Dynamic glamour database

[Gokki]

Hello! My name is Gokki and i was quite disheartenened to hear when YoshiP said about implementing a Glamour Log. He said that the database would be too large...

I won't discuss wether or not that's a good or bad thing. I will provide a simplified logic for database entries so keep its size down. I will provide the full version first, then provide possible solutions to shrink it down even further.

In order to keep the database within sane limits, let's establish some rules on how the Glamour Log would work on a basic level:

First and foremost - it would only include the basic sets of armor and weapons from crafting, dungeons, tomestones and raids. Off-set pieces like seasonal beach items, Store dresses or unique glamour items won't be included and can remain in the Dresser and Armoire. Unless you can to include them, better if they do of course.

Second - it only includes DYABLE gear. Any gear that isn't dyable is not included. This rule may be ignored if devs feel it doesn't improve the system.

Third - items with shared appearances contribute to the same entry. The Orthodox Coat of Fending (ilvl 136) shares the appearance with Tigerskin Coat of Fending (ilvl 273) - either of these would unlock the same entry, and while both the Orthodox and Tigerskin sets would be displayed on the Log for convenience both would use the same single database entry.

Fourth - as with the above point, weapon skins unlock the same databse entry. Dainslaif shares the same model with Shattered Heart, Doman Iron Greatsword, Heavy Metal Greatsword and Lakeland Greatsword. But only Heavy Metal Greatsword is dyable, so you would need to get that to unlock all four in the Glamour Log!

Fifth - Glamour Log is unlocked at max level after completing the original Main Scenario quest. In Shadowbringers it would be the "Shadowbringers" quest. This means the database is only created on characters that have purchased and finished the current expansion content so free accounts don't bloat the database. The unlock will be moved into Endwalker once that is released.

Let's look at an example then. I will use the ORTHODOX set, ilvl 136 from the lvl55 dungeon The Aery. We can notice that the items are not dyable. I will still use this set as an example to explain the system so keep that in mind. Here's the full list of all the Orthodox items:

https://i.imgur.com/dCBv2Xj.jpg (i have to post image links because forums are character-limited)

As you can see, the list is quite long! If you consider this for all the sets in Heavensward and other expansions it would be quite a huge databse PER CHARACTER!

[Gokki]

If you're curious, here's the remaining sets for HEAVENSWARD only!

Crafted: (names vary)

• Holy Rainbow (lvl52)
• Ramie (lvl54)
• Hallowed Ramie (lvl56)
• Chimerical (lvl58)
• Adamantite (lvl60)
• Chivalric
• Astral Silk
• Star Velvet
• Sky Pirate
• Sky Rat

Dungeon:

• Ishgardian
• Woad
• Orthodox
• Halonic
• Sharlayan
• Dravanian
• Valkyrie
• Filibuster

Tomestone:

• Asuran
• Hellfire
• Shire

Alliance:

• Void Ark
• Yafaemi
• Diabolic

Raid:

• Gordian
• Midan
• Alexandrian

So, multiply the list of items in one set (as we've seen before) with the amount of sets in Heavensward, then include the sets in A Realm Reborn, Stormblood, Shadowbringers and Endwalker! It would really be insane, right?

So let's go to my solution: dynamic database entries.

What does this mean? Let's take a look at the list again, this time lets group them by type:

https://i.imgur.com/NJ4Fzg8.png

You can see that the maiming set doesn't have accessories. So let's split all these items into the following dynamic entries:

• Weapons
• Fending Armor (head, body, hands, legs, feet)
• Fending Accessories (earring, necklace, wrist, ring)
• Healing Armor
• Healing Accessories
• Striking Armor
• Maiming Armor
• Slaying Accessories
• Scouting Armor
• Aiming Armor
• Aiming Accessories
• Casting Armor
• Casting Accessories

Phew, the entries are much shorter now! What does this mean?

When a player unlocks Tyrfing, Svalin, Skeggiold, Dainslaif, Mistilteinn, Fagrskinna, Muspell, Wargfangs, Grasitha, Katayama, Hofuds, Astrild, Gjallarhorn, Gambanteinn, Morkinskinna and Verdun database entries, these entries are then replaced with "Orthodox Weapons" entry while removing the weapons. Whenever a player (game client) requests which glamours are unlocked, submitting the entry "Orthodox Weapons" unlocks all sixteen of those weapons.

The same happens for the Aiming Armor, unlocking the Orthodox Tricone, Tunic, Wristgloves, Trousers and Thighboots of Aiming will unlock the "Orthodox Aiming Armor" entry that replaces all five of those.

This logic continues all the way up the chain!

Unlocking the Fending Armor and Accessories will enable the "Orthodox Fending Set" - a single entry that covers 9 items!

We keep going! Unlocking all sets and weapons will enable the "Orthodox Set", covering 66 items!

Following the same logic, unlocking all the dungeon glamours in the Log will enable the "Heavensward Dungeon Sets" entry, covering... over 500 items!

And in the end, unlocking all the Crafted, Dungeon, Tomestone, Alliance and Raid sets will unlock the "Heavensward sets", covering... a lot of items!

When a game client requests the above, the server simply replies with a single "Heavensward Sets" entry, with which the client interprets as all those sets we've seen, letting players use all those glamours! The system will always submit the highest level of the database entry available, lower level enties are not required once a higher level is unlocked.

Here's the structure: https://i.imgur.com/4zwCOcz.png

[Gokki]

So now that we've seen how the database can be shrunk to a more manageble degree, let's look into some problems and how to address them:

What if a player really likes earrings and unlocks all the earrings but not the bracers for some reason? Storing every item like this might still be too much! Well, here's a more drastic solution: Don't store specific items.

