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

Except this is not so. I can point, in a majority of examples of in game armor, to certain visually evocative features or direct canonical analogues. The notion of something not being "Star Warsy" enough is one which is generally based upon a fairly limited and fundamentally insular understanding of the intellectual property and it's content.

All of this notwithstanding that the content of a sweeping space opera can have a vast diversity of aesthetic designs within in it due to the scale of the setting alone. Particularly one which derives so many of its sensibilities from mid century sci fi shlock/pulp/serials.

Very nice post, and I agree with it.

Also I think the imagination how fashion and designs look, 3000 years before the original trilogy are quite wrong in many places.

Why?
1. Most designs looks oddly familiar like they would be out of the movie time era
2. Many designs are just way off the original designs, but in a wrong way, too futuristic, some do not make sense in terms of usability (e.g. consular armor), some are just like out of a different IP. It's a mash up without consistency.

I've read and seen everything EU.... And I disagree.

It's pretty clear the designers are drawing from the EU comic books for their inspiration. This explains the over the top fantasy-like armor sets which look nothing like the movies. I would be okay with that down the road after the safe designs got stale, but it is kind of strange to me why they decided to reach right for the out-there material. It seems like most people either actively dislike or barely tolerate the outlandish armor designs of most classes. Seems like it would have been better to play it safe for the first few tiers with designs most Star Wars fans are familiar with then move on from there once the well ran dry. I don't really see where they can go from here to be honest...back to simple robes and capes?

Yep, elite commandos never wore bright colors.

But really I think the designers thought that 1-49 gear should be more towards the everyday foot soldier, or jedi, while at 50 it's more like, the flashy armor kings and samurai warlords would have. (PS my trooper armor is pretty grimey for lvl 50 gear showing a used future as you put it.)

Very nice post, and I totally agree with it....

Very to the mark post from the OP. Question now is, will SWToR Development LISTEN? This isnt a minor issue, its paramount to the long term appeal of the game.

There are plenty of examples of in-game armor, but not of end-game armor, which is what this discussion is all about.

I've seen a great deal of Star Wars intellectual property and I've never seen anything which would support the design for the 1.2 consular PvE or PvP armor, or all of the gigantic shoulder pieces or the helmets from the Jedi Knight stuff, for example.

Some of the new end-game stuff is closer, but most of it is simply not.

The pre-1.2 stuff isn't really all that much better, either. The Jedi look like homeless people or cavemen, and the Smugglers look like some kind of old western magicians.

I'm sorry, but you're not going to find anything in the canon - standard or EU - to support this stuff, at least not more than an isolated example or two which reflects a particular plot or character rather than a generalizable norm.

I believe this statement somes it up. I'm sure there are some that love this look. Hey I say leave for those players and and more styles for those that don't like it.
When SWG added the Appearance tab my Bounty Hunter wore Mandalorian armor while the rest of my characters appeared in street clothes.

Ultimately Bioware have to develop a wide variety of looks to appeal to a wide variety of players. Many, but obviously not all, players will want a little bit of end game bling to make their character stand out. To be unique. Unfortunately when you start dealing with gear aquisition and tiers of armour this uniqueness gets eroded as all Sith Marauders in Tier 2 will look the same. While the OP has a valid claim that they do not like the aesthetic of end game armor sets it was only really a valid claim pre-1.2. Now you can put on most of the orange gear, plug in the mods you want and be no worse off. The developers have also mentioned on numerous occasions that soon the armour types of social armours will cover all three types, when this finally rolls out there will be no restriction on what you choose to look like.
With these customisation options already in place and on the way I can't help but feel that the OP boils down to a 'I don't like unrealistic bling on my character so no one else should either.'.

The Star Wars universe is supposed to be vast with influences from a myriad of alien cultures. If you want to be a traditional Jedi and wear brown robes you have that option. If you want to look like you've just walked out of a sale on BDSM clothing the option is also there. Did you spot the key word in that? Option.