Please make the Cloak "Shroud of the avatar" usable for patterns and color changes

Please make the Cloak "Shroud of the avatar" (quest item) usable for patterns and color changes.
evryone in our guild wants use the cloak (nice stats) but in results all ppl looks the same. second reason - te cloak covers half of the front chestplate so our heraldry sign is barelly seen.


it would be nice if it was possible to change its overall look, to herardry or standard cloak

 

and remove the movement speed debuff, archers and shroud..nope.

 

AGREE like EVERYONE is using the shroud, because of course it has stats. You cant dye it, you cant pattern it. Every high lvl toon is looking the same. what a shame

 

Make it dyeable at least (so my guildmate does not always have the bad mood when we go killing stuff that makes the shroud turn white...)

 

Dyeing or applying a pattern goes against the original design intent of it 1) being special and 2) a way of showing the avatar's virtue. If you remove these characteristics, it's just another cloak.

 

If you remove the speed debuff, what debuff are you going to put in it's place?

 

You want the stats,you gotta look ugly. It's a trade off.

 

trade OFF is the keyword hehe
Where did the sense for fashion go ? (It died in the 80s)

 

Yet it seems the intent was not to have so many level 65+ toons wearing the same white bulky sheet either. One option would at least offer a reasonable diversity of appearances. It's a huge factor in fantasy mmorpgs to offer a sizeable variety of desirable clothing/armor to generate appeal from the player base (you're going to be looking at your toon for dozens or hundreds of hours). The Shroud is currently standing very much in the way of that.

If the original intent was to make everyone look the same by having the same *special item, then that original thought was misguided.

 

And for those reasons, I'll be treating it as a deco item, despite the stats.

 

It's a quest item, so it can't be placed as deco.

As for changing the cloak's appearance, the only way to do that (by design) is to alter your virtues. It will be either black or white, depending on your virtue status.

This shroud is supposed to be a way to show how you live by the virtues and is literally the namesake of the game and THE defining item that shows you've completed the main story line.

I understand the need for individuality and all, but this is a special item that is supposed to be what it is. It's supposed to be recognized and popular and it is a symbol of your accomplishment that you should wear proudly as a member of the "elite" group that has earned it.

 

Well put! +1

 

The misfortune here is perhaps inherent in the nature of the item: a cloak. About 95% toons in every other mmo I've played took advantage of the game's "hide cloak/helm" feature, retaining the item slot stat benefit to stay competitive while allowing players to forego having to look at a wearable curtain instead of their custom armor efforts.

Let's be honest, the visual aspect is a big thing for a large chunk of the fantasy game player demographic.

 

It is, and given the design principles behind Shroud:

• * I am against the "Shroud", which has particular known strengths/weakness, used as a skin for another cloak. Ruins the whole prestige of having it.
  - I wouldn't mind a variant, but it should look vastly different than The Shroud of The Avatar
• * Also opposed to hide gear; since for PVP I like the notion of seeing the equipment your hunter or prey is wearing and using that as a catalyst or deterrent for engagement.

 

While "the shroud" does proof you did the quest... and is the name giver of the game... and an reward... and so on.. all valid yes...

But (there is always that)

-Everyone looks kinda the same (We have three tanky ones, if they all wear shroud things become confusing, white shroud and plate)
-Archers like quivers... seems genetical dunnu...
-no other back item with stats afaik

The three on the top of what comes to mind.

I have no idea how to solve that because with the way the game is named and so on, back story and so on, it is all pretty much set in stone.

(maybe this teaches the leasson that it is complicated to make an game and make one defining piece of clothing the central plot point)

Really, I have no idea at all how that can be solved (and i think it should, i think it is an problem, an minor one but it is nice to know who you look at without reading nameplates...)

Slapping patterns on it is kinda against the idea itself... Dying against the idea it shows the virtue....

I mean an archer lives pretty much on movement speed, so an archer should have negative courage for movement speed.... not positive for penalty on movement....

theese stats make roleplay and stats one waqnts to have collide head on. (not to mention choices of playstyle/content use)

I did not picture that mess when they said players have to make ethical choices. Looks for me more like fashion choices.

