So this Army Painter Business...

[Khyron]

I am still awaiting patiently (or impatiently) to be able to play the game as I am in Europe. In the mean while I am soaking up all the info I can lay my eyes on.

I just wanted to confirm the following...

So it sounds like you cannot create custom Chapters with the Army Painter. Literally just change the colors of the exisiting built in armies? Is that correct?

Are there more SM chapters in the retail version as opposed to what was available in the Beta?

I am hoping for the Soul Drinkers and Raptors to be included, since I cannot make them myself.

Thanks,
G

P.S Also, Can you use differnt Wargear in Skirmish against AI like you get in the campaign with it changing the visuals of the hero units?

[Alegis]

Wargear in multiplayer may change the look of the commander. Witch spear (or something) for the Farseer makes her spear glow red.

The items you get in single-player campaign are not related to those of multiplayer (regardless if you battle AI or human players).

You can save new color themes under a custom name.

[Khyron]

OK, thanks. but you cannot change banners and badges correct?

[EPIK WIN]

You can change colors and also color schemes (on space marines at least) meaning what parts of the armor is colored what.

However, you CANNOT change badges.

So your Soul Drinkers have to run around with Imperial Fist emblem

[LoRd KoRn]

Having the choice between colors but not beeing able to import custom badges (with a simple way) is counterproductive. What is the point in making your own scheme if you have to use a badge from another chapter/craftworld etc.? And blank isn't really that fancy. But screw it with the camera like this stuff like badges doesn't matter anyway.

[KotCR]

Well, in some Space Marine chapters, like the Ultramarines, different companies have different coloured armbands...so I guess that's one legit and fluffy use for the army painter even if you have no new badges ;).

[Levandor]

i think no custom badges is a partial good thing, on one hand it sucks, for those who like to remake not included chapters, on the other hand i keeps people from including banners and badges with innapropiate content, so i would guess, thanks to all those morrons who werent able to use the system instead of abusing it :P

[Khyron]

aye.... that is a pity :(

[Rhedd]

i think no custom badges is a partial good thing, on one hand it sucks, for those who like to remake not included chapters, on the other hand i keeps people from including banners and badges with innapropiate content, so i would guess, thanks to all those morrons who werent able to use the system instead of abusing it :PWonderful attitude.

Punish the innocent for fear of the wicked.

No matter what the subject, that attitude is disgusting. Don't take that personally, though. You seem to be in good company, since the fine folks over at GFWL totally agree with you.

As for me, I'm an adult with healthy sensibilities playing an "M" rated game, so I'd rather have the painter functionality that we had in DoW1, instead of suffering for someone else's perverted sense of morality.

Funny story: I was really looking forward to the new army painter so I could finally make proper, quartered red-and-yellow Howling Griffon Marines (an official chapter, to those who don't know). I already knew the chapter insignia was going to be impossible, because of the craptacular GFWL rule, but to add insult to injury, the first thing I did was input the chapter name, and got as far as "Howling Griffon..." Couldn't add the "s", because of a name length limit!

Makes me feel sorry for the "Angels of Absolution" and the "Heralds of Ultramar". They're doomed! :P

[Lionel-Richie]

Wonderful attitude.

Punish the innocent for fear of the wicked.

This is how things work, nowadays.

[Fearpoint]

If anyone bothered to actually look at the badge selection screen you'll notice there is a lot of room to add more badges and scroll buttons....

I bet more badges are released later so don't get all bent out of shape.

How awesome would it be if Relic held a community badge contest allowing fans to submit badges then vote on which ones will be included in future updates...

[Levandor]

He Rhedd, i never mentioned that this Solution is the best thing ever, did i?
All i did was mentioning, that it has its up and downsides, and thats just a fact, as long
as people dont grow up :P

but anyway, the whole GFWL thing sucks anyway (having private pictures and not beeing able to choose a picture? WTF?)

oh and Btw. Naming lenght restriction? WOW That sucks... so no Bright side of the Moon and Dark side of the Sun for me and my brother anymore :(

[Ifitmovesnukeit]

Funny story: I was really looking forward to the new army painter so I could finally make proper, quartered red-and-yellow Howling Griffon Marines (an official chapter, to those who don't know). I already knew the chapter insignia was going to be impossible, because of the craptacular GFWL rule, but to add insult to injury, the first thing I did was input the chapter name, and got as far as "Howling Griffon..." Couldn't add the "s", because of a name length limit!

Makes me feel sorry for the "Angels of Absolution" and the "Heralds of Ultramar". They're doomed! :P

Lol, I guess that means my "Nightshade Scorpions" chapter as seen in my avatar is screwed.

I don't think I'm ever going to be able to understand why it was thought that cutting previously available features was a sensible thing to do. Three steps forward and five back.

[EPIK WIN]

My 2cents:

I think this is a money making scheme.

Think about the whole preorder business. The big draw are these special chapters that only certain outlets have. Consider what you could do if you had the ability to add custom colors (thats right - no color spectrum only predefined colors) and add badges... thats right MAKE YOUR OWN Angels Sanguine, Marauders, Sternguard, etc.

I'm thinking they plan on offering all those preorder chapters in a DLC... thats right folks, microtransactions coming to a DoW2 near you...

That no "Penis Marines" thing is bullshit - never stopped a dev before... thats why "experience may change due to online play" is on the box... Plus, why no color spectrum? Its completely possible as seen in original DoW

The groundwork has been laid: No custom colors, no custom badges, and GFWL implemented.

Be prepared for DLC of "horse armor" proportions...

Relic/THQ/whoever feel free to prove me wrong...

[KotCR]

Agh, there is a tight limit on the length of scheme names?
Well that means my custom chapter is most certainly doomed! :(

[Saunders]

No matter what the subject, that attitude is disgusting. Don't take that personally, though. You seem to be in good company, since the fine folks over at GFWL totally agree with you.

Wow, way to jump down someone's throat for mentioning the pros and cons of policy. I can see why Relic/THQ decided to take the safe route.

[Chris]

I'm thinking they plan on offering all those preorder chapters in a DLC... thats right folks, microtransactions coming to a DoW2 near you...

That no "Penis Marines" thing is bullshit - never stopped a dev before... thats why "experience may change due to online play" is on the box... Plus, why no color spectrum? Its completely possible as seen in original DoW

This.

They don't want you making your own banners because they want to charge you money for them. You can be sure that almost all official badges and banners will eventually be available... if you're willing to pay that is. People who want to use custom badges for their own personal chapters etc. are just shit out of luck.

