Appearance slots

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Gear will have appearance slots (Transmutation/Transmog/cosmetic slots) that are used to copy the appearance of an item (in some cases).[2][3]

  • There are rules when applying cosmetics to specific items, unlike costumes, which don't have level restrictions.[4]
  • Cosmetic slots can be toggled on or off on their character by the player.[5]
  • A "default player appearance" may be automatically applied during sieges or other large scale battles to improve client-side performance.[6][7]
Cosmetics, whether purchased from the shop or earned in game, are an important component of MMORPGS I personally enjoy; and there's a lot of collectors out there who spend a great deal of time either in-game achieving these things or spend money purchasing them from the cosmetic only marketplace; and we don't want to demean or reduce that achievement or that expenditure. So it's going to be situational where the default appearance will be applied and can be activated.[6]Steven Sharif
Alpha-1 female plate armor 3D render.[8]

We want to be realistic with the application of particular types of armor, such as plate armor. In this regard for the different sexes there's a fine line that has to be drawn between accentuating the form of the sex as well as making it somewhat realistic and actually applicable to the environment.[8]Steven Sharif

  • Armor will not be overly sexual in appearance.[8][10]
    I'm more of the mind that it wouldn't really serve a purpose to have bikini plate armor, just in like reality, if you're going to have armor, it should be protective. I think from a fashion statement is enjoyable for some people, but it's a an immersive issue.[9]Steven Sharif
    • Some armor and costumes will be more revealing than others, but there will not be nudity in the game.[12]
    There might be sliders, but there are not gonna be naked sliders.[12]Steven Sharif
Each race is getting its custom geo pieces, which then will share thematic components such as color palette, attachments, design filigree. Those types of things will get shared across the geo but generally you're going to see unique races with unique geo.[16]Steven Sharif
  • Cosmetics can be used by all races but there may be slight variations to make them work with the body builds of each race.[21]
  • Hair will likely be masked if helmet display is toggled on.[26]

Racial weapons and armor

Armor racial appearances in early Alpha-1.[29]

Violet light and myself are wearing exactly the same armor set right: Same stats, same everything, but it drops for her it looks one way, it drops for me it looks another way; and... a small part of that is gender, but then the other part of it is race. So because I was a Vaelune in that playthrough my armor was in the Vaelune style; and when she picked it up it was in the elven style because she was an elf. So that gives you an example of sort of the breadth of looks that we're going for and how we try to capture like who you are as as a character and allow you to build your look that way.[30]Jeffrey Bard

Dünir and Empyrean racially styled armor concept art by Keith Kovach.[31]

We have essentially sets that exist across all races; and each race that dons those armor sets is going to have their own racial influence on the presentation of those particular sets. So that's something that's unique in how each of the races get diversified.[32]Steven Sharif

Weapons and armor are not race locked, but armor will take on a racial appearance.[32][33][34]

The customization of equipment per race is really focused on Armor sets not Weapon props. Weapon props will, from a model standpoint, will translate pretty one-to-one across the races.[14]Steven Sharif
Let's say for example you have the Eagle set or something, right: The Eagle set has in art, it has a thematic design that's going to include certain attachments to the armor. It's going to include color palette and theme. It's going to have some aspects to it that define it as the Eagle set, right. When a Elf wears the Eagle set or when an Orc wears the Eagle set, you obviously have two different cultures there; and you don't want to stomp out that culture by assigning a de facto 'This is the Eagle set and this is how it looks on everybody.' What we want to have is cultural influences play a role in showing how that set looks.[14]Steven Sharif
When you say, what if I'm an Orc but want to look like an Elf and I want my Eagle set to be the Elf representation? Well the issue becomes there that Orcs have a different organic model. You know, their body is different than that of the Elf. So, from a scope-creep standpoint, it's one thing to add different influences that represent the cultures that are donning the armor; it's another thing to adapt each influence as a matrix that can be worn pretty much by everything. From a scope perspective, that's a very difficult task for the character artists to tackle. So instead what we've done is, in order to facilitate a variety of cultural representation between the races but allow for the sharing of assets like different armor sets, we give different representations of those armor sets to each race.[35]Steven Sharif
Q: Since a single armor set will look different on each race, how will we have large varieties of in-game achievable gear for each race if we have to make nine different looks for each set?
A: The approach for that is to create a modular piece set for armor creation; and the way we achieve that is by two steps: So, on the modeling side, each race has these geo sets basically where you're creating pieces of the armor for heavy plate armor, for medium, for robes; and you get to grab those modular pieces and mix and match as design makes a request for a particular set to the art teams. So, design comes along and they say, "hey we have a theme for a set that we want to create", so let's use Carphin in that example; and that theme from design's standpoint is going to include color, it's going to include materials, it's going to have an etymology for the set to give a background so that they can incorporate certain types of attachments- whatever they want to include on the art side. Then, the character team says, "okay let's take our base sets of geo and let's mix and match those pieces to create the Carphin set and then we're going to do a materials pass on it, and then we're going to do a color pass on it"; and that way we have a lot of essentially pieces of the puzzle to create these many different unique sets. Now we can also deform pieces across from race to race. So, even if we create unique geo on a per-race basis, we can grab the pauldron from the Human set and put it onto the Vek representation; and the end game there is that we have a particular set, for example Carphin, and that Carphin is communicating the theme; and when you don the armor for the Carphin set- you've acquired the Carphin set and you put it on- it is going to look Vek if you're a Vek. It is going to look Kaelar if you're a Kaelar, but it is still going to have the identity and the theme of the Carphin set.[13]Steven Sharif

