Armor dyes in RoK

This game need dyes badly. As it is now we HAVE to look like a clown, with dyes we can choose to look like a clown OR NOT to....

I don't know what if anything will ever happen in EQ2 but I really believe future games are going to need ways to eliminate the clown factor. I won't say that I don't care what it involves since it seems to come off a lot worse than the actual intent but really, it's doable. I'll never say people shouldn't have EQ1 dyes but I think preselected options like clothing has would be very fun for the game. I know I would be one happy assassin if my armor was able to be a deep red. It's one of the reasons I used Xegonite so long in KoS and picked up relic only if it was rotting.

iksar hammer wrote:

[p] You are sooo right. [/p][p]Wizzie in a barf-yellow robe, and a pink hat...why not have the best boots in the game look like Ronald McDonald shoes, and the best "helm" really just be face paint, a big curly red wig, and a red nose?[/p][p] [/p][p] [/p]

Perhaps the lack of dyes, in-game are a result of coding inadequacies within the game engine itself. I'll buy off on the issue of a potential performance hit with the addition of armor dyes. Reciting the age of the game and saying it isn't economically feasible to do so I think is wrong. I have no figures on subscription numbers but I'd imagine EQ2 still rakes in quite a hefty bottom line which would allow for a monetary overhead that could be spent on developing a reasonable dye system. Sure profits could take a hit, but released with a new expansion with a nice bit of high end content and an EFFECTIVE marketing campaign, it could really pay off in the long-run for EQ2. I'm not a businessman or gaming company executive but while it has some risk associated with it, I think executed smartly, a move like that could really have a nice payoff for a company that relies on subscriptions to survive. There are some valid arguments against dyes and just as many valid arguments in favor of armor dyes. I think a majority of the players base would really appreciate a dye system. What you find on these forums is just a very vocal minority of SoE's EQ2 playerbase. After my likely unintelligible ramblings, I'd like to say that I'd very much be in favor of armor dyes being implemented in EQ2. I also support the very positive (in my eyes at least) direction SoE has taken with EQ2 by taking the suggestions and ideas for changes from it's players. Bravo. -Aristigonn

[p] It is Progaming inadequacies of the EQ2 engine that would make it possable to add dyes without taking a huge amount of the Art Departments time to add into the game... And its not a matter of the Cost of adding the dyes, its a question of Man Hours... They could very easily task the SOGA team with adding armor dies, but doing so would mean they would not have been able to do the art for Neriak(or FD befor it) so now the question is wich would you rather have... Cool new unque zones, or Armor Dyes. [/p][p]Now once they fix the Programing inadequacies of the engine(wich the Skelital revamp is suposed to do) it could be possable that they could add good looking Dyes with a lot less laybor wich then would make them more likly[/p]

In the world of business man-hours = money, since employees must be paid. Regardless of what you think, or of any fun that may take place. SoE, just like any other game developer is all about the bottom line (aka profit). Hiring additional content or art developers = more distributable man-hours but requires the expenditure of more money. Businesses make these kinds of decisions based on the propensity to increase their bottom line profits from a long-term viewpoint. Honestly EQ2 has the makings of a fantastic game and all the little holes and issues have been getting taken care of much faster than any other mmorpg studio I've dealt with has in the past. Dyes, while cosmetic in nature, are just one of the many niceties that I'd guess a majority of casual gamers look for. Fun gameplay and good content are just as important, adding dyes seems trivial but easily makes the difference for people trying out EQ2 for the first time after any experience with games that have dyes already. Secondly, marketing plays a huge role in keeping the game alive. People will eventually experience everything the game currently has to offer and move on to other games. Making the game friendlier to new players and keeping an influx of these new players keeps the game fresh and alive giving it the staying power that a lot of other games lack.

[p]Yeah, Aristigon, they think about profit. And that is why Im wondering why they wont bring dyes. Because Im certain we would gain a lot of new people to this game, and only lose a few individuals (which have marked themselves pretty well).[/p][p]This would be a very important step for eq2 towards the future of the mmo's.[/p]

[p]It might please some of the old people, but I doubt armor dye would bring in any new people. While I too would like to be able to better color coordinate my armor, it really isn't a big issue. [/p][p]Edit: Got a "new" too many [/p]

Sashtan@Mistmoore wrote:

[p] That's a joke. Maybe magicians only do look uniform from head to feet.[/p][p]We tanks will AGAIN run around like colour blind idiots until we have gathered a complete set within months of raiding :-/[/p][p]Demands for dying aren't made to make your character looking unique. We just don't want to run around like colour blind idiots with every piece of our armour having another colour - which is UGLY ³. Playing such a game has ALSO (not only) to do with optics. Just like deciding for your favourite race and role you should be able to make your toon look (armour, clothing) the way you like. Maybe with some restrictions. Plate armour does not need to look pink...[/p]

[p] [/p][p] [/p][p]Earlier in the thread someone posted what I think is a brilliant idea that would please everyone:[/p][p]Simply give everyone the ability to customize their armor anyway they like. Limit the color pallete of course but also add the feature , much like we have with the SOGA models, to choose whether we see them or not. Its not that big a deal to add a "show dyed armor" check box.[/p][p]That way - those that want it, get it. And those that dont wanna see it can continue to see the current "court jester" look we have today.[/p]

Kaalenarc@Mistmoore wrote:

Yep. or even just a check box to "match armor to breastplate" would be nice, as someone suggested earlier.

I like this idea a lot. Since the chestpiece is commonly the hardest part of a set to get, giving you the whole set appearance without the stats doesn't seem unreasonable.

You know the one thing I've never understood about the objections is what you said here. It seems that people just don't want to see pink and pastels on people. OK fair enough, but do you really object to having armor dyes in subdued primary colors like green, blue, red, black, brown, silver, gold, etc.? :?

i vote yes for dyes.

