Do you get your costume right the first time?

The vast majority of mine remain unchanged from 1-50, and most of the time that I *do* make adjustments it's because a new costume piece has come out that would have been ideal if it'd been available when I created the character. Even then the adjustments are usually performed on a 2nd (or 3rd, 4th) costume slot and the first one stays untouched (even if I never use it again).

I've only got two or three characters (out of about 40) where I've made a significantly different alternate costume and have ended up preferring it over the original.

My main and namesake, took me quite a while to get down the right outfit, had to be over a year. While some pieces have stayed, it's changed over and over.

Only now do I think I have it down. And that was after just a few days ago, when I took a SG's members opinion, that I shouldn't make one change that I was myself wasn't quite sure on.

Now on my others, I tend to get the outfit right on the first go. But I also tend to make use of my main, and plan it out in Icon, then save it, then make character.

Sometimes I make slight edits or add a cape/aura later when the level is right but usually I have trouble making another costume for most of my characters unless they have a very specific theme to them. Like a character that has multiple "forms" or whatnot. For single concept toons I can rarely get the costume "better" and that may only because I just get used to what I first did and love it already. In those cases any new variation seems meh to me and I rarely use it.

Special occasions happen with new booster packs and the like - sometimes a total revamp will work in that case if the character concept and booster materials mesh really well.

Hardly ever.

I get them about 3/4s right. But usually, what happens is that I'll see the color in-game daylight and something is now off from the character creator, so I'll push to 3 and VIP port to Pocket D, or in the old days run all the way to the north end of Steel Canyon or rough it out to Independence Port, to fiddle with colors to get things just about right. This is the stage when things get a bit tedious, as I run through very slight color variances, sometimes one or two shades from what I had picked initially. Or realize that I missed some element that filled out the costume.

But from there, there's the sudden realization x amount of levels in, where something would improve this character in some way, or while I'm playing another alt entirely, I'll see something on that character that would fit the new character more or better, sometimes resulting in the other alt getting a change or leaving it, and jumping over to the other server to get that option right while I still remember what the change that I had in mind was.

In one case, I kind of had a problem in that, everything that I seemed to do would result in me not liking the next costume over, so that one would get altered, which would lead to the previous one getting an alteration so that it meshes with the just altered one.

Then, you get into new booster packs. And the announcements of packs, that sometimes set the creative juices boiling and I'm off again to tweak some element with either new parts or parts inspired by the new parts.

Then, I hit 20, 30 or 40 and the dance begins again.

I almost always change their costumes at some point. To answer the question I would say, almost never.

The most annoying problem for me isn't their costumes, it's their powersets. Sometimes after I play a character, the name and costume are wonderful, but I decide that the AT/Powers need a tweak. Reroll !
I have dozens of saved costumes that get re-used every time I try out a new set of powersets. Eventually, something sticks.

And then there is coloring of the powers. If I change a costume theme, it often comes hand-in-hand with power color changes.

Its all good !

Except for the first dozen or so I made I would have to say that all of my characters enter the game with their costume right the first time. After about a year into the game every new character I made is planned on their costume changing.

The first costume slot is relegated to being the default look when they first start their career in crime fighting/villainy and each additional costume slot is a slight evolution to the costume.

The only time the earlier costumes are changed is if a new set comes out or is unlocked that would work better than what is already being used or when they hit 30 and unlock auras.

My Elec/Elec Dom R4V3R has two of her 5 slots for "civvies".


One slot has a hood (arcane), the other no hood.

Both are the same colors, and I swap between them to show if she has her hoodie's hood up or not, which has no effect on powers or anything.


Oh, and I change the colors of the two slots -everyday- to show a change of clothing from the day before. I also swap between baggy pants, shorts, a plaid mini skirt, and Tucked in Pants with Sneakers-No socks to make baggy shorts.


Hello, my name is Justice Reaper, and I'm an Iconaholic.

My problem is naming.

A character tends to feel like they fit their costume very well as they grow, to the extend where I very rarely do anything with the extra costume slots as it just looks weird.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoodooGirl [*]Watching out for the Spinning Disco Portal of D00M!*

Occasionally. My first Resistance Praetorian, a Broadsword/Fire scrapper called De Flambe, was inspired by the Frothers from SLA Industries, so he has a cyberpunk highlander warrior look to him which I got right from the off. So much so now that I'm at a complete blank with what to do with his second and third slots now he's level 30.

My Plant/Empathy has the opposite problem, she has 5 cossies, all different and all right for her, she's ridiculously easy to generate costumes which feel right for. She did need a visit to the Steel Canyon tailor to get her Burnt Wings before she was right initially though.

A number of my other characters are devised after the costume was made and saved, for example my Elec/Energy Domi was given a cossie I made when messing around with another characters 2nd slot. It didn't work as that 2nd slot but it fitted a brand new praetorian tech Domi perfectly.

About a third of my characters looked "right" from the start. Most of the rest required minor tweaking once I got 'em out into normal lighting or got a good look at the animations in action. Only a couple have undergone wholesale reworking.

My current project, however, seems to need a tweaking session every time I log in. I think I've got it down, but I'm still kinda waffling between the bluer blue-green and the greener blue-green. I like the latter better, but it doesn't match the skin color - and, unfortunately, the next greener skin is too green (and pale) for my tastes... Very frustrating.

Usually. I'll sit in the costume creator for hours until I find one I'm happy with, and if I don't find one, I'll just delay making the character. The only time I have to seriously overhaul costumes after I make the character is when I make what I intend to be a throwaway character that I delete by level 10, only to get hooked on them. I don't pay much attention to initial costume then.

Like others, a varied mix.