Gear slots

Alpha-2 character sheet work-in-progress UI.[36]

We wanted to create something that would handle a couple of different roles, with obviously your equipment slots for what we call a "paper doll", which is that display of your character. Eventually it won't just be a image of your character, we hope to have the 3D character and be able to rotate around, look at what you're wearing. And then we wanted to support a couple of different features here, with some base stats; the equipment, which will show what equipment you have available to quick swap, so you don't have to have your inventory and the screen open; detailed stats for those people who want to get into all of the details; and then of course gear sets. So this is going to be able to swap to your sets of gear quickly; and being able to save different loadouts.[36]Colby Marchi

There are multiple gear slots in Ashes of Creation.[36]

  • Previously it was stated there were 16 gear slots.[45]

Gear appearance priority

Players can set the appearance priority for the items they wish to show in their Back and Belt slots.[38][44][57]

Gear inspection/ Threat assessment

You decide to gank the player, but find out that you have been ambushed![59]

Players will have a buff on their nameplate that indicates the gear set they are wearing. Other players will be able to see this buff by targeting that player at a distance.[60][61][62]

You can target a player. You're going to see what type of armor they have based on a buff they have available to them because obviously cosmetics can change appearance. You might have different silhouettes as a result of that.[63]Steven Sharif
  • The border will indicate the level and quality of the tier set.[60][61][64]
    • This also indicates if the gear is enchanted, along with visual effects associated with enchanted items.[61][65][64]
  • The developers believe that inspecting gear to obtain an exact equipment list or gear score may lead to "unwelcome behavior".[66]
When you see a player approaching you and they're wearing a transmog you don't know if that person is a high damage mitigation against physical damage or against magical damage and essentially the way we overcome that is through you being able to target a player at a distance and they will have a buff that's present on them that you will see, which indicates that essentially the piece set that they are wearing. It is important for players to be able to ascertain from a threat assessment standpoint what they're going up against if they're actively checking that, and that will be available.[62]Steven Sharif

Gear sets

Equipping the Titanbark gear set in Alpha-2.[68]

We're going relatively traditional in the gear access points by being driven by level tier that players will have access to. So as you advance in your adventuring class you will begin to unlock the ability to equip gear of a higher level.[69]Steven Sharif

Gear sets (also known as tier sets) are a part of Ashes of Creation.[70][69][3]

Q: How often will armor be part of an entire armor set with other cosmetically matching pieces versus unique armor pieces that don't match or go along with anything else in the game?
A: There is a balance of both set pieces and non-set pieces and usually you're going to see at higher grades within a tier are going to be more predominantly set driven; and the lower interstitial power levels of the gear for that tier are the potentially bespoke pieces; and obviously those pieces are catered around a number of different interactions, such as ones you get from quests, ones that you get from drops, ones that you can craft, ones that you get from legendary bosses, ones that you get from guild-oriented tasks, or in-game favor and unique currencies. So there's different types of acquisition models and each of them has a spattering of either bespoke pieces or set-oriented pieces; and there are even varying levels of set pieces as well. So you might have a full eight piece set, or a three-piece set, or a five piece set, depending on where it lives within the tier.[70]Steven Sharif
  • Players gain bonuses depending on the number and tier of pieces they have equipped.[70][69][3]
    • An overarching set effect is granted to wearers of exclusively one "type" of armor, for example: all cloth, or all plate.[71]
    • There may be set bonuses that members of certain communities will obtain based on gear set type.[70][3]
    • Set bonuses will not provide new abilities, but certain higher-end weapons and armor will have active abilities, but the intention is that these abilities will not radically redefine the way an archetype is played.[72]
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
  • Certain set bonuses may trade off core gear stats.[75]
  • There are passive abilities that can be chosen to become more adept with certain set types.[3]
  • There will be viable non-set builds.[75]

Crafted items

Crafting UI. Alpha-1 screenshot. Image credit: Guild:Overlord

Crafted items (also referred to as Completed items, Finished goods, or Final products) are items produced by crafter artisans using crafting stations.[76][77][78][79][80][81]

