Question to RPG players: No transmog, what do you do?

[Aeluron Lightsong]

If there's nothing that I actually like is ingame, stats even though I whine about it.

[SavoirFaire]

WoW got me to care about looking good while winning.

Bloodborne was the first single player game I recall playing where I was picking looking good over stats.

[Amarys]

I really dislike a transmog system in any RPG so old school approach is the best. It makes zero sense if a bikini offers the same amount of protection as plate armor.

In any case. I usually can make minor sacrifices when it comes to looks, especially if the items aren't legendary. I usually wear better gear if the horrible looking piece isn't a huge upgrade. If it is though, then stats come first.

[Graeham]

I usually go for fashion as a priority for two reasons. The first reason is that I want my character to look good and wear armour or clothing that 'fits' what I envision for him.

The second reason is that most games are developed in such a way as to allow for you to complete them even with sub-par equipment. Often it's not even a huge drawback, unless you're playing on the hardest difficulty mode.

[AcidicSyn]

Is it single or multiplayer?

If multiplayer- do I care about the other players?

In single player RPGs I make whatever decision I find the most fun consequences be damned.

In multiplayer RPGs, if I'm just playing casually I still choose whatever I am having more fun with (though this tends to lean toward player power in mmos)

If I am part of a guild where my decisions affect the success of the group- stats. every single time. Don't care if its a penguin suit, it's fun to be useful to my group, so I'll wear the penguin suit if it helps even if I just have the penguin suit in my bags and I only ever put it on for group content.

[John Croquette]

Before there was transmog in WoW, I just kept some off pieces to swap in when I was doing more trivial content. If it was harder stuff, I would just swap back to the mismatched but better stat piece of gear. I probably did that less often out of laziness. I went through the trouble because I can remember one particular piece, some leather boots, that I really hated the look of. It had a shape that didn't match the rest of my plate gear but it had +Hit so it was stat-wise, a good piece. I would swap it with pvp plate boots to get a more complete set look, but I never got the rating locked shoulders so I was never quite fully happy with my look .

In Dark Souls 1, I just stuck with the lightest weight stuff to be able to do the unencumbered roll. Too much of the cool stuff is plate gear that is heavy. The only heavier set I would try to work with, was the Artorias set when I was going for a Artorias playthrough. I tried it once or twice and it was kind of a mixed bag of extra effort for so-so reward. So I just gravitated more heavily towards letting my weapon choice dictate my playthrough, while settling on any lightweight set that looked alright.

In Dark Souls 2, I usually just mix and matched certain light weight pieces to get the look of a raggedy, lightly armored adventurer. The beginning set has a great hood that sticks around, with the rest getting slowly replaced. I ended up growing a liking for the patchwork peasant adventurer look, and it made it less restrictive to build my stats. I think it was a even bigger pain in the ass to wear heavier pieces as they were less useful than DS1, and the stat requirements were more restrictive. Though DS2 had some more variety in the light weight stuff to make more combinations of passable looks.

[Pony Soldier]

Depends on how much better the stats are. If it's something like +50 of something then yeah I'm gonna have to sacrifice my awesome looks for the performance but if it's just a small increase like +1 or +5 or +10 then screw it I'd rather look cool. Plus the way I look at it is like upping the difficulty.

If it's that bad I'll go Dark Souls mode and just welcome the added challenge. Kind of like shaking my fist at the game and saying "I spit on your shitty looking gear".

[TEHPALLYTANK]

If multiplayer? Stats, 100% of the time. If it is single-player and the stat difference is less than 1-2% then I might switch pieces out (they have to be really ridiculous looking for me to swap 'em out). The only game I play where stats matter, and it lacks an xmog system, is the Souls series but I like most of the armor sets that match my builds. Most of the games I play that have stats as a function of gear also have some sort of wardrobe system that lets me pick a cosmetic appearance separate from my gear, so it isn't even an issue of having to make a choice.

[Koriani]

Roleplaying in games has existed long before transmog was ever a gleam in any dev team's eye. It doesn't require any sort of "transmog" ability at all - that's just icing on the cake for most of us. Because we've existed so long 'making do.'

To me it depends on what you mean by "roleplay" and what the individual wants in that roleplay.

