Guild Wars 2

Hello charr lovers,
(tl;dr: post what had you interested in the charr or what made you enjoy it further than you already did during your gameplay)

I made a char a while ago and was a bit ‘meh’ before I did it. I started in the ash legion and then there was a small dialog between Brimstone and Sicaea about your current mission. I’ll not quote the entire cinematic but there’s one sentence I’d like to post here:

Sicaea: The mission has developed a hiccup.
Brimstone: A hiccup? More like tuberculosis (…)

This simple part of the story and the way the voice acting is on brimstone in this part really had me going for the charr , I was all “Oh my word how awesome is this”
So here’s the general reason for this thread, what had you going for the charr to make you glad you chose a charr or what made you choose a charr in the first place.

Their dialogue and steampunk ascetics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPjwHqc2ZII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-nJmuOd5KA&feature=player_detailpage#t=327s

And because the human characters in any game where there’s other playable races are always horribly generic.

They remind me of me. Well, not so much on being huge furry things with fangs, tails, and four ears, but their attitude.

Shooopa.5632:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-nJmuOd5KA&feature=player_detailpage#t=327s

Okay so this part is awesome as well , really nicely made, well worth it to watch it although I’m not all too fond of the guy speaking through it the whole time but whatever.

Tybalt Leftpaw..’nuff said ;P

Well, really, Tybalt was what influenced me to try out the Charr, but the quality of the environments, the NPC chatter, the interactions, the quality of the VA’s, and the storylines are what have made me grow to love my Charr toons.

I really like the military background. Especially in the early stories it really hangs everything together. And I am not a big military fan-boy in real life. But it works, and it makes the stories really coherent.

I didn’t expect to the like them, I made my Charr character last. But so much fun. The blood final mission in particular is really well done.

I’ve ended up finding certain elements of GW2 disappointing (like the cynical nature of it), but the charr are the one thing that keep me coming back. Two words: Inimitable writing. The other races range from middling to awful in the writing department, so really I don’t understand how the charr were spared from that fate.

I can only surmise that the person responsible for writing Tybalt was the same person responsible for writing the charr. Either that, or the writers simply enjoy writing the charr more. I don’t know, with the humans I get the vibe of them being bored, with the asura I get this vibe of them being Grubb’s (a writer) goofy, incredibly slapstick, and immature insertion into the game (like a race of him), with the norn… I don’t know, they talk big but ultimately they seem shallow, and the sylvari? Too… pretentious isn’t the word for it, because that would be faint praise. Too pseudo-intellectual for my tastes.

But the charr? They’re down to earth, they have fantastic writing, they’re strong, and independent. They’re actually atheist (which some people hate and try to rationalise that hate with the most ridiculous arguments I’ve heard this side of politics), and they have no crutches. They’re funny. I don’t know, they just feel like a bunch of bros, and you can’t help but love all of them. They by far and wide have most of the best moments in the game.

Maybe when I’ve exhausted the charr and Order of Whispers stuff I’ll just stop playing GW2. I don’t know. But they’re what’s keeping me here. I love them, they’re wonderful, and they’re exceptional. I’m just sad that they were let down by timid designers who didn’t have the nads to drive their technological advancements up to 11, as the concept art suggested. And that the modellers got lazy with their armour. That’s a real let down.

But the writing?

Man. The writing.

I want that guy (and I believe it is a guy, Scott specifically?) to be given his own game to write.

I still have to say though that Champions Online remains my favourite game for where a developer actually has the nads to make what they want to make. They chose to make that game cheesy and corny, and to rev up the humour and ridiculousness of it all. And it wasn’t a popular choice, but they stuck with it and I respect that.

Whereas in Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet listened too much to the small-minded complaints of there being “HOMG, that much technology? In MY fantasy?!?” and that let the potential of the charr down a bit.

Still, the charr come close. I just wish they’d come closer, and the game itself.

But they keep me here. The charr are pretty great. I really would love to see what the charr could be unchained by timid designers, though.

insidiane.9570:

Shooopa.5632:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-nJmuOd5KA&feature=player_detailpage#t=327s

Okay so this part is awesome as well , really nicely made, well worth it to watch it although I’m not all too fond of the guy speaking through it the whole time but whatever.

I really wanted a video that didn’t have someone’s commentary, but that was the only one that had the two soldiers at the tower talking to each other.

The charr have been consistently the most engaging aspect of the game with respect to personal stories and good NPC lines as I explore. I first made a couple of human characters out of respect for GW1, and I like them and the ones I eventually have made of the other races, but currently I think charr are my favourite.

