Customization Woes

[Dagron]

Originally Posted by Raka Maru

I saw you were getting irritated with WarBorn in that other thread.

Actually i saw his point, even though he seems to just be shutting his eyes real hard and shaking his head yelling "no no no no"... if you read carefully, you'll notice he actually has a valid concern.
But just when i tried to make myself clearer on the other thread, it died.



Anyway, here's my take on the matter:

- First off, let me say i don't like the silly camos either, but i won't touch that now.

- Second, i get that people are afraid to lose the feel of PS if everyone trades the faction's colors for realistic camouflage. I'm not saying that should happen, i wouldn't like it either.
But some people (stealth ops teams) wearing it occasionally wouldn't ruin the general vibe, and they shouldn't be denied the option to do so just because we're afraid to lose the PS1 look.

So i think real camos should be in, as long as people wearing them don't become even nearly the majority... prices could be tweaked to keep them available but rare (there could even be incentives to wearing empire colors if this doesn't seem like enough).

I'm sure in my previous posts it probably sounded like i wanted PS to be another BF or CoD (bland gray/green/tan environment all over)... That's not what i want at all, sorry for expressing myself poorly.

- Finally (pasted from the other thread):

Originally Posted by Dagron

If you are worried about silhouette and colors ruining IFF, you clearly haven't watched the same footage i have where every freakin ally had a green name hovering over their heads!

I agree one faction shouldn't use one of the other faction's colors, but only using yours is stupid. Wearing black/grays, greens, tans, etc is not going to make you shoot the guy who has a neon sign on his head saying " HI, I'M YOUR FRIEND BOB! "...

Originally Posted by Dagron

I seriously don't understand people's aversion to standard camouflage patterns/colors. They keep saying it's about IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) but they also keep ignoring the fact that there is a bright green name over all your teammates heads.

I'm pretty sure my point here isn't cryptic at all, and when people ignore counter arguments without even bothering to point out why they might be wrong while they hammer away at the same IFF argument over and over...

Well, it feels like talking to a wall.

[WNxThentar]

Originally Posted by LostAlgorithm

Am I the only one who isn't really looking forward to super customization? Don't get me wrong, I like being able to work within each empires color palettes, but I can't help but think the camo patterns on the magriders in the pic below are just a bit ugly and feel out of place:

http://www.planetside-universe.com/m...2bdb39bb6e.png

Same goes for the camo on this Terran Republic HA:

http://www.planetside-universe.com/m...c20fa03674.jpg

I dunno, it just doesn't seem to work for me. Seems unappealing. Feels a bit tacked on just for the sake of having some sort of camo and not really fitting.

Am I alone in wondering if perhaps customization is going a bit too far?

My opinion...if you don't like it then don't buy it. Problem solved. You don't like the way it looks on others? Tough... you aren't their mommy and you don't dress them.

If it makes SOE money I say "Go for it" because in the end it is this stuff that will give us a this game, this stuff that will give us further development and honestly this stuff that is going to attract a TON of people. You should see how many people play RPGs just to decorate houses these days? I mean I even have a guy in our P&P D&D game that likes to decorate his keep! Its human nature to like to customise the way we look. I do it in games where I can. Will I spend real world money on it? Probably at some point.

[WNxThentar]

Originally Posted by Zolan

Normal camouflage and the various types (ex. digital) are great.

Zebra and Giraffe camouflage are mildly annoying and borderline silly.

Bull horns, top hats, smiley faces, hearts, and bunny tails are intolerable.

Not saying I'd want it but...TF2 would prove you wrong. The difference being that is a bit of a silly game and crazy hats fit in.

The animal print patterns in PS2 to me are a bit of psychological war far. If they are that good the pattern doesn't hurt them that much by giving their position away to soon and to boot people will remember, Hey I keep getting killed by that guy with the Zebra patterned Tank and pink headlights and when you see them you might think "flight" instead of "fight"

Likewise if they are shit at fighting and you keep killing them then their zebra pattern just makes you zero in on them for a quick kill and their money has help you play.

[Rare Raisin]

I wonder how others feel on a rating system for skins etc.

A simple rating system next to different skins, etc might be useful. I suppose most companies would just implement a higher rating just through the number of sales.... but I think they should at least have both. So people can vote how much they like something in game.

Not saying everyone will care if something has 1 star or whatever the rating is but it also gives additional feedback rather than just what's reflected with sales.

Sorry if I repeated a similar post from anyone.

Maybe this is already planned.

