Tattoo on the back for all players?

[Imoen]

From my experience in editing models in MMOS and doing research into model editing (World of Warcraft) you can easily add things to model textures without affecting clothing, etc...

All they'd do is take an existing texture and draw onto it the tattoo, then, in-game, it will appear in place when you patch in the file. I would show you examples but I'm pretty sure I'll get banned for it. I'd also mention some "break throughs" on that aspect, but again, can't mention the "blackmarket."

An in-game example would be the face prints, Au'ra scales and my miqo'te face tattoos. (I think that's what they are anyway.) The tattoos would just be those but on the torso instead of the face. Only issue then is you, the player, will have to slut-walk to even show off your body tattoos.

The heads are usually separate models. With their own UV layouts and textures, and generally are not Mirrored. (At least now a days) With that said, I have no idea if they are mirroring heads in this game or not. I'm like 95% sure the rogue gear tattoo is a duplicated piece of geometry with a push modifier on it, and duplicated vertex weighting to avoid clipping on the body.

[Lokier]

The heads are usually separate models. With their own UV layouts and textures, and generally are not Mirrored. (At least now a days) With that said, I have no idea if they are mirroring heads in this game or not.

I believe they do mirror the entire model, from some... screenshots... I've seen; but I could be wrong, honestly I only dabbled in simple pre-made apps that already did all the skin and model editing for me after I drew / recoloured the skins I wanted, all I had to do was patch in the files and watch my private WoW server explode when I didn't do it right, lmao.
I would assume they have the tech' to do tattoos anyway, what with the legacy tattoo and Au'ra scales. I'm thinking massive amounts of work to get it working though, maybe not as much work as primary and secondary dyes for armour sets (I wanted this but will never see it happen.)

[Imoen]

snip

It isn't really a matter of not having the tech, masks are simple, so are floaters. (time consuming boring crappy work ya.. but lol the concept of it is simple, the pain in the butt comes from the sheer amount of textures, models etc... you would have to do at this point) They just each present their own problems, and are highly dependent on how they set it up originally. If you want A-symmetrical Tattoos on a body that was UV'd to be Mirrored, you either have to use floating decals, or a separate UV channel with everything having unique space, projection may be an option too, not sure the tech on how that works with UVs as I haven't dealt with it a lot.

[Lokier]

It isn't really a matter of not having the tech, masks are simple, so are floaters. (time consuming boring crappy work ya.. but lol the concept of it is simple) They just each present their own problems, and are highly dependent on how they set it up originally. If you want A-symmetrical Tattoos on a body that was UV'd to be Mirrored, you either have to use floating decals, or a separate UV channel with everything having unique space, projection may be an option too, not sure the tech on how that works with UVs as I haven't dealt with it a lot.

I think their "easiest" option would be to create entirely new bodies for each race with the tattoo on it, but SE aint gonna do anything that costs them money. :P

[ADVSS]

I think their "easiest" option would be to create entirely new bodies for each race with the tattoo on it, but SE aint gonna do anything that costs them money. :P

do the tattoos go away if a legacy player uses a fantasia?

[Istaru]

do the tattoos go away if a legacy player uses a fantasia?

The mark of the twelve will persist even if the person uses a Fantasia potion.

[ADVSS]

personally i would like something like the heavensward dragon logo, if they could manage to reset the story for the next expansion, and avoid the level potion mess altogether. Maybe on the top of my left hand yeah im not a big fan of tats but thatd be nice that way a legacy player could have both

[Imoen]

I think their "easiest" option would be to create entirely new bodies for each race with the tattoo on it, but SE aint gonna do anything that costs them money. :P

lol, well, I don't think they would need to go that far, but ya it is quite a bit of work either way. Not out of the realm of possibility though. Just the question is, does the art team have the bandwidth and resources to do it? I imagine they are full swing on next patch and 4.0 right about now. So I'm assuming something like this, if it isn't already in the works, would get put on the back burner.

do the tattoos go away if a legacy player uses a fantasia?

No, you are just editing the existing character. The only way it won't be there is if you make a new 2.0+ character.