How? When unlocking the Glamour Log entries, require all items from a group to be present to unlock that group. For example: you need to have all the Slaying accessories present to be able to unlock all those accessories in the Log. This way there are no individual items in the database, just the groups. This is slightly less convenient but if it helps us to have a Glamour Log i'm fine with it.

Remember: a lot of items share the same appearance, and while there are a variety of items displayed in the Glamour Log interface in game, many items share a SINGLE database entry. For example: the Orthodox Earrings of Fending share the looks with the remaining Orthodox Earrings, and also the Valerian, Dravanian, Star Spinel and Petalite earrings - unlocking any of them should contribute to those multiple items displayed!

Another problem we're facing is that some items simply don't have a dyable version and may feature different skins like the earrings above. In these cases unlocking any of those items should unlock all the versions of the same earring model as they use the same database entry anyway. However - if, in the future, a dyable version of the earring model is made available then THAT particular item will be singularly responsible for unlocking all of them in the Log.

Of course, we can enforce the dyable-only rule and simply not have those entries in the Glamour Log, players would simply be forced to continue using the regular way of having those items in the inventory to apply glamours.

Another even more drastic solution that doesn't involve having items at all is to have dungeons and raids drop Glamour Tokens, like a Void Ark Glamour Token. Collecting enough Tokens would let players exchange them at a vendor for a consumable item that would unlock an entire set of the Void Ark armor/weapons in the Log. Crafters would be able to craft an Expert Recipe that can be sold on the market to unlock the respective crafted set. This could significantly cut down on the database size, letting developers tune the granularity of the system.

[Gokki]

So, what are the advantages of such a system? Well, apart from having the amazing ability to glamour a huge collection of amazing items created by the art team, here's the list:

• Most items currently held in Retainers and Dresser may be discarded, freeing up space.
• Players will engage with past content to collect all those glamours!
• Players can apply glamour sets separately from Glamour Plates, allowing a player to apply, say, the Orthodox Healing set in its entirety with a single click without having to store that set as a Plate.
• Another thing for players to chase, especially for completionists. This can be done any time at any pace without pressure.

Complementary refinements:

• Similar to the Crafting Crystals, have a section in the Dresser to store up to 99 or 999 of each dye. These dyes would not be retrievable once deposited. Store-purchased dyes are not included here.
• More Glamour Plates. Extra Glamour Plates may be stored locally, with the first 20 being stored in the server. I want to have dozens, maybe over a hundred plates, but understand that server storage is limited. Locally-stored would be fine, with the understanding that i may lose them if my machine fails. I can always backup the local_plates.xml file myself.
• Let us move, copy, paste and share glamour plates. Perhaps using generated codes? These codes could then serve as a backup in the event the local plates vanish (i can store these codes in my notes app)
• Let us link Glamour Plates in game for others to preview.
• Let us link more than one item per chat message, display the actual item in the chat box when typing.

Personal concerns:

• If they exist, console limitations are unfortunate. PCs have no limitations like that, other games have no problems displaying so many items like this, even more detailed.
• Database being limited like this seems something is very wrong with the way the internal system is set up. I would prefer if devs spent more time addressing technical debt even if it comes at the expense of some content, though i understand that it would create scheduling conflicts. I'd say it's worth it, the game has lot so fundamental limitations with basic stuff like that.
• Upgrading or migrating the game to a more modern and improved system is something i feel is very important. The limitations of the current system are painful. Remember how the artists wanted to make Amaurot in the Tempest very deep but the engine was limited in map height? This is sad.
• I am not a database specialist, so everything i said here might be complete bollocks. I am almost sorry if you are one and you had to facepalm multiple times reading this, thinking "that's not how databases work!!" I understand. I really want a Glamour Log, like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars 2 would be perfect (not the part where i pay real money for it though).

Addendum: Naturally, as with everything, this feature can be expanded with more items or functionality. I'm simply trying to come up with an MVP to begin with.

[Iscah]

I think this would just make things more complicated – having some things included but not others; having to know which is the dyeable version of an outfit to unlock it... and really, crafted gear is the least useful thing to keep a log for because it's the most straightforward thing to repurchase at any time and the marketboard already functions as a de facto log for it. You don't even need to own or track it to try it all on whenever you like.

[ItMe]

In the meantime, those looking for a dynamic glamour modeler may enjoy dlunch and find this resource helpful.

https://ffxiv.dlunch.net/model

[ICountFrom0]

This is interesting data points that should be taken, and added to the big discussion thread (that apparently fell off the bottom of the world a while ago) where the best guess server side stuff was discussed.

1. You'd have to have all variants of a model unlock from redeeming ANY one of the set, not require any one specific item.
2. You can't just have it unlock when somebody briefly holds an item. This isn't wow, we don't have "BoP". So we'd need to redeem the item from circulation, otherwise one crafted dyable item could be passed around the entire world and only one would need to be crafted ever. So, we'd have to have a catalog redemption item. Then it would have to be used on the item to scribe it into the catalog.

[Gokki]

2. You can't just have it unlock when somebody briefly holds an item. This isn't wow, we don't have "BoP". So we'd need to redeem the item from circulation, otherwise one crafted dyable item could be passed around the entire world and only one would need to be crafted ever. So, we'd have to have a catalog redemption item. Then it would have to be used on the item to scribe it into the catalog.

My take would be to bring items to the dresser to be added to the Log, having them Bound as they do now. So nothing new needs to happen otherwise.