I do like the customization option in terms of look and stat bonus on equipment, but it is annoying sometimes if the cool looking piece of gear doesn’t fit your character build.

Probably the game with most interesting approach to outfits was Kingdom of Loathing, in which certain sets completely changed your appearance and would alter certain in game events and encounters. For instance you had dress in up
as a harem girl in order to gain access to one boss in the game.

http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Outfit

Fashion plates! Remember the chatter from ten years ago about how to get girls involved in video games? Here's the answer.

Quote:Original post by kseh
It seems for me, when an RPG makes a number of outfits available I find myself wanting to collect them all. My sole purpose playing Morrowind was to collect shoes, clothes, and sets of armour. I have no idea what the actual game was supposed to be about.

Yeah, I wanted to play Earth Eternal that way and was so frustrated that it's impossible to get enough storage space to do so. NeoPets, although kind of an absurd game in other ways, was fun because it allowed people to set up galleries of their collections (basically a store where items weren't actually for sale). I don't mind grinding for gold to expand storage, but a lot of MMOs have ridiculously small hard caps on storage, they don't seem to have any interest in encouraging players who have the urge to collect or show off their collections. I bet WoW players would love having a bestiary feature where others could see all their pets and mounts.

Ya, players love collecting and showing off their collections to other players. I'm surprise most MMO don't have player museums where they can show off all their items and achievements to other players.

Playing WoW I was much more insterested in fashion when playing a female human character than the male orc, collecting all sorts of gear 40 levels below mine just for looks, trying out the different hair styles and so on. It is pretty much impossible to compromise between looks and function when restricting my choices to usefull stuff eliminates 99% of possible gear types (not to mention high level gear usually comes with bonuses if using multiple items from the same set).

I don't think pushing in the direction where players can customize their appearence a great deal while still enjoying the best functionality they have earned is a very good idea either. When in battle I don't want to see other players' fashion statements but clues as to their class / strength / preferred magic.

It's not just clothes either. Mounts and pets are very sought after in WoW, and if it could be possible to win unique animated emotes, dance sequences, hair styles, laughter sequences I bet everyone would love that as much as I would. In fact, the one item I've lusted for in WoW even more than for the first mount disguises a player into a blood elf with access to all the race specific emotes. Laughing the

#t=1m10s">blood elf laugh in Alliance cities - priceless. :D

Quote:Original post by Diodor
I don't think pushing in the direction where players can customize their appearence a great deal while still enjoying the best functionality they have earned is a very good idea either. When in battle I don't want to see other players' fashion statements but clues as to their class / strength / preferred magic.

Information about other player's strengths could easily be communicated by some way other than clothing. In some games the type of weapon used is enough to communicate class, and some games put a class or element emblem by the player's name, as well as a level number, and possibly a faction emblem and level.