Possible Idea: Cultural Gear?

[Drithien]

One of my biggest disappointments with the game is how each racial faction's identity has become next to obsolete in matters of importance after vanilla's racial campaigns, so yes, cultural gear is a very good idea as far as I am concerned. Perhaps even include some race-specific quest-lines so as to obtain them. It will make the gear more relevant and create some variety in questing.

[Justignoreme]

Pffft elves? Trolls?

Try finding proper cultural-looking non-leather transmog gear for tauren, I dare you.

Fully support the idea BTW.

Classic leather sets from 20-40 are great for tauren... Troll stuff is locked away in dungeons, not a problem. Night Elf gear? Not a damned thing, unless ur a druid.

---------- Post added 2013-01-31 at 05:05 PM ----------

Hate to burst your bubble but there's a lot of effort put in the tier gear as it currently is, so this would be really time consuming and expensive.

and its a nice thing we can change it to stuff we actually like to wear with transmog...

(And get rid of the female breast visible in plate; its just not how plate is worn by females, and it doesn't protect the female at all. Its actually dangerous.)

you're actually going for realism and then touting the benefits of plate armour which was rendered obsolete as heavy, clunky and still not enough against well made weapons in its day? Heavy plate was only a benefit against masses of pitchfork armed peasants, anyone with a well made axe or sword and not burdened by the restrictive weight of heavy plate was at the advantage. And then there are crossbows and firearms

no but really, protection? Fighting dragons and robots the size of skyscrapers dispels any "reality" of armour in the first place.

[Khaza-R]

I would love this. Even if it was just used to make iconic unit sets from WC3.

Rifleman for Dwarfs, Grunt for Orcs, Footman for Humans, Spellbreaker for BEs, etc

[GennGreymane]

some nice armor for gilneans... ONLY THE BEST!

[Totle]

It could be based on NPCs of the race.

[PomPomPop]

I have been eyeing the hats and dresses the female Gilnean NPCs wear. There are certain items NPCs wear that I would virtually die for. Cultural armor sets would be a nice idea for Blizzard to play with, so I say; bring it on.

Not class sets like we already have with every possible tier, but sets which only one race can wear. It doesn't need stats, in my opinion; transmorg purposes are just fine for such cosmetic things.

[Deleted]

Classic leather sets from 20-40 are great for tauren... Troll stuff is locked away in dungeons, not a problem. Night Elf gear? Not a damned thing, unless ur a druid.

---------- Post added 2013-01-31 at 05:05 PM ----------

and its a nice thing we can change it to stuff we actually like to wear with transmog...

you're actually going for realism and then touting the benefits of plate armour which was rendered obsolete as heavy, clunky and still not enough against well made weapons in its day? Heavy plate was only a benefit against masses of pitchfork armed peasants, anyone with a well made axe or sword and not burdened by the restrictive weight of heavy plate was at the advantage. And then there are crossbows and firearms

no but really, protection? Fighting dragons and robots the size of skyscrapers dispels any "reality" of armour in the first place.

That's a good point, but you gotta start somewhere, and regarding dragons that's part of fantasy (which doesn't mean out implementation is epic). Regarding the female breast plate we discussed it in TESO thread and had great URLs.

[Haven]

(And get rid of the female breast visible in plate; its just not how plate is worn by females, and it doesn't protect the female at all. Its actually dangerous.)

I think we better have both options, because there will always be fans of plate bikinis. Me, for example. What's the point of strict realism when people throw fireballs from their hands? Both options are good. I actually loved the look of Hilde in Soul Calibur 4, btw.

[Justignoreme]

That's a good point, but you gotta start somewhere, and regarding dragons that's part of fantasy (which doesn't mean out implementation is epic). Regarding the female breast plate we discussed it in TESO thread and had great URLs.

I didn't see the thread but I'll add my opinion here, gear in WoW is merely a magical bolster, its form does not follow function in a practical sense. Im not opposed to revealing gear or heavy gear in either end, it's entirely about options, and I like having all of them; sometimes I like being my warrior being fully clad in spikey plate with obscenely large weapons, other times I like revealing attire and light/fast weapons. Much like real world clothing, it's about mood, style and even weather xD

yes I've spent thousands on transmog

[Deleted]

I think we better have both options, because there will always be fans of plate bikinis. Me, for example. What's the point of strict realism when people throw fireballs from their hands? Both options are good. I actually loved the look of Hilde in Soul Calibur 4, btw.

Well the former is unrealistic in real-life, but also in fantasy the physics would apply. The latter is a common theme in fantasy, shooting fireballs out of hand after they're conjured.

---------- Post added 2013-01-31 at 10:49 PM ----------

I didn't see the thread but I'll add my opinion here, gear in WoW is merely a magical bolster, its form does not follow function in a practical sense. Im not opposed to revealing gear or heavy gear in either end, it's entirely about options, and I like having all of them; sometimes I like being my warrior being fully clad in spikey plate with obscenely large weapons, other times I like revealing attire and light/fast weapons. Much like real world clothing, it's about mood, style and even weather xD

yes I've spent thousands on transmog

I also spend a lot of time on how my characters, even alts, look its fun but the question is, would you sacrifice for realism? I would regarding the breast and plate. Here's the reasoning why it'd kill you IRL (point 3) http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01...ly-ridiculous/

Much of the female armor in MMOs is ridiculous for a completely different reason as well: It's a virtual death trap for the wearer. Any fixed (i.e., plate) armor that makes special allowance for individual bosoms is creating a lethal physics puzzle. You can read the full explanation here, but in short, any fall or frontal blow will cause the armor to fold in the middle and skewer its owner.

