Live and Let Dye

Kristen Perry has posted a new article on how dye works in GW2 on the ANet blog.
http://www.arena.net/blog/live-and-l...gw2-dye-system

Quote:




I�ve been thinking for months now about how to describe the new dye system to you, which has been completely redesigned and is much more flexible than the original. There�s one big change I knew would surprise the �dye hard� fans, so I figured I should reveal that information first. Besides, if we all have the collective gasp at the beginning, I�ll know at least everyone will have a full tank of oxygen in their brains to read the rest of the article.
Here�s the deal: there�s no more mixing.
There, I said it. Now here�s why it�s the bee�s knees!|||Im happy to see that you can dye more than 1 place on a single piece. Truly is interesting.|||What I was more impressed by were the pictures in the article.
The armor types, some of those armors on the Norn look straight dirty.|||This new dye system sounds fun. I'm curious to see how dyes will be unlocked.|||Great article. That just looks amazing. Can't wait to try it in game when it actually ships. And I must say some of those armors look amazing. Can we please get some more screens of those? Also:

Quote:




it would be a travesty to never have a long trench coat,




Could not agree more.|||Sounds like they want to make you pay for the really cool ones via the in-game store for real-world cash to me (in reference to "unlocking" outside the game). I'm going to sit on the sidelines when they release this till I find out more about all the microtransactions I THINK I see coming with GW2.|||Wow this sounds awesome! I love that we don't have to mix dyes anymore, and unlocking them once is great, so we don't have to buy 10 different colors of the dye every time we get a new armor. At least, that's what it sounds like - once you unlock the dye color you can get it for free. I hope so anyway.
But regardless, it's still cool that we can also dye more parts of our armor. And the armors in the pictures looked pic. I wonder if this will work the same for weapons.|||A couple things that jumped out at me that could use clarification.
1) "The dye hues themselves will be unlockable through various means, both in-game and out."
The last word worries me. I don't look forward to "deals" like "buy four character slots in the next week, and get the Leet Pink dye color, not available by any other means!" A word from a dev to squash these fears would be greatly appreciated.
2) "To ensure that the five races have their own identities, we’ve created a cultural palette that reflects the character of the species. This means a red color for a human may not look the same as a red color for a norn or charr."
I'm confused. Does this mean races get different colors at the start (turquoise for asura, aquamarine for sylvari, sky blue for humans, etc), or does it mean the same color looks differently depending on which race is wearing it?
And if it's the former (which I'm inclined to believe), wouldn't you just get all five racial palettes by rolling up a character of each race, negating the whole point?

Quote:








Wow this sounds awesome! I love that we don't have to mix dyes anymore, and unlocking them once is great, so we don't have to buy 10 different colors of the dye every time we get a new armor. At least, that's what it sounds like - once you unlock the dye color you can get it for free. I hope so anyway.




That is what it says. Dye are unlockables, not physical items. Which is awesome.|||Quote:








Sounds like they want to make you pay for the really cool ones via the in-game store for real-world cash to me (in reference to "unlocking" outside the game). I'm going to sit on the sidelines when they release this till I find out more about all the microtransactions I THINK I see coming with GW2.




I'm no insider so this is just an opinion based on my experiences with Anet. I would tend to believe that, if colors are offered for purchase, it would be like the skill packs in GWO - you can unlock them individually by playing, or purchase them all at once.|||Quote:








Sounds like they want to make you pay for the really cool ones via the in-game store for real-world cash to me (in reference to "unlocking" outside the game).




Seems likely, yes. At least for later made "special" colors.
OTOH, if all they sell are colors, who cares? Colors and costumes don't affect gameplay, they just make it more pretty.
There has to be a drawback to a subscription-free game. If it's no more than buyable pretties, I couldn't care less.
--
Interesting article nonetheless.