Welcome to This is My Story, a brand new column on Guild Wars 2 Junkies where I’ll be diving deep into the corner pockets of Tyria and showcasing interesting tidbits I happen to find along the way. For the most part, this column will focus on the PvE adventures of a casual gamer with a raiding past who’s a bit of an altaholic and very much an exploration nut. Colorful nuggets to hunt for in the wild and dangerous battles to charge haphazardly into are among my delicious recipes for… happiness? Disaster? A bit of both, sure– but think of the potential! Join me as I bring a little randomness to the GW2 scene.
As we make our way toward the much-anticipated GW2 headstart, I’ll be talking a bit about what there is to look forward to once we’re unleashed in Tyria. If you’re thinking something along the lines of, “Duh– everything!” right now, you’re probably correct, but hey, let’s narrow it down a bit, eh? First up this week, let’s talk about how awesome the different races of Guild Wars 2 are, and what a difficult decision it can be to choose between them.
As you can probably tell from my far-off gazing charr in the title image, yep– I’m a kitty lover. The charr race spoke to me immediately upon first stumbling into news of Guild Wars 2. Their models amazed me and still do, and the lore and philosophies they stand for ring ridiculously true to my RPG roots. I’m a tank and honorable-yet-reckless protector by nature in MMOs, and once my paws ran over the raw, industrial area known as the Citadel– I was home.
The charr female models are among the best in the genre, in my humble, not-so-mainstream opinion. Charr females are gruff, ferocious, yet still uniquely individual. I’ve pretty much seen enough frilly female characters in miniskirts to last a lifetime, so for me, my female charr Guardian is a breath of fresh– if somewhat steampunk-scented– air (wow, I should take that idea to Scentsy…). As a bonus, charr look pretty dang awesome swinging a greatsword around.
My other two favorite races in GW2 are probably the sylvari and asura, although norn rank highly as well. I was skeptical of the asura at first, but man– they’re quite unique for what at first glance may seem like a stereotypical “short” race. Asura are not the gnomes you’re looking for (this might be the wrong MMO for a Star Wars joke). Plus, the race is backed with great lore (their underground roots are fantastic material for a fantasy MMO), and their emotes are simply adorable. Both the male and female asura models are equally enchanting, and I may have to actually roll one of each.
The sylvari race is both courageous and beautiful. Simply put– a compelling combination. I ran through the starting sylvari area during the last BWE, tracking my journey along the way in the form of a goofy guide of sorts, and the sylvari forests are quite a sight to behold (even more so during yesterday’s stress test thanks to optimization tweaks). Caledon Forest has been one of my favorite exploration areas so far, and I look forward to traveling there again.
The lore behind the norn race is quite compelling, and I love the spiritual nature and the emphasis on the natural world behind the area’s storyline. The snowy mountains were one of my favorite locales during BWE2, and although I wish the female models were a little less “supermodel-esque”, there are still many, many solid reasons for rolling one (the females do have the height– I’ll grant them that!).
Ironically enough, the race I least explored during the BWEs was the human race. The starting area looks picturesque, that’s one thing I do know. I will definitely have to remedy this at some point, but for now, I’m ecstatically pleased with the racial ranges Guild War 2 offers. And… it looks like I’m shaping up to have a whole army of alts. Oh well. Nothing wrong in that, right? It works extremely well for the number of professions that interest me, anyway.
Speaking of which, we’ll move on to professions next week. For now, how’s everyone else settling down with their racial choices? Was the decision like second nature, or did it take a bit of trial and error and coin tossing to reach that final decision? How about those of you who are still pawning over screenshots and lore bits, trying to come to a conclusion? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
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