"Show Peculiar Content" Option

[PublikDomain]

Quote

We like doing seasonal events - in many ways we depend on them. The creative team simply does not want these around all year round. How that fact lands can be turbulent, but that's where they end up every year. Maybe next year, bunny bros.

This is a quote from [DE]Rebecca from the Spring of 2019. Since then, several permanent festive cosmetics have been added to the game which run counter to this statement:

• Spinneret Ephemera
• Naberus Ephemera
• Eros Wings Ephemera
• Eros Arrow Skin
• Nyctalus Ephemera
• Soaker Ephemera - NEW
• Protokol Weapon Skins - COMING SOON

This is in addition to the host of already-permanent cosmetics like the Spearmint Scythe Skin and Little Helper Hat. Yet despite this, DE still does not offer a way for players to hide these or other silly or potentially immersion-breaking content. Nor do they yet allow some of the other silly cosmetics to be kept permanently. We're stuck in the middle with no solution for any party: people that don't like these cosmetics can't hide them, and people that do like the cosmetics that are still temporary cannot keep them. It's inconsistent and no one is happy with the outcome!

NOTE

This is a specific feature request, not a general discussion about these kinds of cosmetics. Moderators: please do not merge unrelated threads here! It makes the thread hard to follow and runs the risk of wiping out the OP and its years of work and collected likes. Please do not merge this thread into other threads! Please help protect this thread's status as a Popular Post.

Peculiar Content

DE should group this type of content under the "peculiar" label, which is already used for silly mods like Peculiar Bloom, Peculiar Growth, and Peculiar Audience. Peculiar content and items players can access would then be prefixed by a stylized flower icon (, a reference to Peculiar Bloom) to help identify them. This icon could be inserted into text the same way Lich and Sister icons are added to Kuva and Tenet weapons:

 

"Show Peculiar Content" Option

Accompanying this new Peculiar designation should be a new setting in the Options/Gameplay sub-menu:

The Show Peculiar Content setting should have 3 options:

1. When Appropriate (default)
2. Always
3. Never

If this setting is set to When Appropriate, Peculiar content should only be visible when it is the appropriate time of year or in the appropriate context. If the setting is set to Always or Never, the content should either always or never be shown, regardless of when it is otherwise deemed appropriate.

Examples of content that would be marked as Peculiar and the context in which they are appropriate are:

Peculiar Content	When It Is Appropriate
Norg Mask1, Peculiar Bloom, Peculiar Growth, Eros Ephemera1, Nyctalus Ephemera1, Dullahan Liches, Protokol Skins	Always2
Eros Arrow Skin, Ticker's special Star Days appearance3	Around Valentine's Day
Lepus Headgear, Spring Step Ephemera, Corpus Egg Containers and Ears3	Around Easter
Dog Days Ephemera, Soaker Ephemera	During the Summer
Dullahan Mask, Naberus Ephemera1, Spinneret Ephemera1, Sister's special Nights of Naberus appearance3	Around Halloween
Movember Mustaches	During Movember
Ringers Skin, Spearmint Scythe Skin, Festive Glaxion Skin, Little Helper Hat	Around Christmas/New Years

¹ Some content is right on the edge of being too outlandish, and it's up to DE if they want them to be included under this system.
² Some content isn't associated with a specific time of year and would always be appropriate to view - only hidden when Show Peculiar Content is set to Never.
³ Some content is connected to a specific event's character or object and would be shown during the related events - only hidden when Show Peculiar Content is set to Never.

Content that is not currently appropriate to view should not be loaded or rendered, and if necessary the default appearance should be loaded or rendered instead as a fallback. For example, the Dullahan Mask would only be appropriate during Nights of Naberus, so by default when it isn't Nights of Naberus the Warframe would appear with its default helmet instead. The default helmet would also be used instead for a player who has chosen to never see this content, even if the Nights of Naberus event is currently active.

This setting would only affect Peculiar content not directly equipped by you, the player. Peculiar content you equip for yourself should always be shown on your own character, as you have already made the decision to view it.

Some seasonal cosmetics sets like the Towsun, Day of the Dead, and Solstice sets aren't quite silly enough to be marked Peculiar and should probably not be affected by this system, but this decision is ultimately up to DE.

