Why did you guys get lazy on shield graphics?

[HuskerFootball]

<p>So there I am, the proud owner of the best shield in the game that I can use, the Natural Aegis that drops off Woushi.  As I proudly put it on my back and check out the graphic I am pretty stoked.  Cool looking shield I think.  A few days later I head to South Qeynos and run by a lvl 62 Froglok with the EXACT SAME SHIELD!  After I pick myself up off the floor I inspect him and it is some Legendary shield that drops in Acadachism (Clostier I think its called).  Are you FREAKING kidding me?  The BEST shield in the game off the hardest MOB in the hardest zone in the game looks like another shield that a lvl 60 can get?  Seriously SoE, that is sad.</p><p>Then, we get the shield recipe that Woushi drops.  We craft it......cannot WAIT to see what it looks like and then ***SMACK*** right in the face.... again, it is the exact same graphic that drops off of Vanquisher B'Riareos in Castle Mistmoore.</p><p>Cmon SOE.  Ya did such a great job with the EoF Fasbled Set pieces and have also done a great job on weapon graphics.  Why the laziness on the shields?  Especially the 2 shields in the game that are incredibly hard to get.</p>

[Raveller]

<p>You should have gotten used to this a long, long time ago. Gear graphics get heavily recycled here, and I wouldn't expect many new graphics until after the new character skeletons are finished. </p><p>Gear upgrades are about the stats, not the eye candy. So stop your whining.</p>

[sfarugger]

<p>Complete untrue man, for some stats and UBERNESS is not everything. </p><p>Which I assume Mr. Kendricke would agree with:</p><p><a href="http://kendricke.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/whaddya-mean-its-pink/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://kendricke.wordpress.com/2007...-mean-its-pink/</a></p>

[KBern]

<cite>HuskerFootball wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>So there I am, the proud owner of the best shield in the game that I can use, the Natural Aegis that drops off Woushi.  As I proudly put it on my back and check out the graphic I am pretty stoked.  Cool looking shield I think.  A few days later I head to South Qeynos and run by a lvl 62 Froglok with the EXACT SAME SHIELD!  After I pick myself up off the floor I inspect him and it is some Legendary shield that drops in Acadachism (Clostier I think its called).  Are you FREAKING kidding me?  The BEST shield in the game off the hardest MOB in the hardest zone in the game looks like another shield that a lvl 60 can get?  Seriously SoE, that is sad.</p><p>Then, we get the shield recipe that Woushi drops.  We craft it......cannot WAIT to see what it looks like and then ***SMACK*** right in the face.... again, it is the exact same graphic that drops off of Vanquisher B'Riareos in Castle Mistmoore.</p><p>Cmon SOE.  Ya did such a great job with the EoF Fasbled Set pieces and have also done a great job on weapon graphics.  Why the laziness on the shields?  Especially the 2 shields in the game that are incredibly hard to get.</p></blockquote><p> One word for you....."Robes"</p><p>Be happy with the variance you have in weapons and armor.  It is much worse for the mage classes.</p>

[Norrsken]

Saurakk@Guk wrote: <blockquote><cite>HuskerFootball wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>So there I am, the proud owner of the best shield in the game that I can use, the Natural Aegis that drops off Woushi.  As I proudly put it on my back and check out the graphic I am pretty stoked.  Cool looking shield I think.  A few days later I head to South Qeynos and run by a lvl 62 Froglok with the EXACT SAME SHIELD!  After I pick myself up off the floor I inspect him and it is some Legendary shield that drops in Acadachism (Clostier I think its called).  Are you FREAKING kidding me?  The BEST shield in the game off the hardest MOB in the hardest zone in the game looks like another shield that a lvl 60 can get?  Seriously SoE, that is sad.</p><p>Then, we get the shield recipe that Woushi drops.  We craft it......cannot WAIT to see what it looks like and then ***SMACK*** right in the face.... again, it is the exact same graphic that drops off of Vanquisher B'Riareos in Castle Mistmoore.</p><p>Cmon SOE.  Ya did such a great job with the EoF Fasbled Set pieces and have also done a great job on weapon graphics.  Why the laziness on the shields?  Especially the 2 shields in the game that are incredibly hard to get.</p></blockquote><p> One word for you....."Robes"</p><p>Be happy with the variance you have in weapons and armor.  It is much worse for the mage classes.</p></blockquote>Oh so painfully true. I am actually looking forward to gettingt he plain pink t6 robe. I want it just to be ugly. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Kendricke]

