Amanita

^Exactly! I would have expected to see the CoT mage hat under "hats" too, which would prevent the problems with hair sticking out.

And yes, color me extremely disappointed that they went to all this work making these awesome new costume parts (Oh, players can use NPC parts, 90% of NPC parts will be converted for players!) and then withhold the coolest things, the parts that people really, really wanted. I wanted the armored plate gloves- no dice. I was hoping for that short capelet, that jewelled belt, and of course, the long skirts. Seriously, we players have been clamoring for long robes now, and they finally come up with one that should work with our player rig, but then they withhold all the coolest parts on grounds that it will clip? Oh come on!

You know what? I don't care if my MA scrapper looks funny when doing Eagle's Claw with that long CoT skirt. Why? Because he spends very little time in that extreme position. I want something that will look cool the rest of the time. I don't just grind and fight in this game, I also like just hanging out chatting and RP'ing, and I want a costume that looks cool then too- it's not ALL about how it looks when performing the most extreme moves in my powerset.

Clipping issues? Already, the celestial chest detail clips horribly with cape options, especially on males. But I live with it. The steampunk skirt clips through the lower halves of martial arts robes, but I live with it- I either make those parts the same color so it's not noticeable, or use the warrior belt to cover it up. Others before me have said that clipping is a lame excuse to withhold things, given how much it already happens.
I think even giving us a couple of the other skirt and glove options would have made this set a real winner, right up there with barbarian, steampunk, and magic. Instead it's almost as lame as the IDF set- another one that would have been sweet with just a couple more pieces.
I don't like the belt included with this set at all, it just looks lame with those short, chopped off flat tails below the waist. It looks like the martial arts tied belt, after somebody chopped the ends off with scissors. The jewelled belt would have been better, I would have had a lot more uses for it. Likewise the gauntlets- it was the armor that we really wanted. Considering that the geometry of those is a lot tamer than ascension, why withhold them? Surely they can't be any more problematic than things like the Sinister and Justice armored gloves.

Devs, I really hope you will reconsider and throw us some bones here. What's the point of redesigning an NPC faction and teasing us by saying that players will be able to have NPC parts (including stuff we've been asking for forever), then giving us only the low level minion stuff, saving the coolest things for the NPC's, on grounds of "clipping"?
Why waste the time, why get our hopes up with cool stuff that we can't have?
You say you're amazed by the things we come up with- stop trying to protect us from ourselves, and let us have this stuff, we'll find ways to make it work, be it avoiding the combos that clip badly (even with 20% of pieces being a problem, that still leaves us 80% that work with no problem, a pretty good ratio if you ask me), or even find ways to make the clipping work for us.

Somehow I suspect my prediction made in another thread is going to come true- the pack is missing a lot of what we really wanted, therefore sales are not going to be as good as barbarian or the original magic set. (anyone else remember how we practically broke the store server when the Magic booster was released?

There's also the cost issue- packs like Magic, Martial Arts, Steampunk, and Barbarian give us great value for our money- that 400 pp buys a lot of things- costume parts both major and minor, that can be mix and matched in a lot of cool ways. But this one sucks, in terms of value for money. It costs as much as the most detailed packs, and includes only 12 pieces, and they're mostly not the ones we really wanted. This doesn't feel like a proper booster compared to the other paid ones which have been released, it feels like a lame afterthought, it's so skimpy.

Wow..color me PO'ed. So they say we're gonna get all these cool NPC costume parts, but they only give us the bare freaking minimums. Not even the cool gauntlets that many of my alts would have loved to use, or the skirts with the coat tails, or long robes (even though us players have been clamoring for those forever. Seriously, what is the point of teasing us with all this cool stuff, saying that players are going to get most of the NPC stuff, then giving us the bare bones, while leaving out the coolest things that we really wanted?
Yeah, color me disappointed and PO'ed indeed.

But even most of the minions get the tails. It would suck if all we get is just what the lowest of the low minions get. I'm really hoping they'll impress us with this one, and not skimp with the bare minimum.

If we only get the basic archer costume, do you think the pack will sell as well? Somehow I doubt it. More options=more sales likely.

Part of me thinks that if we get as much of this set as possible, it might be fun to make an Oranbegan SG- remember that arc where they tell you that in one parallel world, the Oranbegans are good guys?

I said in another thread that if the lieutenant and boss pieces haven't been made in female and huge yet, I would rather wait for them to be converted and have a more detailed and fun pack, than to have it released now, with only the minion-level stuff that already fits both genders.

