Dye Another Day

Interestingly enough, this is also prevalent in some games but not in others in this generation of games (second). If you merely look at three games: Final Fantasy XI, EverQuest II and World of Warcraft you can really see this. In Final Fantasy XI, because of graphical constraints, the amount of armor variation and therefore uniqueness is quite limited (the same textures are often used over and over). World of Warcraft provides an interesting contrast: there are many, many different variations. We have already seen the results in EverQuest II.

So the question, obviously, is why there is variations in some games but not others and this isn't always an easy question to answer. In the comparison of World of Warcraft and EverQuest II exclusively it really becomes hard to understand. Both of these games were released in a short span between each other but one clearly has more variation then the other. Is it because of focus or something else? Possibly.

The one argument that could possibly be used relates to the graphics engine itself and to this option I am continually reminded of Asheron's Call, when Turbine tried to revive it. In one of the developer chats when a graphics upgrade was being discussed, many fans wanted to see the Asheron's Call 2 graphics engine (it truly was beautiful for its time) but there was a problem with that, according to Jessica Mulligan (at that time a high up in Turbine). Simply put, if the team (though small) employed that suped up graphics engine then content delivery would slow considerably. To simplify: the better the graphics the slower the content.

While the argument is widely accepted and understandable it is also a little silly to apply it to EverQuest II as a possible reason when contrasted with World of Warcraft. For it must be remembered that the Turbine team was rather small, especially when you compare and contrast, and obviously when you have a larger team you can produce content at a much higher rate. While this is the case I don't see any other reason for the lack of variation, at least when it comes to weapons and armor, in EverQuest II. Though, there are other, simpler ways, to improve customization or variation immensely without touching the textures (this only applies to armor however).

Back in the late 1990s and for the early part of the new millennium I was occupied considerably by Asheron's Call and it is in this first generation game that the solution for the variation or customization problem lies: dying. Former EverQuest veterans will argue that their game had it as well, and that is true, and they also know how well it worked.

What is particularly appealing about this idea as well is according to the Community Manager of EQ2-LQGaming, Methos, we very well may be seeing further customization in the future in the way of tinting, and that certainly is a good first step. Obviously though, as we all should know, tinting only goes so far.

I suppose opponents of dying, and I'm sure there are many, don't want to see "rainbow coloured armor" and quite frankly I don't want to see it either but there are ways around it. Quite simply, if you don't want awful colours (yes I'm sure I'll get some e-mails about this one) like pink, purple and orange all you have to do is not include them as dyable colours. Other colours such as blue, black and red - which of course you can mix and match with to create really good effects - work out rather well: something you won't get in tinting.

With all of that said however, even if we only get tinting it will be a strong first step. Though quite limited, as I have outlined, it will provide some variation and subsequent uniqueness. If, however, tinting is relied upon to provide that uniqueness then the developers are in for a world of hurt: it simply won't get the job done.

So then it is my hope for the sake of variation and uniqueness that the developers do one of two things after tinting has been patched on: either start working on "viable, non-lore breaking" dye colours or start coding a lot more variety in armor textures at all levels. This whole issue of armor variation may not be an issue today or tomorrow but down the road it will be and it should be addressed sooner rather than later.

Among all this discussion of tinting, dying and subsequent armor variation we seem to have forgotten another very important aspect: weapons. Yes my friends, weapons still need variations as well and I firmly believe that they need more help then armor at this time.

There is a problem, however, when you try to pin point and solve the weapon variation problem: tinting or dying really isn't an option. Sure, it can create some variation but just because blades or hilts or a different colour doesn't mean it makes each character distinguished.

Weapons are obviously a secondary focus and I wouldn't have it any other way but they are definitely an item that does need some emphasis in the future. The problem with weapons in EverQuest II is not the fact there are so many - which is true, as there is many different kinds of weapons - but when you look at individual classes there isn't much to choose from. Oh, and hey, a claymore a Guardian used at level 15 certainly shouldn't look at the same at level 45: it simply makes no sense.

Though while it is easy to talk about weapon customization you cannot simply patch in tinting or dying as I said, but you need to code in more textures which makes it exceedingly more difficult. Given how large of a task this can be I hope the developers have, or will start on this very soon: customization is a problem right now and it needs to be addressed.

While I'm on weapons, before I wrap up this article, I will make one plea to the developers on behalf of all Rangers: please give us a /show_bow. To those who are not Rangers this may seem like a silly request but it really isn't: I play my Ranger as a primary ranged damage dealer. With that said, it would be nice if I could show other players that as I wander the streets of Qeynos and Maj'Dul.

