Potential Future Features: Transmog

Hope everyone is enjoying the new expansion content, I definitely enjoy a lot of what they added to the game. I know there have been some threads on here about potential updates they could do down the road and I feel transmog for gear would be a really cool edition to the game and would not break the Spirit of D2 in any way. I have always thought over the years I've played this game "man this item looks super awesome on my character but....the stats just don't cut it". This has happened on numerous occasions when playing.

I think it would be cool when you find various uniques it adds them to a pool and you could pay an NPC (either a new one or add to an existing) to change the appearance of your gear provided it is of a similar gear type. So if you wanted to use dual Grief swords but you wanted them to look different from the normal Phase Blade you could do that. Or if you found that ballin Tyraels Might and you wanted to transmog your heavy chest armor to look like it, you could. They have obviously done this in later installments of the game and I think it would lend itself to some really cool appearances for the various characters in the game.

I was curious what people thought of that as a potential enhancement they could look into for the future, since given the expansion they just released, I feel like anything could be on the table.

I feel like IF they were to take that step, they'd take it a step further and introduce endless overkill cosmetic sales for D2 as well, seeing how a transmog feature would enable exactly that.
Not sure I'm a fan of that idea.

I'd be happy with just a "hide helmet" option, seeing how those tend to be the worst offenders and most chars look fine (or at least better) without one.

(And fix diadems so they actually show with the right color in-game, rather than reverting to the default blue!)

Schnorki wrote: 4 months ago

(And fix diadems so they actually show with the right color in-game, rather than reverting to the default blue!)

I wish they would fix the single player character select screen issues too. If you socket something with a gem it becomes that color on the main menu (not in game). For example, my sorc appears to be wearing a yellow Skin of the Vipermagi because of a Topaz in it!

I can see how they could monetize it and I certainly wouldn't want that. But I think being able to shuffle the assets already in the game would be cool, while still maintaining the core of the game. I think that is the most important part of ANY changes they plan to make is to try to keep the core of the game as intact as possible.

I think they did a fairly good job with this expansion, though the Warlock does feel a bit overtuned. I like the other mechanics they placed into the game, though I think some of them need some messaging.

Transmog is a thing that d3 introduced. Along with dyes and whatnot. Although I used to llay d3 a lot, I don't want this feature here, it will make all diablo games look alike and bland.

How would that make the game "bland" if you can customize your characters look based on items you find? I've been playing the game since launch and your character essentially will look the same if you use the same gear pieces, which most builds have a set of items that are considered "optimal". Just was curious what you meant by that. Despite games having repeats systems, each Diablo game has its own identity and I don't think that would tarnish the identity of D2R

Ok so here is the thing

To start with D3. Everyone there needs to look like they Crit for 300 million (as they do) and all transmogs are looking over the top. My personal preference is a more subtle look like in D2 but that is not the point. Transmog was introduced for two reasons: one, players wanted flexibility much like you say. And two, the uniques were mostly underwhelming, so players stuck to a few. that fit the overall theme of Diablo 3 as easier game, and equipment choice was not limited due to cosmetics

When it comes to Diablo 2 this is a Hard game. Choices are permanent and have consequences. You can't switch your build just because you found a new item ( in diablo 3 build can be switched at any point). Likewise if you want to wear Shako, you will look like you have a green sock on your head. This supports the overall theme of the game being hard.

If blizzard would introduce transmog here, they will surely not limit to the current skins. Monetisation is not a problem for me, but the overall theme of subtlety and darkness will be ruined as the new skins will inevitably become fancier and more over the top.

Though I love the expansion, I am even with mixed feelings about the new stash in RotW. And I see people now asking for separate charm inventory. They don’t understand that they are asking for features that belong tooDiablo immortal and d3, games most d2 fans say they don’t like.

I like all of those games but I want them to keep their theme both in vision and in gameplay. Introducing such features to diablo 2 will change to a different theme, which is used in other franchises already and will make it bland.

I want to keep my green sock

I'm for adding dyeing items.
Like most vanity systems, it would be an item sink, greatly needed given the bot-infested economy.
We also used to have a great variety of gear colors in Classic, before ubiquitous overpowered 1.10 RWs ruined that variety (a Valkyrie is a sort of a remnant of that).

But I'd be careful about adding a "full" transmog system.
Transmogging, say, a sword into a blunt weapon breaks the immersion, period. Besides this, different animation types have different breakpoints, so transmogging would mess this up, unless designed very carefully (read: not by current Blizzard).
Even transmogging within the same item type is a can of worms.
Example: if I mog a Phase Blade into a Colossus Sword, should my new weapon get its range increased (1 to 2)? Or should mogging a Templar Coat into Wyrmhide remove the movement speed penalty? This is not cosmetics, this is yet another item upgrade, and everyone would be "transmogging" items for better stats, not for look.
Or should the range/movement speed stay the same, so the animation no longer matches the mechanics - yet another desync bug?

Besides, transmogging usually goes in 2 directions: either an overly-aggressive-looking character wielding a giant infinity+1 sword as wide as a Christmas tree and an armor with spikes everywhere and mandatory shoulder pads larger that the character's head, or a half-naked pimp-looking one with silly accessories, completely unsuitable for combat and ruining the immersion for every other player around. Only a tiny minority of players do RP-appropriate transmogs.

I am purely talking about a system to change the cosmetic look of an item. Not changing any of the underlying attributes of the weapon such as breakpoints etc. If transmogging was used it can only be used with like items. For example a Mace can only be mogged to look like other 1H maces. A Phase Blade could only be mogged to look like other types of 1H swords. No attributes would be modified under the hood. I do like all of the conversation here, thanks for all the input people!

Interesting concept, surprising polarising