It seems that many of the boosters lately have taken on a drastically different look depending on gender- females get one outfit, males get another, with only a few parts shared. It would be nice to see another booster on par with mutant and martial arts, where the outfit is the same for both genders.

We've got quite a few votes here for "everything", including me
With that in mind, if that player screenshot is really "What you see is all you get", would you be as interested in buying it?
Me? I honestly don't know. On one hand, I could use those basic pieces. But without the other, cooler parts, the set would lose a lot of appeal, and feel very incomplete to me.
If the set has a great of the new pieces made, I know I'll buy it as soon as I possibly can. It will be like the celestial and ascension sets were for me- I couldn't wait to get them unlocked and dress my favorite alts in various combos of the pieces.
If it's just the bare minimums, I won't be so enthusiastic, because the parts that I really want for various costume ideas aren't there.

I hope the rednames are reading this and taking notes
Seeing how the skirts on these guys seem to be built in similar fashion to the long ladies steampunk skirt, I don't see why these wouldn't work for us players. In fact, it seems that a lot of these parts would work for us no problem, the energy mage's collar might be the only tricky one. I'm not sure how that would be rigged- either the collar attached to shoulder armor are under the shoulders slot and the cape is under back details, or the collar and cape are handled in a similar fashion to the high collared capes we got with the magic pack. Either way, if it's compatible with player rigs, I want

So we're going to be getting a Circle of Thorns costume set sometime, and we've seen a screenshot of a player version. Elsewhere, Noble Savage said something to the effect of trying to port over as many of the NPC pieces to players as possible. So while those who have said anything seem to think that the player version of the CoT outfit is a bit on the skimpy side, there may be more of it that we haven't seen yet.

So if it were up to you and you could beat up any CoT NPC and steal the costume pieces you wanted, which ones would you snatch?
(Oh great- now I have a vision of a happy group of heroes running off with their shiny new robes while a group of CoT limps back to Orenbega either left with nothing but their boxers, or holding clumps of bushes over themselves to preserve their modesty! One minion grousing to his boss "These outfits are great boss, but there's one little problem. Those heroes keep beating us up expressly to steal them!"

I would want all the skirt versions, or as many as possible, not just the short, tailless version.
I would also like the armor plated gauntlet sans spikes modeled by some of the lt. level mages. Those would make a nice substitute for the ascension gauntlets until my characters reach level 50 I would also like the jeweled belt, I actually prefer it to the sash shown in the player version screenshot.
I wouldn't mind having the mitre-style hat worn by some of the mages, I might just find a use for it. But aside from the tailed long skirts, my fave costume piece HAS to be the high collar and short little cape worn by some of the mages. We could use some capelets like that, it would look very cute worn over a short jacket.
Here's a screenshot of some of the parts I'd run a mile for:

I think the problem with the sybil outfits is the multiple cape rigs- three or four, if memory serves. Due to performance issues, players are supposed to get only one.

I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to make ourselves look like more of the NPCs either. Since we can't attack or be attacked by other players outside of a PVP zone, we can't really grief others that way. And there's lots of RP possibilities for looking like an NPC- infiltration being only one. In the case of the upcoming CoT booster, why can't we look like an energy mage? We could RP that lots of ways- that mage being one of the parallel universe Orenbagans who are good guys, and this one is here to either try and save, or punish the primal earth CoT. Or given Arachnos's love of infighting, perhaps one of the other patrons has allied with members of the CoT, just to cause trouble for Scirocco and his Mu descendants? Or that energy mage chose to join up because working with Aracnnos might be a path to greater power and resources, all the better to break the demonic pact that the CoT are bound to?

The argument about keeping NPCs exclusive is a weak one, considering that some NPCs can already be perfectly cloned already (especially the praetorian clockwork)
I don't think seeing a player energy mage hanging out in Atlas is going to make encountering the NPC any less special for a new player. After having RPed with the player, they might think "So THAT's what the CoT are all about!" once they encounter the NPC, or "Now I know what that person was dressed up as!"

I think the problem is that the picture they chose to show us shows just the bare minion pieces- the plainest skirt of the set, with no tails, the simplest gloves, etc.
And also, the latest NPC set they gave us (IDF) turned out to be on the skimpy side- we only got one style of gloves (there are two or three that IDF NPCs have), and we didn't get the coolest body armor option- the one that includes the backplate with the glowing pattern running down the spine. Which sucks, because that was the piece I was hoping for, I had a couple of characters who would have equipped that in a heartbeat

I guess those of us who are hoping for more are looking to put our feedback in and be heard before this thing is released- if the devs were planning to make this a "What you see is all you get" deal, then perhaps they will reconsider if enough people come out and say that they really wanted the other parts, and would be more likely to buy the pack if more things were in it, or more likely to skip the pack because the things they were really hoping for aren't in it.
And if the devs are planning to release more than what was shown in those pics, then the rednames have an opportunity to say something- even if they don't give specifics, even a "There's more to the set than this" would be nice, like they did with Barbarian, telling us that there would be more options than the screenshot showed.

