Most bland playable race

[Thornwolf.9721]

@calb.3128 said:Norn. They are a more boring version of humans, and armour looks ridiculously stretched and poorly proportioned on Norn males.

If there is one race that could be taken out of the game without me noticing, it would be Norn. (Perhaps mass migration to Cantha... not genocide!)

@Cerioth.7062 said:For me it's pretty much a tie between humans and norn.

@Ultramex.1506 said:Human then Norn, so many human yet so indifferent, i hope season 5 give Norn more spot light.

@Curunen.8729 said:Got to be Norn sadly.

They should be more interesting based on lore (what I know of it - I'm no lore buff), but in the game they come off as a specific subset of human culture (highly stereotypical at that) made into a separate race - no more than the difference between humans in Kryta and humans in Elona.

Even visually they're just... big humans. Sure in that case could argue Sylvari are just green humans by appearance, but aside from the visual appearance there are enough differences by them being humanoid plants. In any case I kind of like humans in this game - nice cultural variety and societies. Don't get me wrong I still prefer beast race in any game that has them (asura/charr master race! :D ) but don't mind human npcs or other players.

@Lexi.1398 said:Norn - while they theoretically are interesting, i love the story, and i prefer them fashion-wise over humans...buut gw2 just hasn't /done anything/ with it. GW1 did and i'd love to play it sometime, but gw2 they're just kind of another race.... i do like that we at least almost always honor norn in story in the way that norn should be, but i want to see a little more.

So a lot of people seem to think norn are boring and big humans which I suppose is true because A-net fundamentally failed to capture or embrace the norn in any way. (Im sure they regret making them at this point.) The norn are werebeasts and can take bestial forms and function more like animals in their society than humans do. They have packs if they are born under wolf but the majority are solo-hunters who tackle the biggest and baddest to prove their strength. What A-net should have done is make is you can pick whether or not you're in human form or beast form. They should of taken the time to give the norn their depth and uniqueness but they settled for bland and boring; I still play them because they are my favorites from guild wars 1. But I don't play much so I don't matter ~ Kinda think they could of made the game human focused again and no one would of cared. I wouldn't of played but they could of ~

[calb.3128]

@Thornwolf.9721 said:So a lot of people seem to think norn are boring and big humans which I suppose is true because A-net fundamentally failed to capture or embrace the norn in any way. (Im sure they regret making them at this point.) The norn are werebeasts and can take bestial forms and function more like animals in their society than humans do. They have packs if they are born under wolf but the majority are solo-hunters who tackle the biggest and baddest to prove their strength. What A-net should have done is make is you can pick whether or not you're in human form or beast form. They should of taken the time to give the norn their depth and uniqueness but they settled for bland and boring; I still play them because they are my favorites from guild wars 1. But I don't play much so I don't matter ~ Kinda think they could of made the game human focused again and no one would of cared. I wouldn't of played but they could of ~

Oh I agree, they were interesting in GW1. There's just something missing in GW2 compared to the other races. Even humans are more interesting because of the breadth and depth of applicable lore, and more aesthetically pleasing. Armour would probably look more flattering on a dolyak than it does on a male Norn.

[Curunen.8729]

@Thornwolf.9721 said:

@calb.3128 said:Norn. They are a more boring version of humans, and armour looks ridiculously stretched and poorly proportioned on Norn males.

If there is one race that could be taken out of the game without me noticing, it would be Norn. (Perhaps mass migration to Cantha... not genocide!)

@Cerioth.7062 said:For me it's pretty much a tie between humans and norn.

@Ultramex.1506 said:Human then Norn, so many human yet so indifferent, i hope season 5 give Norn more spot light.

@Curunen.8729 said:Got to be Norn sadly.

They should be more interesting based on lore (what I know of it - I'm no lore buff), but in the game they come off as a specific subset of human culture (highly stereotypical at that) made into a separate race - no more than the difference between humans in Kryta and humans in Elona.

Even visually they're just... big humans. Sure in that case could argue Sylvari are just green humans by appearance, but aside from the visual appearance there are enough differences by them being humanoid plants. In any case I kind of like humans in this game - nice cultural variety and societies. Don't get me wrong I still prefer beast race in any game that has them (asura/charr master race! :D ) but don't mind human npcs or other players.

@Lexi.1398 said:Norn - while they theoretically are interesting, i love the story, and i prefer them fashion-wise over humans...buut gw2 just hasn't /done anything/ with it. GW1 did and i'd love to play it sometime, but gw2 they're just kind of another race.... i do like that we at least almost always honor norn in story in the way that norn should be, but i want to see a little more.