[Haro]

Customization can work just fine if done right. I had a friend who used to wear a helmet that had a bullet mohawk he made himself. Looked badass, and I'd love a feature like that. Even something like bull horns could look cool and stay within the reason of the game if done right.. Other things, like additional holsters, bandoleers, armor modifications etc. would also look great. Look at the Halo series: recent games have had extensive customization system, with alternate pieces of armor and attachments that allow customization but don't get in the way of the game.

Being able to get a few alternate pieces of armor for your character could be fantastic, especially if you aren't totally a fan of the design. For example, I'd be interested in a new version of the NC helmet, while because it's not terrible, I felt there could be better designs. These decisions don't need to interfere with gameplay as long as they fit general visible styles of each empire and keep some color elements from the empire. Similarly, I wonder if they could vary the camouflage patterns of each empire, so that the desert camo of the NC isn't identical to that of the TR or VS. Think of modern armies and how they all have fairly unique and often equally viable camouflage patterns that serve as much as a form of identification as well as concealment.

[Raka Maru]

Originally Posted by Rare Raisin

I wonder how others feel on a rating system for skins etc.

A simple rating system next to different skins, etc might be useful. I suppose most companies would just implement a higher rating just through the number of sales.... but I think they should at least have both. So people can vote how much they like something in game.

Not saying everyone will care if something has 1 star or whatever the rating is but it also gives additional feedback rather than just what's reflected with sales.

Sorry if I repeated a similar post from anyone.

Maybe this is already planned.

It couldn't hurt, would be very useful feedback, doesn't even have to be public viewable. First time I heard of this idea.

[LostAlgorithm]

Glad to see there are more people showing their disdain for the stupidity of some of the customizations already in the game.

Customizations should have to fit logically at the least. No desert camo in the woods. No woodland camo in the desert. No zebra or giraffe camo ever, unless faction colored. Same with stupid horns, cat ears, etc.

[Troscus]

Originally Posted by LostAlgorithm

Which is why I should be able to pay for such an option as turning off customizations. I think it's a fair request.

What about the game play standpoint of it? You get an unfair advantage when you can just say "No" to someone's carefully chosen and perfectly effective camo.

[LostAlgorithm]

Originally Posted by Troscus

What about the game play standpoint of it? You get an unfair advantage when you can just say "No" to someone's carefully chosen and perfectly effective camo.

I disagree that it's really effective enough to matter. The forgelight engine is good, but not enough for camo to be that useful, especially when everyone has bright green and red names above their heads.

And carefully chosen? Really? "Derp, I'm in da desert so I should use da desert camo! I r smurt!" Yeah, whole lot of effort put into that one.

[Otleaz]

You guys are going to be eating your words when a guy hiding in a zebra herd shoots you and you don't even see him.

[Raka Maru]

I doubt they will give you a switch to turn off skins that were purchased by loyal customers.

[Jonny]

On the subject of the horns we saw on the TR character - I don't like the way they're going with that. I don't want this game getting any more rediculous after the way the vanu look . I mean this is supposed to be real military factions who have resources for tanks/aircraft - would they really be adding WoW style horns and crap on their outfits?

Keep the customisation proper and down to weapon varients, useful camos, helmet types, sidegrades, afew decals etc. Please carefully consider what you're adding to the game SOE because you won't easily be able to get rid of it and don't end up like a certain fortress style team game involving purchasable hats and socks...

[EVILoHOMER]

moan moan moan

I like them personally and hope they add loads more patterns because it is FUN. People moan on about it all ruining TF2's look but it's FUN!

[Meriv]

ok with the frustration taking place of the euphoria

I found the ultimate skin camo check this ..................................



sorry pre beta frustration makes ubber troll :S


Edit: forgot to tell that it gets quite usefull when facing TR

[Sabot]

Originally Posted by Jonny

On the subject of the horns we saw on the TR character - I don't like the way they're going with that. I don't want this game getting any more rediculous after the way the vanu look . I mean this is supposed to be real military factions who have resources for tanks/aircraft - would they really be adding WoW style horns and crap on their outfits?

Keep the customisation proper and down to weapon varients, useful camos, helmet types, sidegrades, afew decals etc. Please carefully consider what you're adding to the game SOE because you won't easily be able to get rid of it and don't end up like a certain fortress style team game involving purchasable hats and socks...

I'd love me some purple socks with teal stripes on... proper 'I-mean-business-socks'

But seriously, these things are very subtle... apart from the animal-camo perhaps -.- But I don't think you'll notice it very often while playing... hopefully you'll have other things to think about. And if not... you'll just get angry at the redonkulous helmets people are wearing and shoot at them more effectively.