@expandstyle ON as default

GM_Ado

Muh

hefrokk The decision to have this default off was because the majority if voting community didn't actually like the option to have cross class costumes. So what we have now is the compromise solution.

https://discord.com/channels/822793286786875403/914975180500119612/1260850216332955678

hefrokk

Muh

I see, there is a big point when it comes to PvP, however it's been a while since the vote and the server has changed quite abit since then, including the players. Would it be possible to reasses the decision or re-vote on this to see what people think?

Reason I think it's valid to have this, because when I started as a new player I would see people dressing up "weirdly" or non-fashionable not knowing why. Plus players do spend 5k cash points for this option so I think it seems fair.

Muh

hefrokk we were not talking about PVP, as for PVP this was never available. But we surely can check how players feel now

cruro

Personally, I'm still not a fan of classes being indistinguishable by default.

It potentially makes party recruiting confusing (if you don't know how to opt-out at least), and I'd imagine new players think we're some strange custom server when they see a cardinal using dragon breath.

Would the characters look that unfashionable, when color palettes and costumes are still matching and just the form of the sprite is different?

Dovezin

cruro totally agreed

GM_Ado

cruro Well to that point, the palettes often arent matching, like with SA thats a popular class and gets some really odd things on its palette. Or sometimes the numbers are pretty different.
On the other hand I havent seen many people being recruited by what their chars look like, usually someone posts that they need a class in their party and go by that. Also you can change the sprite, that visible to everyone, to be 3rd or 2nd class, so that should be an issue the same way if the problem is party recruiting based just on what the char class looks like.
A lot of people also get annoyed or confused when they buy alternative coupons and realize what they paid for isnt being really used by default.
Definitely something different people complain to me about at least once a week is why their friends cant see their char sprite as they set it.
Most new players I've met also prefer the expand style turned on, it's usually the old ones that are bothered by it.

karunatan

+1 to cruro's post.

Josh

I +1 this. Make it ON by default.

Miks

-1 having this "on" by default

+1 to cruro's post

Imagine a newbie asking in #global why a cardinal is casting comet/soul vulcan strike while he/she is leveling in Ein 3 🤔 and it might happen all the time. For me, it will create a lot of confusion than the benefit of having the fashion style that suits your character to be seen by other players.

sakura

-1 to reduce confusion, as i recalled when it first launched its kinda buggy. It still worked on Garden of Time even when @expandstyle OFF and recruiting was a mess because it was a new instance and everybody was trying to push to lv20 HoL and gear checking.

CongaLyne

-1 I can see it giving the wrong impression to people who join for the first time expecting a mostly vanilla RO experience, only to roll their eyes and leave assuming it's a weird custom server where Cardinals can cast Elemental Buster.

People joining the server already need to overcome the additional barrier of joining the discord server to play, imagine going through all that just to be met with what looks like custom content you never signed up for; you'd be disappointed and feel lied to.

I understand the desire to look pretty, but looking pretty should never come before new players understanding what's going on.

I'm not saying this is you and imagine it won't be most people but for anyone reading who might be on the extreme end and feel attacked, I'll say this ahead of time, If you're really so paranoid about what others think about you that you need to compromise on the new player experience to fulfill your own ego, reevaluate yourself.

GM_Ado

CongaLyne

People are free to hold different opinions on this feature. However, labeling the opposing view as "paranoid" or "ego-driven" is not productive and lowers the quality of the discussion. Even if you added that "this isn’t you or most people," the phrasing still comes across as personal and dismissive.

Whether or not this affects new players is a matter of perspective, and others may disagree without it being a matter of ego or paranoia. Similar negative characterizations could easily be made about either side, and no one would benefit from that.

Please continue debating the feature itself - whether for or against - but avoid making personal accusations. That kind of framing won’t be tolerated.

meo0ow

-1 on this.. I know it's cool,
but it's really weird to see a wind hawk casting AOE magic.. melee attack.. etc

yoarastrophe

Fashion is the truest endgame for me, so I'd be in favor. Personally, I don't think class confusion would be much of a factor, because people don't use visuals to party recruit. If there was much of a meaningful mechanical function to seeing other players' class sprites, there'd be a nonstop complaints about costumes and costume effects that obstruct that view. I also think the point about it being an expensive feature for something that most people won't see is a good one. That said…. Not gonna ruin my day if the people vote against it 🙂

Sedori

It feels sort of bad knowing the thing that was worked/paid for (because it's a cash shop item) can't actually be seen by the greater populace. As for the argument for visual clarity… unless everyone's costumes are turned off, even right now with Expand Style being off, the quickest way to know what class someone is from their spells.

As for PvP (whenever it gets reactivated) could be as "simple" as turning everyone's costumes and expand style off for clarity.

Akin

Rather than having it automatically set to on or off. For every new account, have an option to let new players choose with concise explanation of the feature when starting out. Don't force people on your POV. Let them decide themselves. Bringing to light the custom feature's existence to newcomers is more important.

Muh

Akin doesn't sound that bad

hefrokk

Akin

I totally agree with the introduction to new players of the system, however it still needs to have a default on/off despite having an introduction of the system. However, atleast that would make people aware.

I have a few suggestions,
I think with 15+ characters that I've spent with expandstyle, aswell as some of my friends, considering it's a feature of the server and something we pay Cash Shop points for, I think it's just better to leave it on by default, and let whomever wants to turn it off, let it be off. As someone mentioned, its not used for recruiting members, and the option should definetely be disabled in PvP or any content maps where classes would be deemed important.

As a side note, I'm personally not the type of player to read much in introductions, I just wanna get in there, play my game and enjoy it. However, as an alternative, an automatic broadcast informing players they can turn it on can be an improvement.

Alternatively, let it be turned on by default in towns atleast, where that actually has very little impact on the experience for new players.

seri

hefrokk + 1

I agree that our characters should appear as we intend them to after styling (we spend a lot of time and effort… and 5k points to do so)

😃