Firstly, let me state that this is something to be considered AFTER the current roadmap has been completed
I know it's been discussed several times and, so far, the idea has gone nowhere other than on the forums.
Here's a new take on it ...
For skinning to be viable, there has to be a cost - ideally an fsp cost - so that the ultimate result is more donations for the cows (they, after all, have to spend the man hours to actually develop this)
So, my idea of it is as follows (and the numbers can, of course, be thrashed around ad-hoc) :-
Implementation :-
There are 3 potential upgrades per item :-
NAME / DESIGN / COLOUR
Name would be personally selected (but with restrictions, of course)
Design would be from a selection of "template" image files (or, potentially, user-designed, within certain parameters - image size / format etc etc)
Colour would be from a 256 colour palette
Each upgrade would have an associated cost (see below).
If all 3 upgrades were done on a "stand-alone" piece of gear (i.e. not part of a set) then the upgrades would give a 1% boost to stats. This is, after all, more about personalising gear than making gear much more powerful - the boost to stats is merely another (small) incentive to spending on the upgrades.
If all 3 upgrades were done all pieces of a set, then the upgrades would give a 1% boost to the item stats AND a 1% boost to the set bonuses.
If any skinning of any nature is done to gear, then it automatically becomes "bound" to the player - and the only way to remove that "bound" flag is to remove the skinning (free) and then the items can be transferred / sold / composed / whatever.
Costs :-
The way I see it, the higher the level the player, the more expensive this option should be.
For players of up to Level 100, the cost would be 1 fsp / item / upgrade so, obviously, to upgrade 1 piece of gear with a new name, design and colour, the cost would be 3 FSP.
For players > 100 but < 200, cost would be 2 fsp / item / upgrade
For players > 200 but < 300, cost would be 3 fsp / item / upgrade
For players > 300 but < 400, cost would be 4 fsp / item / upgrade
For players > 500 but < 600, cost would be 6 fsp / item / upgrade
For players > 1000 but < 1100, cost would be 11 fsp / item / upgrade
For players > 1500 but < 1600, cost would be 16 fsp / item / upgrade
For players > 2000 but < 2100, cost would be 20 fsp / item / upgrade
Price would be capped at 20 fsp / item / upgrade – this seems fair to me as it’s the current end of the game.
Remember, this skinning is OPTIONAL, and has a (small) stat boost with it, so prices shouldn't be too cheap, but cheap enough to encourage the usage.
Comments ?
Tweaks ?