Post by Justin on Apr 5, 2014 18:27:55 GMT -5
I feel like we're just going to repeat a lot of points amitp already addressed in a post about aesthetics awhile ago.
How would you obtain these tank decorations without them being meaningless?
In realm, the original purpose was to show that you support the devs and get a small but neat reward for it. Now however, (before the mystery box fiasco), it seems like people who can afford dyes use them to flaunt their wealth. After the mystery box sold them for fame, they basically became meaningless to me.
If they were obtainable without spending money, would it be possible to just recolor your tank by default? I think that could be interesting, but ugly depending on how it turns out. Limiting to a specific few colors would probably make me not want to use the tank colors at all, but being able to use those color palettes/wheels might make things too mismatched, unorganized, ugly and unfitting in the grid.
If clans/guilds/groups are created in the future, would there be group tank color schemes?
That is how I will lead up to amit's post:
Hm, how do I want to get cosmetic items?
So here's my thinking: we normally think about how you get cosmetic items. But this is an MMO. Other people see them. I think we should think about what it means to see someone with a cosmetic item. Let's look at the above four again. What do I think when I see someone with a red flare on their tank?
Does this work? I don't know. The blue diamond means they soloed a Convoy. Green trailing smoke on bullets means they were beta testers. White outline means 50 worlds closed. A few are common, to give everyone a taste of them. Most are hard. These are basically achievements. They're not “linear” like levels. They're not in a boring list format like Steam and XBox achievements. Instead, they're in-game badges of honor that you can use to show other players that you did something cool. New ones can be added over time.
Basically, I think giving people a choice of colors that don't have meaning attached to them is a waste of the color space. We have simple graphics in this game. There's not a lot of perceptual space the game designers can work with. I think color is too important to just let anyone recolor themselves without adding something that's deeply tied to something in the game.
The last paragraph is very important.
Personalizing tanks is definitely something I'd love to have in this game. However, I feel like, after using it for a few days/weeks, I'll grow tired of it and the aesthetics of tanks will not affect my enjoyment of the game at all.
And right now, the enjoyment I get when playing this game is lacking, probably because I've played too long/often, but also because there is no goal.
Since a core aspect of the game is to leave little difference between new and veteran players, what keeps veteran players interested once they unlock everything?
I don't think aesthetics will fill that void.
How would you obtain these tank decorations without them being meaningless?
In realm, the original purpose was to show that you support the devs and get a small but neat reward for it. Now however, (before the mystery box fiasco), it seems like people who can afford dyes use them to flaunt their wealth. After the mystery box sold them for fame, they basically became meaningless to me.
If they were obtainable without spending money, would it be possible to just recolor your tank by default? I think that could be interesting, but ugly depending on how it turns out. Limiting to a specific few colors would probably make me not want to use the tank colors at all, but being able to use those color palettes/wheels might make things too mismatched, unorganized, ugly and unfitting in the grid.
If clans/guilds/groups are created in the future, would there be group tank color schemes?
That is how I will lead up to amit's post:
- Buy them with real money? It's interesting. Path of Exile does this. Rob has another monetization strategy in mind though. If they're tradable then it's compatible with Rob's goals.
- Buy them with in-game currency? Seems like a safe default choice.
- Earn them with in-game grinding, with loot drops? Also seems like a safe choice.
- Reserve them for special feats? This I think is most interesting. Non-tradable.
So here's my thinking: we normally think about how you get cosmetic items. But this is an MMO. Other people see them. I think we should think about what it means to see someone with a cosmetic item. Let's look at the above four again. What do I think when I see someone with a red flare on their tank?
- Ok, they just paid dogecoin or dollars for it. No connection to their in-game activities. The path to a red flare is the same as to a blue diamond.
- Ok, they did something to earn it in-game, but I have no idea what. Again, red flare and blue diamond aren't any different. Just personal choice.
- Ok, they play a lot. Ho-hum. Maybe red flare and blue diamond mean something different, but probably they don't.
- Ok, a red flare only went to players who took down a Traverse Gamma Destroyer. This is a huge and very difficult battle. Players who survived it did something awesome. The red flare is a badge of honor. It's different from the blue diamond.
Does this work? I don't know. The blue diamond means they soloed a Convoy. Green trailing smoke on bullets means they were beta testers. White outline means 50 worlds closed. A few are common, to give everyone a taste of them. Most are hard. These are basically achievements. They're not “linear” like levels. They're not in a boring list format like Steam and XBox achievements. Instead, they're in-game badges of honor that you can use to show other players that you did something cool. New ones can be added over time.
Basically, I think giving people a choice of colors that don't have meaning attached to them is a waste of the color space. We have simple graphics in this game. There's not a lot of perceptual space the game designers can work with. I think color is too important to just let anyone recolor themselves without adding something that's deeply tied to something in the game.
The last paragraph is very important.
Personalizing tanks is definitely something I'd love to have in this game. However, I feel like, after using it for a few days/weeks, I'll grow tired of it and the aesthetics of tanks will not affect my enjoyment of the game at all.
And right now, the enjoyment I get when playing this game is lacking, probably because I've played too long/often, but also because there is no goal.
Since a core aspect of the game is to leave little difference between new and veteran players, what keeps veteran players interested once they unlock everything?
I don't think aesthetics will fill that void.