[p]Do you need more evidence for a need of dyes? [/p][p][Is it forbidden to link images, or why has my link been deleted?][/p][p][/p][p](poor guy, btw... unless he likes this clownage)[/p][p]The idea with the chest piece displaying the full set isn't bad, too. [/p][p]YES to dye unless there are some restrictions (no pink plate armour pls).[/p]

The only problem I see with armor dyes in EQ2 is that armor appearances are alot more complex here than in EQ1. It wouldn't be as simple as simply changing the base tint. The textures are alot more complex, there are all kinds of bumpmapping and reflective surfaces and such. An armor dying system would probably end up being really complex to implement, therefore eating up alot of expensive dev time for minimal game impact.

[p]I don't want you to get me wrong with my previous posts, I personally would love to see some form of Armor Dye, though I think it should be applyed by the crafter that made/makes that type of armor. All I am saying is until they find a way to simpify armor creation(because each piece of Died armor is a new piece of armor, in the EQ2 database) the amount of time involed in making armor dyes can be much better spent developing new and unque zones, as its the Zones and the Dragons that really get people to pick up a game and play it. Lord of the Rings Online was just released and it has Armor Dyes... how many people bought that game for the Dyes... I would say None they bought it to play in the Tolken universe. The same is true with EQ2 people will not buy EQ2 because it has Armor Dyes, they will buy it because of the cool zones and the monsters you can fight. Will armor dyes help them maintian players maybe a few but it will not get any new players.[/p]

You do not represent the community, so don't say the community is screaming for it. I think armor dyes are an awful, awful idea. People claim it gives more individuality, but it doesn't do that at all, because it will make many different armors look the same, if the color is the same. This would especially be bad where the color of the item relates to the name and lore of the item (A Purple Cloak of Flames?).

Fortai@Oasis wrote:

[p] Each person that posts here represents the community. Saying the community is screaming for it is a bit overboard though. How will it make all armors the same when all armors are already the same? All the people here who are voting for armor dyes want is the ability to sport their own look. Do you think the black f'ing knight was known for wearing yellow? No, he wore black because that was his image. And for those who don't want to see people in pink, neon, etc. LOOK AROUND!! The servers are already wearing those colors, that's why a group of individuals want a change. It's because they are forced to look like rainbow vomit. Whether or not accomplishing this is hard or not really isn't my call. Either they will or will not do it based on peoples opinions, not based on a random person advocating their individual programming skills which may or may not be on cue when concerned with what we are talking about. If someone here actually knows what goes into it, well good for you, but unless you are the professional making the changes then it's not your call to say it can or can't be done based on difficulty. Besides businesses do things for different reasons. How many times at a job has a superior asked you do something that didn't quite make sense and was overly difficult for little payoff? Sometimes it just gets done to please the consumer and keep them coming back for more, which in turn does turn into profit via customer satisfaction and reputation. Maybe not immediately but you get my point. I'm not saying that's going to be the outcome of this issue, but really, a yes or no answer should be because of what YOU want. [/p][p] Also I don't believe certain items would be changeable and i would agree with that completely, i.e. CoF. While the crafting idea is good upon creation, there comes a point when you are not wearing any crafted armor anymore during the lull between expansions (assuming you are a casual player). The matching option is also a short term fix that I would be happy with. I just honestly do not find the majority of existing colors atrractive in the least. That high hued blue, the psuedo-pink red, the actual pink, purple and neon green mixed etc. If these sound familiar stop for second and think, these colors are the colors that a lot of voters who don't want armor dyes say they don't want to see.... I can't understand that reasoning for the life of me. It work's if your wearing a gi or robe I suppose.[/p]

I'm not gonna read thru 8 pages to see if anyone mentioned this, but what if while accepting a piece of quest rewarded gear you'd have a built -in window that allows you to pick the color right then and there? In the case of no-drop group/raid versions, your given the opportunity to right click the item and change the color once it's in your inventory. But, (and i know i'll get flames from crafters for this) If you want to change it again...You'll have to pay for it thru an NPC vendor? Like changing AA's.
I think crafting colors could be cool too. Don't get me wrong. But i'm also poor. I don't wanna have to pay 10 plat to change my BP black because someone at sony decided to make one of the reagents for the color near impossible to obtain. If they're gonna go that route, your whole suit should only cost 10 plat. Heck maybe 5. It shouldn't take your life savings in game just to look a bit apart from everyone else. I'm very much in favor of this coming to light. I can't tell you how much i hated wearing green shoulders when the rest of my armor was berserker-relic-red. Furthermore, we should be able to change the color of Diety cloaks if your NOT in a guild. Dosen't have to be the emblem, or border, just the colors of the background.
Think of it designers!? You wouldn't have to paint each piece for every class. We could do it ourselves. Leave the textures and maybe some "inlaid" design graphic colored. But the rest could be done by the populous. Even if it was "set" items only that could be changed. That would be enough for me.I like my relic plate color personally.Can't say i'm fond of the Doomrage grey though. But not every zerker out there wants to wear red lol. Maybe some want blue, or dark purple. But as the first poster mentioned. You could lock off certain ranges in the RGB to limit outlandish pink and lime green or neon orange dyes.
I really liked the chrome look of the costume plate and original vanguardian (if thats a word) look of the vendor bought items when the game started out. Be nice if we could add our own crest or inlays on those items. Just tossing out another idea there. Maybe make some we can choose from. If your a Barbarian, you can choose from 5-6 different design themes. If your Dark Elf, you get a different set. I'm not a design programmer, that's what YOU get paid for. There has to be SOME way for us to make our gear look as if being a set with mix and match armor pieces.