Why does GW2 need races?

simple: Anet is going for the big bucks by appealing more to the masses...

they have seen that their free MMO model works (with GW1), and are now trying to expand their market with this model.

all the new features of GW2 seem to point to this fact -- to me, it looks like GW2 will be a very dumbed down version of GW1 (of course making Anet tons of money).

What the hell is the big mystery? There are already different races established in the Guild Wars world, so making some of them playable isn't really a huge leap.

The bigger mystery is why people get so wrapped up around the axle about it.

And if you assume different races means unbalanced play then you don't have a clue about Anet's design philosophy. It's a pretty big assumption to think playable races means racial bonuses that impact competitive play.

Or it would give us a more diversified gameplay

I don't care if they add new races or not. New races mean a more diversified gameplay

Guild Wars is just a glorified Ragnarok Online, really. It has all the classes, it has "ascension", and even the items are similar in so many ways. Video games are like movies. They're running out of ideas because ideas are not infinite.

I, for one, have a feeling I'm going to like Guild Wars 2. It's going to be just as unique as Guild Wars is. The end.

More combinations is good: Instead of seeing the same crappy looking warriors everywhere, now we'll see Human Warriors, Charr warriors, Norn warriors, Centaur warriors, etc. (you get the idea)

I'm not sure if Races will get Attribute bonuses (that would be lame, IMO), or just Bonus skills (much better option).

Why are bonus skills better? Instead of reinvinting the wheel by having to design new classes all the time, Anet could just release new Races with an Expansion, and suddenly it gives players multiple new options, as each Profession will benefit differently from the new Racial Skill.


Plus, it's just cool to play different races. Anet has always talked about it, Guild Wars was never "just Human". Honestly, it was probably just cheaper for them to do it that way!

Hi im probably the minority beacause I'm more emo than op..Cold was my soul
Untold was the pain
I faced when you left me
A rose in the rain....
So I swore to the razor
That never, enchained
Would your dark nails of faith
Be pushed through my veins again

The anet team is definately racist proved by my Lions Arch study with screen shots with vulgar language I would like to post on gwg post mod approval showing an account banned for racial slurs which almost identical to another with the only differance being the n word being switched out for the c word(aka saltines)on the other with the one account racially slurring blacks, banned but the account offending towards whites remains unbanned. This world is corrupt all the way to the top as high in the chain as far as you care to take it. It's life and you have to deal with it. oh effing well lawl...who cares nymore...not i

'cuz!

end of story

We don't even know if anet has decided to give each race special stats and we wont for some time so stop complaining and just take it in stride.

Here we go again. You know, this is one of the main negative aspects of the GW community: many people bought the game as a cheap alternative to WoW. Over time this (along with the great success of WoW) has bred great opposition towards WoW amongst a lot of these people, often so much so that they squeal at the mention of aspects they feel are related to it, such as races, high level cap, un-instanced zones, etc. They are forced to launch insults, saying that WoW is boring, grind-based, imbalanced, addictive, a rip-off. They see GW as unique and unspoilt, and any aspect related to WoW should not come anywhere near it.

In fact, I was of that kind of opinion, until I started playing this WoW trial. But let's not get into that.

People see WoW as the leader of the real MMORPGs, followed by the likes of EverQuest, Lineage and others. Guild Wars is separated from these by its business model and its fully instanced explorable areas. Thus, WoW and its 'followers' merge into one big, ugly monster that is poised to destroy GW by holding ANet at gunpoint and telling them to do all these things in GW2. And so Guild Wars will become just another MMORPG on the ever-widening market, slowly fading until it disappears altogether.

[/their opinions]

[my opinion]

Guild Wars has just been born. It has been an extraordinarily successful birth - yes, it had its problems, but it also made many great achievements, among them its unprecedented attention to its fanbase and its regular updates as a result. WoW, in comparison, has a deep history (about 14 years or so IIRC) going back through Blizzard's previous games, which drew in a large fanbase for them to utilise in WoW. If we took WoW to be an adult, then GW is a child. GW has so much ahead of it; it has laid some unique foundations and now, with a reasonable-sized playerbase, it has only to break out of the mould cast by its business model (which we all knew would not last), and burst out into the wider market, where it will flourish. I'm looking forward to many things in GW2, because I have faith in ANet that the features they have told us about will be well-thought-out and properly implemented. Plus, you never know what surprises they will throw in.

