The Apex Reward Costume

bellanca6561n

Yes, I know this has been the subject of hand-wringing and nasty dismissals of the hand-wringers in the past. You don't NEED a cosmetic digital idem that you don't even own according to the game's TOS.

Plus, the latest Apex reward costume is just a bit of suggestive eye candy that no self-respecting player would take into battle. Yeah, I'm kidding about that part. 😉



But...an apex level for a COSTUME?! Really....

Maitsukas

bellanca6561n wrote: »

But...an apex level for a COSTUME?! Really....

Not the first time this has occurred:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Garb_of_Grinning_Horrors
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Celestial_Robes
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Stillrise_Ritecaller
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Ragebound_Harness
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Dwemerdelve_Scavenger
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Necrom_Evening_Attire
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Windcaller_Garb

sarahthes

Maitsukas wrote: »

bellanca6561n wrote: »

But...an apex level for a COSTUME?! Really....

Not the first time this has occurred:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Garb_of_Grinning_Horrors
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Celestial_Robes
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Stillrise_Ritecaller
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Ragebound_Harness
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Dwemerdelve_Scavenger
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Necrom_Evening_Attire
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Windcaller_Garb

Ragebound harness is one of my fave costumes ever. I use it (in different colours) on multiple characters.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

Have you notice that the open back of the costume shows your bra? It's kinda translucent, but you can still see it. Very disappointing. @bellanca6561n what dye are you using?

Juju_beans

It's for putting on when you go shopping at the guild traders

TaSheen

I like it, but I don't really have anyone in mind for it, and I'm not sure I will pay that price for it (in seals). If I had the "perfect girl".... but I don't....

SilverBride

I really hate outfits that are wide open at the chest. I feel like they make my character look cheap.

emilyhyoyeon

This dress is so awkward looking IMO, the puff sleeves in particular. I typically find the 400 gem costumes really nice, especially the celestial robes, the Necrom dress, and the robes that Valessea wears.

Jaraal

They should put a "Fix the Timbercrow Wanderer's diaper/granny panties" token in the crown store for 400 gems.

Nah, just kidding.

Or am I?

Jaraal

SilverBride wrote: »

I really hate outfits that are wide open at the chest. I feel like they make my character look cheap.

"Every girl has her price. Mine is five gems."

Hamfast

What white did you dye that with?

Jaraal

Hamfast wrote: »

What white did you dye that with?

Not my character, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that that is Marble White.

DP99

I've purchased the Ragebound Harness, and the Necrom Evening Attire for the 8,000 endeavor coins, so I'll be saving up that cost for this dress as well.

whitecrow

Top is nice, but as with all skirts and dresses the bottom is too stiff to look good.

NotaDaedraWorshipper

bellanca6561n wrote: »

But...an apex level for a COSTUME?! Really....

One that isn't well done. We have had apex costumes before, which is not something I like but it's not new. But compared to this one, they were at least of decent quality, this one is not.

In just that picture we can see a line across around where the hips are, there is some weird blackness right at the edge at the breasts, and as Enemy-of-Coldharbour mentioned so is the braband kinda visible at the back.

Also from the view of someone who sews clothes, including rather eccentric ones, all I can do is at its design and shape choice. Additionally—how does it stick/stay in place? Do they have dresstape/glue in the second era Tamriel? Is it held in place by magic? Is it by pure will by Todd Howard and the censoring team? Does it have a sticky inside made from voriplasms?

Mavloc

bellanca6561n wrote: »

But...an apex level for a COSTUME?! Really....

It's because Isobel can wear it

bellanca6561n

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Have you notice that the open back of the costume shows your bra? It's kinda translucent, but you can still see it. Very disappointing. @bellanca6561n what dye are you using?

Dyes are a real problem for this costume. Nothing looks quite right. For the screenshot I took, I used Julianos White as the base. But I play mostly on the EU server now and have long ago tired of PvE. I have played in Cyrodiil for years. Thus I'm not about to do that archive trial on another server for a dye. 😣

For the character I actually use the costume on, Cold Harbor Ash Black is....okay, but it doesn't look as black in practice as it does here in this screenshot.