Customization always has, and always will be, a very hot topic among prominent MMORPG players and it has come the time in EverQuest II's life that it needs to be addressed more fully. When the game launched there was enough variation for the time but now that a good chunk of the population is at the end game what was satisfactory before is no longer.

I wish to stress as well that this is a very important topic, one that cannot simply be fluffed off. I'm not suggesting that we'll see a mass exodus of players if customization is not addressed, but it certainly will help considerably in retaining more players if it does.

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Posted by Daigona at 2005-10-11 10:02:16

Dying armor was a great thing in EQ1 but it didnt really help uniqueness like everyone thinks it will. I wanted my warrior in black and red plate...so did 80 of all plate tanks. Almost all rogues d*beep* their chain black. I ended up going in various shades of blue to be more unique but most people ended up using the same colors black red blue. While armor dyes will help some with uniqueness its not the end-all fix everyone thinks it will be. It has the potential to be sure. I agree with that. The people on my server Morell Thule that were unique with armor dye were the ones with the awful rainbow mix or bright pink.

Posted by Ktok at 2005-10-11 10:04:17

You forget the main reason WoW has more armor types than we do. Their armor and characters have FAR fewer pollies than ours do. WoW models are actually not very much more complicated than EQ1 Luclin models. EQ2 models on the other hand are very complicated by comparison and making armor for them is complicated as well. Possible Of course. Time consuming Hugely...

Posted by Mewse at 2005-10-11 15:08:31

One trend in EQ1 that I saw was guilds color coding their classes on raids Fighters would be silvergray. Shaodow Knights purple Paladins dark blue Clerics red wizards orange Enchanters light bluecyan necromancers black etc etc etc That way everyone on the raid knew who had what job by looking. With the raid mgt window in EQ2 that is a bit redundant now. But it was handy in EQ1.

Posted by Ancelot at 2005-10-11 15:53:11

I Certanly agree that Armor should be Dyable but i also feel that perhaps Include a few Different Graphics for Each armor piece I.E. Horns on plate helms. My Only Major Concern for the time being and ive said this from the Beginning that Dual Wield weapons look like crap IMHO. As a Berserker I dont really think i can look imposing wield 2 swords that look like something youd sell to a Kid at Medival Times. Im also not a Huge fan of the way Dual Wielding goes in the game but hey thats for another time.

Posted by Kylae at 2005-10-13 11:16:14

My personal feeling is that its a giant cop out on the parts of the Devs. I realize they are a business and at the end of the day is what its all about. But competition and new technologies equal shorter terms of play and less cash. What do they do to keep more people longer Is itnew zones new classes New anything Could it be fixing the things that have been broken for a year I find that the things I enjoy the most are the small changes to my character that make me unique ie voices specific and different colors and armor looks etc. I would love to see Guild Crests and Cloaks as well but I would settle for any post 42 armor that didnt look exactly like everyone elses. It just makes no sense.

Posted by Scythienne at 2005-10-13 14:46:48

All I really want with the armor atm is to make it so T6 armor looks DIFFERENT than the T5 armor. I am a mage in game and I love to collect different looking robes shame my vanity. I was VERY dissapointed to find that ALL the T6 crafted armor handcrafted and legendary have exactly the same design on them as the T5 crafts. And as a lot of the robes Ive seen general players wearing pre-expansion mainly all have the same base design on them rare crafted T56 robes Ancient Gown of Ice Ancient Rallosian Gown That Dierdres one from Nek 2... All pretty much the same. Id love to have a you guessed it black and red version of one but noooo bluey-purple to red only. More Variation please.

Posted by Malignant at 2005-10-15 03:45:02

Give it time. You all sound like its been 3 years deep into the game before anything is fixed like EQ1. Its only been 11 months. The game is still young.

Posted by Edwardo Templarknigh at 2005-10-15 10:26:35

I think the armour looks good a T6 but yes the designs are always the same perhaps white colour of the armour would look cooler

Posted by marckus at 2005-10-15 10:27:54

i cant complain really i get the cool nighblood armor

Posted by the evil one at 2005-10-15 10:31:09

Armor in tier six usually has the same design but after all the creation cant be perfect.

Posted by palladium finder at 2005-10-15 10:32:38

i dont see why ev1 complains lol the armor i think looks cool

Posted by swamper at 2005-10-15 10:34:21

yeah ill go with malignant the game just needs time