Image Designer Archive
Thread: Abnormal Hair Color?
Allura WindSinger, sword-swinging hairstylist of Naboo, Intrepid
I've done some image design, so I know where you all are coming from. However, let me give you what might be considered an outsider's point of view.
I play a Wookie and am constantly mired in the drabbest of drab looks. There's almost nothing in the way of clothing I can wear and I can wear no armor. That means if I want to look at all interesting to myself, I have to rely on my fur.
What does that mean? Brown, black, white, orange and variations thereof. Since I spend 100% of my time looking at myself, doesn't it stand to reason that I'd like it to be aesthetically pleasing? To me, that would mean blue, or possibly some kind of light purple or burgundy. Yet, this is considered "abnormal" and therefore shouldn't be allowed. I know we're surrounded by the empire, but come on... 
Why are you all so against me being happy with what I have to spend all my time looking at? What do you care what color I want to be? I can understand (to a point) that they want to remain true to the mythos, but frankly, it seems unnecessarily limiting.
As for being concerned with "tacky" looks, well that's what you get paid for. If someone wants green hair (or blue fur) and you're in a bad mood, then ok, I guess you can charge them more. But seriously, would it really be so bad to just give them what they want? They pay a monthly fee to have fun just like everyone else. Odds are, you won't see them very often and worst case scenario is they'll tell all their friends that they met a cool image designer.
I have no idea how important this topic is to the group at large or the Image Designer Correspondent, but believe me when I say it's one of my biggest complaints with SWG at the moment. I can handle the bugs as they will come and go. But being unhappy with my look? ...
That's unforgivable. 
How does the color-choosing in UO work, though? Is it through a dedicated, master-level profession, or can anybody choose it at character creation?
You go to an NPC and you buy it. The cost is astronomical. I think it's half a million gold? A million gold?
We would doubtlessly have greater access to it here. The result wouldn't be pretty.
I understand the idea of people wanting to look different. But really this is an MMORPG. They will try to stick with thebasic storylineof it. Watching the Star Wars movies I never saw any hair bearing humanoid with wild colors of hair, so why would they do it here? I'm all for us being able to craft something special, but something out of the storyline would be silly and would lose alot of the roleplay sense.
Relica Tremayne
Master Dancer / Master Image Designer / Teras Kasi Novice
Eclipse
Could do this easilly in this way.
For normal colors and upto hairstyle 4, require toner/ blank dye to be needed. 1 charge each to do so, have it in the artisan tree. For permanent Fancy (Rgb values) from a master ID, require a Nabooian Dye kit (hehe) combining say the blank dye and toner with soem other things for a one-shot (1-person) kit by a master artisan. And leave the change permanent.
Of course do not require this if the ID is practicing on themselves, so they can actually show people the colors etc. But then let the ID self colors last only a day UNLESS they use the components.
As for people saying hairdressers know about dye etc... yes they do, but i doubt they have the degrees or knowledge in chemistry to make toner etc.
If not Artisan, then have medics do it hehe.
Artisians allready craft enough. Let us craft our dyes and needles and inks. Maybe your typical run of the mill hairdresser doens't know much about dyes, but a highpriced hair dresser to the stars sure does. An Image Designer is the "hair dresser" to the stars. And yes, please by all means make these changes wear off in no more than a week IRL time. Image designers really need a source of renewable income, and funky hair colors (more so than a tattoo or a slider change beyond the creation limits) are a great way for us develop a steady recurrent client base.
-Soon Mot
Master Image Designer
Lowca, Naboo, Theed
Madgoat wrote:...I play a Wookie and am constantly mired in the drabbest of drab looks.... I have to rely on my fur. What does that mean? Brown, black, white, orange and variations thereof. Since I spend 100% of my time looking at myself, doesn't it stand to reason that I'd like it to be aesthetically pleasing? To me, that would mean blue, or possibly some kind of light purple or burgundy. Yet, this is considered "abnormal" and therefore shouldn't be allowed....
If you want to be blue, by all means be blue. But don't be human to be it! Be a twi'lek, or some race that can be, well, blue. When's the last time you saw a blue-furred animal?
(Btw, I like the idea of having a temporary hair/fur-dye - I think the time and expense of having to constantly redo it to keep it that way will limit it to only the particularly hair-obsessive people doing it.)
But if you want to be blue permenantly, be a race where it's "normal" to be funky-colored.
Qwenna
Qwenna wrote:
If you want to be blue, by all means be blue. But don't be human to be it! Be a twi'lek, or some race that can be, well, blue. When's the last time you saw a blue-furred animal?
But if you want to be blue permenantly, be a race where it's "normal" to be funky-colored.
Ok, so here's my problem with this. I don't want to be a different race. I want to be a Wookie. Dying the skin is one thing (believe me I know, in RL I'm heavily tattoo'd), but is it really so outlandish to dye fur color? People (not me, no) dye their pet's hair funky colors and that's against the animal's will. I'm looking to do this whole heartedly.
As for blue-furred animals, my cat is a purebread Burmese. His fur color (though more silvery-gray) is, according to breeding standards, blue. And what about the Russian Blue cat?
People mention temporary dyes and I'm cool with that to a point. It does keep people coming back to you, etc. But, people are fat/bald/etc without that changing, why should hair color change?
Anyway, not trying to be argumentitive, but I just don't see why people are so against this.
I think having the ability to dye someone's hair "un-natural" colors would be great! And as far as being non-theme, sure the main characters had "normal" hair colors, but what's to say that the "guy in the corner that only appears for a split second" didn't have green hair?
The point being, SWG is a diverseuniverse with highlyadvanced technology. The fact that as a Master Image Designer I can't give someone blue hair flies in the face of logic. Or shave heads. Or give tattoos, even though most of the time I run around with Tattoo Artist above my head (by far the coolest title I've seen in the game). Or a myriad of other things a Master SHOULD be able to do.
Crafted dyes would be AWESOME! Also, wouldn't it be neat if Master ID'ers could make things like one shot eye shadows and lipsticks for use by non-ID'ers?
A bit off topic, is it common to charge a set price for changes? I never have, all my work has been by donation only. So, I'm curious as to how common a practice this is, and what types of prices are charged?
Perie Teikia - Ahazi
Master Image Designer
Novice Chef in Training
Ugh, please no dye-crafting for image designers. Ultimately, those dyes will be factory-made because it's cheaper. Then everyone will run around with whatever 5 or 6 colors have been produced, because nothing else is available, or because 'next-to-darkest-red' isn't as popular as 'red.' Crafted bulk dyes will decide the look of SWG by the exactly wrong market forces: the common denominator, the sweet spot in sales.
People won't want that, and I don't want to be an ID if I have to tell people, "I'm sorry, I can't help you, I'm out of Blue #3, can you come back in twenty minutes while I run to harvest some ingredients?"
Also, nearly every ID I meet has zero health, little action, and mind stats that would choke an eopie. How exactly are we going to check harvesters again? We'd have to buy them. It's hard enough without a secure trade window for what we DO, don't force us to secure trade for that which we NEED to do our job. We'd be like doctors. (And I'm a doctor, too, so I know.)