Customisation Standardization

Aerek

With the sole intention of providing constructive criticism, I cannot help but notice a level of inconsistency present in the customization process. I very much assume that the Customisation account is handled by multiple volunteers in addition to their other (preferred) activities, and am deeply aware that such requests are subject only to the imagination and often require judgment calls on behalf of that volunteer,  and I fully understand the difficulty in maintaining a clear SOP across an often-shifting team; I think we all get that, and afford appropriate slack. But it's still a fair source of confusion when what is/isn't possible seems to vary on the date, or who picks up the request, or given how many times different players end up with different responses.

While a few things have been consistent across the years, like no customisation of sigils/forged goods/BM swords, (Though I have personally seen an exception on BM swords, too) there seem to be a great many things that haven't been, and it's frustrating to get a straight answer from Customisations at times, especially when we have requests denied and know someone else who was allowed that particular customisation already. (And especially if they got it recently) Sometimes it's hard not to argue with the Customisations reps, and sometimes it's hard not to just wait a week or two and ask again to see if you get  the same answer.
A few specific examples I've seen approved sometimes and denied others:

• Can talisman set items be customized in description?
• Can talisman set items be made to reset to a private house/ship?
• Can we change the base item name?
• Can items be made to OPEN/CLOSE?
• Can we combine artefacts? (This was recently put to rest, but still a good example over the years.)

Now obviously we'd love a HELP file with an exhaustive, updated list of what can and cannot be done in every instance, or what can/can't be done in certain instances and why. If that's possible, that'd be great; you'd get heaps of praise for that. But even if it was just a memo that was hammered out and circulated between Admin/Garden members that more clearly defined these things, that could go a long way to ease the confusion and misgivings that sometimes surround the process as those rules/restrictions/judgements were handed down more consistently across the board.

I completely understand that this will never be a cut-and-dry topic, but hopefully it doesn't have to feel like playing roulette any time you have an unusual request.

Belus

I tried to customize something recently but found the options too rigid for what I was hoping to create. I learned a bit about the process though. I wanted Belus to recover his father's Genji darkbow in a mini-event for the house/city.

• Artifacts cannot bear a mark of loyalty of someone other than the owner. I couldn't customize an artifact bow to "bear the distinctive mark of Deridius."
  
• bow1234 can not be described in the short description as darkbow, nor can it be renamed to darkbow1234.
• existing darkbow1234 cannot be granted the properties of an artifact bow
• forged "whip1234 - an archaic, ordinary lash" can be customized as a whip or lash
• a buckawns spine can be customized as a spine of another creature or another type of dirk. Same for Thoth's fang.

Separately:

• Native American cultures don't exist in Achaea and customized items cannot reference them.
  

Kiet

That last one is funny considering Vastar's order

Klendathu

Belus said:

• Native American cultures don't exist in Achaea and customized items cannot reference them.
  

You can describe the properties, rather than explicitly stating "Souix" or "Apache" or any of the other tribes. My recent customisations have been under a mesoamerican theme, without explicily mentioning the South American native tribes.

Grandue

Another question:

• Can you remove the worn slot designation from an artifact?

VERY recently someone was able to get the Admin to remove the slot designation from their Gloves of Harvesting and Gloves of Extraction so that they could be worn at the same time. The very same day these changes were made to their gloves I submitted a request for the exact same customization and never heard back. I have gauntlets of strength, gloves of harvesting, and gloves of extraction and you can only wear one of them at the same time. This is extremely frustrating when you are harvesting and extracting while hunting, having to CONSTANTLY remove and wear different gloves and gauntlets. So spammy! You would think after spending 3,100 credits on these artifacts you would be able to wear them at the same time, especially considering it gives no combat advantage.

Another instance of this is with the Dex boots and water walking enchantment. There are combat situations where removing your water walking boots is beneficial, but when you are wearing dex boots you have to remove that artifact in order to remove the water walking. Allowing socks to be given the water walking enchantment or allowing us to wear two separate boots or make water walking a toggle if you have the enchantment on your boots would be extremely appreciated.

Kyrra

@Grandue, it's worth noting that I only asked if it were possible for both sets of gloves to be worn, or if they might get changed down to a single glove since artefact combining doesn't appear to be a thing any more for the moment. It wasn't a formal request through customisations and I just randomly noticed one day that I could wear both so I assumed that all gloves were changed.

It's a stupid juggling act when you have strength gauntlets, a runic gauntlet, and multiple gloves associated with trade skills. I know there was an issue with the gauntlets or gauntlet I think, where you either had to remove gloves in order to wear the gauntlet/s or vice versa.

Regarding the original post though, I've had encounters recently with Customisations where the design for my shield was rejected because the material it was made from was not allowed to be used for player customisations. I just made a note on the customisation request that my fullplate was designed with the same material and since I had permission from the Garden at that time (thanks Tecton), I asked if it were possible for my shield to be accepted because there was no issues with the original concept. It was approved by the time I next logged on.

There does sometimes seem to be discrepancies between what is and isn't acceptable, but it's not just the Customisations team. You see an equal amount of yeps and nopes when it comes to designs through the UUC, where some players get to have exploding lava cakes and rock candy in their recipes and others are turned down for wanting similar concepts. I had jewellery designs accepted when I originally made them for Selene's Order and when I submitted the exact same designs after all the Order org designs were lost from the Order dissolving, they were rejected.

It can be really frustrating sometimes when there is no consistency with customisations, but if you're polite in your reasoning about why something ought to be allowed to go through, the majority of the time it does get granted. 

Tahquil

You cannot customize the potted corpse plant or lycopods.

(I'm helping right?)

Antonius

Gauntlets STILL have the issue where you can't wear them if you're wearing Gloves of Harvesting, but you can wear Gloves of Harvesting while wearing Gauntlets. I filed a bug, it was closed saying that they had something planned, then... nothing. I filed a second bug, but I can't remember if that was closed as a duplicate or is still open.