To Transmogrify or not to Transmogrify

 That, apparently, is the question

When I first heard of transmogrification within the context of gaming, it was immediately clear to me that I was already very late to the party. I remember discovering it when learning about DC Universe Online, one of the first MMOs I toyed around with back when I was still being suckered into the whole 'this game is free!' grift. One of the flag ship selling points in my eyes was that ability to take an item with powerful stats and disguise it (or 'transmogrify' it) to look like another piece of equipment you liked the look of better. It seemed like an essential part of the visual formula for that game, given how that title was invested in making you feel like a unique and powerful wielder of superpowers with their own distinct style and unique superhero outfit. I remember thinking it was such a clever concept, to the extent that it wasn't really anything I expected to see elsewhere in the industry. WOW released their own Transmog system back in 2011, so I was absolutely late to this little feature, and I didn't realise back then how prevalent of a topic it was to become.

In this age of looter games and looter RPGs and looter shooters and MMOs out the rafters- the discussion of whether or not to implant transmogrification systems as an industry standard is becoming more commonplace, as people are starting to recognise the importance of personalisation over focused stat manipulation when it comes to enjoying long-form games. I think a great example for demonstrating this would be to look at the movement known as 'Fashion Souls'. The Soulsborne series of games is renowned as being some of the toughest, yet still fair and rewarding, in the AAA industry, so you'd be forgiving in thinking that these are the sorts of games that demand its player base learn and take advantage of every errant system and minuscule boost that they can in order to get a leg up on the threats of the world. You'd have to be forgiven, for such an assumption would be wrong. 

For many reasons that don't warrant getting into for this particular blog, Souls games are actually pretty relaxed on what systems you choose to master and which you don't; and in fact, someone who min-maxes in such games will find themselves breezing through those games without any struggle whatsoever. Seriously, just invest in magic and everything crumbles in front of you. (Until you come across Gwyn and realise that he has a dodge mechanic built in specifically so that he can jump around your slow-casting magic attacks. The total arse.) So when it comes to armour and the miniscule defence percentage it offers the player, most levelled Souls players just ignore the stats altogether and instead seek out the armour which looks the coolest to them, that which completes their visual style the best, recognising that the real stats of impact are contained within the levelling stat sheet. Thus is born 'Fashion Souls', and the basis for why transmogrification has become a topic of relevance.

Really the point at which I heard this conversations flaring up around the more mainstream elements of the industry was once we started hearing talk regrading the later Assassin's Creed games, which might not make the most sense if you gave up on the franchise when it started to lose it's steam like I pretty much did, but does track better once you realise that these games are rent-price RPG looters now; for some reason. Odyssey had a transmog system so that fashionistas could parse Ubisoft's garishly bloated gear system and Valhalla had it's own transmog evolution wherein there came a price tag attached to visual manipulation that rubbed some people the wrong way. It just didn't make sense to people why a casual RPG like Assassin's Creed would try and prime its systems like some sort of hardcore gear grinder game or MMO and charge for the privilege of style switching. But then Valhalla was the harbinger of many anti-consumer practices, so one more spit in the face of the customers was hardly unexpected.

And so I've bought myself here to ask the obvious question: where does transmog belong and where does it not? Cyberpunk fans demand a transmog system to make their ugly but powerful clothing more bearable to deal with. (Even though that's literally a first person game and one has to wonder how much value such a system would even generate.) Should we be looking at  a transmog system coming with Elder Scrolls 6 too? What are the games for which this idea works and where does it not; or are there even any limits at all and should every game become a free-for-all of visual and functional mismatch? I'd argue that we don't need to take things quite that far, but there are indeed a few concessions to make. Places where such an idea fits, and places where I think it has no place, and figuring out which is which can help to establish expectations and responsibilities.

Firstly where do Transmog systems belong? Well I've bought up looter games for a reason, I think that the sorts of games that dump hoards of untailored randomly assigned, miniscule stat shifted, armour and weaponry on the player are the most direly in need of systems like this. Your Assassin's Creeds, your Destinys, your Niohs, your Diablos. These are the games where sweating the tiny boost to attack speed is the whole crux of the equipment system, and you'll be grinding day after day to earn that perfect randomly generated keyword spread. But when you hit that apex, get those numbers that you want, there's no reason why you should then be limited to look like Frankenstein's swift-shop reject. Transmog only adds value to systems like these because the items themselves are relevant for their abilities alone, not their visual appeal. Changing up the style takes nothing away from these systems and thus transmog system slide in perfectly.

Where do they not? Well, I'd argue this is the case for the more traditional RPGs with that shy away from random stat combinations and keyword kinder surprise. Skyrim, is the example that most readily comes to mind, depicts a world with various styles of armours, all made from different materials and offering differing weight values. Here's an example where the styles and the stats are important, they match up because they are designed to. Dragonplate armour is heavy and bulky, whilst Elven plate is sharp and thinner, adding a transmog system would dig in a little into the illusion built by that artistic intent. And similar games that champion consistent and contextual design also risk a softening of the immersive bonds that form the package.

We're probably at a point where we should be bringing these sorts of systems into most games that deserve them without question, although for the time being there are still a few archaic holdout's keeping us up with such ingenious plans as 'lets charge people money for this stuff and call it a privilege.' Yeah, there's some growing pains to work out. But for the most part I see the concept of transmogrification mechanics as a win for personalisation in customisation and keeping game avatars looking distinct from one another. MMO's realised this potential problem an age ago, so let's not let every high level endgame for big titles end up looking like a Runescape raid where every player is clones of each other in the same type of armour. (No shade at Runescape, I just think that game offers much better examples for the industry than it's visual customisation appeal.)