[Latias418]

it's a joke how the prequel that came out something like 4 years ago has 5x better army painter than the one now

not a very funny one, either

[DrChristmas3K1]

I haven't gotten the game yet. What exactly is different on how custom badges work? Is it that you can't have a chapter with the new name, just an old chapter with new colors? Are you all saying something to the effect that you can't have a chapter called Ultramarines with a Space Wolf badge and banner?
I remember that in DoW, you could have any badge, but the game only came with badges for a few Chapters/Craftworlds/Legions. You could add a .png file with the right size to the right folder to get new badges, but you had to experiment or look online on fan sites like this to find this out.

On a related note, I heard there are achievements related to EVERYTHING, even the army painter! There's one called "Red wunz go fasta!" or something like that for creating a red custom army.

[EPIK WIN]

Army painter summary:

- Must create new army (like in the first DoW)
- limited set of Predefined Colors (unlike first DoW)
- Space Marines have 4 different armor color schemes (new to DoW2)
- limited number of badges (consisting of everything in the beta) + whatever preorder bonus
- inability to import own badges - probably around this with a dedicated modder, but I don't think the ability to show off your badges in multiplayer is possible (unless they are modded too)
-Names apparently have a pretty short character limit

So to answer your question DrChristmas: You can't use custom badges, at least not officially.

[Lionel-Richie]

This.

They don't want you making your own banners because they want to charge you money for them. You can be sure that almost all official badges and banners will eventually be available... if you're willing to pay that is. People who want to use custom badges for their own personal chapters etc. are just shit out of luck.

Hopefully this will backfire. People will want to make their own banners rather than paying $1-3 for "Retro Ultramarines 87'" edition banners, etc etc.

[Zwebbie]

I'm thinking they plan on offering all those preorder chapters in a DLC... thats right folks, microtransactions coming to a DoW2 near you...

That no "Penis Marines" thing is bullshit - never stopped a dev before... thats why "experience may change due to online play" is on the box... Plus, why no color spectrum? Its completely possible as seen in original DoW

They're going to charge you money for downloading their Penis Marines badges! It's obvious!

It wouldn't be the first time we've been lied to with DoWII, but it has repeatedly been stated that that kind of stuff would be free DLC. Since we've yet to experience their scheme, let's give 'm the benefit of the doubt.

Oh, and the colour spectrum? A colour isn't one colour anymore, it's three; a diffuse, specular and gloss value. It's what makes the gold shiny. It would still have been possible to make a spectrum army painter, but it'd be confusing as heck for people without experience with that kind of stuff.

[Mokino]

There's 50 or so badges in the painter apparently. Not all belong to recognisable groups. There's also a no badge option.

The colour palette seems pretty decent as well.

[Brenil]

- Must create new army (like in the first DoW)

Actually in the first game you could change whatever army you like. I know I refined all the default colors from the original game to be more authentic. In Dawn of War II you cannot do this, you must create a new scheme, which means it must be Ultramarines Second Company or some mess (if that even fits), but you cannot change Relic's scheme, which is kind of dumb.

Also, you cannot use cross-race badges like you could in the original, you only have access to the badges of that race. So no Eldar badges for Space Marines, or Orks for Eldar, ect. Not a bad thing from a fluff perspective, but still less options than what existed before.

I like the new colors and if more are added for free, I have no problem with this. But the idea of paying money to complete a rather... skimpy army painter, definately gets my hackles up.

Let us hope that isn't the case.

[EPIK WIN]

oh yeah your right Brenil, my mistake... forgot you could do that in DOW

[Warp Holder]

What I'd kill for is more metallic colors. I love how units with shiny metals look, but silver and gold get boring after a while.
Yes, I know, preorder bonus and all that. But it wouldn't harm anyway.

[Sebi]

Oh, and the colour spectrum? A colour isn't one colour anymore, it's three; a diffuse, specular and gloss value. It's what makes the gold shiny. It would still have been possible to make a spectrum army painter, but it'd be confusing as heck for people without experience with that kind of stuff.
It is actually a very simple concept to grasp on

- Diffuse represents the RGB- value(s)
- Specularity defines the amount of shinyness
- Gloss defines the size of the shiny area

So perhaps when choosing a single color for one slot, there would be like, 2 sliders defining spec & gloss.

[Brisco]

It is actually a very simple concept to grasp on

- Diffuse represents the RGB- value(s)
- Specularity defines the amount of shinyness
- Gloss defines the size of the shiny area

So perhaps when choosing a single color for one slot, there would be like, 2 sliders defining spec & gloss.
That is what they should do, but they decided on a low blow to the costumers. Its not hard, have the same color selector from dow, and add in two sliders for other two options.

[Frigidair44]

The color range provided is fine. For the most part, the 'army painter' of DoW1 was pretty weak sauce. Yeah it allowed for a full spectrum of color but most of nuance of color differentiation is lost on the typical player. I'm an artist and I wasn't very impressed with what you could do with color and painting specifics.

That and a lot of the paint jobs were painful to look at. If I saw one more bright purple/pink Chaos army I was going to shoot myself.

So less color? No real loss. I can still make my "Pink Posie Orks" and I'm fine with that. And I'm sure we will see all manner of cool and ugly paint jobs with the range provided.

What is disappointing is the lack of custom badges and flags. Well not that their are flags in this game, but it was nice to see an IG army flying the Brittish or American flag... and some really cool badges as well. Sigh...

[KotCR]

If I saw one more bright purple/pink Chaos army I was going to shoot myself.
That's actually a fluff Chaos army, one of the major ones. Emperor's Children. Heh.

[GenTechJ]

The space limitation in names can be fixed (as well as the double spacing I've noticed that happens with custom armies).

Navigate to your My Documents/My Games/Dawn of War 2/Settings and open playercfg.lua

Look for your custom armies and fix the names how you like. I used this method to fix "Sons Guilliman" to "Sons of Guilliman". It appears in game just fine, and thus far no crashes. Haven't taken them into a MP match yet though.

[RayvenQ85]

How awesome would it be if Relic held a community badge contest allowing fans to submit badges then vote on which ones will be included in future updates...

Not as awesome as letting us import our own badges if we wanted to.

[Rhedd]

Thanks, GenTechJ! I figured that was possible, since some of the included chapters have longer names, but I didn't expect it to be that easy.

Thanks for the info.

[sweetcc]

I want my own badges. I also want banners back in. Doesn't feel the same without your stamp on the territory you control.

The painter colours I don't particularly care about myself. I was ok with using the spectrum but it got tiring trying to make a specific tone (like kommando khaki, since when it comes to colours I need things to be as accurate as possible in just about anything.) so I just used that one mod for DoW that added all the citadel paint colours and didn't bother touching it after that.

[Cizjut]

About not having custom badges

Is this going to change in the future?

[Knight_Kin]

I would say it's fairly certain that Relic will not change this in the future, Cizjut.

[Nove]

I would rather have custom banners than custom color schemes. I never really noticed colors much back in DoW but I did occasionally notice a cool flag. My banner also started to get recognized and people I fought against a second time would often comment on it, which made me feel better connected to the game.