Crafted gear in the game is the best gear... One thing that I'm not a fan of is that you develop a crafting system in a game and you've spent a lot of time making this from a material and resource perspective. All the tables that you can receive, all the connectivity in the economy and how crafting is associated with the game; and then you undermine the crafting entirely by presenting a separate route of gear acquisition that is on-par with the crafting efforts. So here you have these people who are acquiring all of the resources getting, all the recipes, leveling up their professions and then everything they make is less or equal to anything you could just have chosen the easier path of and gone down the questing and received the best gear. So what we do focus on is that crafters make the best shit. Excuse me, the best things.[79]Steven Sharif
That plays into our crafting system in and of itself. The idea is for those stats to be variables that can be dictated based on the mastery level of the particular crafter; and the higher they become a master of those professions, whether it be for armor or for weapons or for accessories, they're going to have some agency and put their mark on essentially what items they're introducing into the economy.[88]Steven Sharif
We believe that every item that exists in the world should in some way reflect its creator. As such, there will be extreme versatility in our crafting system – giving crafters the ability to create unique items that represent their strengths and weaknesses.[91]

Skins

Cinderhorn Steer pre-order pack cosmetic mount skin.[92]

Providing these limited options that collectors out there like when it comes to achieving and/or purchasing cosmetics. It means something I think when players make that decision to purchase or they go through the rigorous portion of achieving those things in game that it is not just everywhere around them and becomes meaningless at that point.[93]Steven Sharif

Accessories/armor, Buildings, Caravans, Mounts, Pets, and Ships sold in the cosmetic store are skins.[94][95][96]

Owning cosmetics does not guarantee the acquisition of the item the cosmetic can be used on. Players must still achieve the corresponding item/building.[98]Steven Sharif
  • The lore on store cosmetics is flavor text.[97]
  • The best skins will be in-game achievable.[105]
The best skins will be in-game achievable (obviously “best” is subjective, so I’d say the most ornate and detailed/unique).[105]Steven Sharif

Racial skins

Racial skins enable a player to change their character's racial appearance.[106][107]

  • Racial skins transform the race of the character to that skin. The original racial appearance of the character is entirely replaced.[108]
  • Racial skins can be toggled on and off.[107]

You're changing your race over to that, which means that you won't look uniquely different if you were a Vek angel or a Human angel.[108]Steven Sharif

Racial skins are not costumes. This means that armor and character customization is possible on these.[109]

  • Skin color customization.[110]
  • Racial skins appear along with any costume appearances.[111]

There are plans to create other racial skins.[83]

  • Some potential future ideas include undead and werewolf (lycan) skins.[112]

Read more...

Costumes

Vestments of the Runecarvers pre-order pack cosmetic costume.[113]

The costume cosmetics that are included in each month's pre-order set are indeed a full piece, and when you put it on it will cover your entire appearance. You will not be able to mix and match/toggle those pieces individually (other than your helmet) when you're wearing the entire costume. This is partially why there is a separate category for accessories - those are able to be worn/equipped on a more individualized basis, so you can mix and match to your liking![114]Sarah Flanagan

Costumes were available for purchase from the cosmetic store.[115]

Full costumes do not mix and match pieces.[120]Steven Sharif

Read more...

Kickstarter weapon skins

Kickstarter backers will receive a unique weapon skin.[126]

  • Usable on all types of weapons.
  • Include subtle and tasteful glow/particle effects.

Backer only armor skin

All Kickstarter backers receive a unique armor skin set.[127]

Cosmetic store

Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.[128]

There is going to be legendary cosmetics that can be earned and achieved in the game through the game systems, but that's going to take a significant amount of effort and work; and those cosmetics are going to be on-par with the cosmetics offered in the marketplace... What that does is it provides additional revenue to the company so that we can continue to fund the development of content as well and bridge the divide that not having a box cost would have and not having any pay-to-win mechanics whatsoever.[129]Steven Sharif

The Cosmetic store enables players to purchase Cosmetics for use in Ashes of Creation.[22] The cosmetic store offers limited time, limited quantity items to help sustain game development.[130]

Nothing in our shop will ever be pay to win as we believe this practice greatly hurts the MMORPG genre.[131]

  • Cash shop cosmetics will offer a diverse selection of unique looks.[132]

I want to incentivize purchase in the cosmetic shop for sustainability of what expansions we have intended, since we are not a box cost. I want to incentivize purchase by offering limited items: limited time, limited quantity, so you have confidence that when you purchase them, they won't be offered later on in some other way.[130]Steven Sharif

I don't want cosmetic items that can be purchased from the market to be transferable... because it is in a way a transfer of money for potentially something in-game.[134]Steven Sharif

Attachments

Attachments are able to be unlocked as flair pieces to armor to create a customizable look.[135]

  • There will be hundreds of attachments available ranging from a small clasp to the front plate of a breast plate.[135]

See also

References

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