Image Designer Archive
Thread: Runesabre's questions, all ID's please voice your thoughts
I pondered over this for a bit the other day. I was thinking about some form of disguise ability that would make a player utterly incognitio - no name or title showing up, no information in the examine screen - for a period of time. Of course, he/she could still recieve /tells and all, but would gain the ability to travel anywhere without being noticed, especially with an attribute change / change of clothing.
TEF and NPC faction reduction aren't bad ideas, either. Maybe even the ability to make Overt Rebs/Imps go Covert, after a 5 minute timer or something? I know more than once I've forgotten that I was Overt and got nailed in a city somewhere 
EwokTeebo wrote:
I pondered over this for a bit the other day. I was thinking about some form of disguise ability that would make a player utterly incognitio - no name or title showing up, no information in the examine screen - for a period of time. Of course, he/she could still recieve /tells and all, but would gain the ability to travel anywhere without being noticed, especially with an attribute change / change of clothing.
You can't do this because it would allow people to grief without anyone knowing who they are.
Ah. My apologies lady Kwee. I see now after looking at some of your work that you have touched on this a bit. Liked the barbwire/thornivey on the forearm bit. How about a Krayt Dragon across the back?
Heres a good one:
I am an imperial and in my guild I keep hearing the alien players how it sucks to have a penalty on all faction perks. Ive also heard alot of alien players ask to be able to wear stormtrooper armor.
My sugestion would be to let Image designers give alien players some sort of "formal look". It would be some kind of buff that would let alien Players be treated just like a human player because of the Image designers makeup on the alien. Then that player would be able to wear stormtrooper armor just like anyone else, I think this would please alot of them and you , as IDs would get to be very usefull for alien players =)
This idea can be extended to many more aspects of the game, such as wookie issues and stuff but I will let you guys develop on this =)
First, forgive me for this lengthy tale, but I think I have something worthwhile to say so please bear with me.
Me I haven't been an ID for very long, but I'm not sure what the fuss is all about. From previous entries I've gathered that some IDers have queues from Bestine to Mos Entha and back while others are begging for work. Well, I hate to break your bubble, but that's just the way the world works: some people are more successful than others. Why is one shop better visited than others, well it's because of our free market society. Of course I sympathize with my less fortunate colleagues, but if you feel you don't get enough business, perhaps your shop is in the wrong place or something.
Another thing I disagree with is the need for a "critical function" in the game. One could argue that no profession in the game has a critical function. Myself I'm an IDer/Musician/Dancer (by the way I think it's a **edit** that I can't master all three because of skill points, but that's another matter entirely) and I don't need any other profession for that. Although I admit I make use of tailors quite a bit, but that's just because I'm vain.
I think it's an erroneous thought that a profession only has a real use in the game if it can benefit combatants. With this char I've hardly ever fought and believe it or not I'm leading an interesting and quite fulfilling life. For me, the appeal of the Image Designer is that it's just for fun.I agree with the comment that was made earlier, that you catch more flies with huney than with vinegar. What Image Designing needs is an extension of our current skills, not the adding of new ones, such asdisguise kits and whatnot. Image Designing appeals to the role player in this game, who takes time to create his avatar and enjoys thinking about the way it looks. What's wrong with that? Why change that? Is that for many players not a vital part of the game as well? Don't be fooled to think that Image Designing fulfills no critical function. It gives players the chance to personalize their characters and it can give them a more rewarding gaming experience. I think it alreadyhas a function as critical as any other (or why isn't everyone still running around in the clothes they got at the start of the game? Appearance matters.)
Well, I have another few points and some suggestions of my own. First let me explain my objections to disguise kits, then after that I'll go over the food/weight issue and the radical hairstyles/colours idea mentioned earlier.
Conceptually disguise kits are some kind of mask a player can wear so that certain NPCs don't recognize him ergo don't fight him. I must admit I'd never heard of the Hunter's camo kits, but being a performer I hardly ever get out of cantinas so I guess that's not really so strange, so I can't comment on whether the two kits would overlap. My problem is the following. Can anyone explain to me the difference between wearing a mask (i.e. disguise kit) and not being recognized and having a total makeover done by an Image Designer so you look completely different? Why, conceptually, would an NPC still recognize you if you changed from a tall, dark-skinned body builder with long blonde hair toa tiny fair-skinned grey-headed guy and be completely fooled by a mere mask?Doesn't make sense to me.
One could think of an alternative way to incorporate disguises into Image Designing. It is quite conceivable that when you go through some elaborate Image Designing, NPCs will at first not recognize you. Of course word gets around - it's a small galaxy after all - andafter a while NPCs will start to recognize your new look. So Image Designing could give you a temporary concealment or disguise from hostile NPCs. This effect should be greaterand last longer as one had more changes made, but always wear off in some time. Just a thought.
