Outfits.

[Alamarian]

Let's be honest. The Chef's Hat and Cylinder Hat are silly items for a game like H&H. The idea is a good one though. Clothes make the man, after all. I want to see people wearing all kinds of things. So let's take the suck out of these items.

Outfits.
It's very simple. You wear an outfit, you get skill bonuses or some kind of favor from the Random Number Gods. Maybe even added functionality., One piece doesn't provide any real bonus, these are clothes tailored to a specific job and just wearing the boots won't help you. The outfits need to be somewhat appropriate for the setting. A hunting outfit might lower the chances of an animal running from you. Things like that. I wouldn't exclude a single item that isn't part of a set from providing bonuses, just make the outfits better. To start off, I suggest:

Ceremonial outfit. Pants, shirt, and cloak made of animal hides and various plant life. You know, a dried hide combined with taproots and maybe some leaves. Gets you in the mood for ancestral worship, providing some extra numens. Not that useful now but could be later, if worship is expanded. If the ancestors smile on you, they might even provide a special bonus for wearing the getup.

A fishing outfit. Waders, a straw hat to keep the sun out of your eyes, and a fishing pole. The waders would take up both shirt and pants slots. I suggest boiling the waders in wax as a method of waterproofing. You find more worms when digging and your chances of losing hooks/line/etc are lowered.

Smithy's outfit. A heavy leather apron, craftsman's belt, and bandana. Smithing is, well, hot work. The apron saves you time otherwise spent hopping around screaming "Ow!" when you get slag on your regular clothes. The belt holds your tools at the ready, allowing you to work more efficiently. The bandana? It looks cool, keeps perspiration out of your eyes, and lets you wipe sweat off your neck in a very manly way. Improves the quality of processed ores and goods requiring an anvil and/or reduces the time required for these tasks.

The Catch.
You can't wear one outfit with another. You also can't wear them with armor. The armor would interfere with your mojo. Sure, your spiffy fishing outfit is awesome but you might be surprised by a band of roving rovers, intent on poking you with holes. Will you take that risk?

Okay, it's not a big risk in H&H right now. Someday, when combat is balanced and there as lots of people playing, it might actually be a risk. At least you now you can put those three wardrobes to use. If nothing else, these outfits will make for better atmosphere in the village. Bob will really look the part of village smith now. If you have outfit ideas or better benefits, fire away. Or just call my idea stupid. Whatever.

[Jackard]

so, item sets





hey look i can sum that up in two words

[Agarrett]

Ugh, this will just make people wear ugly clothes just to get the stat bonus. I think the bear cape is butt ugly but I keep it for the stats.

[Manson]

I just want more clothes period.
Preferably a trilby.

[Alamarian]

Ugh, this will just make people wear more varied clothes for the stat bonus and atmosphere.

I fixed that for you. The game could use some visual variety. It's not a huge priority but it would be nice. Now, you could just put a smithing outfit in the game, no bonuses, and no one wears it except the "RP" crowd. Boring. Attach stat bonuses or some new functionality and people might actually wear it. Right now, the only item I ever take off is my helmet, to wear a straw hat. Because it gives bonuses.

so, item sets

Well, if you want to be crass about it... yep.

[Chakravanti]

Actually, Agarrett is right. If you want to encourage people to wear specific clothing during specific tasks then continue in the current line of development.

The other option is to make a bunch of useless clothing that no one will wear unless they're doing shit that doesn't matter.

The third is to allow those enumerations of the second to be individually endowed with bonuses so that players can wear whatever they feel like and still get the buffs they want dependent on some game mechanics that will probably be very difficult to implement in such a way that they don't smack of magic.

The fourth is to recognize that charecter classes will be implemented in the form of credos and to wait for those to come about before making any asinine suggestion about apparel because class often affects what people choose to wear and this would be aesthetically appropriate form of distributing bonuses. Regardless of what pansy wants to wear different shit.

IOW, merch robes shouldn't be conveying bonuses that everyone wants to wear. Not saying that it's current bonus is out of place but there should be alternatives for different classes that reflect the class and tailored in such a way as to encourage use by proxy of benefit to it's customary tasks.

[Alamarian]

The fourth is to recognize that charecter classes will be implemented

I hope not, at least not in the classical sense of classes. I find the system very restrictive.

IOW, merch robes shouldn't be conveying bonuses that everyone wants to wear.

I agree on that. I don't want the bonuses to be appealing outside of a specific job. I should probably clarify that "stat" is the wrong word. I want skill bonuses, not stats. I'll edit to reflect that.

[Potjeh]

I don't want to change clothes all the time, it's tedious. Even changing my hat is too much.

[Alamarian]

I don't want to change clothes all the time, it's tedious. Even changing my hat is too much.

So don't. The bonuses shouldn't be huge, you didn't have them to start with, so you aren't losing anything. I envision people having a few sets of clothes for their primary jobs, not every single outfit. Well, I might but I'm an OCD packrat.

[Chakravanti]

I hope not, at least not in the classical sense of classes. I find the system very restrictive.

We aren't told much about Credos and how they will function. We've been told they will be remarkably unique and I believe that in the very least you have little to worry about them adopting any system of 'traditional classes'. Still, they're essentially classes even if they're not traditional or they're called by a different name. I'm sure in the end we'll be able to finger warriors, rogues, priests etc. because traditional classes are based around core dynamics. Calling them restrictive is based around the implementations of games you have previously experienced. Try Shadowbane. Their system of classes, proffessions and races are anythign but restrictive. There is such a crazy number of permutations that keeping your builds discreet is actually a viable PvP & GvG strategy. All this despite most classes being quite traditional and professions only slightly less so. I believe the devs are capable of designing a system with such complexity and diversity even if nothing in the game currently reflects that.