I played GW1, and in it the Charr were the main antagonist NPC race, before the expansions. When I heard they were making them playable in GW2 I knew I had to play as one.

Charr play is better than I ever imagined it would be.

all of the above!
really what got me was that there’s this huge werebeast-like terrifying creature, and instead of tearing everyone to bits with their bare claws and fangs, what are they renowned of… – their steampunk technology! it just seems so much fun to be this intimidating monster and then to draw my pistols and actually shoot the guy I don’t like instead of some expected physical violence.

the writing turned out to be excellent as well indeed.
I had this low level personal story where my kindof shady dad went and stole some artifact from the legion and deserted (he had his reasons), and then when they captured him I was offered the choice to either help him escape or let him face the trial – that was the single most involving, meaningful, personal and difficult decision in the whole game (even if it doesnt seem to have had much of an impact yet). I wish there were more decisions of this kind! (unfortunately, there aren’t.)

*at least I haven’t seen any yet, to be fair.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like the charr either. But their banter back and forth is hilarious during story missions. very well written.

Once you get past the tail, the Charr are very fun. Their combat animations look good for a warrior as well.

Often my warrior uses his signet of rage and yells, “Charr need no gods!” Then the pillaging begins.

I really liked that starting area and the race aesthetic, personally. That and the furriness reminds me of me (jk, or am I?)

Because they have a vibe of trying to be serious but don’t seem to realize how hilarious they really are. Also I prefer to look as different from humans as possible.

t1 racial heavy armor

first time i entered the charr zone and saw an npc i thought it was boss. i promptly rerolled my main from norn necro to char warrior, blew all my gold at 35, and spent the rest to complete the set by the time i was lv 40.

im now eyeing the t2 racial heavy armor at lv54, but im constantly broke…and have abit of a dye fetish.

The starting area has some of the most epic music in the game. Beyond that I love their attitude. Their loyalty to their warband, their humour and their fierceness seems typical of charr. They are inventive but unlike the asura don’t waste time posturing about their inventions, which is probably why they are so effective. Yet they’re not all written the same and there’s room for goofiness with the likes of Tybalt and Dinky. Compared with the norn they seem more multifaceted.

Esorono.1039:

Because they have a vibe of trying to be serious but don’t seem to realize how hilarious they really are. Also I prefer to look as different from humans as possible.

This, so much this!

I was playing through my story and I had to get these guys to look for artifacts or something as this one Charr kept saying he was “afraid of ghost cows”. Now since these guys were shady enough already I thought he was setting me up for a ambush, but not to long after, Ghost cows attacked.

Minda.9270:

I was playing through my story and I had to get these guys to look for artifacts or something as this one Charr kept saying he was “afraid of ghost cows”. Now since these guys were shady enough already I thought he was setting me up for a ambush, but not to long after, Ghost cows attacked.

I LOVED that part! I couldn’t stop laughing. “All the terrible mooing!” I was floored from laughing so hard when my character offered to buy him a steak dinner at the local tavern.

I chose Charr because I always play the non human races in any game I play. I don’t want to play as a boring human. I can’t even stand to play the traditional non human races that are just humans but with a different skin color or pointed ears. I’m already human IRL. I don’t want to be one in a video game too. I see RPGs as assuming a role that is not typical of real life. I play whatever gets me furthest away from that aspect as possible.

I especially like the Charr because they’re not just your typical anthropomorphic race with an animal head stuck on a human body. They’re actually unique and look nothing like humans in any way. I’m also a huge fan of cats so thats +2.

Minda.9270:

Esorono.1039:

Because they have a vibe of trying to be serious but don’t seem to realize how hilarious they really are. Also I prefer to look as different from humans as possible.

This, so much this!

I was playing through my story and I had to get these guys to look for artifacts or something as this one Charr kept saying he was “afraid of ghost cows”. Now since these guys were shady enough already I thought he was setting me up for a ambush, but not to long after, Ghost cows attacked.

That was the greatest quest I’ve EVER played. It was so funny!

“You gotta take your mind of it! think of something you like, like….bunnies. Don’t you like bunnies?”
" I do! They don’t Mooo!"

Bwahahaha XD

The best charr moment in my gameplay was when I was doing a DE in one of the higher level Ascalon areas, it involved two old charr trying to do things ‘old-school’, against the will of their younger superiors. Upon completing the DE they said to each other something along the lines of:

I love their focus on tech and firearms, love their self-reliance, and I think they look awesome in spiky heavy armor.

I like that they killed their own gods and hate religion. I like the way they run on all fours. I like their dodge & fighting animations. I like that they’re not a human with slight embellishments. I like that they seem to place equal emphasis on brutality, technology, and cunning in war, while still managing to be noble.