Personally, I think making as much of this set available to players as possible would be the best option, in terms of encouraging sales. More pieces included means more people will be likely to buy the whole pack, because they're more likely to find several items in it that they will have fun using. And more people are likely to make "A la carte" purchases if there's more options, because even those who don't like the current "player version" screenshot or don't want the whole set might decide they want that awesome jewelled belt, or those cool non-spiked plate gauntlets, those tall shoulders, or even that cool mage hat to mix and match with an existing outfit.

As for the lack of female lieutenants and bosses, I would rather wait a bit longer for this set so that those pieces can be fitted to the female rig as well, than have the set NAO and get the bare minimum which already fits both genders.
The Martial Arts booster with its gender equality was a good thing, it would be nice to see another booster along those lines, as well as the radically different gender options of packs like Barbarian and Steampunk.

^Exactly! I was VERY disappointed by these "player version" screenshots. Because all we're getting looks to be the bare minimum of parts worn by the lowest of the low minions. Seriously, I think only one group of CoT underlings wears the short skirt without those nice coattails, even most of the other minions get them, and we don't even get that. Why?

For gauntlets, I was really hoping for the ones that the mages in that bottom pic were wearing, for me they would be far more useful for more costume looks than the tight spiny ones shown in the player version. And I was really hoping for at least a couple of the long skirts that various CoT mages get, I love the long women's steampunk skirt, it would be nice to have a unisex (if somewhat ornate) version that my characters of both genders could use.
And I'm absolutely in love with the shoulders and short capelet seen on the energy mages, again, that's something I would definitely love to have to play with.

Even other costume sets like Martial Arts, which was the same for both genders (as opposed to the radically different gender looks found in Steampunk and Barbarian) gave us more to work with. We got two main robe styles, each one having two different texture options, for a total of four possible looks just from that one piece. And the two versions of belt gave even more options, as did the multiple styles and textures for the armored parts. Add to that the helmets and detail options, and the selection of custom weapons, and even that (relatively) simple pack gave us lots to work with.
Whereas if this pic is really "All we're gonna get", then in a way, it's skimpier than Sinister. Even Sinister has armor plated/no armor versions of its gloves and boots.

So why can't we have more of this awesome costume set? Keeping the look of the NPC's exclusive? A weak argument considering that now we can perfectly replicate the look of several other NPCs in game, such as the praetorian clockwork, at least one faction of the PPD or IDF, and several of Arachnos's troops (if you play an EAT and color your uniform just like the NPC). So why is it a bad thing to be able to make and roleplay our very own CoT ruin or energy mage? There's lots of RP possibilities, everything from siding with Arachnos in search of more power, to being a visitor from that parallel universe where the Orenbegans are the good guys.
And that's not even getting into the mix and match possibilities- those long CoT skirts would look awesome paired with Celestial or Ascension armor for an epic look. And for the elegant look, I can see female characters appropriating the jeweled belt worn by the green mage on the right, and pairing it with the steampunk skirt and appropriate top/upper body tights option.

Overall, we've gotten used to getting a lot of mileage for our money when it comes to paid costume booster sets- lots of options to play with, and mix and match. The IDF set was a bit skimpy (I was hoping for the combo breast/back plate and one other gauntlet style), but that one was a freebie. For paid sets (which I have read that this one will be), we've come to expect more. Somehow, I suspect that if we end up paying the same for this set as others like steampunk and barbarian, but get only about as much as Sinister*, I won't be the only one disappointed.

*IIRC, the sinister and justice sets were just bonus add-ons to the CoH- Good vs Evil pack, not in the same league as the more detailed costume boosters that have been released since.

Sword surfing would be hella cool. So now you have a bunny girl and a skyscraper-girl both wanting it

It doesn't offend me at all that we're discussing this here. Bring real world stuff into our entertainment? It happens all the time. I could list off the many examples of entertainment incorporating real-world events both current and historical, but I'd need a book to put it all in.
Disrespectful to incorporate real world events into "fun" things like videogames, movies, plays, etc? No! Or at least not always. If it's making fun of the events, making light of how people died, then not cool. But to say that all mention is off limits out of some notion of "proper respect"? I have to disagree with that, as an artist, writer, and believer in free speech. Not talking about it, writing about it, etc won't make events like 9/11 un-happen. Better to speak/write/create freely, as opposed to treating them like gorrillas in the room which can't be talked about, or may only be discussed in "approved" manners.