I have at least three chars whose only changes were adding a cape and changing a hair colour marginally. (Lighting in the tailors/facemakers - PLEASE.)

I have a few others who were designed to and are evolving through their costumes: a rad/rad who is slowly losing limbs and a robot/human that is looking more human.

Most of my others have undergone dramatic changes. My main bears no resemblance to her first costume except her third eye and white hair. I have a scrapper that sailed close to the deletion wind because she started off with red fishnets. Now she looks mean, the way she was supposed to. (Fun fact she wanted to move to the Rogue Isles when she was created well over two years ago. )

Sometimes I get attached to a costume and think 'this is it'. I have maybe 10 chars like that right now. I tried getting a 'dressed for bear' costume on my main but it wasn't working for me, so I doubt she will ever change again. The same idea worked great on my main hero - a blaster. No longer does she look like she's out for dinner but to kill bad guys.

I do admit to trying to make one type of costume for a char, end up with something else which doesn't suit them but I like so I save it. (Thanks to whoever came up with that idea; no longer do I have to put this on scraps of paper.)

For me the char creator is just another part of playing. I don't want to kill something or I know I'm going to be afk a lot .... base editor or costume creator are my friends.

Excuse me, I need to go finish that folley in the garden of my blue base so I can build a garage for the fliers.

I usually get a costume 'mostly right' when I make the character, in that it's a costume I feel works (they don't leave the character creator unless they have one). However, I am frequently aware that it's not a perfect costume, that there are definitely improvements that could be made. Sometimes I know exactly what's missing, I just need to unlock it (a cape/aura/weapon/vet costume piece/etc), sometimes I'm just aware in a vague sense that it feels incomplete.

This usually doesn't prevent me from creating the character, as even if I can't get the 'perfect' costume right off the bat, I can usually come up with a 'decent' one. After that, if it's a character whose costume I think could be improved, I just mull it over in the back of my mind as I play the character over the subsequent weeks and months (I'm an altaholic, so I have plenty of time to do this for any given character). When I do change a costume, the alterations usually fall into one of four categories:

First, is adding pre-planned elements that I couldn't include at creation. Occasionally, these are the only changes, such as my shield/mace tank who swapped her single-shoulder vet cape for an identically-patterned normal cape at 20, gained the aura I'd always planned for her at 30, swapped her energy shield for a vanguard shield at 35, and hasn't made a single other change. Unless I think of a cool idea for an alternate costume or the devs release new costume pieces suited for her, she's 'done'. I think hers is the only costume I've gotten so right at the beginning, however.

Second is changing out old costume pieces for newly-released ones that fit the character better, such as my plant/storm controller and some of the stuff from the mutant pack.

Third is when I get a better idea on how to do a certain part of the costume, either on my own or from browsing the character creator, or from seeing it in action on another character in-game or on the forums. Of course, I'm not borrowing other costumes wholesale, but sometimes I'll see a really interesting combination of pieces or patterns that fits the costume but that I never would have thought of on my own.

Fourth, and least common, is a complete costume swap, where I decide I've come up with a new basic idea for a costume which is better than the existing one. Often this is inspired in a similar way to number three, but it's an idea that fits the *character* but not their current *costume*. My warshade and ice/ice dom are two characters where this happened - in both cases changing from a more plain/utilitarian/mundane costume to a more traditionally-styled (and more interesting) superhero/villain type costume. When this happens, though, I usually keep the original costume on an alternate slot. I don't usually come up with many alternate costumes for each character, so there's usually room.

Of course, then there's the characters where I try 8 million ideas without getting something good enough to leave the character creator, but we won't talk about those...

Not quite, a change in colour from burgundy to white for the main outfit + a cape and looped braids. That signature look for ML remained from a couple of months after registering to this day.

So many great toons on Union with signature looks. I seem to remember i have an A3 photo-print sheet with a whole library of characters going back to 2005/6 - all digitally collaged together on it, and their names written in fineliner near them.

Bit stalkerish i know, but i do wuv my EU little ones. =D

I think I have a couple of designs that were what I wanted from the start others need capes or for me to buy wings for them (I don't have the vet reward yet...)

Oh hell no.

I never get it right the first time.

I'd be broke if it wasn't for vet rewards.

Some characters are right out of the box, some have evolved over time, Sadly one of my alts, Agent Gilmore I knew I couldn't get the look I wanted until the Upper 30's since I wanted Some of the vanguard Armor Pieces.

Eh, my Resistance WM/SD Brute was pretty much done after I made him. Though I may switch out the Shield to a Vanguard shield to look more tech-y.

A few, yes, are perfect and have gone unchanged since entering Outbreak. Some I quickly wind up tweaking one or two things, usually because something needs to be a different color. Some I know what I want but I can never quite achieve it so they are repeatedly tinkered with. Quite a few simply get deleted because I just can't stand looking at them anymore.

I usually have my costume as right as it can possibly be from the start. If it's not quite right, it's either due to needing one of the ridiculous costume unlocks (be it level, crafting, or other types) or simply because what I really need for the costume just isn't in the game. Occasionally, there will be changes/additions to the game that cause me to tweak a costume that was previously just fine but now can be better than just fine.

My main is the only one who got it right the first time.. Sort of. Her basic look hasn't changed, but two pieces I wanted I didn't have access too the first time I made her. Shoulder capes and Tanker style tights for female.

I wanted both on her from the beginning but they weren't in the game yet. So yes, I got her right the first time in concept, but the game didn't let me do it!

All my other 30 some odd alts have had more costume changes than I can think of. I've probably spent billions and hundreds of costume change tokens to boot.
Ohh and my mains other 4 costumes have been changed more than I can remember too.

Just edited an alt's costume. Just trying to keep ICON in business!