Less Flashiness ,maybe?!

Hello!Just logged in after a while and went to the Mistlock Sanctuary,i thought it was Wintersday already.Not only that almost everyone looked like a Christmas tree but there wasn't even much diversity,almost everyone has that black and blue infusion stuff. The game looks like a flashlight pressed against your eyeball. The new birthday armours look amazing,simple and badass.I don't say that there shouldn't be flashiness in the game since different people like different things but this is just over the top.I wish Guildwars 2 had the armour design from BDO or FF14,even Lineage 2 not the armor design from a low budget asian mmorpg.Sometimes less is more.

Edit : Maybe give us the option to somehow remove flashiness on our side...like removing all the infusion effects.

So basically "u mad"? Its too late to lament the fact that people want flashy things when theres A. an emphasis on fashion, and B. more then 10 people on the screen. Any game not left to rot ends up going the same direction for the same reasons..... people are willing to buy them. And we're just talking particle effects.... bombastic anything is usually enough to gather a following.

@"starlinvf.1358" said:So basically "u mad"? Its too late to lament the fact that people want flashy things when theres A. an emphasis on fashion, and B. more then 10 people on the screen. Any game not left to rot ends up going the same direction for the same reasons..... people are willing to buy them. And we're just talking particle effects.... bombastic anything is usually enough to gather a following.

Giving anyone who doesn't want to see that flashiness the option to turn it off wouldn't affect anyone who likes them.

Character model quality - lowest :P And u dont care about others look anymore. They all look the same. Without any effects.Also: check general options and "Competitive" section. There's something like "Standard enemy/friendly models"

This is exactly why I run the game at it's lowest settings. So much screen clutter.

@Nury.3062 said:

@"starlinvf.1358" said:So basically "u mad"? Its too late to lament the fact that people want flashy things when theres A. an emphasis on fashion, and B. more then 10 people on the screen. Any game not left to rot ends up going the same direction for the same reasons..... people are willing to buy them. And we're just talking particle effects.... bombastic anything is usually enough to gather a following.

But I've started to disagree with the idea that "options fix everything", because it enables people to ignore the problem long enough for it become a permanent problem that makes its way further into everything. UI designs, bad fashion sense, color balance, lighting, animations, the list goes on...... It is like the Loudness war, except with visuals.

The only solution now is to get people better fashion sense. And the only way thats going to happen is show off better designs that people will parrot, and not want to cover in effects that obscure it. Smarter fashion, not louder fashion; attack the root of the problem. But being successful in that is about as easy as getting people to understand buildcraft, and not just copy something they saw off snowcrows with no idea how any of it works.

I think the question now is figure out the dynamics of the fashion industry, and somehow exploiting that to shape behavior in games with customization systems. But then again, the most popular designs also tend to the trashiest ones, much for the same reasons people come up with gaudy skin combinations in most games.

Options -> Graphics options -> Character Model Limit -> LowestThis will hide anything but yourself, party members, and a few people nearby, the rest will just become nameplates.

@"Hannelore.8153" said:Options -> Graphics options -> Character Model Limit -> LowestThis will hide anything but yourself, party members, and a few people nearby, the rest will just become nameplates.

My issue is with those infusions...not the armours in general,i have no issue with most armours but those infusions ruin everything visually...just an option to remove the effects from those would be enough.Lowest settings is at the opposite part of the "spectrum" … not that good of an option either.

@starlinvf.1358 said:

@Nury.3062 said:

@starlinvf.1358 said:So basically "u mad"? Its too late to lament the fact that people want flashy things when theres A. an emphasis on fashion, and B. more then 10 people on the screen. Any game not left to rot ends up going the same direction for the same reasons..... people are willing to buy them. And we're just talking particle effects.... bombastic anything is usually enough to gather a following.

That's basically manipulating the masses which is time consuming and I suppose Anet doesn't have the resources for that and since flashiness sells ,not an option for them to do.A simple option to remove it for the ones who want would be the easiest I think.

@Nury.3062 said:

@"Hannelore.8153" said:Options -> Graphics options -> Character Model Limit -> LowestThis will hide anything but yourself, party members, and a few people nearby, the rest will just become nameplates.

Most of those infusions cost anywhere from 500 to 4000 gold, the majority of players do not have them like you insist. The only really common infusion is the Ghostly Infusion which is available easily from raids, and even its price has gone up alot..so its not a big deal.

But you can turn that off too, set "Animation" to low, as it requires "Medium" or higher.

@Hannelore.8153 said:

@Nury.3062 said:

@Hannelore.8153 said:Options -> Graphics options -> Character Model Limit -> LowestThis will hide anything but yourself, party members, and a few people nearby, the rest will just become nameplates.

I'm not sure on what "shard" you play on but I want there...wherever I go where there is a group of people...most of it is flashy...and 500 gold is not such a huge amount nowadays...

Just about every mmo for 15 years has had the option to "turn off other players effects"...except this one. We have been asking since launch to have the personal option to tone down/turn off the seizure inducing light show the game has turned in to, but they have yet to even comment to the numerous threads on the subject. I have played since launch, and couldn't even tell you what half the bosses look like, because all you see is the gigantic light show. If people want to turn their characters into disco balls, more power to them, but the rest of us should not have to endure. Not when were asking for a standard feature offered in every other game. I want to actually see the bosses or mobs I am fighting, not just a giant flashing ball of effects from other players.

