Hey there, @Donari.

I suspect the issue (or one of the issues) is that it has more than a single color in its makeup. There are a number of different threads here in the forums in which people (with FAR greater expertise than I) have discussed the "specular" effects that different colors will display. A lot of this has to do with the texture of the piece being dyed, but some of it has to do with the color itself.

As I understand it, the "common" colors, while less vivid, are much more basic - they have just the one color in their individual design. The "uncommon" colors have a bit more to them - perhaps minor "specular" effect added or something. (Again, there are resident experts here in the forums who could elaborate this with far more technical detail than I can, but you get the idea I'm sure.) The "rare" colors have the most vivid base color assigned to them, but often have more than one color attached - the completion of Maelstrom Arena gives "Blademaster's Mauve," for example, and that color has some hot pink, purple, and blue that all show up, depending on lighting and the texture of the garment to which the color is applied. I experienced the same thing with the "Grazeland's Gentleman Farmer" costume and commented about it in another thread, but I suspect the "specular" thing going on with the "Atmoran Bronze" is that there's a blue undertone beneath the brown, so it shows up much differently than anticipated. The "Motif Master Brown" shows up as purple on the boots for that costume. Go figure.

Regardless, I think there are some programming issues that occurred with that outfit (as well as the "Holiday in Balmora" one that has everyone so up in arms right now). The colors simply do not look the way you think they will based on the swatches in the dye station.

@Donari:

Yeah, I see what you are saying. I think the two newest additions to the costume line-up (Balmora and Farmer) do have something wrong going on with them. As evidenced from the overwhelmingly negative feedback in the forums regarding the Balmora costume's dye issues (or at least the lack of ability to effectively dye), the way these new costumes "take color" is unexpected. By now I would think many/most of us are used to the, um, let's call it persnickety nature the dye system in ESO has, but there is still something very strange about the way certain colors are rendered on these two new costumes. Perhaps the developers modified the way "leather" renders color for these new in-game assets.

I don't know for sure, but I think the top portion of the Balmora costume is supposed to be velvet, and up until now I'm not sure we've had anything that was in that texture. This could explain why the colors render with such a low level of saturation. With the Farmer costume, the seeming randomness of the colors applied is what gets me too. Bronze (of any tier, etc.) should not show up as blue. Brown should not show up as purple. I can't think of a texture they would be trying to emulate with those boots other than leather (or perhaps cloth), so why it would pull one of the under-tones from the color itself seems very, very unusual, so I think you're right - something is broken, but I don't think it's the dye so much as it is the outfit.

I hope they address it. If it goes too long without a revision and they address it later on, it will likely cause more of an uproar - changing items post-purchase seems to generate a loss of faith and an increase in resentment toward ZOS. (Think: Earthtear Cavern.)