/em Salute right back at you from a Canadian who still remembers where she was when it all went down, and who will never forget.

I'm looking forward to those extra costume slots, and celestial armor, even if I have to buy enough reward points to get it. I'm a little disappointed with the IDF set, as I hoped we would be getting the armor that goes completely around the character's body, with that cool illuminated pattern running down the character's spine. Unfortunately we only get the front part, which isn't as cool.

I'm also looking forward to street justice and titan weapons, both of those will be grabbed ASAP. And I'm also waiting for the Circle of Thorns costume parts, although I really hope they will give us more pieces than what was shown in that dev chat thread. Because I suspect that the long tails/skirts/other cool details were what a lot of people really wanted, if the set doesn't give us those, I predict a lot of disappointed people.

I really hope that there will be more pieces in the COT player set than what was shown in those screen shots. I was really hoping at least to get the long buttcape tails that almost everyone in the COT wears under their skirts now, and to get the gauntlets with the plate on them, not just the tight gloves with the little thorns, that look kinda like the bio-armor in the mutant set.

At the most, I was hoping we would get some of the other cool pieces from that set, like the high collars and short capes that we see the energy mages with.

Really, I think it's the long skirts/buttcapes that a lot of people wanted, and if the set is released without them, people are gonna be disappointed. - Que the complaining about how the NPCs get the lion's share of the cool stuff. If the player edition of the CoT costume set has a few gauntlet choices, and the long rear tails as a skirt option, I'll buy it without hesitation. Bonus points if some of the other cool pieces like the upper body cape are thrown in. On the other hand, if all we get is less than the minions (even minions have those nice waistcape tails now), then this set won't sell as well, I think. People want more options for their money/points, not the bare minimum.
When it comes to costumes in paid booster packs, we're used to getting lots of options to play with, not a "one size fits all look" with a bare minimum of pieces. Even the martial arts set (simple compared to steampunk) gave us four styles of robe- Two shapes, each one with fancy and plain versions, two belt options, several pieces of armor in different styles, some new weapons, and a scattering of other pieces (helmet parts and such)

If this is a paid set, less is definitely NOT more. (Sorry, Mies van der Rohe!)

*FYI-Mies van der Rohe was the famous modernist architect who coined that oft-quoted phrase.

I do like that barbarian set, and I'm hoping that females will get the chest harness and loincloth as well. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled the rest of this weekend to see what else gets revealed

Scrappers are hands down my fave AT, and I've tried almost every powerset except spines.
I've tried tanks, but never really got into them- not enough damage, and the responsibility for keeping the rest of the team alive always made me nervous. The whole responsibility thing is why I never really got into defenders either.

I wonder just how many of these costume pieces we'll be getting? I sincerely hope we'll get the loincloth and butt cape piece- a lot of people have been clamoring for something like that for ages.

Yes, the devs have a history of taking items requested by players and giving them to NPC's instead, but they also have a history of listening to player feedback, hopefully including how frustrated people are with that- asking for something for themselves, only to see it given to NPC's and locked out from player use.

Freaking awesome, WANT! As long as I can get those below the belt parts for my own characters, I'll be very, very happy

Here's two more- the female archer, remade to give her the glowing eyed, faceless look, and the mage as well. Note the skirt I've given the archer.

As soon as my characters need level 35+ enhancements, I take them to the RWZ. I don't like the origin specific store contacts who make you do a mission for them before they will deign to sell you anything. I don't mean regular contacts who also happen to have some enhancements laying around, I mean the store contacts, like tech in founder's falls, or magic in brickstown. I also like that when selling the random drops I get, the RWZ, Cimeroran, and Midnighter's vendors give me full price for them, I don't have to visit several origin specific stores.

And yes, count me in as saying that the merit vendors need a makeover in the worst way.

Here's the photoshop I posted in another thread:



These could be made using pieces that players already have access to, including the arachnos waistcape and steampunk skirt. Later tonight, I'll see about doing some more 'shopping to give them the hooded and faceless look that so many are clamoring for. Like it or not, we're gonna see the new Circle of Thorns in game, but giving them some skirts, buttcapes, and making a few other tweaks might help bridge the gap between the old CoT look and the new.

Costume parts, costume parts, and more costume parts
more costume slots
Street Justice
That's all I can think of for now, call it the fashionista booster

Yeah, the costume pieces look cool, but they need robes too..and they look too much alike, really.