Something I will never understand

on the contrary, i've gotten in little discussions with numerous a-holes in kama who are trying to flaunt their stuff and i ask hem why it is they bought it and their response is generally "that they bought it because it's the most expensive and best" and i always ask them whether or not they dig the looks over all the armors and their general response is "that yes they do like some other stuff better, but this is the nicest cause it's the most expensive".

and i can completely understand that if you ddig the look of them, this question was directed towards the many people like many of whom i've asked before why they think it looks good and their response is "because it's expensive" and no other reason, i don't intend to piss off the hoardes of people who do actually enjoy a certain item because of the way it looks rather than the monetary asthetic projection they intend to show. So, i still find it funny that so many people are getting epicly buttherd about this, yes i probably shouldn't have used any examples and just left it as a question because of the simple fact that i was providing my opinion on a few things as simple examples, but i find it hilarious that people are showing up in droves simply to defend their investment, if you truly enjoy the way it looks why have to argue that point to anyone?

I understand exactly where you're coming from. That piece of crap actually does look good with some armor, but that's limited. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. A perfect req. 9 crystalline sword is worth so much and was worth even more long ago, but does that skin really look that appealing? I like it, but it's not the cream of the crop. There's some armor and weapons that are expensive, but I truly love them. My favorite armor in the whole game has to be Obsidian Ritualist and the Voltaic Spear. Those are some very expensive commodities and I simply love the skin. As others have said it's the same as titles. Almost every title is only a cosmetic change, yet people still can't resist them.

I really dont meet many people like that. They're simply playing a "status" game, which only has meaning to the others that they meet who are playing the same game. Consider it a mini-game, of sorts. Collector's mentality. The hardest thing to buy or find, or the most expensive, is a treasure within that mindset. Looks are irrelevant. Its some other objective to try and complete, akin to maxing some title. For some, the title is the thing. For others, the skin is. The game is really ultimately about those two things vs skill, in terms of what one respects or pursues, and they arent necessarily mutually exclusive, so there's a few different things one can focus on.

well, you actually probably have, you're just not as much of a blatantly inquisitive a-hole as I am.

eh i agree with you , i could never understand why people feel the need to buy the latest most expensive items just because they are expensive regardless of how they look, i lol when i see ppl with voltaic + draconic combo seriously it doesnt go well together and the shield is fugly imo im not gonna buy it just because it's rare/expensive.

With this mentality you just end up looking boring like everyone else and LOL at ppl who have to have chaos gloves + blindfold because they are the most expensive accessories, it looks terrible mostly, especially since the blindfold cant be dyed and the gloves replace half your arm armor (not including monk fow, mes fow and others alike)

I do have black dyed fow's but they are black because i believe thats what looks best but my sins fow is orange! I don't buy expensive gear that looks bad (draconic and eternal blade) i go with what i think looks pimp (pink chaos axe + amethyst aegis)

But seriously... people need to stop trying to prove their wealth through their character you lack individuality and look boring tbh/imo.

What's not to understand about elitism? In GW, the only way for [these] people to show off to as many as possible is to walk around high-traffic outposts (like Kamadan) in the most expensive armors as possible, and with max titles showing. Is this really that hard to figure out?

As you say, not everyone does this, and not everyone with expensive armor is being elitist - there really are those who like the look. But I ask: what does it matter either way? The elitists are looking for attention, and by asking stuff like this (either in whisper or in the form of a thread), you're giving them exactly what they want. Do what I do, ignore them.

Quoted for truth.

Hah. Ok, point. Most of the power traders and high end armor and item collectors I have met simply havent made comments like that to me. I collect armor for my monk and used to for many characters and still never thought that way. Change of clothes really. Enjoy the change of looks on a whim. Skip the ugly ones unless you are a completist. There's simply FoW armor I would never buy even if it was for my main character. Others I like quite a lot. It was always a whatever floats your boat sort of world to me.

Agreed but your obviously going to get some people on the defensive who don't comprehend where your coming from.

To me it's whether it effects my game or not.

99% of the time it's all good, I'm a local chat off player, but when I recruit for my guild it's actually quite funny to experience some of the wisps and local chat nastiness that can occur when people assume your standing around because you wish to look "leet".

As for your original theme of "why people buy them just for the cost" I'm of two minds:

1.This game is dying.

Most people have finished all of it and are now either farming or grinding titles.Theres really not much to do or spend money on hence armor pieces are at least something to sink some gold into and have fun with even if it looks crap.

Anet is really at fault here for designing a game where aesthetics are really the only way to attempt to stand out or look in any way original.

The mechanic is fine, the fact these customization options are so severely limited and expensive is fail.

2.RPG is RPG

Attaining the most expensive items is a core component of any RPG and will always be popular.

Some people like showing off, others don't.

