I understand the idea behind ancient breeds, and why they would not be able to wear apparel. I think this is honestly a really amazing idea the staff has come up with, serious props to them for thinking of such a cool and inventive solution to the apparel problem. As someone who has an apparel guide with every single item in it (or used to- it's a little out of date now due to keyboard issues), I know how absolutely massive the apparel catalog is. It's near insane just to try to write it out, much less draw it!
But a lack of apparel for ancient dragons means users will not be able to shower their ancients with wearable love and money, which will ruin the appeal for a lot of players. When a player buys a fully gened dragon, the way many users bond with their perfect new baby is to dress it up.
So my suggestion is:
A very, very limited amount of ancient only apparel items.
Hear me out on this.
I'm not talking full sets. I'm talking something like one teardrop jewelry item. One silk. One flower. Mostly very small things, the silk being the biggest and most complex of all (as they're one of the most popular apparel items), with few or no recolors.
To get around the unusual poses/bodies of ancients, the dragons would wear the item however they pleased. One with a long and proud neck would wear the teardrop item as a necklace, another with its forelegs posed to strike a bracelet, another with massive stretched wings a wing loop. This is also why there would be only single items and no sets- No head/neck/tail/wing item distinctions to make.
The amount of items would have to be kept extremely small. I know how fast adding just a few more items or recolors here and there can snowball into a massive apparel backlog. These would not be full outfits and costumes for ancients, rather they'd be small touches to enhance the the dragon. They also would not be constantly added to like normal dragon apparel. Once a small set of basic items were created, no new ancient apparel would be added.
I also think the suggestion I've seen elsewhere of letting ancients wear non-fitted items like the flowerfalls, where the art for another breed could be simply copy+pasted in, is a good one. To avoid user confusion, I'd suggest these items have an ancient and non-ancient version. This way there would be a clear distinction between "My modern dragons can wear this flowerfall" and "My ancients can wear this flowerfall" even if the art was identical.
To make up for the extremely limited selection, I'd suggest ancient wearable items be ridiculously rare or ridiculously expensive. I think this would also help keep the economy afloat. I believe FR's amazing game economy success has a lot to owe to the wonderful apparel system. New breeds unable to wear apparel could hurt the apparel economy, but even a small amount of super rare items could help avoid that.
This suggestion could be a good middle ground between art team headache and user fun. It could let users feel like they're pampering and giving attention to their favorite ancient even after it's gened, without creating an apparel backlog that would take an eternity of the staff's time.
I understand the idea behind ancient breeds, and why they would not be able to wear apparel. I think this is honestly a really amazing idea the staff has come up with, serious props to them for thinking of such a cool and inventive solution to the apparel problem. As someone who has an apparel guide with every single item in it (or used to- it's a little out of date now due to keyboard issues), I know how absolutely massive the apparel catalog is. It's near insane just to try to write it out, much less draw it!
But a lack of apparel for ancient dragons means users will not be able to shower their ancients with wearable love and money, which will ruin the appeal for a lot of players. When a player buys a fully gened dragon, the way many users bond with their perfect new baby is to dress it up.
So my suggestion is:
A very, very limited amount of ancient only apparel items.
Hear me out on this.
I'm not talking full sets. I'm talking something like one teardrop jewelry item. One silk. One flower. Mostly very small things, the silk being the biggest and most complex of all (as they're one of the most popular apparel items), with few or no recolors.
To get around the unusual poses/bodies of ancients, the dragons would wear the item however they pleased. One with a long and proud neck would wear the teardrop item as a necklace, another with its forelegs posed to strike a bracelet, another with massive stretched wings a wing loop. This is also why there would be only single items and no sets- No head/neck/tail/wing item distinctions to make.
The amount of items would have to be kept extremely small. I know how fast adding just a few more items or recolors here and there can snowball into a massive apparel backlog. These would not be full outfits and costumes for ancients, rather they'd be small touches to enhance the the dragon. They also would not be constantly added to like normal dragon apparel. Once a small set of basic items were created, no new ancient apparel would be added.
I also think the suggestion I've seen elsewhere of letting ancients wear non-fitted items like the flowerfalls, where the art for another breed could be simply copy+pasted in, is a good one. To avoid user confusion, I'd suggest these items have an ancient and non-ancient version. This way there would be a clear distinction between "My modern dragons can wear this flowerfall" and "My ancients can wear this flowerfall" even if the art was identical.
To make up for the extremely limited selection, I'd suggest ancient wearable items be ridiculously rare or ridiculously expensive. I think this would also help keep the economy afloat. I believe FR's amazing game economy success has a lot to owe to the wonderful apparel system. New breeds unable to wear apparel could hurt the apparel economy, but even a small amount of super rare items could help avoid that.
This suggestion could be a good middle ground between art team headache and user fun. It could let users feel like they're pampering and giving attention to their favorite ancient even after it's gened, without creating an apparel backlog that would take an eternity of the staff's time.
