Breakfast Topic: Should vanity gear be implemented in the game?
by Heath Milo 
Feb 9th 2008 at 8:00AM
My personal take is that it's a horrible idea. I think having epic gear look good and not so epic gear look not good is all part of the motivation for me to get epic gear. But instead of just being a nay sayer, I've thought up a simple solution.
A lot of players are already carrying a separate set in their bags for vanity purposes. There are all kinds of great add-ons (like Outfitter) that allow you to swap all your clothes at the click of your mouse. I like this. I think this suits game play better from a role playing perspective. When you're out in the middle of Netherstorm, you're gonna wear the best gear you got to protect yourself, but when you arrive in Stormwind, you wouldn't trudge around in your armor. You'd get some stylin' city clothes on before you hit the pub.
Blizzard had mentioned plans of bringing Outfitter functionality to the game as a standard feature way back at Blizzcon for raiding purposes. Wouldn't it be great if they integrated vanity features as well? They could give us options to automate gear swapping based on what zone we're in or what day of the week it is!
So what do you think? Should vanity gear come to WoW or does it kill gear progression?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Add-Ons, Breakfast Topics, RP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
vlad Feb 9th 2008 8:12AM
its less important to me now that i have teir set characters but when i first hit 70 with a new char, it would be nice to match. as for prancing around the city in your finest, thats what nekked is for!
Backstabbath Feb 9th 2008 8:22AM
I personally would love to see things like Tattoos, Earings and visible Rings. Eyepatches and Goggles/Glasses etc would look great in addition to helms too. Maybe some visible Trinkets too, remember Boba Fetts "Wookie Scalps" that hung form his belt? The ability to dye armour would be a cool addition too.
After rolling about 10 alts, I have also noticed how few models there are for some mid level armour. I am a very casual gamer, so a lot of the end game sets are out for me, does that mean I am doomed to either look like a level 70 clown (of the bear) or even doomed to look like every other Gladiator Set?
ChefCK Feb 9th 2008 7:30PM
Well, I thought there already was vanity gear. Lunar Festival outfits, wedding dresses, tuxedos.
When my fiancee and I make town runs, we put on our "town gear". Mine is the wedding dress and dreamweave circlet. His is a tuxedo and, what we call, a pimp hat. Once we leave the town, we switch back over to our armour.
Deji Feb 9th 2008 8:55AM
I'd love some kind of vanity gear system maybe let players use gear they have already acquired.
For example: can dress up in the old dungeon sets but gain the bonus from your existing gear.
In which case players can dress up / show off their achievements without feeling gimped. Teir sets / Rare quest items etc.
This means players still have to work for the looks that they want instead of just buying a bunch of nice looking gear to cover up their green auction house gear. Might mean players would actually revisit old content so they could look more unique.
shidoshi Feb 9th 2008 9:34AM
Games like World of Warcraft, at the end of the day, are all about your personal character, correct? We struggle to level to make our characters better, we search for gear so that they don't look like hobos, we find pets that work well but, also, look damn cool when matched with our characters.
The current gear situation in WoW is utterly terrible in my opinion. Until level 70, you often do look like a complete hobo, simply because you've pieced together gear that works well for your class, and that's your major concern. You then hit 70, and start collecting the sets... just so you can look like everybody else of your class at 70. Totally boring.
I think, from the very beginning, gear should be about what pieces you want to use looks-wise first, and THEN be about modifying those pieces with easy (or hard) to find upgrades that make them more power and uber-l33t. I've spent 63 levels looking at my character look like a complete mismatch of armor types... why should I have to wait until I'm 70 before I'm allowed to look cool (for longer than a few levels, until the pieces I've somehow put together are suddenly outdated)?
Siggy Feb 9th 2008 10:18AM
Yes, and no.
Implementing vanity gear makes things easier, yes, but all one has to do is play around with a few green items to find a nice outfit. Hell, the game even helps you along with "mini-sets" of green armor with the same prefix. (I.E. Warmaul helmet of..., Warmaul Shoulderpads of...)
Eternalpayn Feb 9th 2008 10:47AM
I think blizz should just give everybody a bag that fits a whole set of gear, and nothing else. Put it next to the keyring. That way people can do it without exploiting, and having everybody in a BG wearing S1 gear, with 2 people in S3 gear in BG vanities.
Aticus Feb 9th 2008 11:39AM
I think you all are missing this point. Vanity gear is supposed to make your character look like a citizen; not an elitist. I would love a straw hat, a nice looking shirt and pants, and a book where I can sit down in the park of Stormwind and read a book (which would take the place of the weapon item) while I play with talent specs or switch around my action bars. I want to look presentable in town as a citizen.
-Aticus, http://www.paladintales.blogspot.com
Fel Feb 9th 2008 8:49PM
Waste of programming time, IMO.
As ChefCK said, there's already decorative gear, and as it stands, most of the epic gear already looks great.
Skip this crap, get back to the real coding, kthx.
If necessary, at least throw in some extra backpack slots strictly for those of us with "town gear." No other items should be able to go in those slots, of course.
Juliah Feb 11th 2008 5:01PM
I think having more vanity gear is a great idea. It reduces the yawn factor induced by cookie-cutter tier sets ("Oh, look, there goes another T4 Priest.") It's tiresome seeing all the high-end raiders looking alike.
It would be a great asset for roleplayers, too. I have a bag full of clothes for my primary roleplay character, just so she can wear different outfits to the weekly guild meeting. Most of us don't wear the same thing all the time in real life, so why should our characters?
Mind, Blizzard creating a clothes closet for all these garments would be very handy in-game.
People get gear for the bonuses; people get clothes for the fun and to help communicate their character's personality to others in-game. I say yes to vanity gear!
Tim Apr 4th 2008 6:58PM
Yes. I Definitely think it should be available both and out fitter feature and the vanity wear ,but your vanity wear definitely shouldn't come with stats. Ya there are SOME cool city wear out there. You can get a special suit from a WoW event or something else but lets face it there just isn't a lot out there. I think a customizable suit to wear for the city would be a brilliant idea.
Main-Pinkyinkydo Syfrixmortox
Tim Apr 4th 2008 7:02PM
I also like that tattoos and piercings too. It would be fun to alter your armor and/or weapons cause I tell ya I always go with stats and some of the more common sense choice for a weapon or armor are not the most stylish things you can wear at least allow us to change the fcolor you. I don't think that is to much to ask for.