Guild Wars 2

I think there are easier ways to create the diversity we want without forcing ArenaNet to continuously create brand new content. Remove armor restrictions. Increase stat bonuses on light armor slightly and decrease them slightly on heavy armors to account for the variation in armor values, but remove the mechanic that players can only wear a certain type of armor.

Do that, and we’ll have robed guardians, armored mesmers, rangers which look like they might belong to a military scout unit — all sorts of creativity options open up. Then the only thing to do is periodically add themed armor like ArenaNet is already doing.

Failing that, an alternative is to borrow an idea from LOTRO and create a costume panel that overrides the worn armor of the character to create a more personalized appearance. Give the transmutation stones an option to turn an armor piece into a costume piece that acts only as a cosmetic skin for the costume panel. Once made a costume piece, it wears as that — armor restrictions, again, would not apply. So you could take light gloves, medium chest and legs, and combine it all with a heavy shoulder and helm to create something all your own. And since transmutation are involved, and retain their current use, ArenaNet can still make money off people trying to look the way they want.

I sent two bug reports about in-game, but nothing has come of them yet. Also, this isn’t the first time this has happened to that armor set.