[Necronium]

Thanks to GenTechJ, I fixed my Emperor's Dragons.
However I found something interesting :
Change this line : img120.imageshack.us/img120/4941/sanstitre2br0.jpg
Ingame : img142.imageshack.us/img142/1746/relic00000ab3.jpg

This badge doesn't exist for Eldar or Space Marines in the Army Painter. Quite weird...

[Frigidair44]

That's actually a fluff Chaos army, one of the major ones. Emperor's Children. Heh.

Seriously?

*Scampers off to do a Google image search *

Crap they are. I feel like an ass. Well... in my defense, the paint jobs I see on Google on the action figures are a bright pink mixed with a deep purple and black.

Most of the ones I saw were screamingly bright purple and pink and called their armies:

xxx.~'* ch@os-sl@yerz *'~.xxxx

and not the Emperor's Children.

I would also seriously believe that chaos did not use l33t spe@k when writing out their memos or whatever. But then again, those wacky chaos do like to be chaotic.

[Shuma]

You underestimate the ruinous powers of chaos. Ahem. Aniway, this:

"How awesome would it be if Relic held a community badge contest allowing fans to submit badges then vote on which ones will be included in future updates..."

Could be done and it'd be awesome, imagine Relic just holding the contest and then Hangar 8 comes adds his badges and they're added to the game. Everyone's happy.

[{Exo}{Elite}]

@Necronium Are you sure you named it properly? oh and badges for other races don't show.

[Rhedd]

There's 50 or so badges in the painter apparently. Not all belong to recognisable groups. There's also a no badge option.Lies.

There are very few badges, and they're all recognizable from fluff. There is a no-badge option, though, which at least means that armies don't have to have the wrong badge.


For the record, Relic isn't the one that's guilty of taking away our custom badges. Well... at least not directly guilty.

It is 100% confirmed that custom badges aren't allowed purely because of Microsoft's bullshit.

Relic is only guilty of going with GFWL as their server, not of concocting a scheme to part us from our money for every little badge. That may be M$'s plan, but not Relic's.

I assume that the major reason GFWL was chosen is obvious. If there's not an Xbox version of this game within a year, I'll eat my hat.

I can only hope the worst for GFWL and the idiots that run Microsoft, but put the blame where the blame is due.

I also know that Relic is considering some compromises to the badge system. Hopefully they'll work out!

[Shuma]

Or simply because GFWL is much superior to Gamespy. Aniway, no one ever said that Relic's going to charge us for Badges and they probably whont, it'd be beyond stupid.

"and they're all recognizable from fluff."

Who the hell are the Revilers!?

[Rhedd]

Who the hell are the Revilers!?

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Revilers

Here's an awesome list, for anyone who wants to make new Marine chapters:
http://www.ironhands.com/chapters.htm

[Saberdark]

That second link is indeed awesome. Nice find.

[GRLSOV]

Well, from what we saw in the custom texture topic of the beta, the Revilers are shinier than C-3PO. I wonder why they made them so shiny here...

Edit: This is another nice list of Space Marine chapters with some backstory.
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Space_Marine_Chapters

[Mirage Knight]

Could be done and it'd be awesome, imagine Relic just holding the contest and then Hangar 8 comes adds his badges and they're added to the game. Everyone's happy.

He's not the only with some swank B&B sets, but yeah :)

[jujumbura]

I'm still a bit baffled by the uproar regarding custom color definitions from an RGB slider and badages. Why is it that, in DoW1 which contains these features that folks are so vocal about, all I ever saw was completely white or pink armies?

Wow, that's brilliant buddy. The all-pink "GheyKnights" Space Marines army. You're truly one-of-a-kind.

While it's unfortunate that this strips some creativity from you folks who are willing to put in the time and effort to make cool, detailed chapters, I honeslty feel like the average color schemes I see when I go online now look better than the reuglar stream of crap coming from DoW1. All in all, I think it makes for a more polished visual experience, as nothing detracts from the overall aesthetic like seeing a lot of 0xFF00FFFF.

[{Exo}{Elite}]

@Rhedd
Nice links mate, I made like thousands of them the other day, got no badges though:(,not yet. :D

[Shuma]

My point was that the Revilers are not eassily recognizable. But yeah. Relic should hold a banner contest, someone should start pestering them. :p

[Shakrith]

I would really, really like to see a tiny, tiny, easy change where you could actually have longer chapter names. Very many SM chapters have 2 parts to their name, and you can't even fit in Howling Griffons, let alone any of the Angel chapters, as Rhedd pointed out.

This irritates me no end. I can't have Angels of Penitence, I have to call them "Penitent Angels" which has less of a ring to it.

How hard is it to add a few extra bytes to the name of a colour scheme?

[Warp Holder]

See post #31 of this thread.

[Shakrith]

Warp Holder,

First, thanks, I had somehow missed that post when I read the thread.

Nevertheless, I don't even know how to open a .lua file, and the fact I have to search the internet to find out really doesn't scream "user friendly". It should have been a feature included in the game at release, and there seems no good reason for the restriction.

[Shaitan]

A badge contest would be pretty awesome. All the talented mods in our community could make a whole mess of badges. Relic gets some free DLC to release. People get more badges, and therefore more content. Everyone is happy.

[RayvenQ85]

Or they could just let us import custom badges, if they did that the community would make a whole slew of badges anyway.

[Shuma]

Or they could just let us import custom badges

That whont happen, get it through your thick skull(This is directed at everyone who keeps saying that btw). You better hope for a contest of some sort.

[RayvenQ85]

Yeah, I know, one can only hope though can't they. No need to be abrasive about it. I'm just puzzled as to why they thought it was a good idea not to include it.

[Warp Holder]

I don't even know how to open a .lua file
Notepad works with that, I think. That's what I use to open my .lua files.
Still, if you have problems with an extension, go to filext.com



Or they could just let us import custom badges
That whont happen, get it through your thick skull
Says who?

[RayvenQ85]

and if people are content with not having them, they won't bother, but if they see it's something what people want, they might consider it and implement it.

[Shakrith]

What I'd like is for the system where armour has been implemented for ranks to be broadened.

It seems that you don't get much choice in what sort of armour you want to have, and what might make a lot more sense is having this be a box in the Army Painter.

Clearly it's useful as a sort of unlock system, but it might be nice to open it up so people will actually see Gabriel's armour - perhaps with gamerscore?

[Andur]

Why they wouldn't in the first place confuses me. Being able to create your own custom army should mean being able to customize every aspect of it.
Maybe they'll implement it later on, maybe there is no in-game importer and we just haven't figured out where badges should go and in what size and format.
Or maybe we'll be forced to pay for every badge we upload, which wouldn't surprise me, considering Microsoft.
We'll just have to wait and see, the game is only just released.