When I "roleplay" I am actively, with other people, playing a role - like an actor. I'm out talking with other players 'in character" and playing through player created plots (usually) as that character. This doesn't exist in single player games. (unless you go outside the game itself) This only exists in multiplayer. In games before/without transmog - it means stacking inventories/banks and saving items that you wanted to be able to use as to 'dress the part' during your roleplay. In WoW, before transmog and before the extra-bank tabs system - it meant many of our banks were chocked full of various outfit pieces we never got rid of. It means you change outfits for "roleplay" specifically, and this is often an activity you do without engaging in anything that needs stats. If you are playing through a dungeon and roleplaying at the same time with your group - then it may mean some items are taken for stats, but you can 'pretend' any outfit you want no matter what your character looks like in order to get through the content.

That's roleplaying to me. So much is already being 'imagined' by the players in the above setup that pretending to be wearing other clothing is a 'normal state' most of us are use to. Being able to actually get your character to look in game the 'right' way - is the icing on the cake, as I said. We love being able to do it - but it is in no way required for us to have fun.

I do "roleplay" in single player games in the "I choose RPG options as this character would choose and not just what works best for gameplay" sort of way - but in single player games the 'look' of the character matters less to me. No one else is seeing it - so I'd rather pick what helps me to actually play the game the best way I can over 'looks'. However, this is also dependent on the game and how dependent finishing the game is on having the right 'build' or 'stats' for leveling. If the stats are more forgiving, then sure I'd rather wear items that match a 'look' for a character that I like. But if its between "wearing a stupid hat to beat a boss vs 3 hours to beat a boss' well then I'll wear the stupid hat and not think twice about it. Because again, there's no one around but me to be 'acting' for and whether the single player character 'looks the part' matters little. I've never really considered this "roleplay" because to me 'roleplaying' is more involved (as in the prior paragraph), but I do know its considered "roleplaying" by most.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Most RPGs don't have the option anyway, it's mostly an multiplayer/online gaming thing. In CRPGs for example you will hardly ever be able to properly see your character up close and the bits you see are usually barely customizable anyway, since that is one of the easiest parts to cheap out on. So in a CRPG I would usually go with stats or at least the cooler effects (more spells, unique abilities, set bonuses, etc). While it kinda hurts in action adventure RPGs like the TESs, MEs and CPs, you usually don't see your character there either, though it definitely hurts more than in CRPGs.

Online gaming like MMORPGs better have that feature, or I get easily tired with looking like a clown. <Insert current year" is only making it increasingly unacceptable to not have the option, when it already was unaccaptle way before <insert current year>.

[Gaidax]

Back when there was no transmog I equipped what gave most power.

Transmog is a blessing, I hope they will improve the system further next expansion and finally allow to tint armor/weapons one way or another, as well as lift more restrictions. For example, don't see why casters can't mog daggers as swords and reverse, it's not like they have actual ability animations tied to those.

[PACOX]

This is the only correct answer.

I'm not even being cheeky, I'm dead serious. If you don't look cool killing something, what the hell is the point?"

Exactly my point!

[kaminaris]

This is the only correct answer.

I'm not even being cheeky, I'm dead serious. If you don't look cool killing something, what the hell is the point?"

There is another side to this coin. Boss will be humiliated even more if some guy dressed up like a clown killed him.

[Selastan]

I go with stats usually. Not because I'm a min/maxer, but in RPGs the player usually takes on the role of an adventurer, and scrappy mismatched armor is part of that aesthetic. You're not a soldier or a knight with a custom-built set of armor from a famous blacksmith, you've got the legendary armor of Gralblachia, the right gauntlet of Marlmorlar and the left of Salnach, your pants were forged by the elves of Yymandris and your boots came from the skeleton of the ancient enchanter Razlore.

[kranur]

Have a cool looking (yet not that bad) set of items for afk-ing or world stuff and another for raiding.

[Jazzhands]

I need to know this about other RPG players

"Should i equip this piece of gear with +10 agility...or...the cool looking one with worse stats?"

Ever since i was a kid...in every single game...im always faced with this dilema
I also hoard every cool looking piece of gear i come across for future use.
What do you guys do? Do you care about this or not?
---
Even in RETAIL WoW i do this with gray items because they cant be mogged.
Classic WoW? Ocourse, i must. Otherwise i lose my mind.
---
My final verdict if a game should have transmog or not:

The nostalgia from facing this dilema since i was a kid is preventing me from having a decisive opinion
There is room for both types of games...and both can be good if well implemented...is my final thought
---

Funny video to end the post:

Depends on how big of an upgrade the piece is. If it's minimal then I go for looks, but if it's a noticable upgrade in one way or another it's hard for me to ignore being inefficient. In Vanilla I often changed gear in cities and such for visuals then swapped back for anything that needed it.