PvP and PvE Armor Design: Why Bioware's Design Aesthetic is Fundamentally Flawed

Amidala only wore that when she was not associated with combat at any point. She dressed very casual as Padme.

Good post. I too wonder at the bizarre design choices the artists have made.

Here's my theory: Levels 1-49 looks pretty good because, by and large, it is taken right from the films--films that actually employed costume designers.

The new gear has been created from scratch, by graphic artists...not costume designers. That is the only way this disconnect makes sense to me.

A lot of great stuff in this thread, but this quote is How I feel. My cargo hold is filled with orange armor sets I liked in the hopes that one day they will truly allow me to look how I want . With the things I like about the game becoming stale as time goes on, they would be advised to fix these middling things that annoy.

Thank you all for your responses. I feel like this discussion is really quite important--for many of us, a big part of the fun in playing a Star Wars game is "dressing the part"--and I certainly hope we can continue to keep Bioware aware of our concerns and thoughts.

Some of you have mentioned, in various ways, that the more ostentatious styling of these armor sets is able to fit into the IP because "the universe is so varied" or "well they have to make something different". I don't disagree that it is a big universe and that variety is always a good thing. My argument is that there is a logical inconsistency with many of these designs as compared to the larger whole. It's like a guy walking around in full samurai armor in the middle of medieval London, or someone running around in full Corinthian hoplite panoply in the trenches of the Somme.

Consider, for example, that even the more "outrageous" designs in Star Wars are really quite understated. Darth Vader is probably the best example. His helmet is obviously unique and stands out, but it is basically not much more than a skull motif in a simple, menacing black--and it's one of the most iconic images of the entire franchise. The rest of Darth Vader--the black cape, the black padded armor pieces--also manages to be intimidating without being ludicrous.

In that vein of thought, bringing up Queen Amidala is no justification. Amidala is the queen of an insignificant, almost pathologically peaceful society, and the grand dresses she is prone to wearing are worn while she is acting as such--that is, sitting in her palace and doing other diplomatic things which require more je ne sais quoi and less utility. She is not running around a battlefield fighting Jedi knights or Imperial troopers. In fact, when you do see Padme--or at least her double--in her "royal combat outfit", it is obviously far more functionally designed. Furthermore, they obviously wanted the double to stand out so Gunray and his cronies would fall for the ruse--allowing Padme and her handmaidens, in very simple burgundy tunics, to seize them.

At lvl 50 you leave SWTOR and enter a World of Warcraft.

First, as just pointed out Amidalas outfit is perhaps not the best example given that it's not something you would wear in combat. In the context of her being a queen within that culture, it makes sense. However, had you seen her leap into combat with that headgear and dress, then I'm pretty sure most of use would have gone "No way." And, as a sidenote to this: Amidala was shown in the Prequels, which many of still struggle to accept as being part of the universe...and some purists even go as far as only fully recognizing the Original Trilogy films as "proper" Star Wars.

Second, it's not so much about determining anything as it is keeping true to what is already there. Design is not some completely abstract notion based on nothing but a "feeling" -- it has rules, guidelines and can be relatively clearly defined. With an old and well-established IP as Star Wars, even more so.

Also, the esthetic of Star Wars is an intricate part of the IP, so yes, in that regard I would consider there to be a limit on just how far you can go. However, this should be a non-issue, as several concepts in TOR have been new designs still looking like they fit within the Star Wars universe. The easiest way to do is is to go back to the roots and draw inspiration from the OT films, which BioWare has clearly done when it comes to the designs of the classes, ships and so on. IMO this is not only very smart, but effective and they did a great job at that.

As for the "non-illustrated" parts of the SW universe, the Original Trilogy depicted many species and cultures from various planets, yet they all seemed to fit within that same universe. Again, you can come up with new designs while still making them consistent with what's already established.

Finally, yes there's the EU and there's all kinds of weird stuff in there. However, the day you use poor EU designs as an excuse for making equally poor or worse ones in TOR, that's when you're going down that slippery slope...and with a big, well-known and loved IP as Star Wars, that's probably something best avoided.

SE

Yes, precisely. Star Wars has a very particular aesthetic--George Lucas always called himself a "visual filmmaker", and he's precisely right--and it is that aesthetic that makes Star Wars what it is; otherwise, it would just be another science fiction story, and things in it would not hold such strong emotional attachments or be remembered so vividly. The issue is not, "Do I think X is ugly?", because one person's trash is another man's treasure. The issue instead is, "Could I see X in a Star Wars movie?"--and the answer with many of these endgame sets is unequivocally not.

Incidentally, I recently spent an incredible amount of credits to swap the mods from my battlemaster gear (which I might have actually liked if not for the unnecessarily giant shoulder) into armor which makes me look almost exactly like the troopers seen at the Jedi Temple in the first cinematic trailer. I lost a lot of credits, and I lost my set bonus (alas, it is not linked to the armoring for BM gear, unlike what I had been told)--but I am honestly enjoying running around with my Vanguard so much more, because I feel much more connected to the game's universe. And that's what important: connecting and relating to the game's universe; otherwise, it's just another video game.

I totally Agree. Here is a link to my Livedrive This sith looks like some japanese shogun robot. He looks nothing like Darth Maul or Lord Sidious or Count DooKu..

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx...9618E27AE!1561

Long time MMO player - Noob poster.... Still in my Free SWTOR month.

I started playing this with a few Friends and after a week we got chatting if we were going to keep playing.

Within the first 20 seconds we all agreed the ONLY reason that made the game good was that was "Its Star Wars"
The minute you lose the feel and look of that i personally think all you are left with is a second rate mmo on par with RIFT.

Like someone else said now you are brining out "original" ideas imo you are failing fast. Hire a couple of artists that LOVE Star Wars. Keep it sleek and simple. I laughed when i saw this new armour. I actually laughed. Out of the 40 odd people in the swtor guild not 1 said they liked it...

Think about it.

Unfortunately a lot of the later armour seems to have been to the WoW school of "stick a big shiney gold pointy thing on it and call it epic".

Strangely most of the lower level stuff actually looks more Star Warsy and less WoW end gameish.