[RayvenQ85]

I'd love a sytem like the Mark of Chaos Army Painter, where you can have multiple instances that are randomly chosen, allowing you to customise a lot of detail on your units. We'd never get that though.

Even if there was no in-game importer, in the sga's they are .dds and people who make the badges can easily convert it into that.

It confuses me too especially since it was in the first one.

[Laz4rus]

I am wondering .. is there any way to completely remove the bult in chapters? Or to force a certain color scheme when you pick random?

I really like playing random, but still I would prefer my own color scheme being shown instead of a random one.

[Poseidal]

There's 50 or so badges in the painter apparently. Not all belong to recognisable groups. There's also a no badge option.
But you can't mix between the factions; and also most of them are really recognisable apart from the bonus (later founding chapters; all the 'default' ones are first founding + Blood Ravens + Black Templars who have their own book). All the Eldar ones are the 5 most famous and filled with others with colour schemes in the codex book.

I'm still a bit baffled by the uproar regarding custom color definitions from an RGB slider and badages. Why is it that, in DoW1 which contains these features that folks are so vocal about, all I ever saw was completely white or pink armies?

Wow, that's brilliant buddy. The all-pink "GheyKnights" Space Marines army. You're truly one-of-a-kind.
Still possible to do, there are plenty of garish colours around.

But Craftword Kaien-Ken, the Mirage Knights Chapter and the Axe Face Clan don't get their own banner.

[Shuma]

Says who?

Microsoft.


It seems that you don't get much choice in what sort of armour you want to have, and what might make a lot more sense is having this be a box in the Army Painter.

Clearly it's useful as a sort of unlock system, but it might be nice to open it up so people will actually see Gabriel's armour - perhaps with gamerscore?

First than all, i agree on being able to choose your armor, the second part i don't understand, the other players CAN see the visual wargear you unlock, that's... the point of it.

[Goobers]

and you can't even fit in Howling Griffons, let alone any of the Angel chapters, as Rhedd pointed out.

You get 16 characters when it comes to entering a name, the problem is when you press the space bar it will add 2 spaces thus using up two characters.

There was much despair when I couldn't put an S on the end of my Howling Griffon, and then found the double space thing and buried my face in my hands out of the stupidity of it.


All I need now is a Badge and a Banner and my Howling Griffons shall be complete.

[steve-1945]

I find it so odd that microsoft does not support custom badges and banners in the fear of PenisMarines and the like when your average xbl goer is a 12 year old white supremicist screaming 24/7 about why all homosexuals should be exterminated.

Just seems odd to me

[Shuma]

Sounds odd to all of us. It's not like anyone here supports it, but since it's 99.9% sure that they whont change it, then i see no point in complainign about it, instead you should be pestering relic to open a contest or something so that you guys have your fluff badges and banners.

[steve-1945]

Well if we complain enough they may well change it. Even if their is the smallest chance of success we should do it contest are cool and all but I have my own special chapter and IG regiment. So how would I get these badges in game? I could not thats how. Im not expert badge maker and they would never allow my work into a contest.

How will I ever see the Totenkopf Angels chapter? Or the glorious 597th Stormers Imperial Guard Regiment?

[LoneWolf666]

I'm guessing a few badges/chapters will be added per every DLC. Some might get released as free DLC, as a result of contest. The name lenght issue will probably be fixed in a patch.

That is all.

[RayvenQ85]

Microsoft.


So the prophets of Microsoft speak directly to you do they? Yet us lowly mortals are deigned to be left uninformed.

Unless someone says for sure, 100% and then seals the deal by signing a contract in blood, we can't be sure.

[Manhammer]

I'm just puzzled as to why they thought it was a good idea not to include it.

Far far far too many swastikas, middle fingers and genitals.

[RayvenQ85]

So they thought removing them entirely was better than a setting (parental even) of whether or not you wanted to see other peoples badges?

[D-coy]

Apparently, yes. Or it wasn't better for all of us, but more economical for them, we will never know.

[Purple]

Army painter summary:

- Must create new army (like in the first DoW)
- limited set of Predefined Colors (unlike first DoW)
- Space Marines have 4 different armor color schemes (new to DoW2)
- limited number of badges (consisting of everything in the beta) + whatever preorder bonus
- inability to import own badges - probably around this with a dedicated modder, but I don't think the ability to show off your badges in multiplayer is possible (unless they are modded too)
-Names apparently have a pretty short character limit

So to answer your question DrChristmas: You can't use custom badges, at least not officially.

I don't beleve this. Well, not to sound angry but that prety much sealed the deal for me. I am sticking to DOW1.

At this point, it is obvius that MS and Relic are working hand in hand to charge us for every badge and baner. I for one am sick of game companies fallowing the words of perverted US amish moralists that are microsoft (Or is there any other explanation for them even considering sexual or othervise inapropriate images. I meen, WTF who would actualy do that?). I would not even be surprised if they allowed us to bypas the maximum name lenth but charge us for each letter.

I am risking a ban here, but I think we should also start a campagine to boycot the game untill they revoke their policy. Reguardles what other people say that is what I shall do.

[Andur]

A parental setting would be a good idea, but since when has Microsoft listened to good ideas?
It's unlikely they'll let us upload badges ever again in DoWII, and even if they did how much you want to bet it would cost us like, 100 Microsoft points per upload? (wouldn't mind that much since, I only want to upload my Blood Wolves badge and the Soul Drinkers badge)
Perhaps if the community demands it in large numbers, they may implement it somehow. But I doubt it. :-\
Guess we'll be stuck playing as the Blood Ravens or Ultramarines for a good long while.
Also boycotting the game... a nice idea, but I really want to beat the campaign. :( Perhaps just boycotting the multiplayer?

[RayvenQ85]

Well, considering the manual mentions Games For Window - Live, you'd assume so, besides who says it had to be a GFWL setting rather than an ingame one?

Boycotting Multiplayer is kind of a moot point anyway, since we've already bought the bloody game.

And while badges are a very small feature, for me anyway they made it worthwhile playing Skirmish or MP, I mean who wouldn't like to see troops wearing a badge they made for a chapter they made kicking ass?

[Purple]

Also boycotting the game... a nice idea, but I really want to beat the campaign. Perhaps just boycotting the multiplayer?
But than they are still geting their money, and if you give them their money, they don't care what you do with the game after that.
If we can gather enough people, maybe start a facebook/my space groop and so on... maybe they would yeald. It would not be a first time someone pulled of somethig like that.

[RayvenQ85]

If you do end up having to pay for extra badges or something like that, then I think I'll boycott any further games made by THQ/Relic a drop in the ocean I know.

