A thought on new power customization

So, we've all seen the posts about power set respecs/full respecs/etc etc. basically people wanting to change their archtypes and/or their primary/secondary power sets.

I myself would make good use of this feature, if it were ever added, but we all know that the devs have said no, and can read the multitude of threads where these were suggested, and summarily shot down by the players for technical resaons, and dev given reasons. So I'm not expecting it to happen... ever.

But I had this thought reading through one of the aforementioned full respec threads... for some people, the want for the change is thematic. "I picked fire instead of ice" or "I made this character but then they came out with a new powerset that fit it better'.

Well we recently got new power animations with our handy dandy power customization, right? So what if we were able to change the animations of our power sets to those of like style.

For example: Blaster secondaries Ice Manipulation, and Fire Manipulation.

Chilblain and Ring of Fire are very similar in they they are both ranged immobilizers. Chilblain also has the -recharge, and -speed. So if I had taken /ice manip, but wanted my powers to be more firey after playing the character for so long, I could change the animation so that when I cast Chilblain, the animation for Ring of Fire plays. The power still works the same, with the -rech and -speed, it just LOOKS different.

Now when you look at those two sets they aren't exactly the same of course. Tier 9 for ice is a PBAoE sleep, while Tier 9 on Fire is a damage and debuff toggle. So depending on how the idea is implemented, it could go either way. Where you just don't get to have the alternate animation for a power that doesn't have a similar styled counter-part, or the devs get paid overtime for making the new animations so an entire powerset could look different.

Now, I have no expectations of this going through, and for many it's not even a reasonable compromise for wanting to do a 'full respec' and that it would no doubt take up ALOT of dev time and effort if they ever go for it. But I think it could be viewed as a stepping stone, and I'd like to read your thoughts on it.

*bumps for more viewing pleasure*

The trouble is there are some powers that have no analogue.

So adding flame / ice effects to certain powers would be alot of work.

But yes, I would like to see this level of total customisation if it were ever possible for them to add, but it would be alot of work I imagine.

Quote:

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