Whatever Happened to Golden/Silver Age Costume Parts?

"More Golden and Silver Age comic book costume parts for our characters" has been a frequent request by the playerbase for years. People always have been, and still do, ask for more heroic costume parts to help portray their more classic comic-book inspired heroes. These requests became so frequent and heated that, back in January of this year, former CoH developer Noble Savage created two threads dedicated to ironing out precisely what it was we wanted to see. These threads can be found here and here. We worked closely, kept it civil, and expressed a multitude of great ideas we'd love to see to help improve our costume creator. Things were going very smoothly and we were hopeful for great things to come.

It's been seven months since this discussion, with Noble Savage no longer working on City of Heroes. And since then, we haven't seen much of anything that shows our devs are working with our requests and ideas. The only hint that we may get something someday was a Work in Progress picture of two possible tights designs, which was shown very briefly at the recent Player Summit.

Meanwhile, those attending the Player Summit only a few months ago got to decide on a new costume set themed around Post Apocalypse. We are now already beginning to see the results of this. In addition, we've had finished sets for Cybertech and Cosmic Corsair, two other sets revealed at the same Player Summit, in beta for weeks. But nothing about those few new tights options, nor any statements at least hinting at things to come in the way of the Golden/Silver Age. When we poured our ideas out to Noble Savage were they completely dropped once he was reassigned? Zwillinger had this to say about the issue when I brought it up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger For each person that asks for one thing, there's someone asking for another . Not counting the people who are asking for both. I know for a fact that Post Apoc items have also been requested for years. Both requests are valid, this is just the way we decided to go out of the Pummit. I do understand that many people want certain themes to make their way into the game, Golden/Silver Age being one of them, and over time, there's always the chance it will happen. In this particular case, the development team grokked this theme and had some great inspiration presented to them by the players.

This is what he had to say on the matter before he asked us all to not speak another word of the subject in that thread. The beginning comment wasn't necessary at all, for starters, and made me feel like these requests aren't taken seriously in their eyes. But it's the bolded part that makes me a bit suspicious. If the devs actually took in our ideas we discussed so thoroughly with Noble Savage seven months ago, wouldn't there be more than just a chance we'll see them implemented? Like maybe a "We're working on something you'll like" or a "You'll see" or even a "We can't discuss that right now"? They give out vague hints every other time someone mentions something they have in the pipeline. But they didn't this time. Zwill specifically said there may be a chance these parts will be created.

Whatever happened to our Golden and Silver Age costume parts? Will we ever see proper domino masks with optional white eyes? Or classic high collar cape options? Or even simple designs like trims to put on our capes, gloves, boots, etc.? Or has the design team decided it's just not worth the time, or that they just aren't interested and don't care about our ideas and requests unless we shell out the money to make them in person?


TL;DR We asked for Golden/Silver Age parts. Seven months ago Noble Savage worked with us and took in our ideas. All we've seen since is a small WiP picture. Meanwhile we're seeing Cybertech and Cosmic Corsair already, while Post Apoc is made in far less time because it was requested by some people in person at a Player Summit. Whatever happened to our Golden/Silver Age parts?

It seems almost like we become pariahs for asking for things that make our characters in a super-powered concept game look more like, well, superpowered comic book characters.

Sure, Lobo's cool and evil and metal and PANCAKE, but you know what? I prefer Green Lantern and Superman and Captain Marvel and Nova and HEROES and I'm not ashamed or afraid to admit it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EarthWyrm But I do understand that there is an internet rule that any bad idea must be presented by someone at least twice a year to remind everyone who hasn't already read every previous thread on the topic precisely why the idea is bad.

I'd like to think the leather armor pieces were at least a partially an outgrowth from the silver/golden age discussions and trying to get the tights look some texture.

So I hold out hope.

But I agree with the OP that, right or wrong, it feels like invested effort and enthusiasm may have been passed over.

Well, there are these, coming in the not too distant future:



Aside from those, I really do agree that we could use some more classic pieces. However, I really don't like the attitude of some of the folks who seem to want these the most. They seem wholly dismissive of CoV players as well as anyone who really really likes the direction recent costume packs have been going. Personally, I don't have any issue at all creating characters that I feel are evocative of comic book characters... then again, I am a child of the 90s (grew up on characters like Cable) and love to play redside.

Those are kind of not what I'd hope for in a Silver-Age Golden Age look. That's very Modern, and ultimately doesn't fill any holes we don't already have.

Sam. This isn't really your area of expertise. This type of thing is not your thing.

But the excessive lining, patterning, and piping on that image resembles the "New 52" approach to design

Edit: Also, Golden Age and Silver age have some distinctions and shouldn't be Lumped together as they still are, even in this thread. Pulp, Golden Age, and Silver age are different styles.
Edit: Compare Golden Age Flash and Green Lantern

Who I'm honestly not too fond of, to
silver age Flash and Green Lantern

I remember another thread with David where he was talking the overall art style that he personally preferred being expressed in modern superhero movies and how he liked the textured look of costumes from the original Spider-Man films onwards. You can see that influence in his art for the first SSA. Statesman's costume is shown to have that texturing.

And yes, it's visually interesting and you're not just looking at some spandex or cloth. However, some of the most iconic and visually recognised superhero costumes are from the Golden and Silver Ages. The Shadow. Doc Savage. The Spirit. Captain Marvel, even. Their design is compelling and even groundbreaking in capturing the visual essence of a character.

For good or bad, films like the Avengers and Batman are the modern reinterpretations of their classic origins and they're very popular. Even the big blue boyscout has gotten a modern makeover, whether we older fans like that fact or not. And I can understand that.

But I think it's a salient point to remember that City of Heroes is definitively rooted in Golden Age mythology and tradition to the point of capes, that seemingly ridiculous and anachronistic costume accessory, is treated as important and integral to a character's story should they pursue it. Capes even have a backstory connected to City Hall's flag, for goodness' sake.

It would be a very good thing for the Dev team to swallow the bitter pill and get such a set out there. This game has prided itself on being the 'cottage industry' game of fans first and players and developers second. Isn't it a little beyond time to act like it?



S.

I think the general consensus was for tights and masks that don't look like they're painted on, as well as a few more styles not completely represented in the game (for example, the shorts-over-tights look - again, with the shorts standing out, not being painted on - common in the Golden Age)

Edit: whoa, ninja'd repeatedly while I was typing up this short paragraph.

Something simple like that is most likely going to be free with i24, like the Chainmail/Leather and the Olympian set.

That cape, the sash and the Tights with the button up shirt aren't in the game at the moment.