17 replies to this topic

[GreyGriffin]

A lightning bolt of inspiration!

Everyone loves the idea of having a custom paint job on their battlemech. However, nobody likes the idea of seeing giant Davion logos with the swords replaced with.... swords....

So, here's the deal. We can have custom paint, BUT, the paint job would have a real money cost. You pay for the right to skin your 'mech. This, to a degree, would mitigate bandwidth costs and so forth. Whether it's a logo, a few panels or a full on paint job is a technical question that only the devs can really answer.

However, your paint job would have to pass through a player tribunal, a la League of Legends. Preview the skin, vote yea or nay based on clearly defined objective criteria, and get a handful of C-Bills for your trouble. Get enough votes (say 60% out of 20 votes) and you are ready to roll in your new duds. Lose the tribunal vote and you have to resubmit a new skin.

What do people think of that?

[Nik Van Rhijn]

Seems like a but who's going to be on the panel - people have very different tastes - maybe the they will just not allow anything pornogrphic or wrong (like swastika's) and leave the rest up to individuals. I'm certainly in favour of "unit" schemes/designators and also think that we should have a selection of basic caamo skins etc for the different maps that are free to use.

[TheRulesLawyer]

Charge once per submission and you have people griefing the the panels. Charge once per skin and you have people spamming the panels with crap. Honestly I don't want to have to look at a skin that looks like a 3 year old drew it even it is doesn't have erotic images all over it. Player created images displayed in game just have disaster written all over it.

[Karyudo ds]

Forza. That is all.

I hope whatever we get to "paint" with is something that gives creatives a place in the game community. In Forza the editor was far from what I (a photoshop user) would call friendly, but people would spend hours, save the schemes and sell cars with them on it to sell the scheme over the in-game marketplace system.

Something like that would work great here, without having to sell the mechs even. Maybe they could charge for the license to paint, but that would only drive up the value of paint jobs meaning those that did them should get something. If the charge is real money then they should get real money for successful designs. Who knows what will actually be charged for though.

I don't really think a panel would be needed. Forza worked perfectly fine without one. If you saw an offensive design being raced or for sale you could report it and it's origin was traceable. Being F2P I expect to see some naked shenanigans. Maybe a license fee would be a good idea period. Normally employee's would do this "panel" in that case but I could see a player or specifically a volunteer panel working, but I would not require them to vote on every paint job. If it doesn't have a stalker on a stalker then I see no reason I should have to veto it just because it uses the color neon-pink.

[gregsolidus]

No.I shouldn't have to pay to do something as integral as painting my mech.

[Silent]

It'd be cool if you could sell your paint schemes in the game for c-bills or something. It'd be a unique way for creative people to make a bit of cash on the side.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Quote

or wrong (like swastika's)

I'd dare argue that swastika's aren't wrong.
Ask any Hindu or Buddhist from asia if there's anything wrong with it.
I'll bet that 99% of them will say no.
Specifically, in Hinduism, a swastika is a symbol for good luck, and can be found often enough almost everywhere in India.

I'll grant you that, in certain colour combinations, it provokes negative association in the west, but on general, it isn't wrong.
Additionally, both Buddhism and Hinduism have survived to the 31st century in BT, but ****-idealism has not.
So there would be valid in-universe reasons for using it.

[GreyGriffin]

To answer a frequent question - everyone can take part in the tribunal. It's just a website you log into and load up. In League of Legends, it typically deals with leavers, feeders, and abusers, giving players the first pass at approving or disapproving a case. If players vote to punish, it moves up the chain.

Cases are assigned at random to any player that logs in, and no action by the system is automatic - it just acts as a crowdsourced pruning method for abuse. This simple thumbs-up thumbs-down from the community could spare whatever admin team is in charge of custom paint thousands of hours of fail stamping troll skins, providing that valuable first-contact filter that can reduce the number of submissions to a manageable level.

[AcesHigh]

I dislike this simply because custom fractal camo would be a real game-changer.

[CaveMan]

AcesHigh, on 22 November 2011 - 09:52 PM, said:

I dislike this simply because custom fractal camo would be a real game-changer

There's radar, seismic, thermal, and magnetic scanners on 'Mechs and you're worried about camo being too effective?

I may as well plan to paint my 'Mech bright day-glo orange with a target sign on its butt, for all the difference that will make.

