Tabard or Not Tabard
Posted by 
Amatera on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 22 Comments Tags: Achievements, FFXI, argent dawn, ebon blade, fashion, rant, reputation, subligar, tabards, vera bradley
Amatera on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 22 Comments Tags: Achievements, FFXI, argent dawn, ebon blade, fashion, rant, reputation, subligar, tabards, vera bradley
Sit around in General or Trade chat long enough, and you're bound to see someone or other recruiting members for their freshly-formed guild. Part of the pitch almost always incorporates how "freakin' awesome" their guild tabard is. Now, I'm all for guild pride, but it's just so damn hard for me to get excited about tabards.
iTZKooPA recently posted an article about fashion sense in WoW, namely how awful it can be at times (though nothing will ever compare to the Subligar class of armor from FFXI -- man-thong anyone?). One of his key complaints was the lack of available customization in the game and, indeed, if you play a certain class, you've got few options moving forward through each tier of equipment. I mean, if you've got an ugly set, you're pretty much stuck with it.
So you say, "Hey, Amatera! What about tabards?! They're one of the few pieces of gear that anybody can put on!"
And my response to that would be, "Maybe they can be worn by anybody, but I don't know why anybody would want to wear them!"
Ugh.... it just ruins the entire outfit!
Let's face it, tabards are a fashion faux pas. Even a cool design on the front (as rare as they actually are) doesn't prevent them from covering up that sweet, new breastplate you just picked up. What's the point in throwing a dirty bedsheet on top of your ass-kicking getup? It makes you look like you're getting ready for a sleepover with Ysera!
Unfortunately, Blizzard sought to complicate matters with the release of Wrath of the Lich King. Leaving your guild tabard in the closet is one thing, but it's much tougher to stop yourself from wearing something that could greatly increase your ability to earn reputation. Generally, the rewards associated with the four factions that offer such tabards piddle away quickly the farther in content you get, but they still provide an easy avenue for completing rep-related Achievements, as well as add more incentive to go back and complete Heroic dungeon runs.
I still hate wearing them, though. All except for the Tabard of the Ebon Blade completely clash with the dark hues of end-game Rogue armor. Just as well, they seem far too easy to come by these days. Used to be that if you were wearing a fancy Tabard of the Argent Dawn, it actually meant something!
So, is there anyone else out there that hates tabards as much as I do? Or do you think they're the greatest thing to happen to fashion since Vera Bradley (and, yes, I'm ashamed to actually know what that is)? Granted, I'm pretty much a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy in real life, so if there are any experts out there, feel free to tell me off in the comments section!
iTZKooPA recently posted an article about fashion sense in WoW, namely how awful it can be at times (though nothing will ever compare to the Subligar class of armor from FFXI -- man-thong anyone?). One of his key complaints was the lack of available customization in the game and, indeed, if you play a certain class, you've got few options moving forward through each tier of equipment. I mean, if you've got an ugly set, you're pretty much stuck with it.
So you say, "Hey, Amatera! What about tabards?! They're one of the few pieces of gear that anybody can put on!"
And my response to that would be, "Maybe they can be worn by anybody, but I don't know why anybody would want to wear them!"
Ugh.... it just ruins the entire outfit!Let's face it, tabards are a fashion faux pas. Even a cool design on the front (as rare as they actually are) doesn't prevent them from covering up that sweet, new breastplate you just picked up. What's the point in throwing a dirty bedsheet on top of your ass-kicking getup? It makes you look like you're getting ready for a sleepover with Ysera!
Unfortunately, Blizzard sought to complicate matters with the release of Wrath of the Lich King. Leaving your guild tabard in the closet is one thing, but it's much tougher to stop yourself from wearing something that could greatly increase your ability to earn reputation. Generally, the rewards associated with the four factions that offer such tabards piddle away quickly the farther in content you get, but they still provide an easy avenue for completing rep-related Achievements, as well as add more incentive to go back and complete Heroic dungeon runs.
