Authentic fashion week?

Most player characters I see in the world look like literal gods walking amongst mere mortals (pun intended).

For the most part, it is safe to say insert race don't dress that way. Not the greatest norn hunter, nor the best of the human warriors (the NPCs, that is). The NPCs look lore/world/setting-appropriate. Most player characters I've seen don't, and instead stand out quite a bit.

Now, I know we're supposed to be great heroes, champions of the world and whatnot ... but still, personally I don't like it much (and I realize in an MMO like this, not much can be done about it).

So I figured, what if we had an event, lasting for like a week or something, that would essentially be a fashion competition aimed in rewarding unique wardrobe combinations that players come up with in attempts to make their characters look more normal ... by Tyrian standards?

So no wings and light shining out from someone's behind ... but natural colors, no over the top weapons and race-appropriate armor look.

What do you think?

More lore-friendly, down-to-earth cultural armour sets would be neat.

But we are gods walking among mortals. No one in history of Tyria has our track record, and the entire reward system is constantly trying to nudge you into Legendary crafting. The irony is that the Commander is now separated from the people why way of Deeds, and elevated to the point where they're no longer one of them.... its the curse of the hero. Even if you're not looking down on them, they are always looking up. So trying to pretend to be normal becomes at least a little disingenuous...... and knowing the writing team, some NPC is going to call you out on it.

As for the contest, Veteran players have an unfair advantage. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Common_Clothing_Outfit

So basically, level 1-10 gear? I mean, this already exists. The gear normal people wear is level 1-10 gear.

@Kovac.4372 said:Most player characters I see in the world look like literal gods walking amongst mere mortals (pun intended).

For the most part, it is safe to say insert race don't dress that way. Not the greatest norn hunter, nor the best of the human warriors (the NPCs, that is). The NPCs look lore/world/setting-appropriate. Most player characters I've seen don't, and instead stand out quite a bit.

Now, I know we're supposed to be great heroes, champions of the world and whatnot ... but still, personally I don't like it much

:+1: Not a fan of many players' questionable sense of fashion (a.k.a. lack of decent taste ;) ), either. Shrill colors, gigantic weapons and back items etc. - it's a shame ANet even provides such options in the world of Guild Wars. But that's just my opinion, of course.

So I figured, what if we had an event, lasting for like a week or something, that would essentially be a fashion competition aimed in rewarding unique wardrobe combinations that players come up with in attempts to make their characters look more normal ... by Tyrian standards?

I doubt ANet would bother with something like this, as they themselves have broken their original design pattern by introducing the monstrostities of sci-fi themed weapons and outfits, gigantic back items and weapon sizes, shrill neon armor colors and other stuff that disrupts the beauty of Tyria.

I would like some non flashy stuff. I've already said I wouldn't mind a take on the old Druid's armour for example or the old gladiator. Some nice polished looking armour which isn't all bells and whistles and strange head dresses.

It's a nice idea in some ways, but I just don't think it would work, I have a feeling most people who like all their flashy 'look at me' stuff, would most likely just stick with it and not bother, and there would no doubt inevitably be those who would gear up in maximum flashynes and particle effects to troll any sort of gathering/contest of those with more subtle outfits.

Also realistically I imagine Anet wouldn't get involved in something like that as all the flashy stuff is where a lot of their money comes from. I keep wishing they'd bring out more plainer looking outfits, but I suspect we don't see many as there are more people that buy the shiny stuff than there are that would buy the plain stuff.

What would be nice is maybe if they released an area in LA (say a bar or something) where you could only be permitted entry if you were wearing 'normalish' looking outfits (ie no big glowing wings), so it'd be a place in the game where people could take a break from being blinded by glowy things.But then this would be a lot of work as someone would have to somehow determine what is and isn't allowed, so maybe as you enter it could just re-equip all players in a random plain outfit or something. Make it a vip pass area even, so Anet can get money for it to make it worth their while (although maybe those of us that might want something like this are too few, so it still probably wouldn't be viable to do).

@"starlinvf.1358" said:As for the contest, Veteran players have an unfair advantage. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Common_Clothing_Outfit

I think I have that, or at least, I remember talking to an NPC near the black lion station that gave me 3 items that transform my armor into this. I don't remember this from 6 years ago, however.

@"Kal Spiro.9745" said:So basically, level 1-10 gear? I mean, this already exists. The gear normal people wear is level 1-10 gear.

No.

People could either wear full sets with appropriate coloring or do their own combination of mixed sets. This way, I feel one can achieve both to display character in-game status (Pact Commander, biggest bigshot in Tyria etc) as well as keeping the look authentically Tyrian.

@killermanjaro.5670 said:What would be nice is maybe if they released an area in LA (say a bar or something) where you could only be permitted entry if you were wearing 'normalish' looking outfits (ie no big glowing wings), so it'd be a place in the game where people could take a break from being blinded by glowy things.But then this would be a lot of work as someone would have to somehow determine what is and isn't allowed, so maybe as you enter it could just re-equip all players in a random plain outfit or something. Make it a vip pass area even, so Anet can get money for it to make it worth their while (although maybe those of us that might want something like this are too few, so it still probably wouldn't be viable to do).

Maybe special roleplaying instances of areas? With administrators to kick out those who don't follow the rules? Easier than programming a requirement on gear items.

But who sets the rules, who gets to be judge, and what if the rules are unfair? One problem I'm spotting with this whole concept is that its anti-creativity, and aiming for the most mediocre, homogenized, inside the box look one could possibly put together. You win by not standing out, which is a little counter intuitive with a contest that has limited winners. "Unique, but normal" doesn't compute.

