Dev Chat Highlights, September 1: Quick, distract them while the servers are down!

Did anyone manage to get a screenshot of the back of the shirt one of the community team Dev had (it was an image of statesman)

Of course, they aren't called Shiny Blue Peacebringers and Spooky Purple Warshades, very much unlike the Green Lantern Corps which bases its identity around being green. Some Peacebringer having a yellow base to its powers would be no problem at all. NPC groups wouldn't change and you wouldn't have to change colour if you didn't want to.

Dude! The concept art for those CoT guys is GREAT! Why couldn't they have looked like that?

EDIT: Except for the visible faces, but that's an easy fix.

^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.

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.