different armour types, and different armour in general, have different appearances.

the idea being, that being able to have an idea of what kind of character a player has simply by looking at their avatar, is far better than looking at a ui element and spending more time reading text or deciphering an icon.

this paradigm predates gw2 by over a decade now, and is not specific to mmo’s or even online games.

it is not only completely valid, is it the core reason for having those visuals at all.

dirtyklingon.2918:

Einlanzer.1627:

dirtyklingon.2918:

the reason for armour being restricted by class is so that in a nut shell, if i see someone wearing heavy armour, i can deduce they are a warrior or a guardian instantly. if i see someone wearing light armour i know they are an ele necro or mesmer instantly.

there’s actually a reason for it, that is about functionality.

this game lacks visual cues above coupled with a poor ui as is. it doesn’t need the ones it does have removed.

Frankly, I don’t really see this as that valid a point. Why exactly should it be necessary that someone’s profession be visually obvious? You can see someone’s class by clicking on them anyway.

because play the game not the ui.

adnit’s perfectly valid, as it’s the basis for having armour have a visual effect at all. rather than simply playing dress up, which is a fringe side effect of the fundamental reasoning for having different armour types, and different armour in general, have different appearances.

the idea being, that being able to have an idea of what kind of character a player has simply by looking at their avatar, is far better than looking at a ui element and spending more time reading text or deciphering an icon.

this paradigm predates gw2 by over a decade now, and is not specific to mmo’s or even online games.

it is not only completely valid, is it the core reason for having those visuals at all.

Sorry, still disagree. For one, it’s not just about “playing dressup”, it’s about having robust customization/personalization and opening up diverse tactical styles for existing professions.

For two, I still don’t get why you seem to think it’s necessary for it to be visually obvious what class someone is without having to analyze their moves/behavior. There have been plenty of MMOs (ones more rooted in skill mechanics than class mechanics) where it wasn’t, and some would argue that it would be desirable for it to be less obvious.

and in this game, it’s part of the design paradigm.

and in games where one can wear off types of armour, there is usually a definite trade off to doing so.

personalization and customization needs to be expanded and improved in substantial ways, but cross class armour type a la dnd is not one of them.

sounds reasonable, especially with the removing of fixed roles. Armor restrictions really seem like an outdated concept in this enviroment.

I’d say the visual style is probably “one of the reasons” for not allowing cross-class armor customization, but I’d be willing to bet that the ease of class balance is the most prominent reason.