[Sebi]

Far far far too many swastikas, middle fingers and genitals.
Jesus, is everybody suddenly getting the idea that all of the dow1 players were neo-nazi cock wagglers? (could be true >.>)

I spent my share of it back then (which was quite alot sadly), and I rarely saw someone using a swastika, and never saw someone use genitals or middle- fingers as their banner. As immature as the dow1 community was, even they were quite somewhat mature of it (from my experience.)

Taking out a feature for a reason like that makes Relic/Microsoft seem to treat the community as a group of unaware brats (in regards to this feature that is)

[Warp Holder]

"Parental setting"?
This game is suppossed to be played by men!

[Oakwarrior]

Last time I looked the game was rated M. Don't mind penis marines running around, because it gets old after a week and after that, almost noone will be wearing genitalia on their banners again.

[Malachi]

Also, I really liked other funny unfluffy schemes like McDonalds IG. :D

Pretty impossible to have, even with DLC.

But, the new metallic colors rock. And my exclusive pre-order Abyss Red color actually makes the whole pre-order worht it by itself. It's ultracool and nothing among the standard colors gets even close to it.

Basically, it's a blackish color that reflects light in red.

[Warp Holder]

Cue waves of envy

[Viper114]

I still find it weird how in DoW1, the Army Painter was so open and limitless, with custom badges and banners to use, yet in DoW2 it's so much more restricting. I can only hope that they open it up more to match DoW1's AP.

[GenTechJ]

Necronium, that's one of the bonus badges. They don't appear in the Army Painter because they're locked. The files are there and all (otherwise you wouldn't be able to see it on the army of someone who has it), but they're set to be unviewable/unuseable in the painter until you get the DLC that enables it.

And those who thanked me for the tip, you're welcome. It's not as much as others have done for the community, but it's a start on my way of saying thanks for what content the community has given me and others. I have other things I'm looking into file wise (I THINK, keyword there is think, that I've found a way to change the army scheme for campaign so you can play as a different chapter. If I figure it out, expect to find it in the modding forum).

[Shuma]

So far i find the army painter to be superior to DoW1s, i honestly never cared for Badges, so my marines and eldar run around withouth badges, and Tyranids don't even use badges.

The Colors are way superior to a RGB slider, it looked like Crap in Dow!. Now even Pink marines look awesome.

[Pellucid]

Wow, that's brilliant buddy. The all-pink "GheyKnights" Space Marines army. You're truly one-of-a-kind. I did not make the GheyKnights! I made Da Pink Orkz! Get it right! :D

[Mirage Knight]

The Colors are way superior to a RGB slider, it looked like Crap in Dow!.

At least with a slider, you can make your own colour if you can't find a swatch that's to your liking. There are more swatches to choose from in DOW 2 (kudos to Relic on that - particularily the introduction of metallics), but not all of them match the colour values of the Citadel paints (for TT minis).

You may not care that Relic has restricted and taken out a lot of customizability compared to DOW, but many veteran DOW players do.

A slick, shiny interface does not make a game feature superior. I'll take functionality over form any day if I had to make that choice.

[Shuma]

Well yes, but it is to my understanding that if they took the RGB slider away it was to make the colours look better, i'm pretty sure i saw that somewhere. The RGB slider was usefull in DoW1 and in my opinion it was the only way i could paint my army since the preset colors sucked ass.

Here on the other hand, i don't think we need a RGB slider since we have so many colours to choose from. And yes i am aware that the Colours are still made from RGB/gloss/specular values in the background.

And i do care about Customizability, i just said that i never cared about badges, not that i didn't like a customizable game.

[CeeJay]

I always found the RGB system in DoW to be more of a hassle than anything (although to be fair, that is mainly due to the fact that I'm absolutely useless with the thing, ha ha) but I do agree that there should be one in DoW II - so long as they don't just give the chaps that enjoy using the pre-set colours the finger. I hope that if an RGB system is patched in, they still continue to release more pre-set colours - be they patched in for free, or available for free/paid DLC, I care not (I'd prefer them to be free, of course.) I'd much rather see every GW colour ever made as pre-set colours than an RGB system, though.

[Sebi]

I always found the RGB system in DoW to be more of a hassle than anything (although to be fair, that is mainly due to the fact that I'm absolutely useless with the thing, ha ha) but I do agree that there should be one in DoW II - so long as they don't just give the chaps that enjoy using the pre-set colours the finger. I hope that if an RGB system is patched in, they still continue to release more pre-set colours - be they patched in for free, or available for free/paid DLC, I care not (I'd prefer them to be free, of course.) I'd much rather see every GW colour ever made as pre-set colours than an RGB system, though.
Then perhaps an option to create colors and add them along with the existing ones, so that they'd be listed among them?

Would be pretty neat actually, and would result in less of a re-work.

[Mirage Knight]

And i do care about Customizability, i just said that i never cared about badges, not that i didn't like a customizable game.

Point noted - I stand corrected :)


The RGB slider was usefull in DoW1 and in my opinion it was the only way i could paint my army since the preset colors sucked ass.

Seconded. Real problem there was that they offered so few swatches to begin with and most of those swatches had RGB values that didn't quite match up with Citadel paint swatches.

[Brisco]

Seconded. Real problem there was that they offered so few swatches to begin with and most of those swatches had RGB values that didn't quite match up with Citadel paint swatches.
Also, monitors have different contrast and brightness levels, so on my monitor ultramarine blue looked liked ultramarine purple.

[Mirage Knight]

I'm very aware of that. I do graphic design, image editing, and photo colour correction for a living at a large advertising agency, so yeah...monitor calibration and knowledge of the RGB system is kind of a big thing with me.

There's a file that the old Armour Painter used for the colour swatches that had RGB values for each swatch. I also accurately sampled the colour swatches for the paints, read the RGB values in Photoshop and compared the two sets of values.

Shall we continue this?

[CeeJay]

Then perhaps an option to create colors and add them along with the existing ones, so that they'd be listed among them?

Would be pretty neat actually, and would result in less of a re-work.

No, what I meant was I didn't really have time to fiddle about with the RGB slider in the original DoW - I much preferred just going to the pre-set colours and picking one, (although the pre-set colour selection in DoW was horrendous.) What I'm saying is, if an RGB selection is patched in to DoW II, I hope they don't pull a DoW and leave us with whatever pre-set colours were available at the time - although DoW II's pre-set colour selection is a billion times better than that of DoW, I still feel like I need a little more choice.

[Rhedd]

There's a file that the old Armour Painter used for the colour swatches that had RGB values for each swatch. I also accurately sampled the colour swatches for the paints, read the RGB values in Photoshop and compared the two sets of values.I'd actually be very interested in having a list of the true RGB (0-255 scale) values of actual Citadel paints, if you've got that laying around.

[Poseidal]

The ideal solution would be a large palette of predefines (with the GW names for quick access), with a 5-10 slots for custom RGB.

