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New playable races study - Choose your favorite


Lonami.2987

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@Lonami.2987 said:

@TheBravery.9615 said:Tengu, largos, dwarves are most likely because they're not revealed as much. Tengu has a blatant 'hidden city' with a closed off portal in lions arch that's hinted at becoming new content.

Tengu were supposed to be the 5th playable race, but got replaced by sylvari.

@Vayne.8563 said:I'm not saying I hate the idea of a new race. I rather like the idea of a new race. I'm just wondering what we'd have to trade to get it.

Nothing? If we ever get playable races, they will be the selling point of an expansion, much like mounts were with PoF.

And to be fair, we don't have many selling points left.

@"DonArkanio.6419" said:Once (if ever) we go to explore the Unending Ocean this would be a crazy good opportunity to go with the Largos. I like that "anti-hero" idea. I wonder if ANet will ever decide to go underwater.If this will never be a thing I'd go with Margonite / Jotun. I'd love to take a leap back in time to see how Jotun were doing in their greatest time.
  • Woah, Racial Skills reworked into global mastery system? Great idea!

We definitely need more "dark grey morale" races, with a society that is outright disgusting for the other races. I'm really tired of this world of happiness where everything is so perfect and civilized, except your usual Inquest or charr brute, who get shunned quickly by their own peers.

@"MithranArkanere.8957" said:The only way a playable largos would be possible is if their fins are actually a racial back item, or that playable largos lose their fins in an accident in the starting instance, or as punishment for not completing an assassination.

I agree, the Tengu are the most probable race to be added as they check all the boxes but I have to add something to this part, the Norn are supposed to be much larger than what we got in-game, their size was "adapted" to make them playable characters. Their shape-shifting capabilities were reduced to some weak racial skills. In order to adapt the Largos they could make the wings a racial skill too. There are ways to make Largos playable, although the Tengu are a much much better (and probable) future race. At the very least I want to finally visit the Dominion of Winds, that blurry part of the World map is really bothering me!

Exactly, nothing is set in stone. For all we know, largos wings could be special equipment, used only by largos assassins. If we ever get to experience largos society first-hand, we might discover we knew nothing about them all along. As I said before, it's like meeting a ninja, and then pretending him to be the face of Japanesse culture as a whole.

There's another important thing to consider, which way too many people is stubbornly blind at: Humanoid races sell. And not only that, all of them have backwards compatibility with the human/norn/sylvari rig armor pool. Of the three most popular playable race ideas, largos is the easier to implement. Hell, even the likes of margonites, awakened, or jotun would be easier to implement than the most popular playable race idea, tengu.

Of course we're trading. If a new race is "the" selling point of the expansion. we're not getting a different selling point. So if the tengu were the selling point of the new expansion as opposed to say housing, then I'd not want that. I'd prefer housing.

Every single developer has so man many hours. When you make something as complex as a race, you're not making other things with that same time. You're always sacrificing one thing to get another thing. Anet themselves have said so directly.

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Tengu Samurai >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tech Scientist Lizardrat Mishmash.It really eludes me how Asura could have been chosen over the iconic Tengu.

It would be really weak of Anet to come out of the woods and say something akin to:"Yeah, uhm, we are one of the few gaming company who is unable to work within our own system and do something even old MMOs like DAOC and WOW could, make a new class who does not start like any other race. Wait, what? The Death Knight or the Inconnu were introduced without the need or ability to make the personal story before they were introduced?Uhm, ok, but what about voice acting? So you say that the Norn could share his voice with the Tengu. Well...Hm, but how about the armor clipping issue? What, we already have a race from the beginning who has these issues and we did not care in the slightest? Well, you are a really tricky bunch, you customers..."

But I guess it is what it is, making raids and even more nonsensical stories for the living world is probably considered more important.

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I don't think dev time would be well spent attempting to add a new race to a game such as this, without severely undermining the point of the games uniqueness.

Possible? Sure. But at what cost? What might now get developed because resources are allocated elsewhere?

That said, it's possible they could mimic "hero" classes that start at a certain point in the game (like, a class that starts IN the new xpac, skipping all vanilla story line and leveling). There are ways to minimize, but I don't think the community would appreciate many methods necessary to pull it off.

