It’s easy to tell I’m a chick in a game. I’m all about the killing and leveling but fashion is equally important. I might use something with less than optimal stats if I look really good wearing it! In World of Warcraft you didn’t have to worry about that very much. From day one you looked good. At the higher levels you looked awesome – sparkling, shining, larger than life and ready to kick some ass in a serious way. In Age of Conan you looked drab and that’s fine for the setting. However, you also looked exactly the same. I was in the same gear model for 30-freakin-levels. In EverQuest II you looked rather dull and hack for many levels. In Lord of the Rings you looked like a buffoon. Both of these games eventually released appearance tabs that let you wear one set of items for the stats while displaying a different item.
Runes of Magic (ROM) is more like GuildWars where everyone looks good out of the gate. What I really like about ROM was my character wearing a long dress. It fit the theme and mood of the newbie area I was in at the time. Plus there’s something comical to me about kicking ass in a long flowing dress. With that in mind I was enviously staring at a guild-mate. I’ve been wearing the short sex-kitten outfit as gear for several levels and miss having something more medieval themed. Unfortunately the stats on my gear set are too good to break up on a whim and survive while soloing.
When I asked Snowie where she’d gotten her robe she replied that it was a “white” drop off some mob and nothing special. Then she revealed that it was just for appearance and covering her real armor. I gasped and was all, “WTF, how’d you do that?” She explained that she used an armor fusing object that dropped during a special BETA event. The object lets you fuse two pieces of gear together – one for the stats with another for the appearance. The items were no longer available but she felt they’d probably be added back at release. Oh my, if they do I’ll have a ball designing my gear’s appearance. *Crossing fingers*
If the gear fusers make it back into the game it will be cool. I certainly don’t expect to have the same dress-up entertainment I had in Wizard101. And pets in W101, I adored farming rare drop pets. Nope, that game takes the prize for letting gals play fashionista while dealing death and destruction. But ROM could come close. It would probably be purchased using RMT but I could care less if it will let me fight in a ball gown!
Before I download/install the client, I was wondering if you could tell me how many gigs the full client installed takes? I have the beta client nad it is a little over 3gigs. I only have 5.7 gigs left on my HD. Thanks!
Posted by: coppertopper | March 22, 2009 at 01:16 AM
4.2GB
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | March 22, 2009 at 01:49 AM
Hey, guys like their characters to look cool too! Although as often as I've had a piece of gear that I thought looked better than another, I could never bring myself to wear a piece of gear with inferior stats...
I think every game needs to come up with some method of doing what you talk about in this post though. It would be amazing to be able to wear the gear that you think looks best, and still retain the stats that you need to perform your class/role function for your party/raid.
Posted by: Veksar | March 22, 2009 at 02:38 AM
./facepalm Chicks :)
Posted by: Iggep | March 22, 2009 at 09:10 AM
I meant to comment on this before, and then I forgot.
I really don't get into the look of the outfit. I go for the stats first, look is at the bottom of the barrel but... I have to admit the drab attire of Northrend gear is getting a little old. If Blizzard ever implemented something like this within World of Warcraft, I would change my clothing style fast.
Posted by: Gaming Diva | March 28, 2009 at 09:16 AM
I think they did add the item back. Look at http://www.runesofmagic.com/en/news,id430,new_item_aggregator.html
6 days after this post.
Posted by: Gene | March 30, 2009 at 05:46 PM
OMG I THINK I LOVE YOU FOR POINTING THAT OUT!!!! *lots of hugs and kisses*
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | March 30, 2009 at 06:56 PM
Great post was a very nice read. Though I am still a noob in RoM. I do like the idea of customizing the gear in a certain way. I played wow alot before RoM and its true everyone looks the same. I see alot more personality in RoM. What a great idea they came up with when they created that Aggregator.
Posted by: Schmendrik | April 18, 2009 at 11:54 AM
@Schmendrik - Thanks. Being able to customize your look separate from the stats you need is very useful.
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | April 18, 2009 at 09:38 PM