 

Most games I've played allow you to alter the appearance of light armor to light armor, or heavy armor to heavy armor, 2-handed weapon to 2-handed weapon, etc. for the reason that it's probably too tricksy to convey you are holding a dagger but you really have a greathammer.

That said, I'm not sure there should be the assumption on players part that I should know what every equipment piece must visually look like - with no deviations - so I can gauge exactly what someone is geared with (as long as the light/heavy/1-2 handed stipulation is met). But I could perhaps understand the position that a handful of lore-rich items shouldn't be convertible to just any old pattern.

As for hiding helm/cloak, I wonder if those concerned about PvP would be fine with being able to hide helm/cloak if you are not flagged for PvP. Since for PvE'ers it wouldn't matter - except to more effectively meet their style preferences and enjoy the visuals of the game more.

 

Think you misunderstood, there is no assumption, but a feature promised in the design principles that is there if you care.

If you care to learn about some of the gear, or become familiar over time through play, you will be able to identify what impact the opponents equipment may potentially have on their combat style/performance and allow you to adjust your tactics.

It isn't an assumption everyone should know every piece of equipment, nor should you (e.g. you can hover over the paper doll for limited stat info ) but it is something you should (any individual with a human brain) begin to identify over time; queues in equipment that may give you an edge, or trigger your flight instinct.

I wouldn't mind, but argue it extends beyond PVP. In PVE (using the great new party function) and partying with a new group, rather than everyone saying their role or what they are going to do, you can get queues from their outfit and hit the ground running how to support. Sure, skills play a huge roll, but if you see a guy wearing platemail and you are in light clothing robes waving magic sticks (sorry mages, "wands"... rude. I tease) chances are you won't have to ask "are you a tank" and know to put your butt behind the dude in heavy plate armor.

Not against your suggestion for PVE, but again - while I loathe slippery slope arguments because they extrapolate and assume on limited instances and evidence, it is a slippery slope to start bringing in, "lazy" RPG tropes.(e.g. Hide helmet, IMHO is wrong. So wrong on so many levels and I, being melodramatic, I find the practice insulting. You want head protection, you wear a helmet. You have metal, cloth or leather on your head. If you don't want metal, cloth or leather on your head for protection, DONT WEAR A HELMET!)

 

I don't really want to hide the Shroud, and it really should be dyable/patternable, etc. but it really occupies an unfortunately space.

As a cloak, it means you can't use half of the rewards we are given for community or fundraising. Community cloaks, Wellness cloaks, the Shardfall cloak, each pledge tier cloak, etc. You can't even use something like the Knight's cloak just to get Light without a torch.

The helm isn't a great choice either, but there arn't a lot of other options. I'd suggest making it a belt slot item; it would still look the same, except that you could still wear a cloak with it. There are other belts out there, but these have stats (artifacts) so it should be an even tradeoff. The only technical limitation is that belts currently don't appear on the Avatar. If thats fixable, I don't see a downside for moving it.

 

I understand there are going to be those on both sides of "realism/plausibility/practicality vs. artistic license," though I'd argue that it's just as viable to adopt the philosophy that if you don't want to be able to see your character's face for 100s of hours of gameplay because going sans-helmet isn't practical in warfare, then by all means do wear a helmet; but let others who like the artistic expression angle of their fantasy character show their face. I think it's worked well in a slew of other fantasy games. Going without a helmet is perhaps viable if you're in an under-level zone but missing a piece of gear can be fairly punishing in challenging content.

I would say less a lazy trope, more fantasy artistic expression. I've thought about how we can carry on our backs (in video game and tabletop rpgs) many hundreds of pounds of junk. And swords slash multiple enemies in a way that isn't historically realistic. And someone can carry 1000 arrows in a quiver...so I think it's acceptable that some areas of realism giving way to game/player friendliness is perfectly acceptable in a way that is consistent with the fantasy genre.

Though at this point there really aren't so many cosmetic face/hair options to probably fuss too much over having to wear a helmet!

 

How about make it pattern-able but it retains the white/grey/black virtue color?