I have to go into this thread by saying, I’ve rarely been impressed by the majority of the skins that have gone into circulation. I maybe feel lukewarm about 1 or 2 of the skins in each rotation that has come into play. There were in some cases, entire stretches where I asked myself ‘in what universe do these weapons even look practical or remotely pretty?’ Honestly, this goes back all the way to the beginning of the game. The moment I saw certain weapons like the Quip or the Dreamer I knew I wanted to skin over them because I can’t get behind them in terms of aesthetics.
In short, I’m picky as all hell.
Then, came the cavalier/gallant weapons. I had to admit to myself that at least 50% of them appealed to me on some level. Two of them I picked up instantly. I was happy about that.
Now the privateer weapons. I was actually… impressed. It was a long time since I looked at a weapon set and realized how well designed in not only terms of function, but also very detailed and well thought their appearances were. I actually found it difficult for me to narrow down which skins I could actually afford. It was fun, and maybe a wee bit sad I couldn’t get all of the ones I enjoyed, especially so since they were account bound upon purchase. I had a feeling that Anet knew what they had and that’s why unless you’re a key farmer/buyer, then you’re kinda out of luck in terms of collecting many of them.
Now, the thing that makes the difference to me is that I like things like form, function, and only a light amount of fluff to express how deadly or how pleasing I want my character to look. Fashion is a nuanced priority to me.
The outfits I find equally sort of varied. I like the Mad Scientist, the Arctic Explorer, and the Monk attire. I use them pretty often over more than one toon (I have 20 of them!). Back before outfits were implemented I preferred the old method of buying individual sets or even pieces of sets. Those of you who remember meshes from games like City of Heroes/Villains will remember who fun it was to pick through wardrobes.. and for some of us that took hoursssss.
I have in the past enjoyed very primal and barbaric sets. Furs, skins, and even outfits like the Norn shaman outfits that NPC’s wear. I LOVE THOSE. But, then we get outfits like the Slayer, the Harbinger of Mordremoth, and Nature’s Oath.. we are getting back to what I feel is again, over the top. I imagine the design philosophy may include over the top themes in order for people to raise eyebrows and be interested in some of these things.. but.. I’ve yet to react to the outfits the same way I reacted to the more recent weapon skin designs.
So, maybe a few suggestions?
Here’s a couple of mine (I would throw my wallet at the BLTC if these ever got into play)
1. I want to be able to put on a robe or something that makes sense, as a warrior. Some sort of battle dress? Maybe a military officer’s oufit? A Kimono? A Commodore’s button up coat? Even something like the GW2 version of a Jedi Robe would work. I would absolutely kill for something like a Travelers or an Adventuring cloak! Something that feels useful to me so I’m not constantly walking around in a clanky suit of thick metal bands and chain.
2. I would love to see a set of light armour that screams that they are a Battlemage. It has to be form fitting to a degree, with little in terms of frills. Something that a Necro, Mesmer, or an Elementalist could all put on like an armoured uniform. Mostly cloth, but reinforced with a few metal plates covering vitals – and some leather bits for areas that add a sense of ease of mobility. I wanted the Arcane Robe to be this, but honestly the Arcane Robe looks more like the old gw1 Dervish style to me. The criteria is in the right vein but on the larger races it starts to really show how bulky and ill fitted the design is, particularly below the waist. I swear people who wear this are probably tripping all over themselves.
3. Much like suggestion number two, a little more into the plate and chain theme. Form fitting and strong, that anyone can look like a soldier. The Vigil order armour is/was a pretty nice starting point, but what about those that didn’t join the Vigil? The other orders seem to be less foot-soldierly and more specialized but what about the spaces in between? Is there a common soldier themed outfit that anyone from any order can wear?
4. Less waist coats. I like pants, and I like coats. What I don’t like is when I have a perfectly acceptable pair of pants that is covered entirely by the coat. It is possible to create top armour that stays in the top. In fact, I am a little fatigued by how often we are forced into choices like: “Well, all these waist coats the only real choice I have is what position I want this split up the side, or in the front?” I’d like to find a way to evolve past this issue. There just aren’t enough choices here.
5. Since Heart of Thorns (and yes I know its part of the theme) there has been a tendency to place blades, spikes, crystals, and thorns on everything. Are we wrestling people to death? I get the theory of it all, but its merged into so much that its seriously taken over more than its share. I’d like to see less of this.
6. Unless you’re playing a human or a sylvari, then the differences in the outfits really start to show. Asura and Charr are in similar predicaments because once you get below the waist, the differences are very visible. I have one human and one sylvari out of the 20 something characters I play, and outfitting them is so much more frustrating. I get that the large majority of people who play gw2 are human or sylvari, and thats fine.. but I get the sense that the other races were just given up on in certain areas. Norns in particular I see a re-occuring theme is the torso models. Males seem to have a competition for the largest shoulders, whereas the females have a competition for cleavage. I get this is part of their design study but its also getting a little stagnant. I would love to see something that breaks away from this focus.
I’m not going to post a large number of links of what I’d like to see (because that’s a truly long list of stuff that I’m positive won’t be used for legal reasons) but if you google fantasy outfits, fantasy cosplay, fantasy wardrobe, and the like… you get a very broad spectrum of decent examples (some tasteful, some racy, and some barbaric) that I could very easily endorse.
Any of you readers out there seeing this post, whom have a large number of ‘clothing and armour’ mods on their nexus client can tell you the sort of crunch im talking about.
Tarnished Coast Server