How about a barber profession?

SotA will be a player driven economy. You'll probably get all your best gear from crafters as well as cosmetic stuff like clothes and furniture. So why not allow players to make a business out of character customization too? If you want to change your hairstyle, dye it another color or grow a beard, talk to your local barber.

Maybe a barber can even fix you up with some customization options not available during character creation? Perhaps you'd like a fancy, temporary hairstyle for that special evening with the guild?

It probably wouldn't be worth the development work, but I liked the thought. Would have given yet an incentive for getting in touch with other players. And slightly more value for the Scissors of Prosperity

Then again, trolling barbers would probably result in a throng of angry avatars with neon green dreadlocks, so never mind...

 

One simply must admire the simplicity of your feedback, good sir. I would be hard pressed to do better

 

Well this could be a funny feature. While online, you could give other player haircuts. But I think it'd be more fun if you could have NPC's as customers too We'd have Guard Michael walking around with the weirdest haircuts all the time!
I doubt it's a very complicated feature, altough not a priority for Ep. 1... But a nice RP feature I suppose.

 

And then you would teach other players barber skills, like teaching emotes? Doesn't sound bad. But you would have to have a way to make it work; ie the skill be exclusive to people who choose to be barbers. And it would be a little over the top to add barbery to the skill trees.

 

Brings back memories of Star Wars Galaxies. There was a hairstylist skill in that game, part of the "Image Designer" line.

 

"I would enjoy seeing this done" in the same way as our "Special Brew", but with a slightly different twist to it. Instead of having to go to an NPC to get some hair cut deed or something, why not make this player exclusive, where you must go pay an NPC to be able to do it and then players must seek out a player who knows this skill to have it done. but you couldn't do it to yourself.

There doesn't have to be some special skill that would take away from actual play skills.

This is a quest thing, a player based interactive thing and thing that helps support our immersion and more consequence into our game.
I'm on a social quest, I need a haircut, so I go on a quest, to "Find a Barber"!
"I'm All For It"!
~Time Lord~

 

For those who wish to do it I think it is OK and you guys just go ahead and do it. I on the other hand wish to not have to spend any more time then necessary to change my hair styles. Let me pay and NPC in gold or $10 for a character restyling to Portalarium and let me move on with my day.

 

I support this and would go further: complete restyling your Avatar as a skill. Including haircut, height, sizes and everything the customization system will have (or add in the future). Maybe a 'magical' skill?

LB talked about the possibility of changing your appearance in-game (he hates spending time as the 1st step when entering a game) so this feature will be in somehow.

Instead of doing what @Gracekain and go to a NPC or buy a magical item, it'd be great to force us to go to find other people with this skill to be able to change our Avatars with ingame gold. Of course the offline mode woudl require NPCs to achieve this.

 

What would be an acceptable amount of time you would wish to spend looking for someone to help you change your hairstyle? I don't want to have to get home from work and log on and have to spend hours looking for someone to help me change my hairstyles. I'll be way more happy spending my time doing the things I want to do. It is very unlikely this will be in game, but i do want to point out that not everyone has lengthy play sessions.

 

Lengthy play sessions are not for me either!

Other option would be that those 'barbers' could create magical re-customizing items and sell them through vendors just as armors or weapons and there'd be no problem to find them.

But since changing your appearance will not be something you need or use often it's not that bad to need to go find a character to do this for you.

 

I want this in the game just to see the, "I'm sorry... I ugh.. got a critical fail.. oooooooooh... yeah.. really really sorry... 1 hour cool down on the redo."

 

Yep! Random fails included in all skills always!

 

Haha. You mistakenly slice off their ear.