I still hate wearing them, though. All except for the Tabard of the Ebon Blade completely clash with the dark hues of end-game Rogue armor. Just as well, they seem far too easy to come by these days. Used to be that if you were wearing a fancy Tabard of the Argent Dawn, it actually meant something!
So, is there anyone else out there that hates tabards as much as I do? Or do you think they're the greatest thing to happen to fashion since Vera Bradley (and, yes, I'm ashamed to actually know what that is)? Granted, I'm pretty much a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy in real life, so if there are any experts out there, feel free to tell me off in the comments section!
Reader Comments (22)
FIRST
i have to say i agree i really only like my argent dawn tabard
To be honest i dont wear a tabard unless im going into a dungeon, besides the people who you are going in with (in my case) have already seen my armour so i dont think that much about it
i personally like wearing tabards just because i feel better when all my slots are filled with epics, or even any item. unless im trying on gear in the armor vendor in dalaran
I wanted our guild tabard to be pink with a nice fluffy white cupcake on it. Unfortunately, they merely humored me. At least it would have been interesting, fun, and memorable. For the most part, I can't tell what any guild tabards apart. They're almost always very similar and dark. I think some NPC tabards are ok, like the explorer one you get for the achievement, but again mostly boring. The fact that they cover up your armor can be a good thing considering that most of what I have is ugly anyway.
I wish we had the option to hide the tabard so I could show of my T7 chest ,just like you can do with the cloak and helm.
Tabards are generally nice in my opinion, but wearing them really depends on how much I like seeing them on my character. My rogue doesn't wear one, and I have the cloak turned off because, well, it just wouldn't look very stealthy with things dangling here and there or blowing in the wind. My death knight always sports his Argent Crusade tabard and 'Argent Champion' title just for the pure irony. Now if only there will be a chance for him to get ye olde Argent Dawn tabard one some time in the future.
One case where I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a tabard is if I'm wearing a dress/skirt/kilt. It just looks like you tucked your tabard in your pants VERY awkwardly.
@Cuppincakes - I got the same reaction when I suggested we put a lobster on our tabard (best guild symbol I say). I mean, how is having lobster claws on your breasts NOT cool?
My biggest complaint with tabards (other than the fact they often look awful) is that they take up too much bag space. If you are one of those achievement hunting pack rats you will soon find that your bank is overflowing with these things. As if I don't have enough things in my bags when you think of consumables, trade supplies, different sets of gear, holiday items, soul shards/ammo, glyphs, quest items. There really is not much room for having 20 or more tabards clogging things up even more. An option to expand the pet/mount interface to include tabards would be a great addition.
I like 'em. I REALLY like the Champion tabards for accellerating your rep with factions of your choice. They really should add a tab similar to the pet one, though, so that they have better ease of access to the tabard of your choice.
Depends on how fugly your armor is at the time, It can be a good cover up. :)
I like my tabard.. maybe because I play with some really cool people, and my sister, I like seeing a guildie representin'! I also like to be as bright and colorful as possible, so the more color, the better for me. Some of them can be really ugly and dumb. And I admit, I've gotten crap for saying that our guild has a tabard while recruiting. oh well.. somepeople love them, others hate 'em!
ugh, yeah tabards do get on my nerves. I used to hate my wyrmrest one but after I reached 74, all my rogue gear happened to be brown and red. so it's good. for now. besides, those tabards were there for us in the early lvls, such as 30ish when the best pants i could find hid basicly nothing on my nightelf or when my top looked like a rainbow threw up. So cut 'em some slack.
I pretty much like just about any tabard out there (the Sha'tari Skyguard one being one the few exceptions). As much as I may like one, though, I only wear if it'll cover something ugly fierce or goes well with an outfit.