Now the food and weight issue. Being a doctor, I can tell you in good confidence that the relation between food and weight is far more complex than just adding the food you ate and subtracting your physical exercise. Loads of people worldwide do not get fatter as they eat each day. It would be strangeif in Star Wars every crumb of bread you ate would add a few pounds. But even if that was sorted out, e.g. by only gaining weight for every time you are full, still it would leave me with a few questions. Why isn't my hair growing? People go tohairdressers far more frequently than they go see a dietitian. And if you want to let people's hair grow too, you should give thought to what happens with make up in the game.
I am vehemently opposed to the concept of getting fat from food. I know when I created my avatar I spent a long time on getting its height, weight, torso and muscle just the way I wanted it and I suppose many others have too. I think they'd really hated it if their carefully designed character would turn intoan obese monstrosity. And of course there are those who don't give a crap about what they look like, so half the galaxy's population will be overweight. Now that's something I care very little for.
We should be able to offer players more freedom in the way they look and that means more hairstyles, more colours, tattooset cetera. One thing, make the hair and facial hair colours match!I'd also like long beards, not just the thingyou get whenyou don't shave regularly,but maybe that's just me. Many people feel the same about this, at least about more hairstyles, colours and such. It has been suggested to add radical new hair colours, such as pink or blue or whatever. I'd like to be able to give myself some purple hair every once in a while.
My only concern with this is that most people will want to dye their hair in radical colours, so that in the end few people will actually have a normal hair colour like blonde, ginger, brown or black. So perhaps it is an idea to let the radical colours wear off, just like in real life you have coloured shampoos that will dye your hair whatever colour, but wash out in a short while.
Oh, I think I have gone on for long enough now, so I'll stop complaining. Thanks for bearing with me.
Thewt Tabro of Infinity,
Master Image Designer
Master Musician
Member of the "Pink Kreetles" rock band
I'm wondering about some kind of "Charisma" buff. In EQ, the higher your CHA (Charisma Stat), the better deals you get when buying/selling to NPC vendors. Perhaps IDers could "buff" people's charisma values. Although seeing as there's no real NPC market, I'm not sure what benefit this could have... Maybe quest NPCs would give different/better rewards?
And I like the disguise idea. Being able to temporarily mask somebody's faction would be a cool thing, be it a "live" thing we have to do, or some kind of kit(s) we could craft...
- Tyl
Oh, and what about giving Healing Buffs to Entertainers? i.e. an Entertainer with a "makeover" gets a bonus to all Entertainer Healing?
Again, this could be either a temporary buff or some kind of permenant stat bonus, based on the number of "makeovers" the Entertainer has had.
- Tyl
Plagvreugd wrote:
Now the food and weight issue. Being a doctor, I can tell you in good confidence that the relation between food and weight is far more complex than just adding the food you ate and subtracting your physical exercise. Loads of people worldwide do not get fatter as they eat each day. It would be strangeif in Star Wars every crumb of bread you ate would add a few pounds. But even if that was sorted out, e.g. by only gaining weight for every time you are full, still it would leave me with a few questions. Why isn't my hair growing? People go tohairdressers far more frequently than they go see a dietitian. And if you want to let people's hair grow too, you should give thought to what happens with make up in the game.
I am vehemently opposed to the concept of getting fat from food. I know when I created my avatar I spent a long time on getting its height, weight, torso and muscle just the way I wanted it and I suppose many others have too. I think they'd really hated it if their carefully designed character would turn intoan obese monstrosity. And of course there are those who don't give a crap about what they look like, so half the galaxy's population will be overweight. Now that's something I care very little for.
I thoughtthe critical function of the Image Designer in SWG had already been established.
2) How can you and I accomplish adding this function while preserving the unique playstyle of the Image Designer?
Provide us with the means topreservethe play style of the IDerby adding sought after content - more hair styles, vibrant colors, tattoos for non-Zabrak etc.
It saddens me to think that simply because a large population of individuals may not be inclined to choose Image Design as one of their professions or because it can be looked upon as being irrelevant to andhaving no contribution to the overall movement and storyline of the game, that the importance of this profession would be negated.
The attention it should receiveand it’s importance to players for aesthetic and light-hearted reasons should make it every bit as valuable asall other professions.Image Design enhances the player experience. Player Characters are the core of the game. That should be reason enough to garner someprofession enhancement consideration.
3) About the idea of say food making people plumpy …
Weight gain/Appearance change from food, or changing covert/overt status – I don’t find anything appealing about these in relation to Image Design.Granted they could give us somethings to do... but I don't know of many people that becameImage Designers to spend alot of time changing faction status. Personally, I’d be more supportive ofStat Migration assistance and some disguise options (though never as a crafted item – I think ID should always remain a non-crafting profession). After all, Image Design isall about thehands-on approach (don't let the customer do the designing etc.)
Two classes would enjoy tremendous benefits from adding art content - content that has nothing to do with the GCW nor faction affiliation etc. More ID colors/styles and clothing would make a world of difference to not just the profession holders but to the players that seek out our services.
P.S.