 

"The Quest of the Immaculate Makeover"

Hal the Adventurer needs a hair cut, nail trim, a manicure and a complete makeover. So he goes to the local NPC to buy a certificate of hair cut, manicure and makeover. And thus the Quest of the Immaculate Makeover begins.
Hal then must find a Barber trained player to fulfill the contract and finds that he's in luck because his friend David knows Janise, who knows the man who walks the dog of one of the greatest hairstylists in the land, the one and only, "Dapper Dan". Although Dapper Dan is the finest hair stylist, he is only a Journeymen Hair Stylist so when people click his customers hair "Journeymen's Hair Style" is proudly marked there. Dapper Dan hasn't cut enough hair to have been awarded a higher diploma certificate from the NPC trainer so Dapper Dan opts to cut anyone's hair for free. Yet Dapper Dan does receive an income from this, as every time he receives a certificate of services rendered from one of his adoring customers, Dapper Dan can redeem it for a cash payment to the local NPC Haircutting Guildmaster. Yet still our Hero of Hair Dapper Dan has very high hopes in someday providing to his customers "The Cut of Immortality" that only legends myths write as being "The Only Haircut That Will Ever Save Your Life"... once...
How many hair cuts will Dapper Dan be forced to cut to attain such a miracle of hairdo? How Many of his customer will seek him out as return customers with hopes of attaining such a stylish Journeyman's trademark? How many? How many I ask you?
Will every new level of his training provide more deepening services as "Eye Piercings of Night Sight, Nose Piercings of the Night, Ear Piercings of the Light, Facials of Plastic Surgery, Manicures of Exceptional Dexterity, Botox Muscle Buffs, Golden Eye Inlay of Foresight, or for the more thefty and stealthy of the lands, the famed Toe Trim of Tip Toes"? Who Knows? Only your most friended and well informed about so many goings on in the land, your great and personal friend, our own Dapper Dan of Owl's Head.

And thus, return customers, for social encouragement and a deep desire to be not seen as common ruffian or riff raff will all be befriending our dear Barber Dapper Dan.

Or you and a friend could just get a diploma and give each other a regular hair cut...
But personally, "I'd rather be a Dapper Dan Man"!!
~Time Lord~

 

Yes, there could be 'fast' haircuts and the research your friends/family/friends of friends/strangers way...The latter having different styles available in only that way...Not necessarily better styles, but different...and the chance of a failed haircut (oh my hair, my beautiful long hair what have you done to me!?)

I like it...I would have fun with a quest like this...worried a bit of the outcome...but isn't that what it's all about...Woo Hoo!

 

*some PKillers are awaiting outside town in ambush when they see a lone adventurer leaving the confines of the city*
PK: there he is boys "Get Him"!
*the sound of rumbling hoofs as the PK close in*
PK: Wait! wait everybody, "It's Dapper Dan"!
PK: OK Dapper, head cut or hair cut your choice...?
Dapper Dan: I just happen to be running a special on Red to Blue Makeovers...
PK: Na, those are for #$%#&# ... just give me and the boys a hair cut and we'll pay ya' for it..
PK: Oh ya, "Do you make house calls"? Me and the boys like to get a bit gussyed up before we hit the town bank each Friday night...
*Dapper Dan scribbles a note in his book not to be in town on Friday night*
Dapper Dan: Sure, where's your hide out?
PK: nothing doin, meet us here outside town and we'll cut ya' in...
*Dapper Dan pauses to think*
Dapper Dan: I see ya' Friday night then *wink*

Dapper Dan: *smiles* Another satisfied customer!
~TL~

 

If we've learned anything from social games like Second Life, it's that lots of people like to change the way they represent themselves through their avatars... constantly. I think it would be a very awesome skill to include in the game which could be very useful to Portalarium as well.

Say you have a person who decides to work up a barber skill. They buy a pair of barber scissors or a straight razor (for that facial hair styles) and over time, they can learn new styles which will make themselves more valuable to players maybe in the form of style cards like Fable had. Portalarium could then sell limited or special styles on the Addon Store for barbers to buy and use on their customers. Maybe they could also collect certain plants to make dyes with so they could make hair colours to sell or use on people as part of the skill itself.

Adding skills that are more casual are very good for keeping community interaction up and I'm for any skill that does such.

 

I remember LB talking about additional skill trees as items for sell ($$$$$) in the addon store; this would be the perfect example for it.