More free to apply skins?

Per other discussions, should the starter skins and all Cultural skins become free to apply like AP skins?

Starter skins, sure, why not, since there is no other way to acquire them except by creating new characters. But cultural skins might be going too far. Logistically that's a ton of skins, and I'm not convinced that transmutation charges are an issue. Even if it were, it makes more sense to then to add more ways to get transmutation charges, rather than making all cultural skins free to apply.

I vote no. Purchase gems for skins or transmutation charges. Support the game.

My vote of "maybe" is meant as a "yes to the general idea, no to the specific".

I do not think those skins mentioned should be free to apply, but skins purchased in the gem store should be.

They should sell new skins or make new onces when the next xpac comes out or during LS5

Why would it be in ANet's interest to do this?

I meant to vote "maybe." I would just like to see some more weapon skins, and maybe a set of armor skins that I can use on leveling characters. Outfits are pretty good, but I would like to be able to change it up every once in a while. Using charges just is not worth it for a leveling character, with how quickly you cycle through gear in order to not gimp yourself.

Not necessarily the cultural skins, but I would like to see more free-to-apply skins so low level characters can be customized a little bit.

@BlueJin.4127 said:I would like to see more free-to-apply skins so low level characters can be customized a little bit.

It's fair to say that low-level characters are expensive to wardrobe, unless one uses Outfits.However, this proposal isn't about new characters.

If getting transmutation charges is a problem that should be addressed rather than making a small sub-set of skins free to apply.

Personally I've never bought transmutation charges and never felt like I was running low on them. (I have a rule that I keep at least enough to completely reskin a character with 2 sets of 2-handed weapons, but I can't remember ever coming close to that minimum.) So this doesn't worry me either way, I just think this solution seems like it would only help certain people in certain situations (when they want to use starter and cultural skins), so it's not really a solution to the problem, more of a stop-gap measure to make it slightly more bearable for a while.

@BlueJin.4127 said:Not necessarily the cultural skins, but I would like to see more free-to-apply skins so low level characters can be customized a little bit.

Maybe just the T1 cultural skins?

Acquiring new skins is part of the fun of the game. Having them all dumped in your lap takes some of the interest out of dropped loot for a new player. The excitement of having a new skin drop is much more rewarding than to just have it all from the beginning.

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" - not unlocked for free, just free to apply.

Why not just more free transmutation charges?

Why those skins specifically? What makes them different that they should be free to apply when others aren't?

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:Acquiring new skins is part of the fun of the game. Having them all dumped in your lap takes some of the interest out of dropped loot for a new player. The excitement of having a new skin drop is much more rewarding than to just have it all from the beginning.

I dont think anyone is asking for free skins, just no cost to apply.

@kharmin.7683 said:I vote no. Purchase gems for skins or transmutation charges. Support the game.

Or WvW / PvP like I do and never need to buy any.

This is about a QoL update. It's a very small set of skins to apply.

@kharmin.7683 said:I vote no. Purchase gems for skins or transmutation charges. Support the game.

I never buy transmutation charges. I earn them in the game.

I voted no.

• For the starter armor: Once we create a toon, the skin is unlocked and in our wardrobe for free.
• For the cultural armor: That's higher level equipment, special one. We are not supposed to get the skin for free. We are supposed to earn it at the cost of some work. I like that there are different types of armors and that to get them (unlocking the skin) is not just given but needs efforts. That's what makes them special.

Personal opinion of course. :3

The votes are skewed because people are not understanding the poll.

This isn't about getting free gear/skins. This is about not having to use transmutation charges to apply them to your current gear.

They are saying the starter armor and your racial armor should be free to apply to your existing armor (meaning, not cost transmutation charges). You still have to buy the cultural armor with your gold like usual, it will just be free to transmute since it is your racial armor and is unique to your race.

I voted yes, as anything that makes changing your appearance easier is a yes from me. I don't like the transmutation system as it is. Just make it cost a few silver for each piece you want to change and get rid of transmutation charges already. This system is more restrictive than other games, when it comes to a simple cosmetic change.

I don't have anything against it but I personally don't see the point. Free to apply skins are a remnant of the pre-wardrobe transmutation system and are an arbitrary exception. I think most people fall into one of two groups:

1. Doesn't particularly care about cosmetics, has hundreds of unused charges, more than enough to customize when they want to.
2. Cares a lot about cosmetics, is constantly draining their supply of charges, won't be satisfied choosing between a limited selection of free skins.

I don't see that this change would meaningfully improve QoL for anyone and seems like more of a low hanging fruit that fixes nothing, except for a tiny minority that has an odd fixation with these particular skins.

@SpyderArachnid.5619 said:The votes are skewed because people are not understanding the poll.

This isn't about getting free gear/skins. This is about not having to use transmutation charges to apply them to your current gear.

They are saying the starter armor and your racial armor should be free to apply to your existing armor (meaning, not cost transmutation charges). You still have to buy the cultural armor with your gold like usual, it will just be free to transmute since it is your racial armor and is unique to your race.

I voted yes, as anything that makes changing your appearance easier is a yes from me. I don't like the transmutation system as it is. Just make it cost a few silver for each piece you want to change and get rid of transmutation charges already. This system is more restrictive than other games, when it comes to a simple cosmetic change.

Really, perhaps it only affects those that like the change their look every day or once a month, or more than only once. Personally, I find a look, and that's it, I stick to it for the most part, until something else comes along that might pique my interest more, then I just some of the thousand plus transmutation charges I have, since I hardly use them...and I've never bought them directly, they've either come from zone completions or BLTC(which is how I support the game, I do buy the occasional skin and/or BLTC keys).

I choose the neutral choice because I really don't care since I get more trasmutation charges than the ones I use.

@Leablo.2651 said:I don't have anything against it but I personally don't see the point. Free to apply skins are a remnant of the pre-wardrobe transmutation system and are an arbitrary exception. I think most people fall into one of two groups:

1. Doesn't particularly care about cosmetics, has hundreds of unused charges, more than enough to customize when they want to.
2. Cares a lot about cosmetics, is constantly draining their supply of charges, won't be satisfied choosing between a limited selection of free skins.

I don't see that this change would meaningfully improve QoL for anyone and seems like more of a low hanging fruit that fixes nothing, except for a tiny minority that has an odd fixation with these particular skins.

I'd add 3: Cares a lot about cosmetics but tends to choose a look for each character and stick with it for a while, so rarely/never runs out of charges. I spend a lot of time and gold getting my characters looking just the way I want, but then I usually don't change it again for a few weeks or months, so I'm never short of transmutation charges and from discussions I've had it seems like that's not an uncommon approach.

But I don't think the proposed system would benefit players like me either, and could end up with some people feeling like using anything else is a worse choice, because of the cost, but they're tired of always using the same small selection of skins. I still think if transmutation charges are an issue a better solution would be to add more ways to get them and/or reduce the price in the gem store to something players are willing to pay.

@Klowdy.3126 said:

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:Acquiring new skins is part of the fun of the game. Having them all dumped in your lap takes some of the interest out of dropped loot for a new player. The excitement of having a new skin drop is much more rewarding than to just have it all from the beginning.

Yeah, @Kylden Ar.3724 explained that above, though I did not respond. Thanks for clearing that up, both of you.

@SpyderArachnid.5619 said:The votes are skewed because people are not understanding the poll.

I agree. IMO it might be worth closing this thread and restarting it with a description that makes it harder to misinterpret.