Too Many Fake Black Dyes

Alright the only True Black Dye in the game is Shadow Abyss Dye however there are several Dyes which share the Hex Code for Black which is #000000 despite the fact they are not Black is reality. And the worst offender of all is the new Abyssal Sea Dye which "supposedly" is #000000 as well despite it is a blue dye!So I am here to explain how colors really work and why the fake blacks are not really #000000. But first I will explain how these Hex Codes work and which color they represent:

1) Hex CodesEvery color has a Hex Code, the codes however have 16 scales per digit starting with numbers from 0 to 9 and after that letters from A to F.So you start of with 00 then it goes 01 and so on up to 09, after that it goes 0A then 0B and up to 0F, after 0F you go to 10 and from there to 11, 12 and up to 1F and from there to 20 and you can keep going like that until you reach FF.Next there are 2 main color models RGB and CMYK the letters stand for the following colors and their Hex Codes:

• Red #FF0000

• Green #00FF00

• Blue #0000FFWhen you mix these 3 together you get #FFFFFF or White if you prefer which in GW2 is Permafrost Dye.

• Cyan #00FFFF

• Magenta #FF00FF

• Yellow #FFFF00

• Key or Black #000000

The first 2 digits in the 6 digit Hex Code represent how much Red there is in the color the middle 2 how much Green and last 2 how much Blue. As a result there are exactly 256^3 or 16777216 different Hex Codes or colors you can create with this. So with that out of the way I can explain how the "fake blacks" are not really black.

2) Fake Black DyesWe have several Midnight Fire Dye on Light Armour.Shadow Turquoise Dye, Shadow Purple Dye and Shadow Yellow Dye on Heavy Armour.And now we also have Abyssal Sea Dye on all Armour types.They all have the Hex Code for True Black i.e. #000000 yet they are not really Black.You all probably noticed that Midnight Fire Dye can create reddish outlines even on Light Armour right?But what about Shadow Turquoise Dye, Shadow Purple Dye and Shadow Yellow Dye on Heavy Armour? Well they too cause "colored" outlines, the best way to see them is to use ony of them on the Mistward Pauldrons on the part that appears to be made of leather hanging from the back. By using Shadow Yellow Dye for example you will see Yellow on the outlines and same goes for the other Dyes. And Abyssal Sea Dye is the exact same it will also cause Blue to appear on some Armour pieces even though it's Hex Code claims it is Black.So the fact they have the Hex Code #000000 is simply a lie as they would have to be black then just like Shadow Abyss is.

And now I will reveal the real Hex Codes these Dyes are more likely to have:Midnight Fire Dye is mostly Red on other Armours thus it's Hex Code on Light Armour should be #010000 i.e. almost Black but with a tiny bit of Red.The Shadow Dyes however seem to use the CMYK set so Shadow Turquoise Dye should be #000101 i.e. minimum Cyan, Shadow Purple Dye #010001 i.e. minimum Magenta and Shadow Yellow Dye #010100 i.e. minimum Yellow.And finally Abyssal Sea Dye should be #000001 i.e. Black with a bit of Blue in it.

So remember the only True Black in the game is Shadow Abyss. And I know this isn't important, but I'm tired of all these "Black" dyes coming out despite the True Black has been around for a long while now.

To bad that "True black dye" is regularly 200 gold or higher. So for me, as long as it looks "Black enough" i'll use it. From a distance its near impossible to truly tell exactly what dye someone is using.

So for me, instead of forking over 250 gold for the shadow abyss dye. I'll just use a black dye I picked up for 5 gold in the past because nobody can really tell the difference at a glance.

Maybe it’s because the different armor weights Dye differently, as well as the different races affecting dye colors so that the different blacks are adjusted to armor weight and race to make a true black for each.

Dye

Also, each race has a cultural palette that reflects the character of the species. This means a red color for a human may not look the same as a red color for a norn or charr.

Up to four different colors may be applied to an individual item, and the outcome may differ depending on the type of material (cloth, leather, metal) that the dye is used on.

im ok with all the different types of black colors ingame. that way a wide audience can afford to have some black color. imagine shadow abyss would be the only one, what price it would skyrocket to... im not really interested on how arenanet gets the black look ingame. if they fake whatever computer hex code or not i decide by using the ingame preview and gold price which i buy.

Uh...where do you see the hex codes for the colors? I've never noticed them anywhere, so I never found them confusing (obviously).

Can you even see the Hex Codes for dyes in the game?

I understand how Hex Codes work and why they're useful in some situations, but I can't say I've ever thought about using them in GW2. As other people have said there's too many factors that affect how a dye will look for the code to be relevant. I find it much more useful to preview different dyes on the armour I'm thinking of using them on (or a variety of different armour if I don't have a specific one in mind) and use that to decide.

I actually like that we have a variety of different blacks to choose from, and that some of them have 'secondary' colours that show through on some armour. It gives a lot more options than just 1 'true' black. Sometimes I want the blue sheen from Midnight Ice, or the 'faded' look of Black, or the extra detail from Glossy Black. And sometimes I want a smooth, flat black look and use Shadow Abyss. One of my favourite dyes is Heirloom specifically because on the right material it fades from dark red to pale orange.