<cite>Raveller wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>You should have gotten used to this a long, long time ago. Gear graphics get heavily recycled here, and I wouldn't expect many new graphics until after the new character skeletons are finished. </p><p>Gear upgrades are about the stats, not the eye candy. So stop your whining.</p></blockquote><p> Let's be honest here: it's about stats...AND the eye candy.  </p><p>If graphics didn't matter, we'd all be content fighting with pink boxes against evil creatures that look like giant blue boxes.  Occasionally, we'd open a brown box, and then be awarded with a different pink box - but look, this pink box comes with +3.21 to Stat H!</p><p>Even without such an extreme example, how would you feel if every weapon upgrade you picked up throughout 70 levels looked identical to the one you started with back on the starting isle, eh?  I doubt you'd be so apathetic toward the idea of new graphics then, yes?</p><p>Also, just because I like to nitpick, I don't believe weapon and shield art is heavily dependant upon character skeletons.  Shields don't really alter in anything other than size between classes, do they?  It's not as if the hand of a Fae is really going to grip the shield in a way that is completely alien to the way an Ogre grips the shield, right?</p><p>Armor is <i>heavily</i> dependant upon those skeletal proportions.  Swords and shields - I think not so much.  </p>

[Morgane]

<cite>Raveller wrote:</cite><blockquote>Gear upgrades are about the stats, not the eye candy. So stop your whining.</blockquote><p>Wow. That was really rude, man. And untrue. For YOU that may be the case. For some they might appreciate both. And for a game that retails at $50 and costs the average player about $250 a year to play, it ain't asking to much to have both. </p>

[Tid]

Image is everything, stats are nowt!

[Pree]

I think I've had the same staff graphic since lvl 12.  I agree I wish there was more variety.

[Raveller]

<cite>Jihrun wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Raveller wrote:</cite><blockquote>Gear upgrades are about the stats, not the eye candy. So stop your whining.</blockquote><p>Wow. That was really rude, man. And untrue. For YOU that may be the case. For some they might appreciate both. And for a game that retails at $50 and costs the average player about $250 a year to play, it ain't asking to much to have both. </p></blockquote>If you're finances are such that the expense of an MMO is a budget breaker for you, then quite simply you should not be playing MMOs.

[Raveller]

<cite>Kendricke wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Raveller wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>You should have gotten used to this a long, long time ago. Gear graphics get heavily recycled here, and I wouldn't expect many new graphics until after the new character skeletons are finished. </p><p>Gear upgrades are about the stats, not the eye candy. So stop your whining.</p></blockquote><p> Let's be honest here: it's about stats...AND the eye candy.  </p><p>If graphics didn't matter, we'd all be content fighting with pink boxes against evil creatures that look like giant blue boxes.  Occasionally, we'd open a brown box, and then be awarded with a different pink box - but look, this pink box comes with +3.21 to Stat H!</p><p>Even without such an extreme example, how would you feel if every weapon upgrade you picked up throughout 70 levels looked identical to the one you started with back on the starting isle, eh?  I doubt you'd be so apathetic toward the idea of new graphics then, yes?</p><p>Also, just because I like to nitpick, I don't believe weapon and shield art is heavily dependant upon character skeletons.  Shields don't really alter in anything other than size between classes, do they?  It's not as if the hand of a Fae is really going to grip the shield in a way that is completely alien to the way an Ogre grips the shield, right?</p><p>Armor is <i>heavily</i> dependant upon those skeletal proportions.  Swords and shields - I think not so much.  </p></blockquote><p>For the most part, my weapons and shields basically do look the same at the high levels as they did back on the island. While the weapon and shield art may not be dependent on the skeletons, I expect that development of new art is pretty much backburnered until the skeletons are ready. After all, it would not be productive to spend time developing new item art only to have it turn out not to be compatible with the new skeletons.</p><p>For anyone who finds the eye candy to be more important than the utility of the items, you might <a href="http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/catalog/productbrd.aspx?product_id=2000249&subcat_id=210030" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">find this </a>to be very entertaining. </p>