So a lot of people seem to think norn are boring and big humans which I suppose is true because A-net fundamentally failed to capture or embrace the norn in any way. (Im sure they regret making them at this point.) The norn are werebeasts and can take bestial forms and function more like animals in their society than humans do. They have packs if they are born under wolf but the majority are solo-hunters who tackle the biggest and baddest to prove their strength. What A-net should have done is make is you can pick whether or not you're in human form or beast form. They should of taken the time to give the norn their depth and uniqueness but they settled for bland and boring; I still play them because they are my favorites from guild wars 1. But I don't play much so I don't matter ~ Kinda think they could of made the game human focused again and no one would of cared. I wouldn't of played but they could of ~

This would have been amazing. I certainly get what norn are supposed to be, it's a real shame the game portrayal doesn't live up to that.

Hopefully LW5 can rectify this somewhat.

[witcher.3197]

@Mizaru.5708 said:Humans, I already play as one in real life 24/7.

Damn, movies must be a miserable experience for you. Might as well stare into the mirror for 90 minutes instead of watching one, I guess?

[Thornwolf.9721]

@witcher.3197 said:

@Mizaru.5708 said:Humans, I already play as one in real life 24/7.

kitten, movies must be a miserable experience for you. Might as well stare into the mirror for 90 minutes instead of watching one, I guess?

I mean why waste the money? lol

[Mizaru.5708]

@witcher.3197 said:

@Mizaru.5708 said:Humans, I already play as one in real life 24/7.

kitten, movies must be a miserable experience for you. Might as well stare into the mirror for 90 minutes instead of watching one, I guess?

Nooooo. I may play as one indefinitely, but that doesn't mean I despise humans in every other medium. And I'm fine staring into the mirror for 90 minutes because a lot of movies these days are not that good. :p

In role-playing games, humans tends to be the last go-to option, other than putting myself in their shoes because that is what I can realistically relate to. Not some big walking talking cat. Because humans. ;D

Edit: Plus, in the movies I'm not controlling the protagonist, so it don't count!

[Tommo Chocolate.5870]

For me, it's got to be norn. It's not that they're actually bland, and they were great in GW1 - but in GW2 they're the least well-executed and the result is that they seem like bland big drunk humans. I think it was a huge mistake to make their beast forms into underpowered racial elite skills - it should have been an integral part of the race: a cosmetic change that happens every time they enter combat, with customisation options in character creation. Their level 1-30 personal story is mostly portrays them as violent drunkards, rather than exploring the more interesting parts of their culture. They also lose out armour-wise, since there isn't a norn-themed dungeon armour set - so if you actually want to dress like a norn you have three options. (This is a big problem for the other non-human races, of course.)

I actually think the humans in GW1 are probably the most well-realised fantasy race I've ever come across, but not much of that found its way into GW2 somehow (they didn't really explore the human lore in their level 1-30 personal story, for example). I frequently see complaints that, from level 40 onwards, the story just assumes that you're human - I think it doesn't: it actually presents you in a neutral, raceless way, and people assume that "neutral" is the same as "human" because they see humans as the default.

[Cuks.8241]

Norn. At first I thought humans, because humans. But than I remembered that the lore surrounding humans is interesting and not really generic. Norn have really nothing going for them except cleavages on females.

[NeyteriKiyeri.4207]

I am a human in real live, so I don't want to play a human in games. I prefer to play non humans. I dont play a norn either. They are big humans.

[Dovahkiin from HighRock.46]

In terms of race itself, I think sylvari are the worst, just the same stupid child cloned by the Pale Tree. In terms of exploration/levelling Shiver peaks imho are the worst because you can summarize everything in 2 words : kill svanir. I don't know why people don't like humans, I like the struggling between Centaurs invaded by humans who still fight for their lands again and again and the human who have nowhere else to go. I never felt bored levelling a human or playing personal story. I'm bored after 2h creating levelling a norn. I'm bored 2mn after having created a sylvari because he/she is too dumb (will die and leave a dump corpse ^^)

[Tsakhi.8124]

@Mortifera.6138 said:

@Mizaru.5708 said:Humans, I already play as one in real life 24/7.

But real humans are fat and ugly.

sad fat quiversOn topic, I'd have to say human, too.

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

Norn, good. So boring. And watch them move. Like a ox in molasse.charr are pretty boring tooasura are tasty snacks, so not boring.

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

I had trouble choosing between Human and Norn, but in the end, decided that struggling to survive, bandits, centaurs and political machinations were at least more compelling than Drink, Brag and Hit Stuff.

