Thoughts on the New Gear

[CoolDad]

Really disappointed with the changes. The original design was very different from what we usually get and the modifications made to it just make it more of the same. Wish they'd left it be and let us have a different feeling set for a change.

The other designs are even less impressive and (like other people mentioned) don't really have a unified theme to them. Some of the helmets look alright, though.

[Remus]

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Really? I might be blind but the set looks pretty on point almost. I would say the only changes was the chaps (thank god honestly) and the helmet. You need to understand that when someone designs a piece of gear there will be changes when it gets implemented into the game. I believe the content even mentions this so you should have expected it. Artwork doesn't always translate to in-game.

Artwork will always look better than the end result when its actually in the game because the game doesn't follow the same art style of the artwork. The same thing happened to the lost allagan set, it wasn't exactly the same but as long as I am able to identify it as the contest winner then they did a good job getting it in the game with making minor changes for it work on their engine and what they are working with. Let's be honest, did you really think they would be able to replicate the fire on the helmet like that in the artwork? If you have been playing this game long enough you would know they can't. I am actually impressed they were able to pull off the cape on the caster set. Also you need to remember this was a CASTER set contest. They didn't need to make one for the other roles but they tried to copy the style for the other roles and I think they did a good job.

If it helps for those designing the melee/ranged set try not to make something which would be hard to put in the game. That doesn't mean it needs to be bland but something that is realistically able to be implemented without big changes needed to your design. It's one of the reasons why the lost allagan set won. It looked good, matched the theme of the game and they can actually make it without too much trouble. People need to learn that when implementing gear from artwork to game form there will be small changes along the way. As long as they get a good majority of it then it's fine.

If I made a set and it won but they made minor changes like removing chaps do you really think I would be annoyed by that? They got most of it right anyway and I would be happy to see my set in the game. That's just how game development works. Things get changed for it to fit in the game and people need to learn that.

[Nestama]

If I made a set and it won but they made minor changes like removing chaps do you really think I would be annoyed by that?

Assuming Kefirarei is indeed the artist behind the Caster set (posted in this thread), they seem pretty disappointed.

errrr..... it seems, the chaps.. still have a black pants under it ._. and the horns looks little bit silly and just like the ifrit's horns XDDD originally i design the horns like just a (ghostly) fire particle/ animated glowing texture lol awwww kind of sad XDDDDD

[Remus]

Assuming Kefirarei is indeed the artist behind the Caster set (posted in this thread), they seem pretty disappointed.

I already know the person who made it is disappointed but they mention the ghostly fire on the helmet/the chaps and like I mentioned in my post i'm not surprised SE wasn't able to do that (maybe they could have done the chaps but...yeah no thanks personally).

When designing a piece of gear you need to think about what is feasible for them to do based on previous gear they have made. I'm not saying they can't be disappointed but if it was me if they got a majority of it right then I will be happy with what they made.

Look at the most recent contest for melee/ranged dps it clearly says at the bottom:

The development team may alter the grand-prize-winning designs before implementation.

So I don't see why this comes as a surprise. If you looked at the rules and understood what the contest entails you would know they might make certain changes on who won. Based on this statement they changed the helmet and the chaps mainly and everything else is basically close to the original material.

[CoolDad]

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A bit late on replying due to finals, apologies.

I would argue very little of the actual design was retained, and there isn't much about the changes that can really be blamed on game limitations. The aspects that I can understand being modified for this reason would be the cape (the least modified part of the outfit), the helmet's location (modified to behave as a hat, probably to prevent racial clipping issues), and the tassels that hang from the helmet which are much smaller, again probably due to clipping.


So what else was changed?
*Hood is now similar to the preexisting ponchos, with a ring of fur instead of the fur bunching up where the hood does. The white plating in the front of the hood is also gone.
*The purple particle effect the original designer wanted is replaced by static glowing orange horns. I'm not sure why this isn't replicatable to any degree, considering this game absolutely breaths particle effects and has no problem slapping them on equipment. Even if this is impossible/difficult, leaving them as they are with the original purple gradient would have sufficed.
*Nothing else about the helmet was retained either other than it being animal-skull shaped. It was loaded with ridge-like patterns, an extra set of horns, and doesn't appear to have glowing eyes anymore. It now resembles the fox masks you can get with Wolf marks, and the unnecessary detail makes the design less sleek.
*Loincloth was widened and is now more of a tunic. A belt and some gold waist thingy that sticks out of the hips was added. Both interrupt the form-fitting shape of the original design.
*Color scheme was drastically changed. The white plating on the boots was changed to a silver metal plating, the buttons(?) were changed from the same white plating to gold, the cape is now a bright red instead of the magenta color seen in the rest of the outfit, etc. You can argue that this will be dyeable but the limited dyeing channels might just bungle this worse.
*The chaps are gone. This is probably what I have the least issue with since it's substitutable with the faire joi, though I feel the overall aesthetic of "saucy evil caster" was lost partially due to this.
*Boots are now high heels.


You can argue that it doesn't fit the style of the game, but not wanting to make use of different styles makes for the bland equipment we've been seeing lately. There isn't any reason, lore-wise, why the outfit couldn't exist. Why did SE choose this outfit if it didn't, in their eyes, fit the game?

I'm fine with small changes that must be made to fit the game. I have issues with many, many "small" changes that cumulatively change an outfit's entire aesthetic. While it might not have disappointed you to see a design of yours changes so drastically, it would disappoint me (and it did the original designer as well). This front isn't really worth arguing on, being so subjective.