Also if you sort the dyes by hue you'll see a lot of the ones you accuse of being 'fake black' are specifically labelled as blue, purple or yellow. Abyssal Sea is labelled as a blue dye, so the blue tint shouldn't be a surprise. (Although the green did surprise me, now I want it for my elementalist.)

@"Linthenius.3704" said:To bad that "True black dye" is regularly 200 gold or higher. So for me, as long as it looks "Black enough" i'll use it. From a distance its near impossible to truly tell exactly what dye someone is using.

So for me, instead of forking over 250 gold for the shadow abyss dye. I'll just use a black dye I picked up for 5 gold in the past because nobody can really tell the difference at a glance.

Shadow Abyss currently sells for 30g on buy orders since the shadow dye kit is available as common drop in the bl chest.Now is the time to buy it won’t get any cheaper than that.

That's interesting, but I can just look at all those Shadow dyes and others and tell they aren't black...nor are they supposed to be black. However, I believe Black Dye is black...ignoring the Hex codes which most likely mean absolutely nothing in this game.

I am not sure why you are making such a big deal out of it since the preview exist ...

That being said the values for Abyss Sea seems a bit off. I think the API might be providing the wrong values. Looking at the various converters and other sources online the S and L of HSL is supposed to be 0% to 100% but Abyss Sea's L is 199%.

It can also be be more than just outlines ...

Shadow Abyss on the left. Abyss Sea on the right.

The dyes have multiple channels, which affects how they display highlights etc.

Is it weird that I assume tinted black when I see words like sea, sky, fire etc. in the name of a dye?Also I actually prefer tinted black since "pure" black takes away from the details on the armor and doesn't look as good... in my opinion ofc.Midnight Ice is my favorite :3Ofc. I never knew about any codes or anything and no clue how you can see them... nor do I really care I guess...

I'm a big fan of the one called "Glossy Black," although I don't see gloss per se. Brings out more details than Shadow Abyss, which I like in certain situations too.

@"Linthenius.3704" said:To bad that "True black dye" is regularly 200 gold or higher. So for me, as long as it looks "Black enough" i'll use it. From a distance its near impossible to truly tell exactly what dye someone is using.

So for me, instead of forking over 250 gold for the shadow abyss dye. I'll just use a black dye I picked up for 5 gold in the past because nobody can really tell the difference at a glance.

And each gaming setup is different and has different display settings. Your 'dark blue' might show up as a 'black' on my screen. It was this way with my old laptop.

It appears as if the API for dyes is inaccurate.

Abyssal Sea

• Shows a base RGB value of 128, 26, 26.
• For cloth, the RGB is showing as 0, 0, 0.
• However the alternative mapping is brightness: -28, contrast: 1.99219, hue: 178, saturation: 0.78125, lightness: 1.99219

Shadow Abyss for comparison is

• base RGB value of 128, 26, 26.
• For cloth, the RGB is showing as 0, 0, 0.
• For super black, the alternative mapping is brightness: -31, contrast: 0.976563, hue: 0, saturation: 0, lightness: 0.9375

The wiki draws the RGB values from the API.

I don't see any recent notes about problems with the color API, but I suspect it's just one more thing that had a minor back-end change that needs to be reconciled with the API output. Until then, I think we're back to using other tools to compare colors.

@"deatine.2498" said:Uh...where do you see the hex codes for the colors? I've never noticed them anywhere, so I never found them confusing (obviously).

Not to mention, I wouldn't care what the code said - if I look at it and it ain't black, I'm not going to sit there and say: "Well, it SAYS it's black, so I guess I'll buy it."

@Zeivu.3615 said:

@"Linthenius.3704" said:To bad that "True black dye" is regularly 200 gold or higher. So for me, as long as it looks "Black enough" i'll use it. From a distance its near impossible to truly tell exactly what dye someone is using.

So for me, instead of forking over 250 gold for the shadow abyss dye. I'll just use a black dye I picked up for 5 gold in the past because nobody can really tell the difference at a glance.

That's a good point, your graphics settings make a huge difference. Just over a year ago my graphics card died and it took me around a month to get a new one so I was using my CPU's onboard graphics and basically minimum settings in GW2. While that was happening I redesigned my thief's armour, which is mostly black. When I got my new graphics card I found I had to re-do all the dyes because they looked totally different with my new graphics settings.

I love Abyss Sea dye, make certain skin detail green/blue.

@"Linthenius.3704" said:To bad that "True black dye" is regularly 200 gold or higher. So for me, as long as it looks "Black enough" i'll use it. From a distance its near impossible to truly tell exactly what dye someone is using.

So for me, instead of forking over 250 gold for the shadow abyss dye. I'll just use a black dye I picked up for 5 gold in the past because nobody can really tell the difference at a glance.

I picked mine up from a fourth birthday gift pack. Might be a long way around avoiding paying the gold amount. :)

Shadow abyss is 50g lol.

@"Witch of Doom.5739" said:I'm a big fan of the one called "Glossy Black," although I don't see gloss per se. Brings out more details than Shadow Abyss, which I like in certain situations too.

Definitely! Glossy Black looks particularly nice on mounts.