With this setting, players can now individually choose how they want to interact with this content. Players who find this content detrimental to their experience can fully opt out if they want to avoid it. Players that enjoy this content can opt in and see this content year-round, and the few remaining temporary cosmetics could be made permanent like the Eros Arrow Skin was in 2021. Players who do not care one way or the other would continue to experience this content the same way they do now, viewing it only when it is in season.

Precedent

Players being able to disrupt the experiences of others has been a frequent problem in Warframe. Grendel's Feast being able to hold an entire map worth of enemies was disruptive because it left little for his teammates to do, and this was changed. Limbo's Stasis being able to freeze teammate projectiles was disruptive because it prevented teammates from being able to use their guns, and this was changed. Octavia's music could be disruptive because it could be made loud and annoying, and a separate setting for both the player and teammate Mandacord volumes was added. Player visual effects can be disruptive if they are bright and are spammed, and a setting to reduce these effects was added.

Players with silly cosmetics can be disruptive, too.

A setting such as this would not be unique to Warframe, either. War Thunder is a military vehicle combat game, and it allows its players to choose for themselves the level of historical realism of other players' skins:

Quote

Displaying historical camouflages

We also want to note that not all user-made camouflages selected for the Market will be historical. We understand that some players don’t want to see non-authentic camouflages in battle, so we’re adding an option to the game to set which type of camouflages you will be able to see in battle. You can select between displaying only historical skins, semi-historical or all. By default, the camouflage display option will be enabled for showing only historical camouflages, but when you set any non-historical camouflage on a vehicle, the display option will switch to “Any” mode.

https://warthunder.com/en/news/5398-development-the-war-thunder-market-and-user-camouflages-en

If you know of any other examples, please let me know.

Ephemerals

This would also be a nice time to replace the Peculiar Bloom, Peculiar Growth, and Peculiar Audience mods with Ephemera, along with a new category of Ephemera for weapons called "Ephemerals".

• Peculiar Bloom → Ephemeral Bloom
• Peculiar Growth → Ephemeral Growth
• Peculiar Audience → Audience Ephemera

Like Ephemera, Ephemerals would be particle effects or visual changes applied to weapons equipped through the Appearance menu. Other Ephemerals can then be added to the game, like Ephemeral Dex which could change a weapon's muzzle flash to a Lotus symbol, or Ephemeral Splash which could replace impact effects with the Dog Days water splashes.

Spoiler

This would provide DE with a new set of cosmetics they can sell or add as rewards, while also reworking and improving the existing (and widely ignored and unused) Peculiar mods. By recycling the name and updating Peculiar mods into Ephemera and Ephemerals DE can kill two birds with one stone.

Other Applications

This system could also apply to other types of content as well, and isn't limited to just cosmetics.

Ticker and Sister both have special holiday appearances during Star Days and Nights of Naberus.

During Nights of Naberus, a spooky camera filter could be applied in missions, and the Infested could have their old Halloween appearances.

Long ago during the game's Easter events, Corpus containers were replaced with Easter eggs and the Corpus donned Lepus Headgear of their own.

Spoiler

As of 2021 the Dullahan Mask is now a Helmet and not an Auxiliary, so Liches and Sisters can be generated that have a Dullahan Mask on their shoulder/Hound. Players who have fully opted out could see Dullahan Liches with only the default Excalibur helmet.

Spoiler

Players could, for a brief period, select skin tones for their Operators and Drifters from their full range of owned color palettes. DE said that they were unsure about this feature - but they wouldn't have to be if players could decide for themselves. A feature like this could have been used to let players opt in to the full range of potentially-silly skin tones, while players with the setting set to When Appropriate or Never could have seen the closest skin tone on DE's curated color palettes. But instead the feature was removed and only a few extra skin tones were added.

Spoiler

Summary

With these changes, silly or otherwise immersion-breaking content could be unified under a single banner. Players that want to avoid this kind of content entirely could do so. Players that want to view this kind of content year-round could do so. Players who do not care either way could continue with the same experience they have now. And by recycling the Peculiar name DE could make space for a new set of weapon-based Ephemera to create and sell. Everyone wins!

I sincerely hope that 2021 2022 2023 is the year DE finally sees the light and provides this much-needed option.

Edited April 22, 2023 by PublikDomain
Included new Protokol skins, maintenance, fixing dead images, some formatting

[LillyRaccune]

7 minutes ago, PublikDomain said:

In this way, silly or otherwise immersion-breaking content can be unified under a single banner.

Well prepared and well organized. I think I would use this feature if it was implemented. Good report!

