Cosmetic Upgrades for Cash

The title says it all really, I feel that there is not really enough fun and awesome stuff to spend your hard earned cash on, if you have one class that you love you don't need to buy more than 1 custom class, if you have found a badass tag you don't need to spend money on unlocking those so your cash just sits there building up.

It would be AWESOME if there was a purely cosmetic shop that lets you buy different upgrades for your desired class that don't affect gameplay but give you that wow factor, an obvious one would be say upgrading your gun to a golden gun, I know that is a common thing in games but its a good example. Secondly you could tie upgrades to your skill level and achievements, so if you say a assassin stab you in the face with a golden Katana then you know that he/she is pretty damn good.

It also adds more diversity to the whole game, as cool and dynamic the classes are, being, say, an assault and having 3 more assaults in the game with you who are all identical to you kind of makes you feel less special than if you all had different looks.

Finally it would give people who are getting a bit bored of the game or people who like to be goal driven something to do, "just 4 more wins till I get that kick *** armour!", you can't tell me that looking better than the other people playing your class would not appeal to the little elitist nature everyone has chained up inside.

At the end of the day it is a purely superficial idea but I feel it would add some extra sparkle to this amazing game, I'm sure you can ALL think of ways your main class could look just that little bit more awesome. In the end we all want to feel special .

Let me know what you think and hell maybe even come up with some ideas for what you could change looks wise about your class.

Pandemonium.

Like Hats Fortress 2 : Best Cosmetic Simulator Ever?
Oh god, the horror.. :lol:

I'll be honest, this is something I would not want to see a great deal of. I think adding some cosmetic changes is a great idea and would be fine, but overall, I hope they remain minimal and do not become a major secondary feature.

I am probably the odd one out for the most part though, as I understand these type of things are all the rage now. I used to be a huge fan of TF2, but now the game is almost unrecognizable. It went from a simple and exciting shooter, to something insane and out of hand with all the additional customizable things. A quick example below that someone posted earlier today. It just looks goofy and took away from the original design aspect they were trying for with the game (if you listen to the dev commentary).

I guess I fear things getting out of hand like this image. If it was handled well though with properly designed items that fit nicely into the world, and does not overload the game itself, then I likely wouldn't mind it.

Fun trumps aesthetics. At no point is a competent TF2 player unaware of what class the person on his screen is, they're all still distinct and easily discernible. Hats are a silly way to allow users to customize their appearance, and have damn near zero impact on gameplay. New weapons allow players to customize how their class performs- yes it does prevent it from being a simple shooter, because simple shooters die after their five or six month run, TF2 is still one of the most played games on Steam.

customization would be great, i want my assault to be a BA german, not a (rather offensive) caricature of the "rich black man" stereotype.

My concern is it simply made the game look messy, and essentially took away from the simplicity of it. Not to mention, the way they went about it. While I have not played since trading was implemented, I have seen screenshots of games filled with trade chat, and people hardly playing. It can and does affect gameplay indirectly in various ways. People begin to get focused on other aspects, instead of just playing the game.

I guess I just prefer the days of old with shooter games, where the primary focus was creating a balanced and fun atmosphere with new enhancements as time goes on (maps, modes, etc) than focus on other aspects that do little overall for the game. That alone kept me playing games longer than any visual element could have.

Again though, I realize I am the minority. Just chalk it up to being a finicky old gamer. Just wanted to toss my two cents out there anyways. If stuff like this is implemented, it certainly won't keep me away unless it gets out of hand ala TF2.

Regarding simple shooters dying though, I would not be so sure. With the exception of a TF2 update, both CS versions are almost always leading in the Steam stats, and that game has remained mostly unchanged for some time other than basic general updates. Once the novelty of new items wear off, TF2 instantly drops back in the stats list with number of players, showing that these items only cause a temporary spike in interest but do not hold people there for long (other than the already dedicated group).

