1) The concept of Outfits. Allow us to use the looks of gear and simply "paste" it over our stat-gear. I strongly prefer to a separate slot for outfits rather than having a transmog/transmutation system, as it is less of a hassle.
Sounds basicaly like
Transmogrification.
I'd rather go with BDO's version, but now we're discussing toppings on the cake. I would be very happy and satisfied with either system. :]
The best part about fantasy games is that it is fantasy and thus does not have to be realistic (I mean, come on - we're literally throwing magic around and having backpacks with as much space as an entire garage). :] I'd advocate for both realistic armor options like the basic leather armor and the breast plate for those who want it, and more elaborate and decorative armor for those who wishes for that. :] Each to their own immersive fantasy!
Never understood this argument. Yes this is fantasy, yes there is magic and bags of holding and whatnot, but any fantasy world still has grounding in the real world unless otherwise specified. If the worldbuilding doesn't say otherwise, you can assume the gravity in a fantasy world is close to that of the real world, people bleed when they are stabbed, and humans think and behave in ways that make sense to us. It makes sense, for example, if a wizard wears fanciful clothing, because a wizard doesn't have to worry about defensive or practical properties of their gear – they have Mage Armor. It makes sense to have ornamentation on ceremonial, commissioned, or unique gear, but generic? Why would a regular blacksmith decorate every set of plate armor he makes with intricate ornaments? It takes time, effort, and additional skill for no gain. "Because fantasy" only works for things like magic, things that have no equivalent in the real world. For everything else, there has to be an explanation, and handwaving it away with "it's fantasy!" is, frankly, the answer of a poor writer and worldbuilder.
And yet, being stabbed once would not hinder any character anywhere near as much as it would have irl, lethal wounds heal from a good nights rest, one HP still enables the character to fight to their full potential despite them being a step away from being unconscious etc. There are tons of examples that separates the fantasy world from the real world, but *obviously* there'll be elements of realism to make it believable. How the scales are balanced is completely up to the DM/game developer, but looking at RAW that is the favorite of many players here on the forums, I would definitely not say that "realism" is anywhere near the top priority.
As for the other section, a wizard could definitely walk around in fancy robes ala Dumbledore style, but the hermit mage ala Gandalf style is equally valid and to me just as important. The same goes for the forest-dwelling beast master ranger, or the prestigious bounty hunter-like Monster Slayer ranger, or the royal-guard style drakewarden ranger - just to name a few valid class fantasies within the same class. If the company choose to only include one particular take for a class, then they have failed in my opinion. Literally the only thing I am asking for is that Larian makes sure that there are options to carter as many different styles as possible (and separates looks and stats when it comes to gear), so that each player can enjoy the class fantasy they've chosen. I absolutely dreaded the armor in DoS2, and I am still to this day upset that there is nothing like Sebille's official art armor ingame, but plenty of obnoxiously visible baby blue armor that is meant to be used by finesse archetypes (I still want to scream just thinking about that armor... . _ . ).
For the actual topic, I don't mind the base armors for the most part, but it does start to get too much with +1 and +2 versions. The design philosophy in general is a little odd. I don't understand why most armors have coats, skirts, and other dangly bits, when the models themselves are rigid. It looks silly when a coat, which should move independently with its own physics or at least canned animations, is magnetized to my character's legs and backside. If they want rigid models that's fine, but why design armors in such a way that it creates the most unflattering image when they're translated from paper?
Definitely agree on that they should take a look at how coats, skirts etc move in proportion to the character. I mean, games as old as Aion could get that stuff right. *thinking* Same goes for hair, really. A little bit of physics wouldn't hurt - I'd even prefer full ragdoll ponytails to the perfectly still ones. X]
It's a question of visual style of the game. You can't have both realistic and high fantasy style exist in the same setting. Or you can, but if the baseline is realistic like the Leather Armor, the extravagant designs look ridiculous in context and should also be called out by people living in the game world.
Then there's the fact that characters have photorealistic models, which sets the visual style of BG3 closer to realism regardless of anyones personal preferences. That's why the more high fantasy style armors feel out of place to begin with.
Agree to disagree. There are loads of examples that manages the balance between realistic and high fantasy armor style very well in my opinion (and to be quite fair - if I had to choose then I'd always go with high fantasy since games that attempt to be as realistic as possible rarely make for entertaining fantasy games, imo). Lord of the Rings is one example - there is beautiful and elaborately decorated armor (Elrond's armor, Thranduil's armor, the Gondor Royal Guard or Dwalin's armor etc) and there is also more minimalist-style (Aragon's armor, Legolas' armor etc). Meanwhile we have Galandriel in her beautiful gown and both Gandalf the White and Gandalf the Grey's attire. Warhammer (the medieval setting, not 40k) also features a great range of styles of both gorgeous and/or cool armor while still having more functionally focused armor types - I am personally especially fond of the Inquisitor armor, and the Wood Elf armor have been a personal favorite of mine since I first laid eyes upon it. Even Dragon Age Origins managed pretty well imo when it comes to different armor types - not with all of them, but I was really surprised in a good way when I first started crawling out of the first miserable armor type. :]
EDIT: Oh, and also, to me it makes 100% sense that a level 1 (aka rather inexperienced or at least not very known) character wouldn't wear the same outfit as the most expensive bounty hunter in the area, or the local big-shot paladin. But, as you probably already noticed, I am advocating for us to have a slight say in what type of armor we start in - be it class (paladin, warrior, wizard etc), race (human, dwarven, elven etc) or background (noble, more commoner-like, poor folks, criminal etc) related. Obviously I wouldn't want us to be able to start with the most fancy endgame armor look-wise, but forcing all rangers and thieves into a weird poor folk/commoner leather armor is just weird from a RP perspective imo. In that case, I'd rather have all characters start butt-naked and have us *FIND* the damned armor in the first room so that I can always pretend like my character wore something else before being abducted.