The RNG taketh, and the RNG taketh more. The RNG does not give.
Hoard style apparel guide (!image heavy!)
Small art shop!
Beside the flowerfall/summer swelter/spring breath etc. i don’t really support... skins can be turned into apparel and will do that just fine...
Beside the flowerfall/summer swelter/spring breath etc. i don’t really support... skins can be turned into apparel and will do that just fine...
I support the apparel that would be easy to apply despite the variety that come with Ancients, such as the atmospheric effects. While skins are fine and all to give a dragon variety, being able to dress our dragons up at least somewhat would be wonderful for the people who enjoy putting effort into unique outfits.
I support the apparel that would be easy to apply despite the variety that come with Ancients, such as the atmospheric effects. While skins are fine and all to give a dragon variety, being able to dress our dragons up at least somewhat would be wonderful for the people who enjoy putting effort into unique outfits.
I don’t really think they should have apparel or they could have completely separate apparel sets in the future or possibly an festival apparel item when fests come around but I’d be happy with just skins and accents.
I see no need to give them apparel unless it was ancient apparel but I can’t see that being added till a few years from now. But you can always commission artists in the art forum to make up some art for your ancient dragons to give them normal apparel.
I don’t really think they should have apparel or they could have completely separate apparel sets in the future or possibly an festival apparel item when fests come around but I’d be happy with just skins and accents.
I see no need to give them apparel unless it was ancient apparel but I can’t see that being added till a few years from now. But you can always commission artists in the art forum to make up some art for your ancient dragons to give them normal apparel.
But this game is a game about dressing up dragons. I don't want to spend hundreds to thousands of gems on a skin when I'd rather dress up a dragon. Having an artist draw your dragon with apparel (or drawing such yourself) doesn't change the fact that the actual dragon can't wear apparel.
But this game is a game about dressing up dragons. I don't want to spend hundreds to thousands of gems on a skin when I'd rather dress up a dragon. Having an artist draw your dragon with apparel (or drawing such yourself) doesn't change the fact that the actual dragon can't wear apparel.
No support for any currently existing apparel, as that'd open a can of worms that staff are specifically trying to avoid wrt ancient breeds; say, staff gives ancients the ability to wear the seasonal breezes, people would ask why the Will'O Ember/Wisp apparel can't be applied; they add those, then people ask why other Fest apparel can't be worn... etc, etc. It'd just end up being too much work for site artists (another thing staff is avoiding), not to mention inconsistent/possibly frustrating for players.
I wouldn't be opposed to apparel that's exclusive to an ancient breed, but considering artists will be able to do more with ancient breed genes because they don't need to worry about apparel clipping, I'm fine with it never becoming a thing. So, tentative support for ancient breed-exclusive apparel, so long as staff makes it clear it will never be applicable to the modern breeds fore mechanical and/or lore reasons. (lore-wise, whether because of wildly different body types, modern dragon culture being too scared/snobby/Beastclannish/etc for the kind of stuff the ancient breeds favour, etc).
No support for any currently existing apparel, as that'd open a can of worms that staff are specifically trying to avoid wrt ancient breeds; say, staff gives ancients the ability to wear the seasonal breezes, people would ask why the Will'O Ember/Wisp apparel can't be applied; they add those, then people ask why other Fest apparel can't be worn... etc, etc. It'd just end up being too much work for site artists (another thing staff is avoiding), not to mention inconsistent/possibly frustrating for players.
I wouldn't be opposed to apparel that's exclusive to an ancient breed, but considering artists will be able to do more with ancient breed genes because they don't need to worry about apparel clipping, I'm fine with it never becoming a thing. So, tentative support for ancient breed-exclusive apparel, so long as staff makes it clear it will never be applicable to the modern breeds fore mechanical and/or lore reasons. (lore-wise, whether because of wildly different body types, modern dragon culture being too scared/snobby/Beastclannish/etc for the kind of stuff the ancient breeds favour, etc).
No support for apparel. If feel that if any traditional apparel is added people will start wanting more traditional types and potentially cause frustration. A huge part of Ancients is that apparel is making creating new breeds unwieldy to make so going down this road could lead to Ancients having the exact same problems as Modern completely voiding their entire point.
However, I would support a new 'type' of apparel, backgrounds. While not dressing up your dragon putting them on custom backgrounds would certainly help.
No support for apparel. If feel that if any traditional apparel is added people will start wanting more traditional types and potentially cause frustration. A huge part of Ancients is that apparel is making creating new breeds unwieldy to make so going down this road could lead to Ancients having the exact same problems as Modern completely voiding their entire point.
However, I would support a new 'type' of apparel, backgrounds. While not dressing up your dragon putting them on custom backgrounds would certainly help.
I wouldn't mind a variation of the festival apparel, maybe.
Or Ancient exclusive apparel for festivals (it would certainly mix up the blisteringly dull and tired formula there's been for festivsls for the past five years or whatever) but nothing pre-existing unless it's easily-added, one-colour only stuff like big festival apparel.