I only went to IRL RPG once so I can't comment on it too much. Most females were wearing cloth and leather, not mail or armor. Men were more varied, but mostly mail and armor (knights esp). I myself was just wearing my normal clothes. I had to travel quite far, and it was my first time, plus them clothes are quite costly. But next time I'll gather some clothes somehow, and also have closer looks to see if I see other females wearing mail and cloth like that.

[Haven]

Well the former is unrealistic in real-life, but also in fantasy the physics would apply. The latter is a common theme in fantasy, shooting fireballs out of hand after they're conjured.

Physics? I that case a crossbow bolt or bullet should one-shot characters in most cases, ignoring armor completely. And one fireball should set clothie's robes ablaze.

[Deleted]

Physics? I that case a crossbow bolt or bullet should one-shot characters in most cases, ignoring armor completely. And one fireball should set clothie's robes ablaze.

Ugh yeah true its quite a can of worms. What's acceptable in fantasy, and what is not...

[Justignoreme]

I also spend a lot of time on how my characters, even alts, look its fun but the question is, would you sacrifice for realism? I would regarding the breast and plate. Here's the reasoning why it'd kill you IRL (point 3) http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01...ly-ridiculous/

I don't like to use obnoxiously large shoulders on my toon because the clip into/stab my character in her face with their ridiculous decor. Realism is simplicity and mobility. A lot of the armour sets (and weapons for that matter) are not simple nor built for mobility at all; it's akin to show/parade/court wear and not actually functional, as most elaborate arms and armour tend to be irl. Also I don't really bother considering everything listed as "plate" an actual piece of hammered out metal plate anyways. Game mechanics aside, my warrior night elf, for example, is supposed to be agile and rather tough, they avoid getting hit by dodging, parrying, and generally being evasive and very fast with her attacks and if she does take a hit she shrugs it off and keeps going unless she's fatally wounded. Ofc if she's with a healer, the fatal wound is healed in a burst of magic so the realism as we know it is lost.

Either way you slice it, the realism isn't an angle to go for. As for the outrageous female armour designs, ya its impractical for battle, but so are pauldrons with massive spikes on them or a "face guard" that doesn't offer any protection for the skull, or legplates without any clear articulation, etc. etc. I consider it "parade/court/show" armour, just like the unrealistic tier pieces. Ofc thats just for "plate". Leather, cloth and mail don't need to conform to any of those standards either.

[Dedweight]

Hate to burst your bubble but there's a lot of effort put in the tier gear as it currently is, so this would be really time consuming and expensive.

Well they did kind of do what the OP wants with the Monk class, every ten levels you got a new class quest and a new piece of gear that fit the class, so they definitely have the capability of doing it in a similar fashion for races as well if they cared to do so. Given it was usually only one piece of gear with the quest but the rest were available for transmog if you got a better piece that didn't match so it wasn't a huge loss.

[Psychotrip]

This idea is cool, unique, fun, and would add something beyond mindless raiding and pvping to the world of warcraft.

That's why it's never gonna happen.

[Deleted]

This idea is cool, unique, fun, and would add something beyond mindless raiding and pvping to the world of warcraft.

That's why it's never gonna happen.

It's funny because I'm playing and having fun without either raiding or PvP.

[Sett]

I'd rather them have better faction themes then purely culture. Seems to be less work but a good chance for some cool gear to pop up. More unique class-themed stuff is cool too. ( I love the paladin weapon one. Example being the Sunwalker's sword. Reflects Tauren culture and the class in one item. )

[Deleted]

I'd rather them have better faction themes then purely culture. Seems to be less work but a good chance for some cool gear to pop up. More unique class-themed stuff is cool too. ( I love the paladin weapon one. Example being the Sunwalker's sword. Reflects Tauren culture and the class in one item. )

With faction stuff, there's one issue though: pretty much whenever they've tried that, the set has had one race's motives stand out in the design, leading to a massive gap in the case of cultural gear for some races (again mentioning tauren - one set so far plus the odd lowbie item that could be tauren or then again could be easily used by a troll).

[Deleted]

To some extent, it is already possible. Zg and Za provide Troll sets for every class. Some tiers are definitely race-biased (for example, druids get the Ulduar tier which has "nightelves" written all over it. Casters get the DS mage tier look-alike for gnome theme).

But yes, it would be a fantastic idea.

[Scunosi]

the point would be limiting it by race, yes ... i feel more people would stick to their races gear than would complain about not having access to the others

So you'd rather restrict it and definitely anger some players, rather than leave it unrestricted and anger no one? I mean I know people get angry about people having access to everything in WoW, but this shouldn't even be an elitism argument.
The way I'd do it, it's just tied to the racial vendors, as Skytotem said. You hit Exalted with a race, you get access to their stuff. Maybe tie some quests to it to differentiate it from the easily obtained tabards and bags, so the people who really want it have to work a little, but if all you want is Exalted there's no need to put in the extra time. Have it accessible to all races of that faction, so since you start off "exalted" with your race's faction you'll have access to at least one set/quest line right off the bat, and have to work for the others. Everybody wins!

---------- Post added 2013-02-01 at 01:48 AM ----------

They really need to make that vile fumigator's mask transmogable. I like that one coz my eyebrows stick through the lenses

Man, you may think that's cute in-game, but when my boyfriend bought me a FigurePrint for Christmas years ago, that's how my character copied over (albeit with a different helm). So now I've got this lovely, expensive statue with...clipping eyebrows. >.<