Then a choice of 'effects' for matte (normal), glossy and metallic effects.

I hope they don't charge us (probably at the same rate as pots of actual Citadel paints) for extra colours like I would imagine...

[BL4zD]

I'm pretty sure, although I haven't tried this myself, but you should be able to edit the blank badge to your liking and then you'll see your badge. Others will see the blank badge, but the question is whether you're upset because you can't see your badge or because you can't show it off :\

There's something to be said for showing off, but given the constraints of the GFWL system it seems Relic has done good by us in at least giving us an option to have our customization without bothering anyone else.

[Andur]

While that sounds like a good idea (in fact I might try to figure out how to do that) it has drawbacks.
For instance, there's only one "blank" badge, so if you were to edit it to be you custom Badge, you could only have one custom badge at a time.
I do like a setting though where you can turn on/off seeing custom badges.
But perhaps the reason it wasn't implemented was because the game engine cannot support it?

[Mokino]

There need to be some generic badges.

And, if possible, a way to modify the colours of said badges.

[Andur]

Technically there ARE generic badges, aka the primary chapters of Space Marines, Orks, and Eldar. Also modifying color wouldn't be possible, even in the first game you couldn't do that, since it would have to be like, a transparent overlay on the shoulder guard with the badge or whatever. And even then it wouldn't look that great.

[Mokino]

Modifying badge colours can be done. I've seen other games do it fine, but it would involve coding a colour filter.

[ZarX]

Don't read this if you are so worried about the past or can't handle peoples opinions.

As for the swastika thing it is/was a religious symbol of some budda type thing if i remember correctly. Im sorry but if ppl are sooo worried about a lil symbol then something is hella wrong. Most of us that play these games weren't even around during a lot of stuff where some of these symbols come from. Just kind of a moot point if you ask me.

Hitlers Germany and any other dictatorship really has no affect on me considering i wasnt around. So should they get rid of the imperial eagle too? Considering just about every dang empire in the world has used it? Even us americans use the imperial eagle so...and the first time anyone really saw that was with the greeks and yet the germans used it...so should that not be allowed when they add the Imperial Guard? Considering the Imperial Eagle is all over their gear and uniforms? Give it a rest already jesus. Imo just grow up people.

Who cares if someone wants to use some symbol close your eyes or something heh or simply put them on your list of people you don't wanna play again with or against(GFWL actually has this feature.) Then your problem is solved.

[Shuma]

The Swastika means Ban(Two) in Kanji i think. It means a lot of stuff, aniway anyone here has played Armored Core 4/4 Answer? We need an Emblem/Badge Editor like the one in that game.

[Rhedd]

The Swastika means Ban(Two) in Kanji i think.The swastika is prehistoric and symbolizes many things, which is why Hitler picked it, but no, it doesn't mean "two" and it certainly isn't Kanji.

The kanji for two looks like this: = and can be pronounced "ni", "futa", or "hata", depending on the word.

[ZarX]

See but you guys just proved my point. Who really cares if someone uses it in game. I mean we can say the same thing about the Imperial Eagle and say its just as bad. I could even say the star of david is a bad symbol or the Iron Cross is a bad symbol or the rising sun. I just think people need to stop worrying about symbols and the past and quit crying about it. :spartaaa: Let people use what they wanna use.

[Shuma]

Ah, my bad it means Final, dunno in what though.

[Rhedd]

I mean we can say the same thing about the Imperial Eagle and say its just as bad. I could even say the star of david is a bad symbol or the Iron Cross is a bad symbol or the rising sun.Really, to be fair, none of those symbols were the chosen icon of what's generally considered the single most overtly evil regime in recorded history. So, although you can "say" those things, it wouldn't be true in the same way.

However, I still think that every time someone is made to suffer, even a little bit, because of a taboo against the swastika, Hitler's ghost smiles.

Give us back our custom badges! Don't make dead Hitler happy!

[Malachi]

Give us back our custom badges! Don't make dead Hitler happy!That.

It was Hitler's and regimes like his, that would disallow people to freely display their beliefs and ideals. Why modern democratic systems do the same?...

[Brenil]

Because cash is King and we're all its subjects.

[ccmodder]

I personally think the army painter has been done correctly, the amout of paints + their likeness to their real counter parts + their real names is awsome, allows for some beautiful units. However I think more badges sould be created by relic and released for free or with an expansion. I don't however think people will beable to create their own, and prehaps collecting badges at events ie, secial releases, holidays, relic events would be nice. I don't think prices should be involved though, as they require little work to be honest.

[Croaxleigh]

There's a file that the old Armour Painter used for the colour swatches that had RGB values for each swatch. I also accurately sampled the colour swatches for the paints, read the RGB values in Photoshop and compared the two sets of values.
I did something similar, though I didn't have the paints handy so I had to work off of online pictures... 'twas really neat to have in mods once it was finished, but I got sooo tired of typing RGB values.

Also... guys? Hitler? Seriously?

[Lionel-Richie]

Well this IS the internet...and a forum. Godwin's Law is our destiny, it seems.

Edit: And addressing people saying that the swastika is a symbol of the past and should be forgotten about...it's not. Let's not forget that this is *the* symbol for white supremacist gangs. It's still being used as a vehicle of hate today, I could care less if it's REVERSED symbol was Buddhist.

[Mirage Knight]

'twas really neat to have in mods once it was finished, but I got sooo tired of typing RGB values.

I know the feeling...

[Oxyminoan]

If anyone thinks that the lack of custom badge making ability, all colors not being available out of the box, and the overtly negative attitude of Relic toward modding, are due to anything other than greed, you're being naive.

Welcome to the age of DLC. Enjoy Relic and Microsoft's hands in your pockets long after you put down that 49.99.

Why do you think they integrated Games For Windows Live into the game? For the awesome True Skill system? :rofl:

[ZarX]

Once again don't read if you can't hand other people opinions.

And yes The Imperial Eagle is just as bad as the Swastika. IDK why people are sooo offended by it. I could also say that the Fist in the game is kinda racist towards white people and say that the Iron Fist shows black pride or whatever it is. That the black panthers used in the 70s. So don't give me some crap about some white supremist bull crap. When everyone in the world does it.

All I'm saying is let people use what they wanna use and thats the end of it. Like i said before. There is a option on Game for Windows Live to let you choose to never play with that person again.... So it's not hard to put them on that list.

[Lionel-Richie]

Well I'm suspicious that swastikas and penises is even the real reason. I agree with Oxy that they're just wanting to abuse us with microtransactions.

After all, all they would need to do is add in a "Report Offensive Content" button you could press and it would send the banner and the account name to Relic where a Customer Service rep could deal with it.

I do agree that there are double standards with symbolism...the hammer and sickle should be right up there with the swastika in terms of offensive, but you'll see teens running around in shirts with that on it thinking "Kewl Communism!" and not know what the symbol has represented.