@Zvonimir
I don't like being a downer, but your rogue has as much of a chance at getting an Argent Dawn tabard as he does getting the "Scarab Lord" title. Sorry. :(
I wear the WSG tabard on my rogue.. needless to say it fits well with my gear
I liked the tabbards before Wrath. Not the designs but what it took to get it. If you had on a tabbard from any faction it meant that you were dedicated to farming all of that rep (although some might see that as someone with no life).
If they kept the rep grind to what it was in BC then the rep rewards would still be worth getting the farther into the content you went, to some degree at least.
Tabards are a godsend to cover up crappy looking gear pre-60.
Also, as I play only as classes that are consistently wearing dresses, so wearing one doesnt really cover up my "sweet new chest piece".
As the GM of a guild, as no one cares what color the tabard is, I have it to one that matches my warlock's gear :P But I suppose that's not a very common occurrence.
I happen to LOVE my Blood Knight Tabard. It was well worth the effort to do the long quest chain for the Charger mount (I had already bought the spell, but did it anyway). I think it also goes very well with my retribution spec. Not to mention the sentimental value of it. I traded my guild tabard for that because it looks so awesome.
@ Sunalar
I agree totally the pre Wrath tabards were representing something. (even if it also represented you had no life) But atleast you earned it.
It seems to me that Blizz is making the game way to easy. Take the upcoming changes in 3.2, and how they've already nurfed Ulduar. And i hate that they keep changing things up so much like adding new mounts but taking out some pretty dang cool mounts like the bear from Zul'Aman and now a few achievment related mounts. When are the whiners going to stop whining so Blizz can actually stop worring about the current content and starts working on the new content for future patches and expansions.
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I really like tabards. However, being the Guild Master of a small Guild, I can pretty much tailor the tabard to something I like.
Of course, I've never had a full set of Tier gear, so that might change my mind, the tabard allows me to at least control a good portion of how my character looks in some way. Some of the end game tabards are nice though, and I really think Blizzard should work on the Guild Tabard emblems, since they often look like crap on females. Plus, some updated designs would be nice.
I enjoy the consistent look myself though, and I've got my Guild Tabard looking nice enough that it goes great with Northrend gear, and gives a nice look for wearing those hideous items that exist pre-Wrath.
When making my current guild, I spent quite a while in tabard develoment. I eventually decided on a white squirrel with a red background and an orange furry trim. Everyone in the guild likes it so far, and I personally like it as well.
Like the poster Blight above me, I actually like tabard. I bought the Scout's Tabard and the Shat'ari Skyguard tabard because I love the red coloring for them. My twink also feels more like a twink wearing the colors of the horde. Overall, I like tabards. Since WotLK bag space is not as much of a problem (Frostweave Bags, Pets/mounts not being in your inventory anymore...) so I do not rally think that tabards take up to much space. To all the people complaining about that earlier on this page: COME ON!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS? Bag space is SO much easier to manage then it was in TBC. If you do not have room for a few tabards, make some bank alts or invest in some Frostweave Bags, or both! I personally have 3 bank alts (I am one of those people who holds onto EVERYTHING that I "might need in the future"), a mix of 16 and 18 slot bags in my bank, and Frostweave Bags for my inventory. This serves me very well.
Oh, and for all those people complaining about tabards covering their shiny new breastplate...
1. Take it off when you are just running around in a major city. It is seriously THAT simple.
2. Are looks THAT important to you when it comes to running a heroic? Come on.
If people really care, get a Addon called AutoTabard. Picked it up a while ago. It auto equips whichever tabard you set when you enter a 80 heroic, and unequips it when you leave.
I like tabards if I can design them. I make them to suit the guild's concept (I am on RP servers) and can usually make them look cool.
However, if I am on my blood elf, I usually will only wear even a cool looking tabard in the field, if it goes with my gear. For RP in town, a tabard conceals his sweet caboose, and as I put him in the most buttastic pants of the ass-bandit I can find, I don't like to cover them up. ; )