I’m a newbie, so I can’t really compare them to other races. But I’m not going to be making a new character for a while because I <3 my charrmeleon.

rytlock is by far the best destiny’s edge member. he’s the only smart one of the lot. the black citadel is very cool and so are the ascalonian areas. I like that the story is grittier than some of the other ones. i’m playing through sylvari atm and i cant help but sigh at all the british accents, weird sayings, general head-in-the-clouds and even fear at just about everything. I don’t feel like i’m anything in the sylvari campaign.

The biggest thing though is definitely the character select screen. tiny sylvari to massive char! it takes up the whole screen and i love it.

… /threaten

nothing more to add

Blood Legion story
Random rancher after you shoo a cow with explosives into his cart:
“-Did you really have to shoo these cows into my cart?
(Ferocity) -Yes
- Youre really cute!
(Charm) -Youre not bad either
-I wasnt… Uh… Jeez!”
Lol

Well being a gw1 player it was first mainly to see what its like on the other side of the wall pun intended even though has been long destroyed then i got into the fact that even though they are savage feral warriors they are very rational and are willing to put the past behind them in order to achieve a greater goal…in gw1 if you even saw a charr and they saw you they were all like MEAT!!!!!! and chased with intentions to kill you and eat you…maybe sear you before eating * yes another pun intended*

It was the steampunk feel, and the fact that well they remind me of werewolves. I run a charr engineer and he is a blast. Funny thing i noticed today while running around in the snow is my paw prints are backwards…lol

Yeah I’m not sure how someone managed that, but it’s universal as far as I can tell.

Well, I don’t believe in a god or higher power and neither do they… felt fitting?

I rolled a charr initially because of the roll they played in gw1 and since I so enjoyed making charr kabobs in gw1 i felt it fitting to play one this time around. since then what has made me roll 2 more charr chars is that the charr have gone through so much that they don’t have nearly as much inner strife within the society as the other races seem to. I mean humans have human politics enough said, the asura are the most selfish race i’ve ever seen. the norn are like high school jocks and the sylvari…i dunno. charr just seem to be the most consolidated and “brotherly” race even if it all revolves around killing everything not charr

edit ok I might like that they want to kill everything not charr

I played GW1 a few years back, and we’d been taught to hate the Charr in that game. When I heard they were playable, I was initially skeptical at best. Play as a Charr? Those savage, uncivilized, monstrous beasts?!? Never! (typical racist human reaction, right?)
And then, I got curious. We fear what we don’t know, so I set out to get to know the Charr race. And they sure haven’t disappointed! I was amazed by the Black Citadel, by their resilience. And they have so many great lines, it’s hard not to enjoy them (one of my favorites is the classic merchant’s “you break, I break you”, never get tired of that one). So yeah, my female Charr Guardian is rapidly becoming one of my favorite characters (her voicing is pretty well done, too).

Awesome look, run animation and culture, and the THEME

The were the GW1 baddies, slayed so many on that Great Northen Wall mission, with the endless wave.

Now I get to be the baddie MUHHAHAHAHHAH

Seriously the are pretty awesome. I have them as my fighter characters (ranger, warrior and engineer). Wanted to make my Ranger human as a decendent of my GW1 character but decieded to go char instead

I like the fearsome beast aspect of it. Some people like the pretty and human side. Others like the stumpy and small side. Some like the big and brawny side. I’m always getting odd comments about my charr mesmer.

I played the original Guild Wars, a lot. And my main was an Ascalonian warrior who made her name cutting down Charr. So, when GW2 rolled around, I was pretty adamant that I WOULD NOT play a Charr.

But then I read Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny. Then when Beta rolled around I thought, “Meh, it’s a throw-away char, might as well make it a Charr”. And then Reeva happened, and Alexis and Soure, Isola and Braugit, and then the Crush cubs, Sepha Blackblood, Ipos Hookgill…

So yeah, I frakkin love my Charr Warrior, Yarza Steelfang!

Rytlock and Tybalt. They are two faces of the Charr and really two sides of the same coin. They are simply the two most straightforwardly awesome personalities in the game. I suppose the teeth, claws, and piercing red eyes option are an attraction as well.

Joystick.4103:

Blood Legion story
Random rancher after you shoo a cow with explosives into his cart:
“-Did you really have to shoo these cows into my cart?
(Ferocity) -Yes
- Youre really cute!
(Charm) -Youre not bad either
-I wasnt… Uh… Jeez!”
Lol

That was one of my favorite parts in the Charr story….XD I lol’ed.

