Depending on who you ask, the goal of a MMORPG is to defeat the toughest raid bosses of the game, become the most powerful player on a server (in either PvP or PvE), explore all the content of the game, acquire the rarest items in the game, create the largest guild in the game, or some other obscure goal. For players who are more interested in the role playing facets of the game, a common goal is to create the best looking characters in the game. The difficulty of this goal differs depending on the specific game and is in fact nearly impossible in some popular MMORPGs. The following is a fashion guide for some of the most popular MMORPGs on the market.
World of Warcraft – Creating a fashionable character in WoW can be difficult because your character’s image is directly tied to the gear you are equipping. In order to gain levels you need to continually collect better gear and your image will change with each gear change. While it is potentially possible to save one piece of gear for each slot that simply looks good and occasionally show it off, this is cumbersome and inefficient. With the exception of a few cosmetic items in the game, the best way to customize your avatar is by gaining a good looking mount and choosing a good name and title. Mounts are almost all mechanically the same so only the aesthetics of your mount really matter. The most fashionable WoW characters have good looking, hard to acquire mounts, creative names that fit the world, and difficult to obtain, cool titles like “the Insane.”
EVE Online – Sorry fashion fans, but despite the fact that this game is one of the best economy simulators on the market, you won’t be meaningfully changing your look anytime soon.
Lord of the Rings Online – Like WoW, LotRO ties your avatar to your gear. Unlike WoW, LotRO has dedicated outfit slots that you can save with good aesthetic combinations of gear. These slots maintain your avatar without changing your stats. In fact, even if you discard or sell the gear in these slots, you avatar will not change. In addition, the scholar profession can create dyes that will let you further customize the color of your gear. Finding good looking gear still requires time and effort and probably a lot of levels, but you don’t need to sacrifice combat efficiency to maintain your look.
City of Heroes/Villains – Unlike most other MMORPGs, your gear does not affect the look of your avatar in this game. At character creation you create a unique avatar with literally billions of combinations available. In fact the avatar customization screen is so flexible that most players will spend anywhere from half an hour to an hour customizing their character here. Furthermore, as you advance through the game you earn additional avatar slots and can create different looks for your character that you can freely switch between. Finally, when you join a Supergroup, you can interweave the colors of your Supergroup with your own outfits creating an even slicker look. Carefully choosing a Supergroup with complimentary colors can allow you create one of the best looking avatars in the game.
