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I'm seeing a fair bit of discussion about the new craftable items with new graphics so I went to check them out for myself. For reference, here they are, straight from the patch notes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Sword belt and mace belt on avatar:
THE GOOD:
Aesthetically, these are all pretty nice. Each of these items is craftable as a "blank" item. The cowls and collar are imbuable. All are dyable. The sword and mace belt show pretty nicely on your avatar, especially when walking.
THE BAD:
The weapons on the belts or the gold trim on the mage cowl dye with the items. The gold trim is okay, but the weapons just look wrong dyed.
NOTE:
I didn't test more clothing options beyond what my character usually wears, but so far so good. They should probably be checked more extensively with other clothing options and hairstyles.
THE CRITIQUE:
I like the way these look and I like that there are generic recipes for them. However, it is consistently aggravating that new clothing options for artifact items are being introduced with such specificity. Why shouldn't the new belt appearances be available for Tangle? Or Obi Di Ense? What does it hurt? Why can't the Pendant of the Magi or Lavaliere be sewn into a collar? Or the Crown of Tal'Keesh into the assassin shroud?
For my purposes, the generic items will be very nice for one-off RP characters or characters that don't see much combat, or maybe rebuild a couple of imbued items. Permanent/main characters though tend to need much more specific gear, and items like these give the appearance of greater customizability while actually being almost as limiting as the items they are substituting for.
The specificity isn't necessary. If it's the same slot and the same species, what does it matter how we make it look and why do we need to go to ridiculous lengths for that look? Rather than keep making complicated one-off replacements for specific items (I'm also looking at you, Blackthorn Dungeon), just let us change appearance of items. Make it a full skill. Make it hard to do, or need extra ingredients (that aren't absurdly time-consuming or expensive to get...). Make it... sigh... a store item if nothing else.
We already went through this with the whip. A lot of work was put in to make an item with extremely limited utility, and that is what is happening here as well, especially with the belts since they can't be imbued. It doesn't make sense. It is a frustrating strategy that is making increased customization an aggravation rather than a joy. This is a sandbox game. We should be able to move the sand around more in some areas, and this is one.
But they do look nice.
- Mage’s Hood of Scholarly Insight – new mage’s hood equippable with the stats of the Scholarly Halo
- 5 Yards of Cloth, 5 Leather, 1 Scholar’s Halo, 10 Void Core
- Cowl of the Mace & Shield – new assassin’s cowl equippable with the stats of the Mace & Shield Glasses
- 5 Yards of Cloth, 5 Leather, 1 Mace & Shield Reading Glasses, 10 Vile Tentacles
- Elegant Collar of Fortune – new elegant collar equippable with the stats of Leurocian’s Mempo of Fortune
- 5 Yards of Cloth, 5 Leather, 1 Leurocian’s Mempo of Fortune, 10 Fey Wings
- Crimson Dagger/Sword/Mace Belt – 3 different weapon belt equippables with the stats of the Crimson Cincture *decorative, cannot store a weapon*
- 4 Yards of Cloth, 5 Leather, Crimson Cincture, 10 Lodestone
1.
2.
3.
4.
Sword belt and mace belt on avatar:
THE GOOD:
Aesthetically, these are all pretty nice. Each of these items is craftable as a "blank" item. The cowls and collar are imbuable. All are dyable. The sword and mace belt show pretty nicely on your avatar, especially when walking.
THE BAD:
The weapons on the belts or the gold trim on the mage cowl dye with the items. The gold trim is okay, but the weapons just look wrong dyed.
NOTE:
I didn't test more clothing options beyond what my character usually wears, but so far so good. They should probably be checked more extensively with other clothing options and hairstyles.
THE CRITIQUE:
I like the way these look and I like that there are generic recipes for them. However, it is consistently aggravating that new clothing options for artifact items are being introduced with such specificity. Why shouldn't the new belt appearances be available for Tangle? Or Obi Di Ense? What does it hurt? Why can't the Pendant of the Magi or Lavaliere be sewn into a collar? Or the Crown of Tal'Keesh into the assassin shroud?
For my purposes, the generic items will be very nice for one-off RP characters or characters that don't see much combat, or maybe rebuild a couple of imbued items. Permanent/main characters though tend to need much more specific gear, and items like these give the appearance of greater customizability while actually being almost as limiting as the items they are substituting for.
The specificity isn't necessary. If it's the same slot and the same species, what does it matter how we make it look and why do we need to go to ridiculous lengths for that look? Rather than keep making complicated one-off replacements for specific items (I'm also looking at you, Blackthorn Dungeon), just let us change appearance of items. Make it a full skill. Make it hard to do, or need extra ingredients (that aren't absurdly time-consuming or expensive to get...). Make it... sigh... a store item if nothing else.
We already went through this with the whip. A lot of work was put in to make an item with extremely limited utility, and that is what is happening here as well, especially with the belts since they can't be imbued. It doesn't make sense. It is a frustrating strategy that is making increased customization an aggravation rather than a joy. This is a sandbox game. We should be able to move the sand around more in some areas, and this is one.
But they do look nice.