The black that would work well is, again, a PvE achievement. No, I'm not begrudging folks their PvE rewards. Not now, not ever. You should get something unique for difficult achievements.

So I settled on Regicide Red for the base.

And, yes, @Mavoc it does look good on Isobel 😘

WhiteCoatSyndrome

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

In just that picture we can see a line across around where the hips are, there is some weird blackness right at the edge at the breasts, and as Enemy-of-Coldharbour mentioned so is the braband kinda visible at the back.

Lines on the arms just under the elbows too.

davidtk

whitecrow wrote: »

Top is nice, but as with all skirts and dresses the bottom is too stiff to look good.

Agree, top is relatively good. I don't mind chest opened dress
But the shoulders are a bit awful why it must have it.
And about bottom part... Skirt is again poorly made and looks weir.
It would be better if it was down to the ground, because of the way it's attached to the legs.

bellanca6561n

Jaraal wrote: »

Hamfast wrote: »

What white did you dye that with?

Not my character, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that that is Marble White.

Julianous white in this case...well...the case of the initial screenshot.

But no dye is consistent in ESO. Or even close in many cases. The whole dye system was added later and required what is generally a huge no-no: reordering the palette. Assigning a color palette is among the first things you do when developing a game. But I'm glad they added dyes despite their many glitches.

Cloth and hair are modeled very 20th-century and little improved over the old-tech deformable mesh system. But they do surprisingly well with that old tech. I can't fault them for it. They didn't create the engine.

Lots of venerable stuff in ESO such as the core design of Cyrodiil which dates back to 1987. 😟 But I digress. The game itself is now venerable and I still like fashion in this game. Heck, it's kept me around, on and off, since they presented the beta testers with that demented monkey back in '84 😌

Mavloc

bellanca6561n wrote: »

Yes, I know this has been the subject of hand-wringing and nasty dismissals of the hand-wringers in the past. You don't NEED a cosmetic digital idem that you don't even own according to the game's TOS.

Plus, the latest Apex reward costume is just a bit of suggestive eye candy that no self-respecting player would take into battle. Yeah, I'm kidding about that part. 😉



But...an apex level for a COSTUME?! Really....

What's going on with your arm? Are you a arm wrestler?

Jaraal

Yeah if Julianos is that shiny on that costume, then Marble White would be blinding. Some "fabrics" are flat and don't reflect (shine), while others can be like slick silk and extremely reflective. And then if you combine that with a naturally shiny dye, like Contraband Violet, then you can get some really wild looks, and colors that shift like Mystic paint does on cars.

Since you're a PvPer, I'm curious why you don't try Legate's Black instead of the Coldharbour Ash Black? It's the best black, in my opinion. Quite better than the Void Pitch Black, which hides details because it's so darn dark.

bellanca6561n

Jaraal wrote: »

Yeah if Julianos is that shiny on that costume, then Marble White would be blinding. Some "fabrics" are flat and don't reflect (shine), while others can be like slick silk and extremely reflective. And then if you combine that with a naturally shiny dye, like Contraband Violet, then you can get some really wild looks, and colors that shift like Mystic paint does on cars.

Since you're a PvPer, I'm curious why you don't try Legate's Black instead of the Coldharbour Ash Black? It's the best black, in my opinion. Quite better than the Void Pitch Black, which hides details because it's so darn dark.

Not near Legate on the EU server where I'm playing now. 😉 But you're right.

You're also right about the problem with material properties in ESO being a bit of a mess when it comes to the shader. Cloth can shine like metal.

@Mavloc - She's a warrior, wielding a two-handed sword. Hence, muscles. And everyone is right-handed in ESO 😉.

Fischblut

I didn't like any of previous Apex-tier costumes. But this one is really good, and can be used on male characters without looking funny Sadly, there are some visual glitches (seams on multiple places)...

This costume has difficult dye channels, even though they take dyes rather well (but not perfectly). White colors don't look good on this fabric, in my opinion.