@"Ubi.4136" said:Just about every mmo for 15 years has had the option to "turn off other players effects"...except this one. We have been asking since launch to have the personal option to tone down/turn off the seizure inducing light show the game has turned in to, but they have yet to even comment to the numerous threads on the subject. I have played since launch, and couldn't even tell you what half the bosses look like, because all you see is the gigantic light show. If people want to turn their characters into disco balls, more power to them, but the rest of us should not have to endure. Not when were asking for a standard feature offered in every other game. I want to actually see the bosses or mobs I am fighting, not just a giant flashing ball of effects from other players.

Exactly this! Same here,almost since launch and the game used to be way better when the infusions were not around,they went overboard with it... it shouldn't even be that hard to give us that option. Flashiness can be done in better ways as well ,but in this game is like they took inspiration from rainbows...

Indeed, more options to reduce all this kind of screen clutter, at this point it is becoming an issue of User Interface and Game Interaction as much as anything else. Especially in large scale fights where you can't see the enemy or what you're doing because of all the spell/skill effects flashing all over. But also all the eye-killing flashing animations and disco lights, this game should come with an epilepsy warning at this stage.

@"Ubi.4136" said:Just about every mmo for 15 years has had the option to "turn off other players effects"...except this one. We have been asking since launch to have the personal option to tone down/turn off the seizure inducing light show the game has turned in to, but they have yet to even comment to the numerous threads on the subject. I have played since launch, and couldn't even tell you what half the bosses look like, because all you see is the gigantic light show. If people want to turn their characters into disco balls, more power to them, but the rest of us should not have to endure. Not when were asking for a standard feature offered in every other game. I want to actually see the bosses or mobs I am fighting, not just a giant flashing ball of effects from other players.

Starting to agree with this more and more as of late: Its getting to the point that some character models are hurting my eyes, id like to see what the armor looks like they are wearing not the glow around it. Obviously needs to be a personal option, hopefully it happens.

Hell id want to have this option for my own character sometimes.

Concur, I prefer performance over particle effects. I like seeing armor, just not crazy particle effects. Thus goes for spells too. Let me turn them down.

OP, I can't thumbs you up enough. I'd love this, plus options to turn down both mine and other player/boss combat effects as well. I'm still reeling from some of the LW S4 fights-- ugh.

@starlinvf.1358 said:

@Nury.3062 said:

@starlinvf.1358 said:So basically "u mad"? Its too late to lament the fact that people want flashy things when theres A. an emphasis on fashion, and B. more then 10 people on the screen. Any game not left to rot ends up going the same direction for the same reasons..... people are willing to buy them. And we're just talking particle effects.... bombastic anything is usually enough to gather a following.

The big problem with this is that flashy stuff probably sells. To re-educate or engineer better fashion sense into the player population would require Anet to stop designing glowly, blingy, flashy outfits in the gem store. I'm guessing that would have a big effect on Anet's bottom line-- you just have to look at what's for sale in the cash shop to see it. It's not in their interests to decrease their revenue stream, so they'll probably continue pump out more and more glowy things.

A slider takes care of that problem for those of us who can't stand it, while still allowing Anet to boost its profit margins.

"Attention seekers" (to avoid another more common term that would get kittenized) parade their chars at places where many people can see them. I love mistlock sanctuary but it is slowly becoming a place for those people to park their "look-at-me-chars". I personally think they are annoying and I would like an option to turn off any flashy effects from chars not in my party/guild/friendlist or whatever option someone comes up with that does not switch it off for everyone.

Hell, even a blacklist for selected chars like "please don't show me any effects on character X who stands in the same spot in mistlock sanctuary every day and pretends to be the sun" would be awesome.

Blinding visual noise is what Guild Wars 2 is all about.

Unpopular opinion: I don't mind a couple of infusions and shiny stuff as long as they match the character's theme. BUT when they stack like 12 effects, that's annoying AF.

@"Mea.5491" said:Unpopular opinion: I don't mind a couple of infusions and shiny stuff as long as they match the character's theme. BUT when they stack like 12 effects, that's annoying AF.

It's not that I don't like a bit of flash myself ,but subtle and tasteful,look at the new timekeeper outfit,it has a great design and has a bit of "flash" but that's ok,acceptable.

So far I have seen a single person that was so white and shiny that it was actually impossible to make out their character.

I don't think it's a huge issue. People can do whatever they want and if the shine disturbs you that much turn off post processing, suddenly they are far less shiny and the applied filter looks ugly anyway

What's the point of having a glowing raptor/weapon/armour/infusion when no one is forced to look at it?It might be annoying and obtrusive, but that's the reason why ppl like to use it.

The real problem is the skill-screen-clutter. F.e.: Depending on your group it's extremely difficult to see which direction Seamus(Caudecus P3) is facing(not even mentioning zerg fights)

@CeNedro.7560 said:What's the point of having a glowing raptor/weapon/armour/infusion when no one is forced to look at it?It might be annoying and obtrusive, but that's the reason why ppl like to use it.

The real problem is the skill-screen-clutter. F.e.: Depending on your group it's extremely difficult to see which direction Seamus(Caudecus P3) is facing(not even mentioning zerg fights)

Why should I be forced to look at something I don't like and that bothers me,ruining my experience in the game,in what world does that make any sense? If you want to look like a christmas tree,you do you and run around the way you like but that doesn't mean everyone should have to see all that. Do you know how many people care that you have that new flashy infusion?Nobody aside from your friends probably...

@Blocki.4931 said:So far I have seen a single person that was so white and shiny that it was actually impossible to make out their character.

I don't think it's a huge issue. People can do whatever they want and if the shine disturbs you that much turn off post processing, suddenly they are far less shiny and the applied filter looks ugly anyway

What about other effects that have nothing to do with the characters and are affected by post processing?