Again the fault in GW is that there is so little variation in these items hence the popularity of EotN armor pieces in particular and the subsequent mind-set associated.

EotN is the main cause imo.

It should have had at least ten, if not a hundred, times more content and variation armor wise as then you wouldn't see such focus on these pieces or the assumption they are for status first, aesthetics second.

After seeing hordes of people with combo of FoW + Chaos Gloves + random EoTN headgear + current weapon set that costs most +e it is very, very hard to believe that most of them actually do like that look.

We all know what would happen if there was Armor more pricey than FoW released.
And we all know that if FoW became 1k set, something would happen too.

Yeah. And one of those things would be my female Rit and Ele would each get their FoW sets. I only focus on my monk now, but hey, I happen to like those sets.

Fireflyry: both of your minds speak the truth.

I think the Tormented Shield looks nice, so I bought one. Black is my favorite color, so I dyed my armor black. I think I look pretty good. I think FoW armor looks nice too, but not rich enough for that :P Might get it when I have more funds. Obviously there is some validity to your post, but that FoW-glad warrior just might think he looks nice.

thank you, thank you, thank you for being one of the people that contests some of my statements without being belligerent and keeping a cool head about it unlike some other people, see, the problem isn't overquestioning people like me, it's people that automatically get offended at the drop of a pen.

well you know, people always have to have the newest and the bestest. i just bought a celestial compass tonight. do i do it as a symbol of my status? maybe. but i absolutely love the look. and i agree that some FOW armor is completely ugly. (ele, i'm looking at you..) but some of it looks really great as well. (female ranger, paragon)

it all comes down to opinion. what's ugly to you might not be to someone else.

Thats what happens when you throw a handful of expensive and limited customization options at an online game played by thousands.

Exactly and that's where Anet have been been at fault.They dictated the sad state of affairs we now see, not the player.

Don't release one set, release twenty all at the same cost.

To late now I guess but it's Anet's laziness and bad design that has created the issue hence my confusion at those that rage or insult players with such gear.

What other options do they really have?

Sure EotN has some new armor but they are all cheaper than FoW.How the f**k does that compute?Release your last content expansion and still limit the top-tier armor to one set available in the first campaign?

gg Anet you douches.

E-peen is important to some people. Crazy eh?

yes, i agree with topic poster some ppl just buy black fow armor with crysie/voltaic and tormented shield dyed black, just to look leet... but it's crap since you look exactly like others. Yes, i have chaos gloves and ninja mask too, i also have armors dyed in "expensive" color(white), but i did it because i liked the combo i made, not because it would be leet - i could buy FoW armors for my chars, but i jus't don't feel like i want to be like all other monks there around. (delver+chaos+ninjamask/bandana = dyed white, rarely see anyone wearing it, so i'm happy that i'm at least a bit unique ).

This got me thinking a bit. Out of all the sets of armor I have, there is one that has gotten more complements and "where can I get that" comments than any other; my female elementalist's 15k Luxon. I play the character a lot, and she's had several armor changes(1/2 dozen 15k sets + FoW), but that 15k lux still draws the most attention/comments/dancing warriors. Its nowhere near being the most expensive and has been in the game for over 2 years, yet still gets more complements than any of the more expensive sets I own.

Goes to show you that buying up the most expensive stuff to impress others is just dumb. A lot of the people that know what it is and what its worth, are the same people that can easily afford it themselves and won't be all that impressed. And the people that don't know what it is/what its worth, are likely to be more impressed with something cheaper that looks good.

Joe Fierce >> that

however I beg to differ on your taste regarding the mask, the mask is beautiful actually. Its like asking if this drawing of the artist mother is beautiful or ugly.

Well "expensive" items are just question of taste (or lack of it, in some cases) !
If u have all leet stuff and get trashed in PvP by someone with "generic" weapons & default PvP armor u gonna say "nevermind my char looked good" ???
So many people running around in FoW armors, with fancy spears, swords and stuff and yet they don`t have any advantage of having leet stuff they become only a noob magnet !

I have the FoW armor (female necro) dyed black. The only reason I used black is because all the others looked like crap. I tried mixing, and i tried singles.
I am far from rich...but i am well outfitted and so are my heros. I do not farm, I play the game as it was created to be played...quests, missions, dungeons. I do have an obscene amount of titles maxed, but I did it by playing the game the same way i stated above. I dont like the masks, or the "fancy" gloves on any profession, the original armor for a set looks sooooo much better. the masks and "fancy gloves" is like putting a T-Shirt on with a Tux and no dress shirt. I cant see the sense in ruining a decent set of armor with something that JUST DOES NOT match.
As for the expencive weapons...I do have a complete set of destroyer weapons, but that was just for my hall. Heros use those, my warrior has a req. 8 max Oni Blade, perfect. (dropped out of a chest in the jade sea just after factions came out). Other then that, i really couldnt care less on the looks of a weapon, how a weapon performs is more important to me then the looks or the cost of a weapon.
I also dont understand the concept behind the thinking that if the price is 100k+xxx ecto its better then the req.9 nothing pritty weapon that does the same job.
I would rather have a wee bit of spending change in my pocket then the weapon thats suposedly worth more then my armor is.