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How about a dog race, troll race or a panda race kappaJokes aside, I'd love to see the Tengu since I already made up some kind of concept for a Tengu character and I know how they could get rid of the "controversy" with previous storylines and keep it lore friendly. Just do it the same way like with Factions but instead of offering classes (Ritualist and Assassin/or Paragon and Dervish in Nightfall) as an option upon character creation when choosing a campaign you have the offer to play as a Tengu. I'd love to see campaigns making a return.

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@Lonami.2987 said:Nothing? If we ever get playable races, they will be the selling point of an expansion, much like mounts were with PoF.I think that's a little naïve. Part of adding a new race would normally mean a new racial capital and beginning story as well as new low level zones. I do not think that BioWare is interested in doing that. It's a lot of work and all that work to create that will cost resources. And Vayne is absolutely right because when you spend resources on one thing, you cannot spend those same resources on another thing. That's what it will cost.

ArenaNet will likely want to invest into things that have a better balance between play value and resource cost. I just don't believe that a new race is where that balance is positive. Don't forget that aside from creating a whole personal story and tying it into the continuing vanilla story, creating a home city and starter zones, etc., they will also have to remodel almost all the armor skins in the game around the new race's character models. That's also a ton of work.

And again, that ton of work equates to resources being spent, that you cannot spend on other things. Like maybe new level 80 zones and a continuation of the main story. I mean would people be happy with say Tengu and not get any masteries to do and not get a new class for example? That's the sort of choices they'd have to make at some point. As much as anyone would like there are limits to what they can do and when you do one thing it often means you cannot do another. That's the reality of it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

@Gehenna.3625 said:

@Lonami.2987 said:Nothing? If we ever get playable races, they will be the selling point of an expansion, much like mounts were with PoF.I think that's a little naïve. Part of adding a new race would normally mean a new racial capital and beginning story as well as new low level zones.

Don't forget that aside from creating a whole personal story and tying it into the continuing vanilla story, creating a home city and starter zones, etc., they will also have to remodel almost all the armor skins in the game around the new race's character models. That's also a ton of work.

New races don't need anything like that. If you want to get straight to the point, this is all you need:

  • They don't need capital cities or starting zones of their own. New races can spawn directly in the new expansion's zones, next to an open world hub, the likes of Ebonhawke or the Free City of Amnoon.
  • They don't need new low level zones. New races either start directly at level 80, or alternatively, the new expansion's maps have level scaling, so you can level up without going back to the old world.
  • They don't need a new Personal Story, and the old stories don't need to be adapted for them. New races get a short introduction, and then start their story right as the expansion begins. Previous stories are not available (play the old races if you want to experience them).
  • Most of the old armor sets will not be adapted, only the important ones. Most of the old armor skins will not be compatible with the new races.

That's the optimal approach for new playable races. Yeah, everyone wishes they would get new capital cities, new zones, and a new story where they join and command the Pact, much like the classic playable races, but there's no rules of any kind saying that's the way to go.

@Maleman.7435 said:Awakened would be a cool race to play.

I feel like that could be a combat tonic, letting you turn character into an undead version, with rotten skin and crippled walked animations.

@"Cynder.2509" said:How about a dog race, troll race or a panda race kappaJokes aside, I'd love to see the Tengu since I already made up some kind of concept for a Tengu character and I know how they could get rid of the "controversy" with previous storylines and keep it lore friendly. Just do it the same way like with Factions but instead of offering classes (Ritualist and Assassin/or Paragon and Dervish in Nightfall) as an option upon character creation when choosing a campaign you have the offer to play as a Tengu. I'd love to see campaigns making a return.

Yeah, that's the best solution. I too wish GW2 had followed a campaign model as well, even if just for the story :(.


EDIT: For the record, with a total of 572 votes, the numbers are:

  • Bird race - Tengu: 41% (239 votes)
  • Humanoid race - Largos: 15% (86 votes)
  • Elemental race - Stone Dwarf: 8% (51 votes)
  • Mammal race - Kodan: 5% (33 votes)
  • Reptilian race - Naga, Forgotten, Krait: 3% (18 votes)
  • Amphibian race - Hylek, Itzel, Nuhoch, Heket: 1% (8 votes)
  • Primitive race - Grawl, Ogre, Quaggan, Skritt, Harpy, Jotun, Troll: 10% (59 votes)
  • Advanced race - Centaur, Dredge: 1% (7 votes)
  • Magical race - Mursaat, Seer, Margonite: 4% (28 votes)
  • Something else altogether: 7% (43 votes)

Let's give this another run!

