I’ve thought about this a lot recently and we will completely discount story for this posting because if any game doesn’t have a great story then there is no chance of keeping me interested for any length of time.
Games must have housing and wardrobe appearance slots. These two items alone make all the difference in my long term interest in any game.
I played Oblivion eons and ages ago on the XBox 360, heck it was my introduction to the Elder Scrolls IP. It may not have had the detailed customization options that Morrowind had, which my husband still laments to this day, but I knew I could log-in and my character had a house where she could catch a nap, brew some potions, or just spend the rest of eternity safely.
Everquest II has done housing and housing customization the flat out best I’ve ever seen in any game. The options for housing are seemingly endless and the developers, and now the community, continually add to the housing diversity. All of my EQ2 characters share one house, which I must admit I love. They’ve all got their alters to their particular gods and their trophies from questing. I love the pillows strewn about the floor and the critters that roam the home.
Lord of the Rings Online has a good wardrobe system as does Everquest II (appearance clothing). However, neither game does it perfectly. Both have stunningly beautiful armor and clothing models that my characters drool over but they both suffer from the same flaw. No game offers enough wardrobe space to make it expansive enough to switch outfits as often as I’d like. The Secret World has a pretty good wardrobe system which is perfect for a game set in the modern world with modern clothing, but a lot of their clothing is geared to a much younger player and none of my characters particularly want to walk around in what I consider slutty clothing. Rift now offers a decent amount of wardrobe slots for in-game currency or real life cash. Problem is none of my characters are that rich in-game and I’m not spending real life money on wardrobe slots.
I love the look of this NPC in Everquest II.
My Guardian Hobbit in LOTRO never wears shoes but she does love a jaunty hat and on this fine day in Rivendell she was sporting her favorite hauberk.
The one thing Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 do better than any of their competitors, and the only thing in my opinion, is the dye system. Collecting dyes and not having them be consumed on use is brilliant and perfect system. Other games need to adopt this model. Yes they might lose out on some revenue but they would undoubtedly make up that revenue from players like me that won’t purchase a single use dye.
No game, to date, gets housing or wardrobe perfect. Rift has a goodly number of wardrobe slots but dyes are consumed on use and they don’t have pink dyes. Rift does have housing but it has yet to make an emotional connection with me. The Secret World has a decent wardrobe closet but the clothes are too revealing and cannot be dyed. Guild Wars 2 only has the dye system in it’s favor. Everquest II has phenomenal and extensive housing but no dyes and limited wardrobe to one outfit. My characters NEED many, many more wardrobe slots in Everquest Next! The clothing and armor in the Everquest franchise is so well done and so varied texturally that limiting appearance clothing to one slot is simply criminal. Lord of the Rings Online has beautiful clothing but dyes are consumed on use and wardrobe storage and slots are too limited. LOTRO housing is also lacking in comparison with Everquest franchise.
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