[Cynder.2509]

@Mizaru.5708 said:Humans, I already play as one in real life 24/7.

This ^^ (thanks for the chuckle)

That's the reason why I always pick the least human race in any game. Why be something you already are if you have a choice? That's the freedom games have to offer. They let you choose between stuff like race and gender unlike in real life where you have to remain in your flesh prison and being tied to your birth gender even if you're feeling completely disconnected to it. I do enjoy my freedom in games ^^

[Legatus Rein.6951]

Humans are the most boring race. The Norn has an overused concept. The other races have more personality.

[Kas.3509]

Norns hands down.

Norns in the begging had this appeal : connection with animals, rituals, traditions etc. Imo they could have had the most creative lore, but it was not just used.After all right now Norns are like larger, dumber, more aggressive versions of humans (stripped of their politics, many personalities and religion) with more love for booze. That's quite sad.

When I think about Norn I have this image of an overgrown dumb alcoholic.. thats not the image I want.

[Legatus Rein.6951]

@Eloc Freidon.5692 said:Also, most people find it awkward to play anything that is sexualized that isn't human.I was reluctant to say that, but we know it's true. People just wanna fap to female virtual dolls.It's freaking pathetic.

[thepenmonster.3621]

@"Thornwolf.9721" said:What A-net should have done is make is you can pick whether or not you're in human form or beast form.

I disagree. I think what they should have done is make the racial skills on par with the professional skills so shape changing is a valid build option.

Anyway I chose Charr because PROUD WARRIOR RACE is done to death and not a personality type I find likable. (Don't get me wrong, Rytlock is mah bro but he grew past "For the legions!") Though you could apply this to the Norn in practice they are, as others have said, big drunken humans.

[Knighthonor.4061]

@circuitnerd.5863 said:In your opinion, whether it be story, style, race as a whole, etc, what do you find to be the most bland/boring playable race?

notice if you reverse the poll you get from the most popular race to the least

[Knighthonor.4061]

@KidRoleplay.3615 said:See, every playable character on here behaves and thinks like a human, and even is just some retelling of a human-based culture. So, in that light, it comes down to what race does the least among them.

This is why the company needs to hire more real life Sylvari writers. So many problems would be solved!

Well I can say that about Charr up until Ice Blood. they real lame. Norn have the least of everything. Their city is worst than every other race other than Sylvari IMO.

[Loesh.4697]

Norn. Generally speaking humans tend to be the most interesting race in guild wars, with the other races mostly beiing one part of human society taken to it's logical extreme. But Charr, Asura, and Sylvari do have unique facets in that in Charr taking a Fascist society to it's logical extreme they are open for a lot of political conflict like this, the Asura and their Magitech giving a little more insight into how magic works, and the Sylvari being the only ones(Ironically despite having a humanoid form.) who are truly unique mentally due to their connection to the Dream.

But Norn feel like a human culture taken to an extreme to such a point that they come off considerably more flat then any one human nation on Tyria.

[Super Hayes.6890]

I don't know if it's because they are a race of "lone wolves" shoved into a game centered around team play or because their lore drops off after the personal story ends. I know shape shifting is underwhelming and it SHOULD be the highlight of using norn characters. Let's see what they do with them in season five.

[starlinvf.1358]

So a simple thread reveals the community's prejudice and racism......

[hugo.4705]

Between human and norn. Both feels quite boring, but will chose humans. Norns have some good characters.

[Rauderi.8706]

Have to go with Norn on this one. Their animistic culture could have been a unique selling point, if they didn't just end up as legendary drunks like some kind of super-tall dwarves. They're not organized enough for politics, thus hardly above the Ogres.Humans are next on the boredom pile, but at least they subvert the "we're everywhere and oh so clever" trope by starting off as absent their gods and desperate from centaurs?? threats that have them cornered.

Tossup between the other races after that.Asura would be interesting, but there's really no conflict anymore. Inquest won. There's no struggle for ethics. Golems are robotic plot devices and excuses for RL-modern jokes. The aesthetic also really clashes with the rest of GW2 (which I guess makes them unique-ish?).Sylvari have a refreshing outlook to start with, but unless you follow them on it, they're just kind of . . there. No big movers and shakers that aren't Firstborn or Second, and post-HoT, plot related to them is dropped.While I adore Charr casual brutality, it's . . not great as a societal tool. The quasi-Roman steampunk flair goes a good way in style, and their leadership is actually active in the plot. There are some potentially rich stories to tell there, so I'd have to put them as 'least boring'.