[Morgane]

<cite>Raveller wrote:</cite><blockquote>If you're finances are such that the expense of an MMO is a budget breaker for you, then quite simply you should not be playing MMOs. </blockquote><p>Um... I'm going to pass up my initial response to this, which was a rude response to a rude poster. I will instead attempt to be somewhat constructive in this thread (something you've failed to do). It's not that I can't afford the MMO... in your rudeness you have managed to miss the point. $50  x $250 a year for (I'll take a completely uneducated guess at how many people are playing) 50,000 subscribers. Do the math. I somehow think that since looking good seems to be important to many here, it's not too much to ask to have a hard-to-get piece of equipment look different than any other equipment in the game. </p><p>But then, I don't expect someone of your caliber to understand.  You are too busy insulting people and being rude to consider the wishes and concerns of thousands of your game mates. To each their own, though. Cheers! I'll now leave you to troll away! </p>

[Morgane]

<cite>Raveller wrote:</cite><blockquote>For anyone who finds the eye candy to be more important than the utility of the items, you might <a href="http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/catalog/productbrd.aspx?product_id=2000249&subcat_id=210030" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">find this </a>to be very entertaining. </blockquote><p>For anyone who's wasted half a minute of their life reading this idio... er, poster, might I suggest a more constructive use of your time. </p><p><img src="http://www.eng.ritsumei.ac.jp/asao/seminar/riceman/riceman_2/rude.jpg" border="0"></p>

[ZerkerDwarf]

<p>99% of all shields are TOTALLY UGLY in shape and texture !!!</p><p>ALL tower shields look like ugly garage doors. Even the fabled ones. A very ugly model with really boring and ugly textures.</p><p>Those tower shields that don't look like ugly garage doors, look like weird alien starship doors. E.g. the Qeynos Defender or the fabled EoF craftable ones.</p><p>Maybe there should be an NPC where you can have shields re-shaped for money. Keeping the stats and everything but select the model. To transform those ugly fabled tower shields which offer good stats, procs and protection into good-looking models, e.g. a big round shield (being still a "tower" shield in function).</p><p>The textures don't need to have pictures or symbols. A plain surface of steel, brass or sth. else would be enough and first of all: would LOOK much better than the current shield textures.</p><p>Would it be to much work? Just take the model of e.g. the "Draconic Deflector", increase its scale a bit and give it a 'plain' (maybe with some signs of usage) surface of steel, brass, dyed metal, whatever.</p>

[mamasan]

<p>I'm pretty sure theres only one guy at SOE working with the armor/weapon/shield art. What a workload he or she must have. And then trying to make something original all the time. I dont see that happening unless theres at least 1 more designer (of gear). </p><p>But yeah, I would feel really [Removed for Content] off if gear I've fought for for so long looks just like everything else that tier. Boss drops = Unique, crafted + tresured = Not so important what it looks like.</p><p>The boss drops (IMO) are to symbolize their ruling of a certain place for hundred or so years. Something they have designed to rule in, to march in and for people to fear them in. Something that symbolizes their (the bosses) essence. If its a wooden plank with a spike as their main weapon, yeah, believable, for a lousy goblin boss at lvl 5 or so.</p>

[Mighty Melvor]

<p>How cool would it be to be able to display your guild heraldry on your shield.  I would be stooked!!</p>