Jhalin wrote: »

...you can use all of them in the free closets houses to the same effect as the 3 million gold house that I'd rather have.

Technically, no. The free apartments only have two collectibles slots. The chests occupy the same status as undaunted trophies. So, the 3.8m homes with 80 collectable slots do actually have more utility when it comes to the new storage chests.

Jhalin wrote: »

Except...it currently has a per use cost. That's what I'm saying. Right now if you want to change how your gear looks, you must use materials to make a piece of equipment in a different style. Why should we not use the same process to create a cosmetic piece of equipment? It's better than a gold cost, and there should be some cost to it the same way there is to crafting.

I know everyone prefers free things, I would love to have all the houses and furniture be free, but I know they're just cosmetic things. Even with storage crates coming, you can use all of them in the free closets houses to the same effect as the 3 million gold house that I'd rather have. Cosmetic upgrades, while nice, are not key to gameplay, so there's nothing wrong with placing some kind of cost on them.

@Jhalin

No, right now if you want to change how your gear looks you just don't get to because we're all running dropped sets. :-p But seriously I am comparing it to other cosmetic systems in the game, not to crafting. Crafting has a cost because you get to make set bonus armor with a combat advantage, not because of its aesthetic value. Costumes, facial accessories, mounts, hairstyles, and dyes all have an up-front cost, but are then free to change around forever across your whole account. As this is a new purely cosmetic system, that is the metric I'm measuring by. It's not about getting "free things". There should be a cost, but it should be all up front. Since we already have such a cost in the form of gathering the motifs, that should be enough.