A developer blog provides insight into the armor dyeing system that will soon be introduced in the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online.
200 new colors, 40 new achievements
The armor dyeing in most MMOs is tied to drops: Some mob drops a rare color, which you unlock for eternity by right-clicking. However, in The Elder Scrolls Online, a different approach has been taken. They intend to tie the right to dye your armor in a specific way to in-game achievements.
In this context, the creators at Zenimax noticed that there were too few achievements so far. With the August update, they are bringing several new ones to Tamriel. There should be 40 new achievements so that the over 200 colors can also be tied to something. And that’s not all. They left room for additional ones, as stated in the developer blog that sheds more light on armor dyeing.
The Reservoir Dog Problem: Everyone Wants to Be Mister Black
In most MMOs, the issue with armor colors is the same as with the selection of code names in the Tarantino classic Reservoir Dogs. Everyone wants to be Mister Black, that is, go all in black. In TESO, they wanted to solve this problem by making what the developers deemed the “most beautiful” and “most desirable” black relatively easily accessible. They called it “Noxophilic Black” and tied it to the achievement you receive when you’ve been a vampire once. A quite common achievement, one might think.
One of the black shades that was deemed less attractive was assigned to a particularly tricky achievement, a challenging trial.
On the test server, then came the surprise: It wasn’t the vampire black that was sought after and popular, but the testers were eager to get the black that was tied to the harder achievement. The accusation came: Why tie the most beautiful black of all to that cursed achievement?
You can sense a bit of a chuckle from the developer blog at this point. The grapes that hang highest do taste particularly sweet.
Special colors grant special effects
Overall, Zenimax has put a lot of effort into armor dyeing and has thought a lot about it. There was much discussion about the brightness and the required saturation of certain colors. The particularly hard-to-access colors are meant to not just dye a piece of armor but also grant a special effect. Because regular dye adapts to the material of the armor item: black leather looks different from black metal. However, the special colors also have a “painting” function. They make leather appear like metal or even like the feathers of a raven. Care has been taken to ensure that the colors match the achievements they grant.
By the way, Zenimax has already played around with the color options and, just for fun, dyed TESO heroes like famous superheroes.
Armor dyeing is set to come with the August update and bring a bit more color to Tamriel. Although they have ensured that the “subtle” colors are slightly predominant to consider the immersion of role players. But if someone prefers brighter and flashier colors, they can also express that. Provided they have the necessary achievements.