However, this is just how things are. You can argue until your face turns blue otherwise, but that's how the cards have been dealt. The swastika is a symbol unique in its connotation of evil. Also, there's not anything redeemable about the 3rd Reich aside from a few tech advances...unlike the Roman empire. Also I'm pretty sure that the iron fist is a universal symbol of resistance against an oppressive regime.

[ZarX]

I just don't see any reason to get all pissy about a symbol. Maybe I just don't care to much about what people use as a symbol, because after this is just a game. I could careless if someone wanted to put a penis on their armor. I just simply don't care I guess. I just feel like stuff we had forever is being taken away from us and that is what makes me mad the most.

[ccmodder]

Nothing has been taken away from anyone to be honest as DoW 1 is still up and running and you can have all the free customisation you want. I think this game has moved more towards the people that like true wrhammer fluf and so long as we don't have to pay for new badges etc. I stand by relics descision to have a "quality filter" sort of system in place.
- just my opinion

[ZimZum]

Relic took away my dick badges but I think my silver tyranids are twice as obnoxious.

[Shakrith]

Silver tyranids... *shudder*

I do wish they had a system at the very least of approving custom badges for use online. You could have a Report Offensive Content button, or they could require you to submit your badges for approval if they want to be excessively serious about it.

[Sun]

Relic has disappointed me even more with dow2. Innocent should be punished when they cry and moan. Good job relic :awesome: :awesome:

[Andur]

Perhaps the call is not solely on Relic. You have to remember, Microsoft loves to restrict custom content, and make us pay for all additions to a game.
Perhaps sooner or later they will have to listen to the community and let us make our own badges, but then again there wouldn't be so much complaining if they gave an official statement as to why they didn't give us the feature.

[Esinhorn]

So what badge packs would you like to see?
I would like to see
1)Pre-Heresy
2)Second Founding with red fists for Crimson fists
3)Legion of the Damned

[ZarX]

For the Legion of the Damned they would have to create an entire custom color set to make it even look decent. I mean it would have to be insane looking and you wouldnt able to recreate it.

[Poseidal]

Relic took away my dick badges but I think my silver tyranids are twice as obnoxious.
Haha, silver Tyranids is one of the first things I tried in the army painter because it looks so goofy. I decided to give them gold carapaces in the end though, so they're not entirely silver.

How many black 'alien' Tyranids have people been seeing at the moment?

But I would like to see:

2)Second Founding with red fists for Crimson fists
These guys were the cover boys for the 1st edition rulebook and one of the better chapters (Imperial Fists successor chapter, but seem to behave much less stupidly), but they've been so sidelined now you can't even make their colour scheme in the painter. :(

[S7even]

What’s got me worried on the whole subject of Microsoft’s current stance on GFWL and it's 'keep all race/creed/colour happy' motivation. Is the realisation that most of the modifications which we have become accustomed to relating to the DOW world, will become unattainable through lack of small mindedness on both sides of the diversity argument! Another worry is, where does it stop? What methodology will they impress on the likes of the new Wolfenstein franchise when that eventually comes marching over the hill?

DOW can live with some restraints; unfortunately the same can not be said for the latter. In this day and age, online gamers crave games with legs, fresh material being thrown wanton in to the code to add sparkle (Quake and OpenGL anyone!!) and panache to recapture the waning audience. Its the difference between a good online game and mediocre one .... and as a mature gamer, I paid for that right!

òÓ

[Deunan]

I'm curious.
If you don't have the pre release badges and your opponent does, how are those transferred?
Are they actually in your game just locked, or do they get send to you during the match and then remain locked?
If it were the latter, maybe new badges could be added in the same way as DLC badges are. Would just have to find the place and format in which the DLC ones are stored....

[RayvenQ85]

That is entirely possible, look in the Heretek Cabal, the only problme is it's a pain in the arse to do.

[GRLSOV]

Are they actually in your game just locked, or do they get send to you during the match and then remain locked?

In the MP Beta, the badges and colours were all unlocked by modders, so yeah, they are there, you just can't access them without the pre-order code or "other means".

[Troubleshooter]

So Microsoft is worried that some twit will put fecal porn on their army badges and banners? Ok, I can see why they might be worried about it... this is a very litigious society after all, and M$ is the mother of all deep pockets.

That is not excuse for not opening up the options of users to create custom badges and banners though. The reason being that the same dolt who might put naughty bits on their army banners will just spam URL's and foul language all the same... what is the point of limiting one form of expression while allowing another to persist?

The answer then is the reputation system on GFWL. Microsoft has provided a way for offended parties to shut-out offensive players. Don't like my gay-nazi-satan worshiping S&M space marines... ban me on GFWL and poof - you don't have to ever play against me again. Microsoft has provided the only sensible solution (and workable) but still we go further to ensure that some forms of being an ass are super-duper off limits. *SIGH*

My good friend from DOW had a Nazi scheme that he used just to get a rise out of the hyper-sensitive types, its fun to poke self-righteous people with sharp things once in a while. Hes not a racist, or a nazi... he was explicitly using offensive schemes just for the fun of tweaking noses. (additionally, SS themed units are aesthetically attractive - sorry some evil people have fashion sense too!) Its a form of social protest/rebellion... but its a no-no from here on out in DoW2. I personally wont miss swastikas flying over Listening posts, but I'll definately hate not being able to use Death Guard colors and standards on my SM/IG forces in DoW2 just because some infinitessimally small number of people might want to use the same tools to get a laugh. (and yes, I laughed at some of the more creative uses of the DoW system, even offensive ones.)

The game is rated Mature, it has a social filtering system build in, and its based on IP that highlights racism and religion based genocide as motivating forces for the main factions... I think we can safely allow people to experiment with custom schemes without inviting legal action or driving away customers. Really...

[CeeJay]

I don't know about you guys, but I think a Space Marine with a Swastika slapped on his shoulder looks badass.

[Mirage Knight]

These guys were the cover boys for the 1st edition rulebook and one of the better chapters (Imperial Fists successor chapter, but seem to behave much less stupidly), but they've been so sidelined now you can't even make their colour scheme in the painter.

My fave Chapter as well :)

Well...a work around would be to colour areas 1 and 2 Regal Blue, area 3 Red Gore, and area 4 Golden Yellow - and use the Imperial Fists badge.

Not exactly spot on but better than nothing...

[ZarX]

Gonna have to agree with TroubleShooter. He is right though. If you really look at most the armies. They are all about conquest and mass geneocide. You know who does it the most though? The brave shiny marines. I can't begin to start to list off how many planets and systems they "Cleasned" through mass genocide because they didn't want the chaos to take over...Seriously.. Gotta agree with everything Troubleshooter said.

