Universal Tailor
 

I propose a Universal Tailor to be implemented. This tailor would be activated via F4(or some other macro), and be documented as well. The tailor will allow the players to easily change their head, shield, sword, body, and body colors. Along with it the ability to save changes into 20 different slots. These slots will be universal among the Graal servers(perhaps saved the same way the buddy list is?) so the player can load up their look as soon as they log on to a new server.

I know this will conflict with servers that use custom looks and all... but I don't think that it will conflict so much as to defeat the purpose. I hate having to log onto a new server I'm trying out and going through a whole process of making my character look like me. Especially since every server has a different way of changing colors. It's annoying trying to figure it all out each time. How do you think that looks towards new players? Having to change the look of their player the biggest quest on Graal ever?

One thing that shouldn't be included are hats, since I know hats are implemented differently on different servers.

I think this is a good idea. As for the servers that use custom looks, there can always be a serveroption or something that disables the tailor menu.

I was going to post the exact same thing, but I figure a lot of servers would just disable it and use their own custom one(thinking it's better), leading to the exact same problem there is now. I think if this is done(which I'm sure it'll have to be for some servers), it'll have to be approved via PWA.

You could make a script that does it and easily do the cross-server style saving by just saving the text files on the client's computer. Sounds like a nice idea. You'd have to get all the playerworlds to participate though.

Well, all heads, bodies and shields would have to be uploaded to all the playerworlds using this. That's a bit tricky. Other than that, nice idea.

Looks like it will causes some problems, but if this get done, I'm ok for it to be implemented on my playerworld ^^

Nice idea here, just need to see how to do it without having lot of ppl complaining because of custom stuffs.

Could just have a GST implement something like this:

Of course, servers would have to provide a valid reason to be added to the disabled list, such as using custom bodies.

Why? I mean it would be nice, but that's not necessary. Simply have textbox where you type in the head filename. It sucks that it has to be done that way but because of the way Graal handles this kind of stuff it's the simplest way to do it effectively.

Perhaps implement something similar to the File Browser I made for Valikorlia.

And I would prefer not having the GST dictate whether or not it is used.

I've thought about that, the only problem is it'd have to calculate a list from the server, and not clientside(because like it's been stated, different servers use different graphics). I guess this is possible, and would be really cool but seems excessive. Especially since I figured it'd try to download all those heads as soon as you start browsing.

On Valikorlia you use an RC command to calculate a list of graphics to be ready to be sent to client when it is requested. would be nice if there was a compression function. Yes, it does download all the heads en-mass. Not a problem for my connection of course, though I don't know how much it stresses the GServer upload rate.

I especially don't want to think of the poor 56k'ers :(

They just won't get to use it then.

Which cripples the whole purpose of this. An attempt to unify the controls of Graal so each different server doesn't have different controls for the same exact thing.

I think a simple textbox would suffice. And if needed perhaps a head/sword/shield/body browser as well, but that should be separate.

This shouldn't be hard at all to implement. There are already tons of tailors like this, it would just have to be uploaded to login. All that would need to be added was a method of saving the slot data to be global. This could be done clientside, I suppose(in a file), though I think a serverside saving(like the buddylist) would be more preferred. So you don't lose your looks when you change computers.

The File Browser is separate deal. The tailor system will work just fine without it. You misunderstood me.

Oh, then I agree.

servers can still have their local tailors. it would just be convenient for new players that don't know how to use them though. it should be very basic.

This is true, there's no reason servers can have their own. Just as long as they don't overwrite or disable the universal one.

I like the idea of taking a feature that is globally used and consolidating it to a consistent object rather than having different types on every server. There is a lot of features like that though, and with every server having different themes I'm not sure it would look nice, I don't know.

Then no one would buy the stylesaver we sell on Era. :noob:

That's not something that would be part of a virtual economy anyways (not that I could call what Era has an economy). Suck it up.

If that item is not something that is a part of Era's "virtual economy" then what is it?

I think the servers that do sell stuff like that can survive it going global for free. Graal needs more unification and I think this would be one of those good steps towards it.

I meant it shouldn't cost money, it should be separate from in-game economy.

Well there's already a universal tailor just for head0.png body0.png :-p create a new account and see..

What i seen as of late is Accounts that has special effects like some kid logged in and had a pet bomby and then he had some ghost effect thingy.. Mabey this system or whatever it's call can make your idea come true cause i don't believe the pet bomby was needed to be uploaded to every server..

We used to sell them for Event Coins on Maloria.

This kind of stuff is easily uploaded to the Login server(server list), which every player has to log onto.

The only problem I'm wondering is being able to save the slots serverside, to be accessible by all servers.

Not an economy.

Why should it? It's an item that stores outfits for players and tons of servers have these for sale. With Era being an economy based server, it just acts as another money sink.

Event coins are part of an economy and often the sole-economy of many servers.

If the item would not be considered part of game lore it should not be part of the economy. There is no place for a magic outfit changer on a modern server.
If you think event coins can be considered an economy then we have very different definitions of economy.

Saving outfits is not a part of the game lore. If you want to discuss consistency of theme for servers, changing your head magically has no place, nor does changing your clothes using text commands, nor the tailor that is being discussed in the thread. Items are not classed as part of an economy because they follow a theme.

I suggest you go read up on some economics because in every valid definition of an economy, they are.

Changing your head and clothes on a server have nothing to do with it because they don't cost money.

If you earn money by doing tasks in-game then the money you earn should be applied in-game too.

For example, if you had to do in-game tasks to get money to be able to change the UI color of the game client then there is a problem.
My idea of an economy is much more grand than what you're thinking of. My idea of an economy is similar to what EVE Online has.

Actually this is where classic vs gold comes in...

You do need to spend money in order to change clothing on DEV Servers :-p

Else if you already own a classic account and don't wish to upgrade they give you some B/S.

Upgrade your account for more cool Looking Head/Bodys.

Outfits are part of the game, and they feature in game, so they are part of tasks that you have to do in game. Changing your outfits take time, if you have many different outfits it is often hard to keep track of the specific colors and filenames, outfit savers save this time therefore they are an addon feature. I cannot make it any more clearer than that.

That is beyond the game (Playerworld) itself.

When I say game I mean Era as a game, not Graal as a whole. You're simply not understanding how I think. If outfits didn't exist and everybody looked the same you could still play Era because your looks aren't part of the game, they're just icing on the cake.

As another example, by your logic I would have to pay in-game money for a UI mod on WoW.

Customization is arguably more of a core game mechanic than a meta one, but either way the item is still suited as an economical money sinker regardless of mechanics because it is saving time when using default features, not just enabling default features.

Visual customization is not part of the gameplay of Era. If all players were forced to have the same look it would not affect Era gameplay so the economy should not be affected either. Obviously this tailor that is part of the economy relies on the fact that player appearances are customizable and its status would be affected if they weren't. The gameplay should be a closed system and this pokes a hole in it.

I really don't know how to explain it any better. What Era has is not something I would consider a true economy because items are not finite.

Visual customization is a major part in every single Graal server. If you truly don't believe that, then why does Era sell hats? They're visual customization, they're a part of the gameplay, and they're a part of the economy. I never said that the visual customization part of an outfit saver is the purpose that makes it a viable item, it's the time it saves.

A lot of the economy relies on the fact that there is a huge emphasis on player customization, not just a tailor system.

How is this a closed system, and how is it "poking a hole" in anything? Honestly..

Gameplay is typically not dependent on the level of graphics, I'm sure many gamers know this.

There are exceptions like Graal, because some of Graal's playerworlds don't actually have their own solid gameplay.

Nor do economies or outfit saving NPCs.