Dye channels:

Coldharbour Ash Black:

Julianos White:

Scintillating Red (shiny color):

Stalhrim Chrome (shiny color):

Bloodroot Wine (shiny color):

Welkynd Blue:

I must use unexpected color combinations on this costume to make it look interesting, and it's impossible to just dye it once and use with any skin - I visit the outfit station if I change skin

My favorite color combo works only when combines with certain skins:

I took screenshot of someone's character wearing the costume, looked cool:



Wild combo of red, black, purple and blonde:



Green/red combo which I like on this dress:

Golden and black combo with matching skin:

Blackreach Blue and black combo with bright blue skin:

My character who looks good in default version, thanks to her matching lipstick color:

Purple and red version for when she is vampire:

Pure white version when trying to match a skin:

Brown and blue combo for normal skin:

Pure black with matching skin on female Argonian:

Male Bosmer with perfectly matching body art:

When body art just doesn't match

Male Argonian:

Male Khajiit:

Juomuuri

Honestly, I don't get what's so bothersome about the "translucent bra". It's *barely* visible anyway, it's nothing like the diaper on Timbercrow. xD

TaSheen

@Fischblut - great post! I think you just convinced me to buy it on a couple of accounts!

bellanca6561n

Juomuuri wrote: »

Honestly, I don't get what's so bothersome about the "translucent bra". It's *barely* visible anyway, it's nothing like the diaper on Timbercrow. xD

Oy vey, THAT costume...oh my...I took the whole diaper thing complaint a bit...too far and...well...had to take a break from this forum 🥴

@Fischblut - now THAT was comprehensive!! Outstanding 👍

Me...uh...my tastes are less...exotic, though I do have this thing for Dark Elf gals.

The thing with them is that folks either go completely gah-gah over them, or you worry about people who do.

davidtk

Technicaly you can say that visible invisible bra just holding back together like a little belt to keep it from falling open and the dress from falling off. I know, there's a collar holding whole thing in place, but it's still workable.
But sometimes it just mess with plain back on some characters.
Anyway, it would probably look better without the bottom part and just leave the cut out parts or if the bottom part was all the way to the ground, but I already wrote that.

bellanca6561n

bellanca6561n wrote: »

Lots of venerable stuff in ESO such as the core design of Cyrodiil which dates back to 1987. 😟 But I digress. The game itself is now venerable and I still like fashion in this game. Heck, it's kept me around, on and off, since they presented the beta testers with that demented monkey back in '84 😌

Wow, not sure how I confused '84 with 2014 - the year they gave us the beta monkey.

1984 has been on my mind lately. And NO not for THAT reason.

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the first FRP online game: Island of Kesmai, which debuted on CompuServe in 1984.

I'm a former Kesmai guy...which is why the whole Red, Blue, and Yellow factions fighting to capture enemy strong points and their supporting facilities in a forever war that resets every 30 days was familiar to me when I ventured into Cyrodiil. That was the core design of Air Warrior. My game ☺️

Didn't have fashion though....

NotaDaedraWorshipper

Fischblut wrote: »

I didn't like any of previous Apex-tier costumes. But this one is really good, and can be used on male characters without looking funny Sadly, there are some visual glitches (seams on multiple places)...

This costume has difficult dye channels, even though they take dyes rather well (but not perfectly). White colors don't look good on this fabric, in my opinion.

Dye channels:

Coldharbour Ash Black:

Julianos White:

Scintillating Red (shiny color):

Stalhrim Chrome (shiny color):

Bloodroot Wine (shiny color):

Welkynd Blue:

I must use unexpected color combinations on this costume to make it look interesting, and it's impossible to just dye it once and use with any skin - I visit the outfit station if I change skin

My favorite color combo works only when combines with certain skins:

I took screenshot of someone's character wearing the costume, looked cool:



Wild combo of red, black, purple and blonde:



Green/red combo which I like on this dress:

Golden and black combo with matching skin:

Blackreach Blue and black combo with bright blue skin:

My character who looks good in default version, thanks to her matching lipstick color:

Purple and red version for when she is vampire:

Pure white version when trying to match a skin:

Brown and blue combo for normal skin:

Pure black with matching skin on female Argonian:

Male Bosmer with perfectly matching body art:

When body art just doesn't match

Male Argonian:

Male Khajiit:

So, this apex tier costume with several texture errors also got the problem it can't have major parts of it dyed? We can dye some useless piece on the sleeves/shoulders, but we can't dye the head piece, neck decoration, or any of the of the decorations on the bracelets and sandals