Cut armour (concept arts) - perfect time to bring back to SotO?

[TwistedAlga.4235]

So, we all know there has been alot of cut armour sets back when the game first launched. 

This is the perfect time to re-consider and release these marvelous wizardy-sets, perfect time to bring back to SotO!

Check these below for a few examples of the great concept artiest Hai Phan:

Light armor ''Arcane''

Light armor ''Arcane 2''

Norn armor

Light Armor Utopia ''Arcane''

Light Armor ''Wizard''

 

Others:

Noble armour (fun part is that the 3rd set is actually in-game but unavaliabe for players, only for NPCs can wear it)

Norn winter armor

[Arianth Moonlight.6453]

b-bUt tHe cLeAvAgE Is nOt rEaLiStIc... GiMmE MuH PaPeR BaG HeLmEt...

[Caitmonster.9036]

I'm still waiting for Anet to implement the Snow Leopard shaman armor like they did for Bear and Raven during Icebrood Saga. :C

[Eekasqueak.7850]

One of those looks like early concept art for the astral ward armor we got. 

[Batel.9206]

Oh, the first variant of those "noble" armor sets...I would love to have that full-length skirt. 😭 There's such a lack of those. All of these armors are gorgeous, I so wish we had them in-game. Adding my vote to bring them back!

[Ashen.2907]

Were they, "cut," or removed...or were they never developed?

[Danikat.8537]

47 minutes ago, Ashen.2907 said:

Were they, "cut," or removed...or were they never developed?

If the only example that exists is concept art I'm guessing they were never developed. That's usually how concept art works - artists draw multiple versions of a thing then someone decides which one/s go into the game. (Usually that's the art director deciding which one is the best fit, sometimes it's also because of practical considerations - like choosing the design that will work best with the cloth animations in the game.)

One analogy I've seen is it's like decorating a room - you might put up samples of 5 or 6 colours, then pick 1 or 2 to use for the whole room. The other colours weren't exactly 'cut' from the final design because you never intended to use all of them, you were just exploring options. Or, as explained by Liz England's Door Problem article:
Concept Artist: “I made some gorgeous paintings of doors.”
Art Director: “This third painting is exactly the style of doors we need.”

That first one looks a lot like the Diviner armour to me, but with less elaborate shoulder pads. The concept art for that one is by the same artists and also labelled 'Light Wizard', so it wouldn't surprise me if that's what happened here. They did lots of designs and then the art director picked ones to use.

The really interesting thing about these to me is there's different variants of the same armour, with possible levels marked. It looks like they may have been considering a system like GW1 with normal and 'prestige' versions of each set.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Danikat.8537

[TwistedAlga.4235]

17 hours ago, Danikat.8537 said:

That first one looks a lot like the Diviner armour to me, but with less elaborate shoulder pads. The concept art for that one is by the same artists and also labelled 'Light Wizard', so it wouldn't surprise me if that's what happened here. They did lots of designs and then the art director picked ones to use.

Yeah he designed the Diviner Armour set too, I can link it here too, it was in the same post of his concept art. It was the only one out of these concepts arts that made it to the game.

[Kiki.9450]

I'll gladly +1 this sort of thread, especially if the content already technically exists in-game and just needs to be implemented for players to collect/use. Easy way to give the players something "new" during a dry spell while other pieces are created for future content.

[Danikat.8537]

29 minutes ago, Kiki.9450 said:

I'll gladly +1 this sort of thread, especially if the content already technically exists in-game and just needs to be implemented for players to collect/use. Easy way to give the players something "new" during a dry spell while other pieces are created for future content.

We've been asking for the outfits human nobles wear to be available to players since launch and as far as I know never had any response.

My best guess is they aren't available because they don't work on other races, but if that's the case I think the solution should be to combine them with other unavailable NPC clothing and make something like the Common Clothing, Wedding and Chef outfits which change completely based on the race and gender of the character wearing them.

[Kiki.9450]

10 minutes ago, Danikat.8537 said:

We've been asking for the outfits human nobles wear to be available to players since launch and as far as I know never had any response.

My best guess is they aren't available because they don't work on other races, but if that's the case I think the solution should be to combine them with other unavailable NPC clothing and make something like the Common Clothing, Wedding and Chef outfits which change completely based on the race and gender of the character wearing them.

I like your suggestion! Cultural armor (and outfits as you mentioned) are some of the fun flavour things this game could use a bit more of in regards to player race.

[starlinvf.1358]

Three words.   Saucy Mesmer dress. 

[TwistedAlga.4235]

On 10/25/2023 at 3:40 AM, starlinvf.1358 said:

Three words.   Saucy Mesmer dress. 

I had a forum post about the Saucy Mesmer dress years ago, perhaps I should post it again 😉