Eh, dropping out of the TF2 discussion, if the community wants customization and personalization beyond endorsements I'm in support of it. MNC is in enough of a niche that it can probably do pretty well either way, as long as there is continued support from Uber in some form

That image of the TF guy is way over the top, you can have a system like this that dosn't make characters look stupid like that, you can have cosmetic upgrades in a cool and tasteful way, subtly modifying armour plates, adding a graphic maybe, adding a slightly cooler model shoulder plate, changing the weapon slightly. Things like that can be added to give you that differentiation between the other 100s of people playing the same class as you.

Cosmetic only. Hats started affecting TF2 and that's where I said I was done.

I want the stuff to stay within the MNC realm, too. Not just random stuff you come out with and feel like putting in.

I want different looking armors, maybe. And definetly some helmets that DO NOT affect gameplay in the slighest, aside from making you look cool. I also think decals would be nice, maybe from endoresments. To be honest, I kind of like how Halo did their armors and emblems...

Not playing a game because an item gives a negligible bonus when paired with other items in a set is a pretty shitty reason to stop playing a game.

Or even better, unlockable taunts.

Doesn't affect gameplay whatsoever (except for the length of the taunt) and cooler taunts must hit a requirement before purchase.

Thus, you know the ninja doing bad-*** quadruple backflips is damn good, but gameplay isn't affected at all.

Not really, especially since you usually have to pay money in order to get it. And every little bit counts, so people who more money, or can con their parents into buying the stuff gets an advantage over everyone who can't afford them, or can't sit and play for 22 hours a day hoping for one to drop.

Ghastly Gibus > Everything

Or not?

Cool.

I'd even settle for something as simple as the ability to put a custom number and name on your back like a sports jersey.

Unless the ASSASSIN was standing with her back close to the edge of the arena... :lol:

Honestly this.

This ENTIRE game already has a full fledged endorsement program both stages and custom classes...so why not just take it the EXTRA mile? REALLY let us get supportive of these fictional groups by letting us have out guys have such on our shoulders or chest. Walking around as if we are a sports car clone I think wouldn't be out of place at all.

I guess one other thing I could ask for is to ask for a 'secondary' coloring. Team of pure Red and Blue might be easy enough to tell who's on what side and all, but it is a little dull and hard to separate say one assassin from another, including that currently both them and snipers are almost full team rollers. Giving an option to set say small patches of violet while the rest stays your team coloring would be a it more helpful in that regard. Including that I KNOW it's possible, the bots in the Blitz mode show this off a ton with their green/blue, blue/red, and god knows what other mixtures at higher levels. It's just giving players such functions that's left.

I would be all for slapping some silly ads on my character that fit in with the fictional companies in the game. That sort of stuff fits in well, but doesn't clutter the game or seem out of place. So long as they remain stat free of course, and are as the title of the thread asks for, purely cosmetic.

Wouldn't want to see it go too far beyond that though.

Except the item set bonuses require you to wear all of the items in the pack, and many of them are significantly worse than other options available to that class. A sniper that can't be killed with a headshot (unless he's at 1 health) sounds really awesome; until you realize that the trade off is he can get backstabbed just as easy as in vanilla TF2, and he can't kill other people with headshots anymore. A soldier that takes 20% less damage from sentry guns sounds awesome, until you realize that with only three rockets, you need to find a sentry gun that doesn't have an engineer in order to kill it before you have to reload (and even then, a Direct Hit will kill it faster.)A faster pyro with a weapon that allows the fastest weapon swap in the game can't use the axetinguisher to take advantage of it, a scout with 25 more health that is forced to use his worst primary weapon as his main source of damage. A spy that can't disguise. The item set bonuses are neglible. Plus, above all else player skill still determines if you're the winner.

Also, you can craft the hats, it takes a lot of dismantling other weapons, but the assumption that you have to buy them or wait for them to drop is erroneous. I don't know why I'm mentioning it, because it's clear that you have made up your mind and hate Valve for introducing a way for them to make more money off of a game they have supported for free for three years.

Yeah I had this exact same idea... rather, Bungie's idea I suppose. Anyway, interchangeable armor parts that modified the look without compromising the "silhouettes" of the characters. I would love to have a cool new mask for my lovely assassin! (read: MORE EYES!)

Someone else mentioned adding colors earlier and while that does seem like a cool idea, I can see it getting very messy very fast.