Do you often find yourself perplexed by the gaudy armor designs found at the endgame of most MMOs? We do! In this week's Star Wars: The Old Republic column, we discuss the overall issue and how it plagues even SW:TOR.

I’ve been mulling over writing this article for a little while now, but Update 1.2: Legacy has pretty much forced my hand. I’ve long been perplexed by the art direction of endgame armor in MMOs; it just frankly looks ridiculous. You can probably take a random sample of MMOs released in the last couple of years and most of them tend to play out the same way.  While leveling up, you’ll either find yourself wearing mundane armor or armor that is at least visually appealing, but not mind-blowingly awesome. That’s because they save the good stuff for the endgame, right? Or do they?

Read more of Michael Bitton's Star Wars: The Old Republic: Endgame Fashion Shows.

No idea but at least I can keep the armor shells I have now and just keep upgrading them. Some of that stuff wouldn't look out odf place in a fantasy game. 

My smuggler is wearing the "Aspiring Knight's Vest" or something (looks like a hooded sports bra on her) because everything past the first few armor sets looks completely dumb, and the PvP and PvE sets at end game are even worse (hate the hat and coat, and capes? really? Not everyone is Lando...).

Same goes for most of my other characters. My JK is forced into the Champion gear just to compete, but I can't wait to yank the stuff out and put it into something cooler looking.

This is why I like the Mod system. I found the Outcast armor (shcematics and quest reward) for my trooper and I plan on wearing and upgrading them till the end.

This new armor? I don't even...................

Originally posted by RefMinor
Is anyone going to do a Star Wars mod for the game?

Heheh.

Originally posted by RefMinor
Is anyone going to do a Star Wars mod for the game?

LOL, you owe me for a new keyboard.!

Totally agree.  I am a jedi guard, but I wear a visor and storm trooper gear.  I got tired of big butt and hood.  This is also why I have been asking for appearance tabs.  There are some cool looking graphics within the game and I'd love to use them, but maybe they are medium or light armor and I just can't take the hit to stats.

Orange gear is not a bad idea, but appearance tabs are better.

As an artist I am somewhat sympathetic to the artists.  Not everyone is good at making clothing or armor.  Just because you are great at designing faces doesn't necessarily mean you are great designing clothing.  That's why you mostly see Michelangelo mostly sticking to figures and Albert Bierstadt sticking to landscapes.  Ofcourse, Michelangelo was very versatile and could do many things, such as architecture, but sometimes as an artist you are drawn to certain things.  

The artists are being forced to do something they are not particularly good at in my opinion, although some of the designs are not bad.  They should hire someone who specializes in clothing/armor.

Do you really want to be the character on the right?

Yes. It's the best looking armor of the 3!

ugly beyond belief...  why do they hate their own game that much

Instead of wasting endless amounts of cash on pointless CGI videos, they should've instead hired people who did NOTHING BUT CREATE WEAPONS, CLOTHING AND ARMOR. This game already had so much hype that their big dollar marketing compaign was completely overkill.

Everyone looking the exact same come end-game is just major negative as far as I'm concerned. One of the many reasons I consider this game to be the laughing stock of the entire industry.

I thought the Consular end-game gear was the worst before but I stand corrected. At least the trooper stuff isn't too bad.

the latest thing[mod edit]

The orange moddable armor system in this game is one of its saving graces. I am perfectly happy with the earlier, simpler orange armor sets, and I often go back and do low-level heroics just to get the various pieces. Then I stick with those sets through the rest of the game.

Very few MMOs know how to make normal-looking endgame armors.

Here's a hint for MMO devs: make your armors look like something people might actually wear. I know, right?

WoW's recent concession on this issue -- transmogrificaion -- is amazingly clumsy, tedious to access, and stupid. It's better than nothing, I guess, but it was still a disappointment.

LotRO handles this issue best with its easy-to-use appearance tabs.

I still don't understand why all MMOs haven't adopted DCUO's system. That game has a lot of flaws, but it's appearance system isn't one of them. No idea why you can't wear whatever you want, and make your gear look like any gear appearance you've collected, and color that gear however you want. The mod system in SWTOR is ok, but overwrought, in my opinion.

Totally agree, this trend is ridicilous and i'm very disappointed that it's continued in D3 too :/

I've always been a fan of being able to cosmetically alter your appearance in games through the use of armor sets, armor dyes, and random costume pieces.

It probably started in Ragnarok Online, when I saw people walking around with cat ears, bat wings, angel wings, sun glasses, and any other variation of head armor you could think of, including a cigarette hanging off the lip.

