Armor and Weapons that grow with your character.
I have been digging and using the search on the forums have not found anything like this yet. Yarnila from VoT(shameless plug) let me run with this one.
Here is his quote:
Armor/weapon Ideas: What do you guys think of the Idea instead of going out into the World and running through Dungeons and Raids and rushing through Quest to attain gear and weapons we would have a set Armor piece that grows with you as you gain experience. The way you as a player could modify your Armor by Look and Design is through Crafters that would make Patterns for you to modify the way your Armor or Weapon would look. so Chest Plate Shinny Silver with a Pattern you could change its color or the Look of that Armor so it looks more lighter or you add some mean Spikes to it. So now you guys are thinking well wheres the reward? So instead of Armor Pieces or Weapons droping we could get Stat drops or Runes to modify our Armor and Weapon pieces. There can still be Armor Sets out there that are the almighty Sets but they would be very Rare to come by.
My question to the Devs and the community is this something that could work. Immersion is a big problem for the current MMO’s in general. We treat weapons and armor like throw away items and in reality one would not do that. Even throughout history people did not do that. Roman soldiers would not throw away gear it was modified and repaired to improve it or to keep it working. Materials were not cheap and the armor of the guy you just killed may not be your size for an example.
I think living armor and weapons could change the way we think about drops. It will take crafters and such to change or modify your stuff and even quests could be used to improve stats and such,
Just an idea to throw around to see what people think. Discussion is good!
Ox
I big part of any MMO is the hunt for Gear. While the living Armor thing sounds cool I would go bored if I had nothing to work for. I would spend countless hours searching loot tables for the best pieces for my Paladin.
I prefer upgrading Armor the EQ2 way through the use of adornments still keeps crafting Important but allows for every piece to be a little different.
I agree with Kalgore.
Looting a rune or whatever is just not as compelling or exciting as seeing that armor or weapon icon appear in the loot window.
I really like knowing that the player that ran by me with the awesome armor and cool sword, got it from killing some mob somewhere in the world, that I to could get someday.
Plus, there are only so many stats and effects that could be done, to drop as runes or whatever. Where a sword with the same stats could have so many visual appearances. Maybe I'm not looking at it from the correct perspective, but if everyone has a short shord, but the stats are all different, they still all lok like a short sword. And if you can modify the look to make it unique, you might as well just start with unique items.
I would like to see an upgrade system of some sort, that would allow one to stretch out the usefulness of a peice by upgrading its stats, just to get a few more levels out of gear. But even that should have a limit.
Both points have already been discussed.
As far as gear that increases stats as you level: It has already been stated that some gear will scale down based on level. There are no plans to have gear scaling up as you level (in other words, increase in stat as you gain exp as you proposed)
There has also been discussions about gear appearances. I am not a fan of being able to change how an individual piece of gear looks.
You should be able to see a player wearing a light blue robe and you know that it is a robe of the oracle or whatever. Gear should be recognizabe to other players by what it looks like.
Another, smaller factor...,Not only does it take away the uniqueness of the look of a specific piece of gear that others can see, but then you end up with a bunch of people putting spikes on gear and they end up looking ridiculous.
As Philo mentioned, this has been covered previously.
What I would like to see is something like GW2 does, and that is be able to add on runes, sigils or permanent enchantments to weapons and armor. This could be a variety of things, such as Shamen inscribing runes into armor, Enchanters tempering armor, Warriors sharpening blades, Clerics consecrating blunt weapons, Wizards enflaming blunt weapons, Dire Lords desecrating armor...the list goes one.
The only caveat would be that armor (maybe only chest?) and weapons can only take one enhancement each. Players will need to decide which improves their character the most, all predicated on what content they encounter the most or what offsets a weakness etc etc.
Main thing that drives me in a game is to loot that next piece of gear. Risk and reward. I like the concept but as many have said, the game would be boring if I wasn't motivated by the chance to find new or different armor, weaponry, etc.
Make no mistake, patterns and armor accessories should also be in but keep different loot in as well.
LOL Dullahan! Your Jedi mind tricks won't work on me.
On the subject of "Gear Scaling" I think that needs a better definition. As discussed on that thread I am understanding that the gear scaling is a set point with one set of gear that only increases in values unless you modify it or replace it. I guess that is not scaling armor to me it’s a static point with a mod ration of X percent. I am splitting hairs here but I look at the old grind for gear a major problem in games now. My thought was to get a piece of armor or weapon that can grow with you. I am not saying that would be the only type of gear in the game. The process of having gear level with you could quest driven or crafting. Faction based gear or Epic lore type scenarios come to mind.
Once again the type of game that is being built does not have to be the same old rehashed content with a new coat of paint (something about a turd comes to mind here). I am trying to think out of the box on this stuff so discussion is part of this. I am thinking a new approach on the old school methods is needed. Or at least mix it up a little.
Good comments so far!
Ox
Kilgore said it I don't like having to keep replacing armor ever 5 lvls but if they adapt a system like old EQ (which I believe they r) then I don't those this will be a problem. One of the best times for me was when I finally got to upgrade to my vellum sword to kill the wisps in the commonlands.