It's a bit of both (with some planning and some sacrifice, ofc). Hellz no to armor slots/transmogs! Such a thought of this feature makes me want to puke. What you wear is a choice, choices matter, and what you have equipped is what you wear.
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Stats first of course and then looks second. At level 1, 10, 20, or 30, your character is not elite and you should not look like you are. When you're max level and raiding then yes, you should look as elite as you want. I think dyes and transmogs should be held off until max level. Or maybe unlock dyes/transmogs when your first character hits 50, then your alts can be like spoiled rich kids that get the best gear before they know how to use it. Sorry, I digress.
As the character grows I'd expect the armor to start to take on a form of a "complete" character. A low level character takes what he can get and I wouldn't expect any coordination of colors or even type. The higher level you get the closer you get to what you want your character to feel and look like.
Looking cool is cool to me, but not as important as the journey it takes to get there. MOST of the game will be the journey so I will not look cool for MOST of the game.
Edit: After I posted this I realized the first armor set that made me look and feel like a ranger in EQ wasn't until the mid 30's.
I've never bothered with transmogs or wearing lesser gear for appearance in a game. Even a dye system was more than I'd care to do for appearance sake. I just chase the stats. I am pleased if my BIS gear happens to be a coordinated set even if it makes me look like everybody else.
From a customization setup, I think SecretWorld did a good job where your gear didn't impact your look so players who wanted to do so could select a variety of appearance gear while not impacting stats. That might be a good approach to allow color coordination. And then gear is like an underarmor that goes into that slot to provide the stats.
Looks > stats. Whenever possible.
I've mentioned this in some discord conversations but I actually think the color matching thing that SWTOR does with armor is a really good idea. It makes it so that you don't really have to worry quite so much about colors not matching on pieces that you wear. Sure, sometimes two textures don't really work together, but that's far rarer than it just being a color/shader thing. Of course, it doesn't save you if that chest piece is a mauve color or something - but hey, that's your choice.
Stat chaser. I miss the early days of MMOs where people were mix-matched often, putting together a matching set was often a reward for a lot of hard work/hunting around (though rarely optimal stat-wise). Felt like you'd see a lot more of the different armors in the world (and more often) rather than just the "coolest" looking stuff that I feel many cosmetic systems bring about.
70/30 stats/looks.
I liked how in the old EQ days, mostly everything was kind of just thrown together looking until you worked to get your Velious class armor sets. Most people (except twinks sometimes) looked pretty bad until those higher crests of gear. As a halfling druid, I looked terrible until my first class set. But when I finally did get that emerald green beauty, it felt and looked amazing to get both stats AND looks.
I really don't like the dyes that were put in during Luclin. Suddenly you had full pink/bright green colored platemail ogres running around. The crazy colors you'd see sometimes were one thing, but what really was the core of the issue for me was that I couldn't always tell at a glance what people were wearing. I like to see someone in elite gear and know how hard they worked to get it... but as soon as you dye everything a crazy color well most of the time if I don't inspect you I have no idea what you are wearing. Gear isn't unique anymore. It doesn't matter what item you get because you're just going to dye it anyway.
The same thing is especially true with the WoW transmog stuff. I get that a lot of people like the fashonista aspect of it, however to me it completely ruins the immersion and RP aspect of a game. Hey, you transmogged yourself to look like some Power Ranger/Pirate hybrid by soloing old raid content for hours just to get the pixels. Stats have gone completely out the window in that game. Just make all the numbers big who cares as long as I can make myself look cool.
The game I want to play has balance between stats/looks. You get armor sets that are both cool looking and powerful after a lot of work. Velious EQ did a good job at this. Vanilla/early WoW with tier sets did a good job at this. Dyes/transmogs destroy immersion for me and devalue uniqueness and stats in the items themselves.
Yes. I enjoy suiting up an outfit that reflects what my character is all about.
If this means that it's an all green character, well so be it.
Do I desire this finished appearance from the start? No. Not at all. It will take me years to get to know my characters and suit them up accordingly.
I'll most likely seek out specific outfits that match my characters' background.
In general, I like that I'll have the option to create my own "unique looking" character.
I will prioritise stats if it's a main character or if it's my first or second alt in line.
Color-coordinate when possible. (Like standing around in a town where there are no threats.) If I'm adventuring then I will wear whatever gives me and my group the best chance for survival ... anything less would be irresponsible. Appearance slots FTW.
Both are important. I am a natural min-maxer so I will chase the stats whenever possible. Miss matched clown armor on the other hand can die in a fire. A coherent art style can be made in such a way so that small color palate changes can be made to make iconic items still flow together visually with generic items without making iconic item unrecognizable.
I could also see your body slot items dictating most of your characters appearance similar to how EQ robes worked. Another option would be an “about body” slot that a mostly or fully cosmetic piece of equipment could be equipped over top of your clown armor if you don’t like looking like a blind 4 year old.
Lastly a robust crafting system could solve this issue. Iconic items can be used as material components for powerful crafted items with similar stats but whose generic 3d model appearance is much more customizable by the crafter. This way the item has an appearance you want without using appearance slots.
Mordecai said: Stats are more important to me than appearance
Stats over appearance, I agree. I'd think appearance would require a great deal of work, if that's what someone is going for. Also, not only are appearance slots a terrible idea, they would be quite terrible in Pantheon. Choices matter.