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  • 2 years later...

I'd rather have ANet spent resources on something else than a new playable race as race in GW2 doesn't add much to the playing experience other than looks. Everything else that can be done by a new race in this game can just as well be achieved without going through the hassle implementing a new race would be.

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The best way to do this would be

1) Give each race its own voting slot -> lumping 5 different races into the same class could bloat the popularity when in reality the individual races could be far less popular

2) This should be a ranked voting system -> I think people have so many different favorites that the best way to make the most people happy is with ranked voting so most people get SOMETHING they'd be somehat happy with vs. 2% of the population is happy and everyone else grumbles.

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@"Super Hayes.6890" said:New expansion otw since this thread was last posted on so who knows. A new race would be fun as long as the expansion comes with a character slot.

I would give players the option to choose, I don't want/need a character slot myself, so I'd rather get something else instead, like a free "race change".

@Firebeard.1746 said:The best way to do this would be

1) Give each race its own voting slot -> lumping 5 different races into the same class could bloat the popularity when in reality the individual races could be far less popular

2) This should be a ranked voting system -> I think people have so many different favorites that the best way to make the most people happy is with ranked voting so most people get SOMETHING they'd be somehat happy with vs. 2% of the population is happy and everyone else grumbles.

Agree, but forums have restrictions, so this is what we have to work with.

@Hypnowulf.7403 said:Not much love for reptiles or the moletariat. Shame.

Serpentine races are kinda weird due to jumping animations, but yeah, I'd love to see them as playable some day, here or somewhere else.

Same thing for races with multiple arms, four arms being the most common.

@"sorudo.9054" said:looking at the votes i do see a pattern, ppl are boring at thinking of something new.it's always ether what already exists or what just doesn't work, nothing actually new and valid.

Any ideas for potential playable races who don't already exist?

Personally, from the existing ones not covered by the original post, I wouldn't mind jotun or sidhe/wardens. Both could work very well with Cantha (jotun would be tied to the yeti there, and look more "human" than the game's current version).

I would say my current top five would be as follows:

No ideas for 100% new races though. The game has done a pretty poor job of worldbuilding beyond the current events, and that's a double edged sword. Some kind of insectoid race could be nice I guess.

@Oxstar.7643 said:Kodan tbh. They're not that alike Norn - their religion and magic are different, as is their societal system. You could do a lot with them.

Don't forget to vote!

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@Oxstar.7643 said:

@Oxstar.7643 said:Kodan tbh. They're not that alike Norn - their religion and magic are different, as is their societal system. You could do a lot with them.

Don't forget to vote!

That I did. Surprising nobody, Tengu has a crushing lead. Oh well. If we get a new race then birdmen it is I guess.

Honestly I think that is just because of the location of the Dominion of Winds. Many players that want Tengu are standing on the idea that they would be easy to add. While I want Tengu I believe that they, or any race, would be resource intensive to implement.

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Sentient golem anyone? And no, i don't mean something like Blish, but an actual artificial being made for...reasons. Really, when was the last time a crazy Asura needed a reason? Maybe some inquest mook thought they would be better enforcers, until they "enforced" their creator(s) to an early grave.

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@"TheToxicFox.8710" said:The biggest issue with charrs is how insanely big they are,

It's easier being on the top of the food chain when you're big.

how very bland and dull their eyes are,

Huh?

how terrible their armor models look on them

Just anet thinking of all the sweet savings.

and how unenthusiastic their story is. B O R I N G !!!!!!!

Yeah, should be something more compelling like "missed a chance to perform at the circus". Pfft...

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@Zakka.2153 said:SKritt or get out, the Skritt are smart enough and I don't feel they deserve to be put under Primitive. There is a whole quest in the Asura area saying if enough skritt get together they can become smarter then even Asura.

Plus SHINES!

Seeing how Skritt gain their intelligence from numbers, I request being able to play as a group of three Skritt. It would be one model, but it would feature three Skritt.The right and center Skritt each carry a copy of the right hand weapon and the left Skritt carries the left hand weapon. In case of a two handed weapon each Skritt carries a copy. They take turns attacking when going through an auto attack chain and every skill is carried out by one or more of them. When riding a mount they all sit behind each other. It would be hillarious.

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