[UncleKulikov]

TheRulesLawyer, on 22 November 2011 - 10:01 AM, said:

Charge once per submission and you have people griefing the the panels. Charge once per skin and you have people spamming the panels with crap. Honestly I don't want to have to look at a skin that looks like a 3 year old drew it even it is doesn't have erotic images all over it. Player created images displayed in game just have disaster written all over it.

I still think it would be worth it to have your own custom paint job.

Edited by UncleKulikov, 22 November 2011 - 10:14 PM.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

CaveMan, on 22 November 2011 - 09:56 PM, said:

There's radar, seismic, thermal, and magnetic scanners on 'Mechs and you're worried about camo being too effective?

I may as well plan to paint my 'Mech bright day-glo orange with a target sign on its butt, for all the difference that will make.

In general, only Chameleon Light Polarisation Shield and Void-Signature Systems will make a 'mech nearly imposible to see visually. (Latter also with radar due to ECM and such.)
Which would leave seismic sensors, but 'mechs with either of those two engaged won't be moving much, making that hard to detect as well.

[HIemfire]

Alizabeth Aijou, on 22 November 2011 - 12:28 PM, said:

I'd dare argue that swastika's aren't wrong.
Ask any Hindu or Buddhist from asia if there's anything wrong with it.
I'll bet that 99% of them will say no.
Specifically, in Hinduism, a swastika is a symbol for good luck, and can be found often enough almost everywhere in India.

I'll grant you that, in certain colour combinations, it provokes negative association in the west, but on general, it isn't wrong.
Additionally, both Buddhism and Hinduism have survived to the 31st century in BT, but ****-idealism has not.
So there would be valid in-universe reasons for using it.

Also has been used by Native Americans (the ones who were here before Columbus hit those islands in the Caribbean) since before written history. A group of whack jobs decide to use it for their political emblem (probably were trying to get some luck themselves) and now luck has become hate. Sad really.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

Unfortunately (I know the history behind the sign - in general it faces the other way from memory) in Germany it is illegal and could lead to legal challenges - it is something taken very seriously even now by the authorities I think, but I'll leave it to our German members to give a more definative view. Certainly most wargames for that period use the cross instead for that reason.

Edited by Nik Van Rhijn, 24 November 2011 - 04:26 AM.

[Moppelkotze]

As this game won't be sold on DVDs and there is no office of the publisher or producer in germany
I don't think there would be any legal consequences.
It's like pornsites. In germany you have to prove via your ID that you are at least 18
but all those other pornsites that just need a click onto "yeah I old enough" aren't persecuted.

Edited by Moppelkotze, 24 November 2011 - 04:40 AM.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Nik Van Rhijn, on 24 November 2011 - 04:26 AM, said:

Unfortunately (I know the history behind the sign - in general it faces the other way from memory) in Germany it is illegal and could lead to legal challenges - it is something taken very seriously even now by the authorities I think, but I'll leave it to our German members to give a more definative view. Certainly most wargames for that period use the cross instead for that reason.

Wrong.
It is legal in germany in two cases: historical context, and religious context (so yes, Hindus, Buddhists etc. can still use it). Any other context will see you arrested and fined and/or jailed. Ditto for "anti-swastika" symbols. I frequent a german forum, and they *will* ban you if you display too much of a "pro-****" sentiment.

Quote

but all those other pornsites that just need a click onto "yeah I old enough" aren't persecuted.

Because they don't have any legal power to persecute websites that aren't hosted on a german server?

[Moppelkotze]

Alizabeth Aijou, on 24 November 2011 - 02:36 PM, said:

Because they don't have any legal power to persecute websites that aren't hosted on a german server?

That's the reason - I often don't find the right words.

[saber15]

TheRulesLawyer, on 22 November 2011 - 10:01 AM, said:

Charge once per submission and you have people griefing the the panels. Charge once per skin and you have people spamming the panels with crap. Honestly I don't want to have to look at a skin that looks like a 3 year old drew it even it is doesn't have erotic images all over it. Player created images displayed in game just have disaster written all over it.

Nonsense. Forza Motorsport has the most in-depth ingame car customization (paint, vinyl decals, liveries, body kit swaps). I have yet to see any graphic liveries on cars, and most people that lack the skill to make really good paintjobs just stick with simple geometric designs or designs that follow the flow of the bodywork. I'd expect that a customization system for the mech paintjobs would be much easier to use than Forza's system, as you would likely be able to import images to use as decals.