[Lionel-Richie]

There's also a notable difference between fiction and reality. No one is going to be offended by the genocide of WH40k armies because you don't have people today still reeling from their actions.

[Troubleshooter]

No one is going to be offended by the genocide of WH40k armies because you don't have people today still reeling from their actions.Regardless, people who are determined to be offensive will continue to be offensive even without the presence of Nazi uniforms in the game.

Hamstringing the players of a "M" rated game to protect the tiny minority of people who would be ACTUALLY traumatized by seeing adult-themed/offensive (subjective) player made content is stupid.

Mario cart? fine...
Warhammer 40k? no.

[BL4zD]

I really wish the conversation would move away from all the speculation about why we can't add in custom content because...we can't do it. It really doesn't matter what the reason is, the capability has been left out of the engine for end-users to create and disseminate their own content. Whatever reasons THQ/Relic and/or MS decided to lock that feature out, it's a reason that won't be changed by even a thousand people going on and on about it in a thread on a fansite.

What we really need to focus our energy on is getting Relic to release things that are necessary. It's not such a big deal that only you can see your custom badge, all things considered. Compare that to what I think are larger concerns, like only being able to choose from 4 coloring patterns, which other players do see. While your badge may or may not go unnoticed, the color pattern of your favorite chapter will either look flat out wrong or plain silly.

We also need banners a la DoW I put back in the game.

But we can't really have a serious conversation with any weight behind it if we bicker about Nazis and Relic trying to screw its customers out of $1 or 2 (how much could they possibly charge for a badge? or a pack of them? certainly not enough to make it economically viable).

[Troubleshooter]

There are 2 things that stand out about the content locks.

1. You can't mix racial badges/banners.

2. You can't bring new content to the game.

One is clearly a relic decision, the other is more fuzzy. I'm willing to bet that #2 is an outgrowth of #1 though. Why they would lock down the badge system is beyond me... but we can speculate as to why.

The simplest answer is that relic plans to "reward players who bought the game". If that means they are going to add this function later - great. Otherwise, it means they plan to sell it or never include it at all.

All of that is up for discussion - but IMO the content lock-down seems to point at Microsoft trying to keep GFWL as clean as it can.

[Lionel-Richie]

Regardless, people who are determined to be offensive will continue to be offensive even without the presence of Nazi uniforms in the game.

Hamstringing the players of a "M" rated game to protect the tiny minority of people who would be ACTUALLY traumatized by seeing adult-themed/offensive (subjective) player made content is stupid.

Mario cart? fine...
Warhammer 40k? no.

Well, as I've said before I don't *agree* that they should've axed custom badges and merely should have added a Report Offensive Content button to the game. I'm just pointing out why certain symbols offend or bother some people.

Though I'm still not sure why everyone keeps bringing up the fact that the game is rated M. Nazi imagery wouldn't cause a T game to become an M game. Or, just because the game is rated M does that make it perfectly acceptable for people to run around with Furry-Hentai banners?

[Rhedd]

I really wish the conversation would move away from all the speculation about why we can't add in custom content because...we can't do it.There is NO NEED for speculation.

I have been told, by a Relic employee, that the reason custom badges aren't in the game is 100% and totally because Microsoft doesn't allow that sort of custom content on GFWL.

There is no doubt, and no speculation. (If anyone ever listened, that is. :P)

Other than that, BL4zD, I disagree with every word you said. (Except the part about wishing there were banners.)

To me, and other people, it doesn't matter what sort of pattern your Marines have if they don't have the right badge to go alone with it. I want Howling Griffon Marines, which are quartered red-and-yellow, which I can do now, but I don't care as long as they're going to have a Space Wolves badge, or no badge at all.

Badges > color divisions.

[LoneWolf666]

I'd say badges = color divisions. Imagine having a Howling Gryphons badge on a Space Wolves colored Marine. Ick. :p On the subject of DLC badges, I think they will be free, or quite possibly bundled with other content.

[Andur]

Figures Microsoft would want this kind of thing. And they go on about games like Halo having the ability to customize your player, or army or whatever, but only with what they say you can have.
It seems hypocritical to me, that they would give you the ability to customize your multiplayer appearance, but restrict it to the point where you ask, "why bother?"

[Eej]

Just so you know, a Relic dev has mentioned that there's going to be a truckload of free DLC on the way. Let's not get too carried away with the conspiracy OH MY GOD THE MICROTRANSACTION RAPE COMETH theories.

[BadKen]

The answer then is the reputation system on GFWL. Microsoft has provided a way for offended parties to shut-out offensive players. Don't like my gay-nazi-satan worshiping S&M space marines... ban me on GFWL and poof - you don't have to ever play against me again.
The problem is that this solution isn't 100%. The reputation system in GFWL only notes your preferences to play with or not play with certain people. It's not an absolute. You can still get matched with people that you have flagged as "avoid", just as you won't always get matched with people you "prefer".

For obvious reasons, it's just not possible to completely avoid playing with someone if you play ranked matches.

[traffichazard]

After enjoying years of DOW with custom badges and full RGB colour, the new Army Painter feels lame. Most of my old custom colour schemes are broken now - I'm looking into writing a script to automatically convert my old .teamcolour files to something usable in DOWII by using the closest match, but most will look crap, and some will just not work at all (bye-bye, copper trim).

The new "patterns" for marines are nice, but there are a few dumb decisions in the implementation. One of the patterns colours the helmet, but you need to get ingame to actually see it 'cause the army painter only shows heroes (one with no helmet, one with a white helmet and one with only the tiniest sliver of colour around his eyepiece). Why are we limited to viewing heroes in the AP? Too confusing for us otherwise? And why must they twitch and fidget like a 4 year old with nervous tics and a sugar high? My kingdom for a "Pause Animation" button.

Banners will be missed.. I guess they just provided an unacceptable level of individual expression. Silly and un-fluffy as it is, battles between Pepsi and Coke armies were fun as hell (Yeah, I'm sure execs from either company would have a fit to see their trademarks used in such a way). I guess in the grim future of DOW, there is only SERIOSE BUSINES.

I can understand concerns about badge content too, but dropping the RGB sliders was just dumb. They could've just included 'em and kept gloss and specularity sliders hidden so it wasn't a step backwards, but allowed them new options for special colours.

It doesn't help that the battle damage/wear on the Space Marine textures is so overdone that it makes the colors look washed-out and crappy at anything below Ultra texture detail.

I guess I wouldn't be too disappointed about the AP if it wasn't such a downgrade.

tl;dr version:
Painter sux - Want RGB color, "Stand still" button, custom badges & more units.

[Archaon]

I'm not sure if this has been brought up already but what upset me the most is that when playing a skirmish game against the AI you cant choose their colour scheme. I wanted to do a re-creation of the battle for Macragge against hive fleet behemoth instead of the default hive fleet leviathan colours :(