Instead, you should put effort into defining what sets CAN or Can't be used, rather then defining what "shouldn't be used" based on a nebulous definition of "normal". Like "no particle effects", "earth tones", "80% of the character's cubic volume has to be body": factual definitions that quickly establish what probably is or isn't eligible at a glance.

@"starlinvf.1358" said:But who sets the rules, who gets to be judge, and what if the rules are unfair? One problem I'm spotting with this whole concept is that its anti-creativity, and aiming for the most mediocre, homogenized, inside the box look one could possibly put together. You win by not standing out, which is a little counter intuitive with a contest that has limited winners. "Unique, but normal" doesn't compute.

Instead, you should put effort into defining what sets CAN or Can't be used, rather then defining what "shouldn't be used" based on a nebulous definition of "normal". Like "no particle effects", "earth tones", "80% of the character's cubic volume has to be body": factual definitions that quickly establish what probably is or isn't eligible at a glance.

A panel of judges would suffice. All one needs to look at to understand the rules is the concept art and ingame NPCs from Gw1 and Gw2 ...

@Kovac.4372 said:

@"starlinvf.1358" said:But who sets the rules, who gets to be judge, and what if the rules are unfair? One problem I'm spotting with this whole concept is that its anti-creativity, and aiming for the most mediocre, homogenized, inside the box look one could possibly put together. You win by not standing out, which is a little counter intuitive with a contest that has limited winners. "Unique, but normal" doesn't compute.

Instead, you should put effort into defining what sets CAN or Can't be used, rather then defining what "shouldn't be used" based on a nebulous definition of "normal". Like "no particle effects", "earth tones", "80% of the character's cubic volume has to be body": factual definitions that quickly establish what probably is or isn't eligible at a glance.

That doesn't help when stylized and embellished could be considered the same thing under this "interpreted" rule set you've laid out. Given enough incentive, people could and probably will Rule Lawyer the contest to prove how poorly defined, and totally subjective the rules are. If I were to find an outlandishly dressed NPC, like Kasmer or Marjory, then those outfits should have an equal chance of winning compared to TOWN_NPC_02, because both are "in-game" and have respective armor sets available to players. Theres also the question of bias in the panel of judges, especially if those biases can be played to directly, rather then in the spirit of the contest.

This is why you need establish a proper set of boundaries, and try to keep the ambiguity for restricted items to a minimum.

@starlinvf.1358 said:

@Kovac.4372 said:

@starlinvf.1358 said:But who sets the rules, who gets to be judge, and what if the rules are unfair? One problem I'm spotting with this whole concept is that its anti-creativity, and aiming for the most mediocre, homogenized, inside the box look one could possibly put together. You win by not standing out, which is a little counter intuitive with a contest that has limited winners. "Unique, but normal" doesn't compute.

Instead, you should put effort into defining what sets CAN or Can't be used, rather then defining what "shouldn't be used" based on a nebulous definition of "normal". Like "no particle effects", "earth tones", "80% of the character's cubic volume has to be body": factual definitions that quickly establish what probably is or isn't eligible at a glance.

That would be the person (certainly not me) currently on the Wiki trying to find out if any NPCs wear the Luminescent armour, with a mental checklist of other sets to try if they don't. ;)

I understand the sentiment behind this topic, but I really don't think it's a good way to go about it. If it actually went ahead it would just lead to arguments about every detail of different people's definitions of 'realistic' 'normal' and 'lore appropriate'.

If you want to persuade people that they don't need to use flashy skins to make their character look good the best way to do it is to lead by example. Make and use characters with really cool, but realistic or lore appropriate skins and dyes and you'll inspire other people to do the same. Yes it's true that a lot of people won't care and will continue to use what they like instead, but that's true no matter what you do. That's the nice thing about games where the appearance and functionality of equipment is separate - you get to choose how to dress your characters.

Oh and it turns out there are NPCs wearing luminescent armour:

@Kovac.4372 said:

@"starlinvf.1358" said:As for the contest, Veteran players have an unfair advantage.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Common_Clothing_Outfit

No, you wouldn't. Six years ago, there was a system called "Town Clothing" which was an extra set of armour slots into which you could equip special pieces of "armour" called Town Clothes. You could switch whether you showed your normal armour or your town clothes (there was even a keybind for it), and while showing your town clothes, you couldn't fight (they were meant for running around in a sort of "RP" mode in town, whence the name). Somewhere along the way, they decided this was not the way to go, and they changed town clothes to everlasting tonics of the whole set for all existing characters, and somewhere later they added an NPC who would sell the outfits that you see now in exchange for the tonics.

Maybe instead of an "event" (you didn't say ANet or player sponsored) you should just post a thread asking for people to share their realistic looks? There's already one for showing off your mix and match (there the only criterion is that you can't use outfits).

I know I have at least eight characters whose armor sets match your criteria as stated and I'd be happy to post them in such a thread.

Incidentally you can buy the Common Clothing Tonic on the Trading Post and then use that to unlock the outfit. Last I looked it was just a few silver. You can also buy the other clothing tonics, except the dragon t-shirt (which has always been account bound on acquire) but they're all several hundred gold.

@"Donari.5237" said:Maybe instead of an "event" (you didn't say ANet or player sponsored) you should just post a thread asking for people to share their realistic looks? There's already one for showing off your mix and match (there the only criterion is that you can't use outfits).

I know I have at least eight characters whose armor sets match your criteria as stated and I'd be happy to post them in such a thread.

I'm sure there's been at least one thread specifically for people to post characters without any flashy effects or wings/other huge back items because I remember posting in it. But I don't think it lasted very long.