So...what is a "good" character costume?
Well, if it's a rpg, the standard is simple: as long as it looks good on you, it's good costume. This rule, however, doesn't apply on mmos.
I'm going to use a quote by Eric Cartmen(for those of you who don't know who he is, he's an asshole):
"Now every douchebag in town has ninja weapons, lame..."
That sentence pretty much sums up the fashion trend in every mmo.
Let's ignore stats for a moment and assume every visible equipment in game has the same stats. If everyone is wearing shiny gold armors, I want to wear something else, even dirty rugs is more preferable, because it makes me stand out. In this case, a paladin can equip a hello-kitty wand just because that item is unique. If no body has it except me, I'm going to show it off and rub others' noses with it.
I'm going to spell out the golden rule: players don't want to look like each other.
I'm going to use a a classic mmo as an example:
-WOW(millions of players...come on): Honestly, it is very hard to find some one who looks like you in wow after level 15. The item data base is so massive, and the item models are so numerous, it is visually impossible to pick out some one who look just like you. It is exciting to find one who looks like you in wow, I usually stop and chat for a few minutes because it is such a coincident to find a look-alike. On top of that, wow also pulled out two new expansions. What really impressed me is the fact that in both expansions, new hair styles and dances are introduced.
The way I see it, this is part of what made wow so successful. Wow keep emphasizing on player's uniqueness and individuality. If you play as a druid, and meets a druid in a forest, you would say:"Crud, a copy cat." And if his level just happens to be higher than yours, you would think :"OK...grind for 3 more hours and I will become THAT guy..." That's no fun. That makes the time and energy you invested into your character seems pointless if you are just following someone's foot steps...
But in wow, you don't have this feeling, because THAT guy looks nothing like you.
The character costumes is one of my tools that I use to rate an mmo. If I see an army of clones(exact copies) running around me dancing like bees, I would consider deleting the game, because seeing exact copies makes the game boring...and makes me dizzy and question my own sanity...
I disagree.
WOW, once your level 70, you cannot walk through a major city without seeing 10 people who look like your and if your in a raiding guild and your in Shatt,make that number 20
Sun Sep 23 2007 10:48PM ReportI agree with Ciccero. Also, it is worth noting in WoW that most people dress entirely for stats, not for style. So at lower than raiding levels characters may look different but they are often wearing a hideous hotch-potch of items just because the stats are good. Blizzard need to sort it out.
Mon Sep 24 2007 2:00AM ReportYou might want to look into The Chronicles of Spellborn, they completely separated looks and stats of items.If players don't feel compelled to wear an item because it's "the best" they are much more likely to have a unique look.
Mon Sep 24 2007 7:35AM ReportHave a look at City of Heroes.
100% Custom look, and easily change able by visiting a local tailor.
In Daoc you at least where able to tint your armor.
Mon Sep 24 2007 7:51AM ReportYeah but at least WoW gives you a modicum of choice, at least in the beginning. On the other hand, the daily growing number of crap Korean ported grindfests feature hideously uncustomiseable characters, to the point that in starting areas you can get lost among the sea of literally hundreds of other clones of yourself.
I'm finding it strange that so many companies are simply licensing those cruddy bland-looking grindfests, how come there aren't that many american or european MMOs out?
Mon Oct 15 2007 5:50PM ReportMMORPG.com writes:
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