As for why the Charr??

1. Run animation. Although not the most realistic, it’s still awesome.
2. Dinky.
3. Not your typical race female wise, despite not playing any female characters myself.
4. Awesome character creation options.

Could not argue against any of those points!

Kumakichi.2583:

I’m always getting odd comments about my charr mesmer.

I’m not the only one!!!!! I’m pretty sure I’m the only Charr mesmer in my server’s WvW population lol…. I find a lot of people pick Asuran mesmers because they think it facilitates hiding/portaling (and don’t realize there’s a giant red nametag above their head).

I actually find that being a Charr helps my mesmer playstyle a lot. I run a tanky confusion build and carry the fiery dragon sword + torch. The whole raging Charr+flaming weapons thing seems to really scare people in WvW, and when I dive bomb into an enemy zerg, 4-5 people will auto-down themselves in a panic attack while trying to kill me.

I just love the way the Charr look and after doing Citadel of Flame Story and hearing the line “Charr need no god” out of Rytlock Brimstone’s mouth it made me smile. I don’t believe in gods either so well, seems we got a match

NolanP.7604:

Well being a gw1 player it was first mainly to see what its like on the other side of the wall pun intended even though has been long destroyed then i got into the fact that even though they are savage feral warriors they are very rational and are willing to put the past behind them in order to achieve a greater goal…in gw1 if you even saw a charr and they saw you they were all like MEAT!!!!!! and chased with intentions to kill you and eat you…maybe sear you before eating * yes another pun intended*

looks up from some roasted meat Well, I’m in agreement with all of the posts above. I also consider the female Charr /surprise animation to be very amusing; all the other races just take a step back while my toon literally flies off the ground.

Because at the core of all of us that play and love the charr…. we are charr. Victory or Death is my mantra. Their sense of honor is how I’ve always felt honor truly should be. Not the fluffy hello kitty human version. We rip each day from life’s teeth! Life gives us nothing, in fact all it does is take away, we all know this at some point in our own lives, and if we want it we have to rip off a chunk for ourselves.

And Tybalt…’nuf said.

TGSlasher.1458:

The were the GW1 baddies, slayed so many on that Great Northen Wall mission, with the endless wave.

Now I get to be the baddie MUHHAHAHAHHAH

Seriously the are pretty awesome. I have them as my fighter characters (ranger, warrior and engineer). Wanted to make my Ranger human as a decendent of my GW1 character but decieded to go char instead

That just reminded me of something, in Eye of the North, when you release Pyre and he joins you, he retorts to Gwen: “You know nothing of my people…” So of course from then on I knew…I HAD to know O_O

What is it like to be Charr!

Now I know

Shooopa.5632:

Their dialogue and steampunk ascetics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPjwHqc2ZII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-nJmuOd5KA&feature=player_detailpage#t=327s

And because the human characters in any game where there’s other playable races are always horribly generic.

HUMANS ARE GENERIC!?

Excuse me, I’ll have you know that the human race in Tyria is a well diverse multi cultural bunch compared to you oafish brutes and your military regime.

I got into Charr for the steampunk, and cos Rytlock was the most epic of destiny’s edge for me in the trailer. I stuck around for the humor. Charr do have a sense of humor you know, (even Rytlock cracks a few jokes to you if you play the charr storyline). Cow racing, cow launching, Jazz singing butchers and the whole odd couple relationship of Galena Edgecrusher and Snarl Backdraft. The cubs are great to listen to as well.

“I am Charr. In this world of constant conflict, I am the deadliest weapon of all.”

That was what sold it for me.

I rolled Charr because I look, sound, ankittenreated like one IRL so they’re the easiest for me to relate.

Rizzy.8293:

Shooopa.5632:

Their dialogue and steampunk ascetics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPjwHqc2ZII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-nJmuOd5KA&feature=player_detailpage#t=327s

And because the human characters in any game where there’s other playable races are always horribly generic.

HUMANS ARE GENERIC!?

Excuse me, I’ll have you know that the human race in Tyria is a well diverse multi cultural bunch compared to you oafish brutes and your military regime.

I don’t care how detailed and diverse humans are, they’re still human and thus come across as boring in fantasy MMOs to me. Humans exist. That alone makes them fairly generic to me. Just like elves and dwarves and all the other races we’ve seen a million times in fantasy settings. Borrrrrring. If you enjoy them, more power to you. I’ll admit they’re more compelling than humans in many other games but they’re still…human. Blech.

Because /shrug charr in a pimp suit and top hat is slick to the tenth power. Accept no substitute races.