But even then, I dunno.
They're getting more dynamic genes. Maybe those will make up for it. It's way too early to say.
I wouldn't mind a variation of the festival apparel, maybe.
Or Ancient exclusive apparel for festivals (it would certainly mix up the blisteringly dull and tired formula there's been for festivsls for the past five years or whatever) but nothing pre-existing unless it's easily-added, one-colour only stuff like big festival apparel.
But even then, I dunno.
They're getting more dynamic genes. Maybe those will make up for it. It's way too early to say.
UK time. Sorry for timezone-related delays in responses. They/Them.
I don't support adding existing apparel. The staff would then have to explain why some is available and some is not. We'd also mix up which existing apparel is available and which is not. It also removes part of the lore. I imagine ancient dragons as an evolutionary step or few removed from modern dragons - like the difference between dogs and dire wolves. Giving ancient dragons the ability to wear existing apparel undermines that.
I like the idea of very simple apparel lorewise, but not utility-wise. A handful of pieces that are not sets could be useful in lore. However, I worry that will eventually create the same problem - a long backlog that stalls breed releases indefinitely. And the alternative - creating apparel pieces for each specific species - would be tedious for staff and players alike.
I don't support adding existing apparel. The staff would then have to explain why some is available and some is not. We'd also mix up which existing apparel is available and which is not. It also removes part of the lore. I imagine ancient dragons as an evolutionary step or few removed from modern dragons - like the difference between dogs and dire wolves. Giving ancient dragons the ability to wear existing apparel undermines that.
I like the idea of very simple apparel lorewise, but not utility-wise. A handful of pieces that are not sets could be useful in lore. However, I worry that will eventually create the same problem - a long backlog that stalls breed releases indefinitely. And the alternative - creating apparel pieces for each specific species - would be tedious for staff and players alike.
I would support only stuff that can easliy be 'copy/pasted' to the other dragons. Non-fitted stuff like flower falls (even the companion animals tend to need to be positioned so not even thoughs). Anything that needs to be fitted, no support.
It sounds small, but imagine 5 years from now, how even just one item from each set would add to the workload of ancients. That is specifically what they are trying to avoid.
Or, perhaps, and this might make it easier for this specific type of apparel, they could revamp the apparel area to include clothing (fitted apparel that needs to be redrawn for each dragon) and enviromental (non-fitted apparel that could use the exact same image). The clothing area would be exactly like it is now, and only available for modern dragons.
However, the separate area, environment would be different in a few ways. For one, only non-fitted apparel would be available here. This also means that flowerfalls and the like would be moved to this area.
For the images, I would think that making it so that there is one image per item, IE, a sakura flowerfall wouldn't have, currently 28 different images on the server (someone said that sometimes the flowers are slightly different depending on breed/sex), there would be 1 image for the sakura flower fall.
Another feature of the environment would be the ability to layer things behind the dragons. This way they could introduce backgrounds and not have to create multiple images, because currently nothing can be layered beyind a dragon.
The only problem I see, with making this two separate areas, would be that you might lose the ability to layer environmental stuff with the apparel. IE you couldn't layer a flower fall behind a silk set if you wanted, it would either be behind everything or in front of everything.
But, making it so that you only need one image for each environmental item means that they dont' even have to bother copy/pasting the items, just upload one image to the area for environment and it would be applied equally across breeds.
I would support only stuff that can easliy be 'copy/pasted' to the other dragons. Non-fitted stuff like flower falls (even the companion animals tend to need to be positioned so not even thoughs). Anything that needs to be fitted, no support.
It sounds small, but imagine 5 years from now, how even just one item from each set would add to the workload of ancients. That is specifically what they are trying to avoid.
Or, perhaps, and this might make it easier for this specific type of apparel, they could revamp the apparel area to include clothing (fitted apparel that needs to be redrawn for each dragon) and enviromental (non-fitted apparel that could use the exact same image). The clothing area would be exactly like it is now, and only available for modern dragons.
However, the separate area, environment would be different in a few ways. For one, only non-fitted apparel would be available here. This also means that flowerfalls and the like would be moved to this area.
For the images, I would think that making it so that there is one image per item, IE, a sakura flowerfall wouldn't have, currently 28 different images on the server (someone said that sometimes the flowers are slightly different depending on breed/sex), there would be 1 image for the sakura flower fall.
Another feature of the environment would be the ability to layer things behind the dragons. This way they could introduce backgrounds and not have to create multiple images, because currently nothing can be layered beyind a dragon.
The only problem I see, with making this two separate areas, would be that you might lose the ability to layer environmental stuff with the apparel. IE you couldn't layer a flower fall behind a silk set if you wanted, it would either be behind everything or in front of everything.
But, making it so that you only need one image for each environmental item means that they dont' even have to bother copy/pasting the items, just upload one image to the area for environment and it would be applied equally across breeds.
