[Suggestion] Proper Looking Infantry Armor?

DISCLAIMER: I know this is a very small issue and I realize that it's very VERY low on the priority list if it's even on there. But it's still something I'd like to bring up.

Now, I'm currently disappointed in how the composite armor cosmetic upgrade is for infantry. Looking at all the beta footage and official media for the classes, I loved their look and designs. But it's currently not possible to obtain that look in game. Composite armor adds a bunch of ugly useless bits that don't fit the overall look of the armor imo. This is on top of the additional armor that is absent to begin with, so it's lose/lose to get the proper look seen in official footage.

I've made some rough example screenshots to demonstrate what I'm talking about;

Engineer


On the left is media of the Engineer from the official PlanetSide 2 website under the Empires link. He looks ultra badass and that's how I want my guy to look. On the right is my Engineer in game with Composite armor and helmet. He has an entire chest piece with little composite "peck plates" that cover up original Engineer vest. He has ugly little shoulder pads (which also cover up decals!). And more pointless add ons to his kneepad and shinguards, making it look convoluted. His armor is supposed to look slick and streamlined, instead it's way overdone and ugly looking now.

Heavy Assault


Again, left is from the website, right is ingame with SC purchases. Again we see shoulder pads that cover up decals, and stupid "peck plates". And clogged up looking kneepads and shinguards. Not clean looking at all.

MAX


And now the MAX. See how clean and slick looking the MAX looks on the left? He gets clogged down by yet again ridiculous looking "peck plates" and pointless extra layers of armor on his knees and shins. And decal covering shoulder pads.

Now...
DISCLAIMER 2: I realize that some people might actually LIKE the look on the right, with a bunch of extra bits of armor here and there. And that's fine and dandy.

What I'm suggesting, is making another armor purchase that gives me the look on the left. Currently my choices are the convoluted look on the right or wearing none and missing literally half my armor. Major lose/lose for me. I want to look like how classes were designed in beta.

And this was actually how it was in beta. The extra composite armor bits were separate from the rest and actually was the cosmetic upgrade on their own, without the full armor which is supposed to be there to begin with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qMwZ2c37KL8#t=88s

Beta footage there of a default looking MAX (left) where he equips "MAX Armor" which then adds all the extra composite bits we have now. They should be separate, like it was in beta.

Even if SOE has to make another SC armor purchase to get the full armored look without the composite armor bits, I'd still actually buy it despite being burned by the current composite armor.

Really? No comments? Thoughts?

I personally don't mind the composite armour but I do agree that the default look is very bare and pretty nasty looking, especially for VS.
I'd love there to be more options and I'm pretty sure there will be soon.. Hopefully

Honestly, I dont care in the slightest.
I mean infantry composite "armor" - for what?
No "bonus" so to speak and you cant even see it on your toon yourself.
Only makes yourself stand out a little more if in a group/front and more likely to get targeted first.
I really dont understand why anyone would want this and would even PAY for it...

Yea Vanu spandex really stands out without the armor that's supposed to compliment it. I mean, look how badass their Engineer is supposed to look

Well believe it or not it's cosmetic stuff like this that fuels Free to Play games. Games like League of Legends can host tournaments worth millions of dollars because of how much they make on cosmetic skins in that game. A lot of people like cosmetic options, even if you don't.

Bump... forums move too fast with pure complaints.

>_>

The eyes on the MAX helmet bother me more than the composite bits.

I guess its a matter of taste, but i like the final product alot better than the beta, and i got the armor for both TR ha and engi

Personally I would prefer if they fixed the way weapons look. I mean pretty much ALL the weapons for a faction look the same. At least the armor, even though there are not many choices, look different. The weapons look so much the same that more often them not I have to open the cert screen to double check which weapon I am using, since I can not tell for sure from the graphs.
On the NC side, the Gauss AR, Sniper Rifle and Shotguns look exactly the same, save for some very minor "stickers".

And while we´re at it, decals....

Vanilla HA shoulders are not designed to have room for them, they´re simply slapped ontop of them and look wonky. Composite armor covers them up completely.

On vehicles they´re quite a joke aswell unless it´s an aircraft, on those it´s just on one side only.

The only thing i want, that is sorely missing since the original media is flannel, tartan, lumberjack shirt skins for the NC!

As expected, and that's totally cool. But there was a choice in beta I want the full armor look without the composite pieces!

Yea weapons definitely lost a lot of their cool concepts from beta too for some reason. Just look at the NC Sweeper shotgun:



That's sexy as hell and actually looks like a mean shotgun. Right now as it is ingame it's pretty indistinguishable from an assault rifle or any gun.

Also the Gauss Rifle with grenade launcher was supposed to look like this:



Extremely sexy and even practical. What we have in game is pretty damn hideous, there's a wide gap between the grenade launcher and hand guard.

While I think the new composite armor has it's place, I do believe that we should at least have the option to use the old, beta/media look. Maybe even if only in the form of a SC "Standard armor" item.

This is something that has been bugging me since release. They really could have released the alpha promotional armors and made quite the buck.

Note that in the following images, despite some token aesthetic items, NONE of these characters are in "heavy assault" armor:


Yes... this was the intended "armored up" look of the LA/engi/medic. The medic composite helmets we have now are as old as the reveal trailer.


Nice comparison here of the right LA/engi/medic guy in the standard armor + shoulder pads (these really should have come by default) with his armored up variant to his right (our left.)


Notice the breastplate covers a lot more of the torso. Also notice the gun in the background with even more armor on his lower abdomen. Also notice the dead NC in the background. Justice is served.

So basically, the class system kind of hurt cosmetics, because some armor bits are missing in favor of back packs (TR engineers don't have a back plate,) and I'm guessing SOE couldn't or didn't devote much time to providing visible fore arm guards when the cosmetic armor was equipped, so they axed that.

When release hit and I ran straight to the cosmetics store for these armors, I was devastated to find some watered down looks with a few random bits and bobs on top to give it some additional detail. Still, cosmetic armor > none, so I bought it... but damn I wish they'd had just gave us these alpha armors, instead of crappy helmet after crappy helmet. I just don't get the design decisions of developers sometimes. They seem hell bent on passing up cash cows and actively attempting to let down their customers simply for the hell of it sometimes.

Hear me now, SOE, I want these armors. These are what I was expecting on that cold, dark November night.

Armour cosmetics should be entire new sets, not just small additions.

Incredibly lazy design that isn't surprising for SOE.

1) Absolutely till last word agreed with OP.
2)

Not just lazy, but in most cases technical absurdity. Armor or vehicle - no difference. Not just weapons looks mostly same. Not just man can't fit in lightning tank (which construction is "far not perfect" in terms of engineering as well). Prowlers - facepalm. Dam - look at NC MAX for example - lone unprotected head dangling on armored bulk. (no even neck protection). Game isn't bad itself, but such things make me really puzzled.

The infrantry armor in this game looks like white noise, your eye never focuses on one standout point, seems to all blur together in a blob.

Seems to completely lack any imagination or creativity.

New TR helmet... A copy pasted Storm Trooper helmet ? ! Come on.

They look sooooo good

Needs more bits and baubles! But yah, a lot of the composites are too busy.

Wow, is that a Nekode? I want one. Also the colors are great on this version, I like the light grey highlights and they didn't go overboard with the purple.

T-Ray has stated numerous times on twitter when asked about these armour sets, that they will become available. No mention of when unfortunately.