Diablo III is not a MMO but it's still a game where you have your online presence. People will be able to inspect you, check your gear, your achievements and more. The "vanity" factor will be important. This is why a good variety of gear sets and weapon models will be crucial for the success of the game.
Contrary to many popular games, Diablo III will offer a very good "visual and technical" customization: every gear/weapon piece will have random stats (and some common "base" stats, of course), plus you will be able to dye your gear with 20 different colors. Not happy with your color combination? No problem, the All-Soap's Miraculous Dye Remover will reset everything and return your gear piece to its original color.
If you had the time to explore Azeroth I am sure you experienced the annoying "clown effect" of wearing armor pieces from different sets (example here). I wish we had the dyes, really.
The Vanishing Dye will render a single piece of armor invisible. More dyes will render more pieces invisible. That sounds... interesting.
Let's not forget about the RMAH (Real Money Auction House). More "vanity" stuff means more customers and I am sure dyes will sell pretty good, at least until everyone hits the endgame and plays with the best armor available (some years?).
I'm not usually one to dabble in this cosmetic stuff but I applaud the inclusion of armor dyes. From what can be seen in the armory, there's a wide variety of colors. And also, very important, a way to remove a color after it's been applied.
ReplyDeleteSo it's all good. Now I also predict that certain dyes will be harder to find than others, making them more valuable to sell on the AH. Coupling this with the fact that dyes are consumable will probably make them one of the best things to sell on the AH. Oh, and all dyes of the same color are equal, meaning no random stats, which will help to stabilize prices and perhaps transform them into a sort of pseudo-currency.