Trying to balance GW is difficult, and I applaud ANet for being fairly successful in this; the mix of diversity (in the range of skills and professions) and <insert whatever the opposite of that is here> (no other differences e.g. racial differences, and many skills are very alike) is a confusing mix indeed. What I hope is that these unique racial abilities, along with a cut-down on boring and over-used skill types, as well as anything else ANet can throw in, will make for a whole new style of gameplay that they can shape to meet the majority's wants and needs easily.

Don't look at GW2 as corrupt and a betrayal of what once was, for that's not what it will be. ANet has absolutely no desire to un-uniquify Guild Wars, nor spoil what its fanbase enjoys. Races are just a part of making Guild Wars 2 a whole lot better than its predecessor.

I agree ... races is a waste of time and energy ... its just for looks nothing more, from what i gather it will only make u look different, it wont make your skills more powerful or better in anyway, shape or form.

Personly i have never seen another player that is EXALTY the same as anyone of my charactors yet, and i have 10 different charactors all level 20 and have all 3 games.

I would much rather they spend time on the GAME and make it MORE enjoyable
(not that its not enjoyable as it is now). My motto "IF it anit broken, DONT FIX IT".

Make your mind up

I don't mind new races as long as there racial abilitys are something simple like an unique attribute with there own skill set.

You haven't? I have. On both of my favorite characters (Female Monk and Male Ranger).

In fact, in both occasions, the "twin" had the same armor AND nearly the same height. For my Ranger, the only thing that separated us was that I had a Sword and he had a Bow.

I'll be glad to see the added Races, and I'd like to know what makes each of them special. Because I'm sure they will do that.

I don't know about fewer armor choices for every class. Maybe it'll be like some MMO's where a cloth chest armor could fit any race with a class that requires cloth chest armor. It'll scale to the character model. Anet already admitted that our current armor can never be as detailed as NPC armor because the chest and leggings pieces had to blend on the same spot even with another set, causing some designs to be dropped or degraded. Sure, the scaling thing will make it like other MMO's, but in addition to race almost everyone will look unique for fashion.

Might I ask...how do you know ANY of this applies to Guild Wars 2? You're just looking at all the other MMORPGs with races and automatically applying their "rules" to GW2.

The edition of races gives the game more flavour. It's also much more realistic in a fantasy setting. Plus, the Dwarves and Charr we've already seen, just not played.

Also...when you say "most people don't want to play an ugly monster," again you are assuming. When I told my m8 about GW2 and that you could play Charr, it immediately sparked his interest.

Oh, and in closing, if you think an Asura is ugly you must have a very negative life!

I completely agree and personnaly I think races will be for cosmetics purposes only. Now we will have to wait and see.

ya man without races what would we have other than a bunch of clones? boooringg..racism is fun and my many friends of multiple nationalities would say the same im sure...love you all

It adds another depth to the game. By the sounds of it A net is going all out for this and I doubt the lack for armour will be any sort of problem.

If you read up you would know that each race has special abilities to go along side their profession. In a sense its like have three professions and a new skin. So allot more depth.

Looking around at Guild wars one, one race to be honest, looks a little bland. GW is creating their own unique races aswell which adds to the fun of it.

Don't like the changes, don't buy it. But I know I will.

I cant believe someone actually got so hot and bothered to make a thread complaining about races and how they didnt want to "play an ugly character"

If you dont want to play a different race then DONT. It's called options. Others want to play different races, so who are you to say what's a waste of time and energy?

The only legitimate concern that you listed in your post was about racial attributes/skills. It could be a problem or it might not be. Who knows at this point? But come on. Complaining more character options? Sheesh.

Yes, please do not add races. In fact, please remove all classes, and all differences in character models. We need no weapons, no armor, 1 skill or skillset, and for pete's sake, make it turn-based (ya know, so everyone no matter the lag is on the same page). This way, everyone will be equal, period. We will be playing checkers. Yay, we all happy now!

/sarcasm

Personally, I love options and customization. Screw the balance, that's what updates are for.

I can't believe I came on here to complain about someone complaining about someone complaining tehehehheehehhe.