Well if someone came to me and said, even "in a nice and inquisitive and intelligent way" - "Gosh your armor combination sux..." I would be pissed off at them too
ppl dress in a way that suits THEM - not you. Why do you think they would care about your dressing tips and problems you find with their combos?

You don't like it? You find they're ruining their fow? - keep it to yourself
Maybe the problem is not ppl dressing how they want - maybe it's a problem you judging them?

I may come up as aggressive here, but mob mentality makes me angry >_>. BTW when I use "you", I don't mean anyone in particular. Just saying before someone feels offended and I spend ages arguing with 'em.

LMFAO. So much mob mentality in this thread, especially page 1. Really gotta love it. "This sucks." "QFT!!!" "QFT!!". It's an effing discussion forum. Meant for something eh?

Anyways, on topic...

I don't care what any of you think about my characters. You're not the one playing it, you don't have a say in it.

I don't give a **** if your monk has black FoW armor with Voltaic Spear and Tormented Shield. You do your job? Perfect. You don't? GTFO.

I won't dye my monk's FoW black just because you have it either. Kills all details, plus everyone has it black. I'm not gunning down people who LIKE it black... but I do feel like everyone has it black because it's leet. If you like it, go ahead... but don't tell me you bought it because everyone has it. For some random reason I tend to lose respect fast when it comes to mob mentality. -_-;;

The thing is that people judge too much on looks. GW's system is made to bypass it - you've got max gear, you're good; your SKILL will make a difference. So don't go telling me to dye my monk's armor black because everyone has it therefore it's leet and I'm a noob for not doing it, I'll just tell you to shut up.

Yeah... I do sound aggressive today o_o.

it's all about personal preference
for an example
my ele, my main char: http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...rent=gw154.jpg
most people will say: ew fugly dread mask but i really love the dread mask and the smooth clean look of fow ele dyed white
i'm still a simple player, i help people that need help no matter their state, i help low levels if they need it and give away free greens that i don't need
pride doesn't come from your looks but it comes from your deeds

While I agree that buying things because "everyone has them and they're expensive" is stupid, you should stop acting like your opinion is the one everyone should have. It's just as dumb, and it definitely won't keep the trolls out

I'm not entirely sure if you mean only people with FoW and GWAMM there, or anyone with 15k/chaos gloves/black armour/maxed titles. On the assumption it's the sweeping generalisation it appears to be, and in defence of other people like me who do things because of the way they look rather than any perceived status in the community they get out of it, here's a nice wall of text for you and others who think the same way to tl;dr at.

I wear chaos gloves and, currently, black-dyed 15k rogue's. I have a celestial pig following me around. I display whatever title I happen to have been using or working on or maxed out last. I often stand around in Kamadan.

Do I do this so other people can look at me and go "oh wow, he must have a load of money, that's so cool, I wanna be just like him!"? No, far from it.

I wear chaos gloves because from the moment I saw them I thought they were fantastic (my char's a mes so I don't have problems with that horrible half-arm thing that other professions do), and are the nearest thing I can get to a Divine Aura. It's the only piece of armour I've ever farmed for.

My rogue's is actually dyed poor-man's black because the real black hides the celtic knotwork on the leather, which was the whole reason for buying the 15k rather than the 1k version. It's dyed black rather than any other colour because that's the colour I think looks best for that armour. My other 15k suits (all bought because I like the way they look too) are dyed whatever colour suits them best. I don't have any FoW because I don't think it looks very good on a male mes. When the HoM is changed to be account-based then I'll probably get it for one of my other characters so that I can have a suit as part of the collection there, but it'll be for whichever character actually looks good in FoW.

I have a celestial pig out because I love watching it. The way its little sparkly tail waves around is great! I'd like it just as much if I'd been able to get it for free as I do having paid a stupid amount of money for something that is to all intents and purposes useless.

I display titles in certain areas because it shows prospective party members what they'd be getting (Luxon title in AB, Slayer in DoA/Slaver's, etc), or because it gives me a benefit (Asura title in Asura areas), or because the checked box makes it easier for me to find the title in the list when I want to check the progress (lucky/unlucky on the rings, dwarf or drunk if I'm being run in CoF), or because I've just maxed it and I feel a sense of achievement (cartographer, skill hunter). Apart from the first example, they're being displayed entirely for my benefit. I want to get to r3 KoaBD because it suits the character name perfectly and, when I do, *that* one will be displayed for other people to see and (hopefully!) laugh at.

