The Tailor's Lament

As was spoken by @DarkStarr during the R44 PosTelethonMortem, new wearables are appearing in game from Add-On Store patterns than by in-game recipes as of late. While yes, there are plans to have a few more recipes for tailors in the coming releases (gambesson, doublet, etc), my concern is that the recipe pipeline will ultimately die off in favor of making everything a purchasable pattern.

[insert caveat of "I know that the game has to make money to continue development" here]

My request/suggestion/idea is thus:

If you're going to make something into a pattern on the Add-On Store, make sure that the item is fancy/ornate/over-the-top/baroque/ostentatious/etc. Make it with all the beeps, bells, whistles, buttons, lace, and filigree that a cash-item should garner.

However, there is still a high demand for basic clothing items that are simple in appearance, and thus, take much less turnaround time.

Here is an off-the-cuff list of wearables that we do not yet have in the game, and would be (relatively) easy to implement:

head rag / bandanna / kerchief (Take the Perennial Coast Fisherman's hat and remove the coolie)
simple shirt (short sleeved, long sleeved, mid-sleeved)
puffy shirt (think poet's shirt, without much ruffle)
apron (would go in cloak slot, and basically be a front cloak, either full or half apron)
thai fisherman's pants (these are cloth wrap pants that have high cuffs so that they don't collide with boots)

Also, I would suggest that for every clothing pattern put on the Add-On Store, a simpler / less ornate version be created as a recipe for tailors. This has already been done for carpenters, as many Add-On Store furniture pieces (chairs, sofas, etc) have plain / brown leather / etc versions that are in-game recipes. The exception would be for seasonal wearables, which only come out at various times of year. Those wouldn't have simpler versions. The Add-On Store version would be completed after the basic versions were created, so that both versions could be included during the same game release.

Lastly, as part of the Two Year Plan, could we have all dye colors normalized across all wearables, so that new dye colors could be introduced later? Currently if you take any one particular dye color, and dye every wearable with the same color, you get varying degrees of color variances because of how the dye is applied to the item and/or how the item's textures were shaded. Also, when it comes to new dye colors, I'm not expecting UO levels of color choice, but doubling the number of available dye colors would be nice, going into muted colors and lighter colors.

All in all, I'm still 100% behind this game just as I have been for the past four years. It is my hope that the balance between cash shop and in-game customization options continues to be fair. Thank you for your time, and thank you for all that you do daily to make Shroud of the Avatar the best game in the world.

PS: @Lord British, @Minerva says "Psst....SHOES!"

 

I am 100% in support of this. We need diversity and self expression. Having the ability to put our own touch and spin on things, matching pieces that were not meant to go together but with creativity do. Let the crafters make their mark. I want to wear an amazing light blue @Jack Knyfe creation.... but yes I will buy SHOES lots and lots of SHOES @Lord British!!!

(as a disclaimer, sexy boots do count as shoes, as well as strappy sandals)

Thank you @Jack Knyfe for fighting for crafters and a beautiful community!!

 

When your only option is one pattern on the add on store, limit your post to leather/cloth only. Heavy armor only has 1 true heavy armor pattern in the store, and that's the clockwork. Ardoris Shogun armor and the new Elven Fighter armor are more than 50% leather in style, and just no.

That being said I agree with a portion of your post. We do need more options for "all" crafted wearable styles in game. Dyes for leather/heavy armor have been talked about in past telethons, an enamel system is coming. But we still need better options for armor looks.

Heavy armor REALLY needs some love in this department @DarkStarr the clockwork really is our only true heavy armor option right now. A lot of heavy armor wearers were hoping to see a return of the Flame Heavy armor on another telethon, and it feels like that won't happen. It would have given us at least a second option.

We need more of these options IN GAME too though. I don't think adding less ornate versions of in store items is a good idea, because this literally would take away from the viability of the add on store items. Why pay money for something you can make in game that's only slightly less good looking? We need more diverse options, not less gaudy replicas.

 

@Juvir, I understand and appreciate your concerns regarding the lack of variations for heavy armor.

I would fully support a separate thread asking for what you've asked in your reply.

Back when Stephen Daniele was still doing art for Portalarium, they had a video series called "Pen of the Avatar" (and apparently is still going strong, now that I've searched), in one episode, he went through creating a plate set of armor using a wheat theme (I called it "Grain Mail"). I was hoping for more armor variations, and perhaps over time (now until the end of Episode 5) we will see more and more armor types coming into the game.

EDIT: Here's the video, hassle-free:


Tailors, apart from being "those people who make light armor" should have a plethora of clothing items for folks to wear for their non-combat interactions. Right now most folks are a combo of armor or high-society wearables, or lingerie-esque. There's not much in the way of plain clothes other than cannibalizing various outfits for pieces that could look normal when taken out of context and dyed. It's a start, but I don't want it to be the finish, if you get what I'm saying.

 

As a Blacksmith I agree.

 

As a tailor, I vote 'aye' on Jack Knyfe's ideas. As most people wear cloth and leather for everyday cloths and not just armor, you would expect more variety. Although it would be nice to see more variety with plate and chain as well.

 

Time to drop the daily drab and get some furious fab!

*snaps fingers*

 

I'm not a tailor. But I agree we need more craftable options, not just for tailoring but all the crafts. We need more recipes or patterns that are loot drops instead. As someone who really wanted to be a furniture crafter in-game I decided not to be one yet because of the lack of great looking craftable options that were on par with add-on store. We do (sometimes) get a plain version of add-on store furniture (usually a couple releases later). Its gotten to where now I'm just hoping add-store furniture will be get the addition of the add-on patterns for furniture. My hopes of seeing great looking crafting recipes for non-combat (everyday clothes, furniture, deco, etc) related craft items is diminishing each release.

As a non-tailor my biggest concern with the response being giving about tailoring recipes was when they said the recipe book was becoming "too bloated" or some such. That means there will be less recipes being put into the game if they feel that way. But on the flip side it did sound like them moving over to more patterns would mean putting in patterns that are loot drops and not just add-ons.

 

Completely agree with more recipes and patterns. Now, something I think would be nice in this game (and that a lot of games are doing nowadays), is to add additional slots next to the respective gear slots. We shall call these......costume slots. This does a few things, allows us to put gear that we would like our gear to look like (keep it light to light and heavy to heavy like patterns are now) and also, more importantly to me, we don't have to destroy things to get a pattern. I like that, because if you get a better piece of gear, you don't have to salvage it to get your pattern (granTed it's an eternal one) just to add it to the new piece. So yea, that's all I got this morning, but I think our wardrobe could do for an upgrade =)