Question time: Do you care about fashion in MMOs, or do you just chuck any old gear on and call it a day?

A rogue dressed in scarlet drapes poses fashionably in Final Fantasy 14. — (Image credit: Square Enix)

Terminally Online

This is Terminally Online: PC Gamer's very own MMO column. Every other week, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the genre, interviewing fellow MMO-heads like me, taking a deep-dive into mechanics we've all taken for granted, and, occasionally, bringing in guest writers to talk about their MMO of choice.

It's often said that the true endgame of any MMO is fashion—well, those that have a glamour or transmog system, at least. And there's some truth to that.

However, any time I look around in a dungeon or raid, I'm always astonished at the variance on display—some people are all dressed up in their raid-day best, while others look like they stumbled through a hot topic blacksmith, tripped on some glue, and fell into a pile of legos. Sometimes this is on purpose, others? I have to wonder why they even bothered.

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So what about you? Are you one of those designers turned hardcore raiders who'll do any tough content if it means they get a shiny pair of shoulder-pads? Or do you just load up a nice-looking tier set and call it a day?

I wouldn't call myself a fashionista, per se, but I've absolutely done content in my MMOs of choice just to settle on an outfit—somewhat shamefully, I usually take outfits other people have designed and shared on sites like EorzeaCollection to use as a template, but I like to make adjustments to fit my characters along the way.

Or, you know, to save money. Pure white dye is expensive and I might need that 500,000 gil for… something. You don't know me.

Maybe you've got some other kind of style going—I know plenty of players who deliberately craft the ugliest, rainbow-offensive looking creatures to ever slide out of the primordial ooze just for kicks. Personally, I like to go for understated, realistic-looking outfits—the moment a game gives me a puffy-sleeved shirt or some practical pants, you bet I'm getting a transmog together to look all practical.

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty, feel free to share your own personal outfit strategies below.

PRODUCTS

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

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