And finally, I stand around in Kamadan cos I'm either trying to buy stuff, sell stuff, or am drinking and chatting to my husband in his favourite spot. If the other people there are eyeing up me and my gear and thinking what a saddo I am because of it, well, that's their opinion and they're entitled to it, but it'd be nice not to be misjudged like that.

True. However, due to the way Guild Wars is set up, things are a bit different.

In normal RPGs, people wear rare loot and say "Ha HAH! I can now easily vanquish the level 700345 Dragonspawnmonsterlythingamgoo!"

Whereas in Guild Wars, it's "Ha HAH! I can now, uh, look different and, uh, IM LEET MOTHER#*(%#(".

:I

Usually I don't buy the very very expensive weps (Voltaic for example) because there are often collector weapons that you can mod up to the same mods, for a resonable price. I looks "noobsih" some say. But tbh I like some of the collector weapons more.

And regarding FoW armor: I'd rather walk around in warrior Shing Jea than warrior FoW

well easy answer: because they feel better in achieving their goals... and it's not just armor, it's titles, or HA wins, or GvG wins whatever... And yes fow is popular cuz it's expensive and such and I agree there are better looking armor, but still it's what people want.
I have a FoW on my ele dyed white because black just ain't black, I even farmed up Chaos Gloves which do look cool, but not on FoW armor or any ele armor cuz we have that nasty looking think from torso where it looks like it's cut off... It's just an achievement. I'm very proud of my ele regarding titles and armor and whatever.

As far as those that say you're jealous, well only thing I can say is that they don't know themselves why did they buy it... or maybe they didn't understand your question, cuz not everyone speaks english great. 1000 different people 1000 different minds.

I don't buy items because everyone has them, I bought it because I WANT it, I got FoW monk dyed black, actually all my monk armors are dyed black because after testing/wasting money all different dyes I like black the most..........

I have ele FoW, because all ele armor is trash and I like the FoW most.
I have two tormented weapons because I like them.

That's sort of it.

3 words:
Lindsay Lohan leggings.

Where can I get some?

In other news, if they do Chaos Gloves, why can't I get any Chaos Pants?

I think I look fcking awesome with chaos gloves, a black voltaic spear, black fow monk armor, and a tormented shield. I'm completely serious. God forbid I have my own opinion about the asthetics of my own character.

So uh...

no u

once again, someone coming out of the blue and completely misunderstanding what i'm saying, you like your character the way that looks, great, but the question wasn't really directed toward your type of person, it was directed towards those that would buy something simpl\y "because it's leet" and for pretty much no other reason.

i think most of the stuff that is considered leet looks completely retarded. (chaos "video card glitch" gloves, fow "mspaint" armor, tormented "made in china" weapons, etc) i can afford them - i just don't want them, nor would i feel leet if i had them.

but hey, if that shiny purple plastic pancake turner sword makes someone happy, for whatever reason, more power to them. some people just like to flaunt their riches. nothin wrong with that. they probably just view their pile of riches as an accomplishment in and of itself.

So why is it that people buy things simply because they are expensive?

To feel the power to be almost unique....

"...I like my items simply based on looks and not on price..."

Same for me.....the only weps I bought were the destroyer ones....for the rest I used to buy CC ( aka Candy Cane)

I have a nice collection of weps that I droped, often ppl ask me how much I paid for them & I reply : " no idea cause I dont make biz..."

It reminds me some uber rich collectors who were saying: I havent been playing GW its a waste of time (LOL) I prefer to stay in Lion's Arch & make biz or chat with friends.

WEIRD no? they have a game & dont play it but make biz...too funny & absurd.

I personally lavish expensive sets of armor on my monk (just got her Vabbian) because I think it looks good on her. I will never buy her FoW armor - because I don't like the look.

Also, some people think that having expensive items makes them somehow better than others. Note that I said some, by the way. I've met people who stand around contributing nothing to the mission/quest/whatever except constantly calling their weapon sets: "I'm wielding a Voltaic Spear and an Amethyst Aegis", "I'm wielding a Pyroclastic Axe", yadayadayada... I appreciate that some people think the skins are nice, but there are also those who do it just to flaunt.

I once was in a Slaver's run with some guy who kept constantly pinging his Voltaic - and dropped it constantly - so he could ping his other expensive weapons and was constantly talking about how rich he was.
I was unimpressed.

If I am not mistaken - they are sold out.

Funnily enough the only Tormented weapons I like are the sword and shield.

I'm not too keen on FoW armour except Elementalists and Monks.

I prefer Seitung armour and my current mixed armour on Assassins to be honest.

I also prefer Canthan armour for Monks and the Labyrinthe tattoo set.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.