A Concern Regarding The New Traveler Skin
I would like to first say that the new skins look great and that is not the problem. The problem is the implications. That being, that by giving the traveler a new skin rather than updating the old one, it makes it seem more and more likely that Hoyoverse doesn't seem to intend to update old models. I could just be doomposting but I would like to at least share why I think this.
First, the traveler has repeatedly said they don't want to change their outfit, but now they are doing just that. I admit this is rather nit-picky and could end up being a type of character growth. But after years of Hoyo subtly saying no traveler skins their finally giving us one as a way to make them look less out of place with the newer characters they will be spending more time with.
Second, Hoyo seems allergic to making more skins. I know many defenders say that making a skin takes time. But while that is true, there are also situations where making skins can be more advantageous than releasing new character. For example as more and more characters get added the wait for old characters gets longer and longer. This can be slightly alleviated by skipping making a new character and giving an old one a skin and rerunning them. This would give old characters a time to shine. While this seems somewhat unrelated to updating old models because the design is already there. Updating 3d models sometimes requires needing to completely remodel what you're trying to change based on the old mesh and what your to do. I speak from experience as 3D modeler. Not to get into the nitty-gritty but 3D models need to be done a certain way if you want to make something that moves around in a non-cursed way.
Third, the old designs are typically less complex and have fewer bits and bobs, so making some parts more detailed could make the simpler parts stick out more. Not to mention Hoyoverse often seems to stick to the safer options and changing an old model can be dangerous because what if they update a model and the players dislike it. From this perspective making an optional skin is clearly the safer choice, if the player hates it they won't use it and you don't need to deal with the players getting mad about a change being made to a character they potentially paid for.
So why does this even matter? Well, five stars, that's why. Skins for four stars are at least free when they first get released but five stars always cost money. So RIP Albedo mains if you want his hair to not look like play dough then you'll need to wait and fork over some cash if that day does come. And Diluc mains, welp your even more screwed because he already has a skin and because Hoyo is constantly adding new characters and rarely adds skins the odds of you guys getting another is slim so I hope that skin is enough of a glow up. This also sucks for those with relatively recent mains for example Furina is fairly up to date but because of her hairstyle she could benefit from that new seeing the eye through the hair thing they added.
I truly hope this ages like milk, but if they're going to say screw it and give a skin to the one character they constantly said no to giving a skin to as a way to update their model, then the odds of them updating other old characters seems to have decreased. I know that Skirk got a model change but as I said in reason 3, Skirk wasn't playable until her update so changing her appearance wouldn't upset anyone that has her and make them feel like what they bought got stolen, which could cause potential legal problems.
On a fairly unrelated note I wonder how their gonna handle the abyss sibling. Will they also get a wardrobe change next time we see them or are they gonna stand out.
First, the traveler has repeatedly said they don't want to change their outfit, but now they are doing just that. I admit this is rather nit-picky and could end up being a type of character growth. But after years of Hoyo subtly saying no traveler skins their finally giving us one as a way to make them look less out of place with the newer characters they will be spending more time with.
Second, Hoyo seems allergic to making more skins. I know many defenders say that making a skin takes time. But while that is true, there are also situations where making skins can be more advantageous than releasing new character. For example as more and more characters get added the wait for old characters gets longer and longer. This can be slightly alleviated by skipping making a new character and giving an old one a skin and rerunning them. This would give old characters a time to shine. While this seems somewhat unrelated to updating old models because the design is already there. Updating 3d models sometimes requires needing to completely remodel what you're trying to change based on the old mesh and what your to do. I speak from experience as 3D modeler. Not to get into the nitty-gritty but 3D models need to be done a certain way if you want to make something that moves around in a non-cursed way.
Third, the old designs are typically less complex and have fewer bits and bobs, so making some parts more detailed could make the simpler parts stick out more. Not to mention Hoyoverse often seems to stick to the safer options and changing an old model can be dangerous because what if they update a model and the players dislike it. From this perspective making an optional skin is clearly the safer choice, if the player hates it they won't use it and you don't need to deal with the players getting mad about a change being made to a character they potentially paid for.
So why does this even matter? Well, five stars, that's why. Skins for four stars are at least free when they first get released but five stars always cost money. So RIP Albedo mains if you want his hair to not look like play dough then you'll need to wait and fork over some cash if that day does come. And Diluc mains, welp your even more screwed because he already has a skin and because Hoyo is constantly adding new characters and rarely adds skins the odds of you guys getting another is slim so I hope that skin is enough of a glow up. This also sucks for those with relatively recent mains for example Furina is fairly up to date but because of her hairstyle she could benefit from that new seeing the eye through the hair thing they added.
I truly hope this ages like milk, but if they're going to say screw it and give a skin to the one character they constantly said no to giving a skin to as a way to update their model, then the odds of them updating other old characters seems to have decreased. I know that Skirk got a model change but as I said in reason 3, Skirk wasn't playable until her update so changing her appearance wouldn't upset anyone that has her and make them feel like what they bought got stolen, which could cause potential legal problems.
On a fairly unrelated note I wonder how their gonna handle the abyss sibling. Will they also get a wardrobe change next time we see them or are they gonna stand out.
Commentaires
Also I said they rarely go back to improve on previous things which is true. Buffs is a first step for them but they still haven't change older compass which was something people also wanted. They're also slow to work on making event quests permanent. They are doing it for newer quests but to work in retrospect for older events takes time out of existing teams to put in something that won't make them money when they also would be swamped with working on the next thing.
I do wish for updated models, but at the same time, I also see why they won't do it. When the alternative Mondstadt skins came out, it took them two versions to update cutscenes. They were released in 2.4, and fully included in the pre-rendered cutscenes in 2.6. That was only for four skins.
And realistically, it is also unreasonable to release updated models in small batches. For example, the Chasm Interlude quest. Say they release a Xiao remodel alongside some other Liyue characters. They update the cutscenes for the Xiao remodel. But later on, they have a batch released for Inazuma characters. So now the cutscenes have to be redone for Itto and Shinobu.
They could leave the cutscenes alone, but the differences in models from cutscenes and the playable versions would be very jarring.
What I do think they can do is update the models of all alt skins since they show up in limited quests for the most part. Not to mention release more skins and at a higher frequency.
Traveler refused to change their outfit because the devs did not want to pay for a new outfit model.
Let's be honest.
The only complaint I have is that I have is that is because of how hard it would be to update the old models, players are forced to pay money if they want an old character to fit in and even then the skins rarely appear out side of the event they debut in so they will still look out of place if they appear in the story.