[Jem991]

I want show my wing if this option is come I can't show my wing my fashion frame completely breaks

Edited February 14, 2021 by Jem991

[Hello]

I never found other items to be that bad, but the Eros wings I'm already over seeing in game. Sure it looks good in captura. However, it's an eyesore when the majority of people have it in relays and missions.

[Wind_Blade]

Now the problem is what is peculiar, some people agree that some ephemera are fine some agree that all of them are bad, some say some sesonial are bad some good, some say that some tennogen are also bad.

There is no good anwser and that's the problem, only arbitrary anwser.

Is a pink rhino with butterfly wing immersion break and should be in this option ? well no one complain about them before (and wings will go away with time since it's a new thing).

Same for candy melee weapons.....
You say yourself that Ephemeral Bloom, Ephemeral Growth, Norg Mask are fine... But why ? they are as silly as the other items ... so that the problem.

That why that if implemented, this thing will be a pain in the ass because half of the community will say some item are missing in it and others will say that some item should not be in.

Edited February 15, 2021 by Wind_Blade

[PublikDomain]

Sorry! Wasn't actually getting notifications of new comments so I missed some.

On 2021-02-13 at 6:02 PM, Jem991 said:

I want show my wing if this option is come I can't show my wing my fashion frame completely breaks

You'd continue to see your frame with whatever items you have equipped regardless of the setting, it's only other players who wouldn't see your wings/candy cane/pumpkin/etc if they've opted out or if it's out of season. Players who have opted in would continue to see all of your cosmetics as they are. As it stands players who don't wish to see your fashion are forced to, and that's not fair to them.

5 hours ago, Wind_Blade said:

Now the problem is what is peculiar, some people agree that some ephemera are fine some agree that all of them are bad, some say some sesonial are bad some good, some say that some tennogen are also bad.

DE would have the final say on what would or would not be considered Peculiar. It's ultimately up to them and their creative team, but the idea is that anything distracting, goofy, or outlandish would count. On the subject of TennoGen, I don't think TennoGen would ever fall under this category since the submission guidelines should keep all of that content kosher, but again that's on DE. If anything it might give TennoGen creators a new category to create content for.

5 hours ago, Wind_Blade said:

Is a pink rhino with butterfly wing immersion break and should be in this option ? well no one complain about them before (and wings will go away with time since it's a new thing).

Plenty of people complain about this, and it's the typical example given when people campaign for permanent silly cosmetics. If we can be a pink butterfly Rhino, why not a pink butterfly Rhino with bunny ears*? But while it's impossible to determine which combination of colors are too much and might be immersion-breaking, it's not impossible to determine that floppy bunny ears or a pumpkin head definitely are. A "vanilla-only" option might help with this, but that's beyond the scope of this setting.

5 hours ago, Wind_Blade said:

You say yourself that Ephemeral Bloom, Ephemeral Growth, Norg Mask are fine... But why ? they are as silly as the other items ... so that the problem.

Sorry, I'll update the formatting to make it more clear. Ephemeral Bloom and Ephemeral Growth would definitely be Peculiar, but the Norg mask... I guess an argument could be made that it fits the game's aesthetic? That's why it's ultimately up to DE. I would think wearing a fish on your head would be included, but who knows what DE thinks?

5 hours ago, Wind_Blade said:

That why that if implemented, this thing will be a pain in the ass because half of the community will say some item are missing in it and others will say that some item should not be in.

If someone has a good argument for why a specific item should or shouldn't be Peculiar then they're free to make it, but it's ultimately a decision for DE's creative team. And I would hope that they err on the side of caution since a non-holiday Peculiar item, like say hypothetically the butterfly wings, would only be hidden for the players who have fully opted out of seeing them. That's a decision for those players to make.

Edited February 15, 2021 by PublikDomain

[(PSN)Unstar]

Personally, I hope a feature like this isn't implemented.  While part of self-expression is certainly the ability to express yourself to yourself, it's often just as much about - if not more about - expressing yourself to others.

I would guess that DE isn't likely to implement a system like this, though.  Not only have they already made a decision that they're okay with this type of visual in the game, but any items that were labeled as "peculiar" would innately have their desirability diminished because many players want to be seen, and it's not in DE or Warframe's best interest to have rewards or shop items be less desirable.

[PublikDomain]

7 hours ago, (PSN)Unstar said:

While part of self-expression is certainly the ability to express yourself to yourself, it's often just as much about - if not more about - expressing yourself to others.

