Why does Anet release full outfits, but not outfits that can be used as parts of armor?

[shadejo.3481]

I'm unsure if this counts as "Ask a Question" under the new forum system, but I wanted to know about this. As someone with experience of both 3D art and software development in a corporate environment, I found this to be peculiar and wanted to know the exact reasoning behind this particular choice. I understand many player's have their own conjecture about why this may be, why ArenaNet may be somewhat circumspect to discuss this openly, and how unlikely I am to get an answer; but I still wanted to ask to finally understand. Is anyone able to comment on this officially? To other players, what's your preference on this? Would you rather there be more outfits that were skins for armor so you could build new gear looks from them, or do you prefer the outfit wardrobe system?

[Terrahero.9358]

Much easier to do and they sell for almost the same as armor sets did (700 for outfit, 800 for armor). It's simply more cost effective to them.

[shadejo.3481]

Was that every officially stated on the forums (old or new), or somewhere else by an ArenaNet employee? If so I would love a link.

[Yolanda Hardass.8045]

Well, this has been asked before many times. The official answer from ANet - which I am not going to look for right now, maybe one of our more illustrious members will post a link some where - is that outfits is a "one per model" i.e. they do not have separate pieces. Then comes the issue with matching existing armor pieces of all the weight classes with the outfits in order to avoid clipping and such. This is due to the way armor is designed.

Which co-incidentally makes outfits so much easier and faster to make.

On a personal note, I love armor skins more than I like outfits. Simply because of the fact that you can mix and match different ones in your weight class, which brings us back to what you were saying. This conversation is going in circles :-)

[shadejo.3481]

Oh, thank you for that info then! That's exactly what I was after. I'm somewhat surprised that's a manual task rather than an automated art-tool. That's interesting that they manage it manually to (what I imagine) maintain the standard of quality of the models. Thanks!

[FANY.6524]

Just an add-on: Outfits originally were individual pieces way back when, but when they switched over to the outfit model they either converted matching sets (like the Winter's Day outfit) or they turned the "town clothes" into tonics (which were awful, imo). I ended up getting a refund for every piece of gear they turned into a tonic. ;(

[shadejo.3481]

Yeah, I recall. I've been playing since launch and have some of those outfits! I guild-mate of mine still has his town clothes even.

[PopeUrban.2578]

I ran this down on the old forums, but it is entirely profit motivated. Arenanet decided to create a straw man, that armor is more complex because it has to have a version in all three weights for all races. They parroted this incessantly as the reason for the switch to outfits. Because this was "better" for the player base because they could create "more" content.

Despite the fact that this is not true. They create the same amount of content, the outfit system just lets them sell that content to more people.

They also create the majority of armor (or outfit, the terms are interchangable) content to sell it to you, rather than awarding it to you for playing the game you bought. They do this more heavily for cosmetics players desire more. Players desire variant armor pieces more than they desire variant weapon looks by virtue of them having less equip types AND more slots.

"Outfits" use the same mesh seam rules as the three armor weights for the most part, and Anet bragged quite famously before the launch of GW2 that they aren't beholden to those rules because their engine allows them to bind armor to one or more gear slots anyway (good example of this is CoF medium chest) It has nothing to do with the complexity of matching those pieces with others, and everything to do with how much easier it is to sell an outfit than an armor skin.

1/3 of characters can equip a given armor pieces, but 3/3 of all characters can equip a given outfit. That means the potential customer base for outfits is quite a bit higher.

Arenanet had a problem selling armor skins and decided to phrase it as if it were 'too expensive' when in reality it isn't any more 'expensive' to create an outfit than it is to create an armor set (assuming that armor set is single weight)

It just doesn't sell to as many players. Outfits have nothing to do with what players want. They're the result of someone deciding the already ludicrous balance of "stuff I can get playing the game I paid for" and "stuff I or someone I pay gold can get by paying even more money" wasn't out of whack enough, and people were'nt spending enough money.

Its the same reason black lion chests exist, the same reason cash shop currency is in "gems" in stead of actual currency, and the same reason they charge latecomers for integral pieces of the storyline.

It's not about what you want. It's about what you're willing to pay for. Everybody wants armor, but less people are willing to pay for a given set of armor that fits 1/3 of their characters than they are an outfit that can fit all of them.

[DragonSlayer.8173]

I bought the magitech armor years ago, and I love all 5 of my characters that use it.

I only bought outfits that had a useful item like the movement axe, or if it came in a bundle with a glider. I despise outfits, and haven't bought one for outfits sake yet.

No armor, no money.