So, Marathon's Shells need more customization (Repost)
This is just a repost of mine from the actual Marathon reddit, since I feel like it might be relevant.
Alrighty. This should be the last of my current grievances, hopefully? Bungo please-
Marathon falls under the category of an Extraction Hero Shooter, emphasis on the Hero Shooter part, which means that your playstyle is commonly dictated by the shell (or character) you select due to it's associated abilities which encourage a specific style of play. This also ties into how you can customize a shell (or character) since they tend to be cater to a per shell basis.
Genuinely, I believe that the 'Hero Shooter' aspect of Marathon is hampering a large portion of what Bungie can do with Marathon. The shells are limiting by design, with a lack lore or anything beyond their looks that makes us attached to them. Bungie cannot expand upon or even give them lore since they are intended to be a mass-produced archetype 'shell' used for a illegitimate operation. But, we still have cosmetics that suggest against that case.
Before I go into the gameplay aspect of this, i'll state this:
Appearance can be monetized, but you have to make a product that someone wants to buy to begin with. Modularity has proven to be something that can work for selling cosmetics. By giving the player-base the option of customizing a singular shell to their liking, then adding additional cosmetics as an incentive to buy into the premium to better flesh them out. You can create something that someone wants to buy. Sometimes we want the fantasy of dressing up our character our way to stand out, regardless of context. A lot of games do this and it works.
TLDR: Please give us a customizable shell that we can modify to our liking then using a pre-set.
The gameplay aspect of Marathon is understandably a bit more balanced towards its 'Hero-Shooter' nature, however, we should consider delving further into what Marathon genre is. It's staged in Sc-Fi and Cyberpunk (not the game, but a good point of reference) world. We are bio-mechanical robots with digital minds, so that means they should be augmentable (which as been proven before, in-game).
So, I'm suggesting we remove the 'Hero' or 'Class' based system and make it modular, play into what you already have. Abilities could be a series of selectable augments, both lootable and buyable. Rarity could dictate stats or it could introduce more specialized versions of existing abilities. You could encourage Runners to utilize specific sets by having a 'set bonus' that maybe reduces cooldowns, grants additional effects, etc, that play into the desired gimmick. But, also leave the freedom to mix and match various gimmicks. Take it a set further via making the 'ultimates' also modular, where you can be as silly as to run two or none. Their effects are quite strong afterall.
Anyways. That's all I have to say. Here's the TLDR:
Customize a singular, modular shell.
Abilities should be interchangeable with more specialized versions existing.