And IMO your self-expression to others doesn't outweigh their enjoyment of the game. DE seems to agree with this notion because they allow you to mute other Octavia players or reduce ally visual effects for the same reason.

7 hours ago, (PSN)Unstar said:

any items that were labeled as "peculiar" would innately have their desirability diminished because many players want to be seen

The default option would allow these items to remain seen just as they are now, with the exception of the few items that are already permanent. Only players who fully opt out wouldn't see them, and that should be their choice and no one else's. Besides that, any potential decrease in desirability by some players opting out should be offset by the increase in desirability from these cosmetics all becoming permanent so you and like-minded players can view them year-round.

Edited February 18, 2021 by PublikDomain

[anonymous14z]

Brainless Bump, I like the solutions proposed in this thread, DE Please consider, those wings are awfully obnoxious, and I hope I won't have to deal with them beyond this event.

[anonymous14z]

I feel this could use another bump.

[DrivaMain]

On 2021-02-18 at 4:04 AM, (PSN)Unstar said:

Personally, I hope a feature like this isn't implemented.  While part of self-expression is certainly the ability to express yourself to yourself, it's often just as much about - if not more about - expressing yourself to others.

It has to be implemented sooner or later. Players are already upset seeing these “peculiar” cosmetics. If DE let it grow a new “Remove Peculiar Items” group will rise and invade the forums with their “Remove Peculiars” threads with a splash of toxicity.

[anonymous14z]

Being brainless (and seeing how this thread is nearing the bottom of this board)

Bump, I'm still in favor of this feature, and I still feel those wings are obnoxious.

Edited February 27, 2021 by anonymous14z
Less arrogant

[anonymous14z]

I hope my bumping ways don't come off as too offensive.

However any sense of disenguinity is marginal; I really do think those angel wings are oversized and annoying.

[taiiat]

note that "when appropriate" is obscure - better described as say... 'Seasonal', or something that's atleast a bit more descriptive.

[PublikDomain]

1 minute ago, taiiat said:

note that "when appropriate" is obscure - better described as say... 'Seasonal', or something that's atleast a bit more descriptive.

It is a little generic, but that's the intention. Years ago the idea was just "Show Festive Cosmetics", but it turns out not all silly things are festive nor cosmetics. There are a lot of little in-betweens that can fall under the same umbrella, hence the gradual change of focus. Calling the option "when in season" would work for most things, but what about silly items without a corresponding season like Peculiar Bloom? By default you should see this year-round, because that's when it's appropriate to be seen. The only time you shouldn't see it is if you've fully opted out. That's the thinking, anyways. If there's a better term I'm all for it, but "seasonal" might not be it.

[taiiat]

21 minutes ago, PublikDomain said:

It is a little generic, but that's the intention

if it's that level of generic, then the user doesn't know what the setting represents. that's not a good setting.

[PublikDomain]

5 minutes ago, taiiat said:

if it's that level of generic, then the user doesn't know what the setting represents. that's not a good setting.

I mean I think it speaks for itself? Peculiar content - that is content prefixed with the Peculiar icon - would be shown (or hidden) by the setting. By default this content is shown only when it is appropriate to be shown. You could also choose to always show this content or never show this content.

[LillyRaccune]

The English language is a fickle thing. Let's make DE implement it, then we can debate on what to name it.

I think "immersion breaking" is the leading idea here. When "Thematically Appropriate" is the point, what it gets called doesn't matter.

[anonymous14z]

Bump Again

(has this feature been implemented yet?)

[PublikDomain]

1 minute ago, anonymous14z said:

Bump Again

(has this feature been implemented yet?)

It has not.

[LillyRaccune]

This idea will hopefully gain more traction when Corpus Liches and "Munni ephemeras" start devaluing our Warframe experience.

[anonymous14z]

Bump again

Or has this suggestion been implemented already? and thus my bumps inappropriate?

[LillyRaccune]

3 hours ago, anonymous14z said:

has this suggestion been implemented

Not yet.

3 hours ago, anonymous14z said:

thus my bumps inappropriate

Not inappropriate. 💖 Keep on bumpin'! Thanks for your dedication.

[anonymous14z]

Welp, it's looking like another time to bump this thread, so here I go

BUMP.

[PublikDomain]

7 hours ago, anonymous14z said:

Welp, it's looking like another time to bump this thread, so here I go

BUMP.

I appreciate it!