The idea that a game would let your individualize your personality through costume pieces was brilliant from my perspective.  It's what lets people immerse themselves into their virtual world and establish their identities.  Sadly, the push to create "end game" armor sets nudged that idea out of the way and replaced it with an almost vulgar visual asthetic, which isn't necessarily bad, but when you have no other option except to look like everyone else, it becomes annoyingly offensive.

While I tend to agree that you should be rewarded for your efforts through a more visually appealing option for your character, and of course, the actual attributes of the next tier of end-game armor should be superior to your previous set--- I do NOT agree with the mass cloning of appearances that pigeonhole everyone into looking identical to each other.

I can understand if the intended mentality of the artistic designers was to create a massive force of unified soldiers all geared similarly on the field of battle, demonstrating the power of their forces through appearance.  Unification through appearance is somewhat admirable, especially if the game allows you to implement it in an effective manner.

I think the last time I saw an effective use of unified appearance in a MMORPG was Dark Age of Camelot, when guilds could actually become part of an alliance, and each guild chose its cloak and shield emblems-- as well as the colors-- as a representation of their guild's individualized identity on the field of battle, which also implied, to greater effect, the intimidating power of their strength in numbers.

However, most games don't involve the same mechanics as Dark Age of Camelot, where players are regularly required to defend their realms through continuous "Realm versus Realm" combat.  Hardly any other game requires you to hold keeps for the sake of guild honor and benefits; flying the guild flag for the sake of notoriety and distinction.

No, the necessaity to clearly demarcate one guild from the next has been lost on older MMOs, and the impetus behind in-game appearance now is for players that want to show their game progression through "End-Game" armor.  This isn't a bad thing, but it is very limiting, and can work against a game's success in my opinion:  create a game that requires organized raiding in order to obtain the most flamboyant "end-game" armor, and you isolate and practically shun your "casual gamer" audience.  You stand to leave one set of paying subscribers behind to honor another demographic.

Then there is the whole "welfare epics" argument:  "hardcore" MMO players that have a lot of free time on their hands--- that dedicate that free time to highly organized end-game progression guilds--- are angered that "casual gamers" have access to the same types of armor sets that the "hardcore" players do.  Sadly, what separates the "casual" gamers from the "hardcore" gamers is armor appearance.

This is why I admire games that take another approach; offer a function for players to individualize their appearance through "wardrobe" or "costume" functions.  Several games have adopted this approach, and I think it gives players an opportunity feel a sense of pride in their game accomplishments no matter how far they've progressed.  Some games offer cosmetic items through item shops (Guild Wars), others through event quests which are relatively easy to complete (RIFT), and in at least one game (that I know of), the player is allowed to transfer the attributes of one piece of armor to a visually appealing item of their choice (AION).

I can understand if some players would rather have an established set of armor appearances to retain the "authenticity" of a certain intellectual property's canon (SWTOR), but if the design of the game doesn't require large numbers of players to participate in events that might require some sense of unified force, then asking them all to accept a cloned look that gives them no sense of individualism is unreasonable.

I'd love to see more games give players a reason to demonstrate their unity through appearance, adopting guild tabards, cloak and shield emblems, and guild colors--- but in the interim, I'd love to see more comsetic options, costume selections, and various other customization features that allow players to individualize their characters, giving the players behind them a unique sense of identity that they can take pride in.

Bioware has the worst sort of failed fashion designer school dropouts ever doing the armor/costume designs for SWTOR.

The armor/costume designers should be REQUIRED to submit any new designs to the community for majority approval before even thinking of putting them in the game...period.

The endgame armor is the WORST, the existing stuff and the upcoming stuff. How does this stuff get appoved? Is there no one on the staff that steps up and says, "hey, these designs suck and the community is going to tell you this by large."

My interest in SWTOR has been dwindling lately and I was trying to get myself a bit more pysched up for 1.2, but the more they reveal the more "meh" I feel about it. Between the overwhelming amount of unnecessary class changes (already?FFS), the awful end game gear and the overall underwhelming and uninteresting Legacy fluff crap I am just not feeling it any more.

Is the sorceror a triceratops?

In Aion, one of the best features was the possibility to use the appearance of an item and the stats of other, i left WoW and SWTOR just because the high-end armor looks completely retarded, superbig shoulderpads, and space popes robes... When are they going to add a simple appearance tab in SWTOR?, some of the coolest outfits are low level.