Curse

Winterclaw · Jan 07, 2007, 05:30 AM // 05:30

For every chapter, it seems like the armor style in how you make them change, so here's an idea I have for the next chapter: seperate looks from functionality. Right now we have a situation where you buy armor piece-wise and depending on the campaign, you either get a default stat for the look, get to choose the stats (but they are fixed) or you need to use insignias.

Here's my suggestion: change how armor works so that you have a single body piece (for graphics and to save space) that determines you base AL for your whole body. For new armor this would be plain vanilla base armor, but for Proph/Factions armor, you'd get the default/choosen bonuses if you upgrade. Since there are holiday hats, there could be a head graphics slot as well. After that, there'd be two "equipment slots" for every part of the body... or maybe one for every part and a second global. One of the equipment slots for every body part would be for equipping runes. The other which could be one per area, or a global (my preference) would be an inscription slot to equip. It would pretty much act as an override in case your armor has a default "inscription" from the first two chapters.

I see this as a plus because it allows P/F armor types to retain their characteristics for people who would like to keep them but have a mind towards using an inscription every now and then. Also it would reduce space and make dyes more efficient (especially if you mix colors and hate mixing 4 dyes but only getting enough to color one item).

The problems I see are that it'd be the player would have to have to pay the entire cost of an armor at once. This would be deferred if there were an armor joiner who could create a "suit" for you to wear if you give him 5 peices of armor. How dyeing would be handled is also a concern if you are a person who likes to dye different peices different colors.

But IMO the plusses outweigh the minusses.

Sientir · Jan 07, 2007, 05:54 AM // 05:54

so...wait...you're saying that people shouldn't be allowed to mix and match armor sets?

I get what you're trying to say. However, updating everything to have insignia at this point seems like the best choice, not completely changing the entire way armor works.

Also, insignia would HAVE to be separate. There is a certain amount of tactical preparation that can be done with different insignia, especially given that the chest and legs take the most damage. This means you can viably put other useful insignia in other locations (such as radiant or survivor) while still maintaining a greater level of armor on the locations most likely to get hit. It seems silly to change that.

In my opinion, /not signed. I see what you're trying to do, I think...but it just is too much, in my opinion.

BTW, Insignia HAVE separated looks from functionality. You can pick the armor you like the look of, and then get the functionality. It's the previous campaigns that would need to be brought up to date with the new system, not a complete change to how armor works.

FelixCarter · Jan 07, 2007, 06:07 AM // 06:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sientir

It's the previous campaigns that would need to be brought up to date with the new system, not a complete change to how armor works.

To my understanding this was not going to happen. Has ANet's stance on previous chapter armor changed since last I heard?

If yes, then superb. This is wonderful news indeed and there would be no need for armor change in chapters to come.

If no, then I sign for this thread. I also ask again in vain, "why not?"

Winterclaw · Jan 07, 2007, 06:20 AM // 06:20

I'm not against mixing and matching, but if you are someone like me you might have 2-3 complete sets for every PC and that starts taking up a lot of space so I would be happier if there were some consolidation going on. So at the very least, maybe there could be an optional consolidation that's allowable. I keep things plain vanilla when it comes to choosing my armor and if there's any variation, it's on my headpiece, but that's more or less unusual and done when I need to for a specific reason.

Also, updating everything to have an insignia (whether is it preset based on looks as in proph, or you can choose it at creation as in factions) would be good, but I don't see the devs going back and doing just that. They seem to like to change the armor system every time and not upgrading the past ones, so I was thinking a more drastic change like the one I have proposed keeps that tradition alive, but also forces them to redo the past ones as well.

So I think you are right that updating past armors would be a better (and easier) choice, but that isn't something Anet does unless there's something in a new chapter (like heroes) that force them to go back and tack on something. In other words, my suggestion is a little more impractical, but it also gives them an excuse to do it. If you think about it, they gave old helments a radiant insignia, but they didn't bother to give them inscriptions so I think something more is going on here.

And don't forget, while there are some people who do change which piece has what bonus, if you are like me, you pick one thing and stick with it (PvEer mostly here, so it isn't quite as important).

BTW, insignias are a step forward, as the factions system was a step forward from proph, but they are still linked to armor... meaning you either have to buy mulitple suits or keep buying insignias if you wish to change things every now and then. IMO this is another reason why I like this system: it finally seperates the two, which I think is the direction Anet is slowly going.

Sientir · Jan 07, 2007, 06:27 AM // 06:27

Perhaps a direction of a sort of suit that you put pieces into, but takes one inventory slot (chest, legs, arms, and hands, maybe...as head pieces tend to be changed more frequently, or maybe only what pieces you want), and then a similar sort of holder that has runes and insignia?

I guess i missed something, but one of the things you are suggesting is a sort of...well, making runes/insignia equipped items instead of modifications? It is indeed an extreme thing to do. Would be nice from a cost point, obviously.

If nothing else, the idea of having armor "suits" that consolidate taken up inventory space would be very very nice, and i /sign that idea. It would partially answer the entire armor storage thing.