Guild Wars 2

Seeing as the Charr have accomplished the Industrial Revolution, I argue it’s time for them to take the next big step forward towards modern technology; it’s time for the Charr to innovate in an area that they are truly suffering.

Thus, I’m proposing a new profession: Physician.

By focusing their efforts on innovations in medical understanding, the Charr could finally solve the single largest problem affecting the race as a whole.

I’m speaking, of course, about the fact that every single Charr currently living has terrible, debilitating Scoliosis.

Something must be done about this! They look like neanderthals, the other races constantly mock them, and none of their gear fits properly as they hunchback around town.

Charr are suffering, and doctors are the cure!

. . . In all seriousness, I’m tired of the Charr hunching over. Why ANet, why did you feel a need to physically cripple the Charr in order to convey a more bestial and feral race?

Shouldn’t the Charr be a standing tall and proud as the undisputed masters of mechanical technology, rather than being represented as a race of downtrodden Igors?

(and ::NERD ALERT:: no, the Asura aren’t the masters of ALL technology; they specialize in magic technology).

I feel better now.

I suspect that the Charr have very, very strong back muscles. This would allow them to utilize their hunchback when attacking to give extra momentum and power to their melee attacks (as they seem to do, judging from the animations). This, combined with the fact this is a part of their natural physiology, would prove that they in fact are not crippled by their hunched back.

Four legs good! Two legs baaad!

Seriously though, their posture is in no way an impediment. A very significant amount of the power that animals like cats and dogs use to run comes from the flexing of their spine. The back muscles are designed the way they are for a reason.

In fact, by comparison humans have much weaker back, as the human natural spinal posture puts the work on abs instead. This is why bad posture causes so much back pain…

Except the Charr spine isn’t naturally curved; the Charr are perfectly capable of standing up straight (go type /laugh if you’d like to see for yourself). The Charr neck is shaped slightly different than the races (to accommodate the quadrupedal running), but it also demonstrates a higher degree of flexibility: look at the range from the laugh pose to the all-fours running. So I’m not arguing that they don’t have the musculature for the pose.

Instead, the Charr are simply slouching. Every Single Charr. Sure, we can talk about how they hunch down when they drop into a battle stance (for stability), but there’s no reason for them to be standing around slouching. When you see a male Charr in his (un)natural stance, his neck is actually taller than his head; a female Charr’s neck (from where it extends out from the shoulders) and head are about the same height.

I suspect this was done to demonstrate the bestial nature of the otherwise advanced and civilized Charr in we play as in GW2, but it’s silly and I find it to be seriously annoying. It makes a race of people, grouped together as a military society, run around looking like oafs, like no one ever taught them to stand up straight.

And it ought to be fixed.

Why would they want to stand up straight?

You expect their physiology to be like that of a human, when clearly it isn’t. Sure, they are able to straighten their backs, but that isn’t the natural posture for them, and would likely result in back pains if used for too long. You say there is no reason for them to be slouching, but there is no reason for them to stand up straight. If you look at human evolution, we have this kind of posture because we stopped walking on all fours to see over tall grass, which later enabled the use of tools. Well, Charr are in a way on a similar evolutionary stage, but unlike humans, seem to have descended from quadrupedal carnivores. Because of this, their back and neck are far stronger, and they can utilize them in ways humans cannot (Ever seen a cat pounce?). If they were to adapt a straight-backed posture, they’d lose the advantage of their physiology. Not to mention that they couldn’t use their natural running form without extra effort.

I can’t put my hands on it right now – it was possibly in the Charr Week blogs – but it’s been stated that, yes, the ‘bent’ posture is actually what’s natural for the charr. They can stand upright, but that’s an unnatural posture for them, equivalent to a human bending over backwards – the shamans have adopted the posture as a way of standing out from the muggles, but most charr are most comfortable (and can most efficiently deliver force) hunched over.

I can bend my back forward into a charr-like hunch, but I’m a human—why on earth would I walk around like that?

A charr can stretch its back in human-like posture—but it’s a charr—why on earth would it walk around like that?

Just because a charr CAN straighten its spine, doesn’t mean that is comfortable or natural.

Jeez.

My only point was that they look stupid bent over. Sure “it’s their physiology”, but since they’re fiction, they’re physiology can be anything the designers want, including “not stupid”.

Since they’re constantly hunched over, gear looks stupid on them (as an aesthetic preference, you can’t argue that – you might like that they look stupid (you’d probably say “unique” or “realistic” – bah!) but that doesn’t make me wrong). It impossible for anything to look good on a bunch of slack-jawed, mouth-breathing, feral imbeciles.

It didn’t bother me at first, but having spent a couple hundred hours looking at the hunchback of the black citadel, I’m over it. That was the entire point of this post.

Bobudo.7943:

It impossible for anything to look good on a bunch of slack-jawed, mouth-breathing, feral imbeciles.

So basically the problem is that you can’t get past stereotypes?

Not quite sure why you’re getting so worked up. The charr design isn’t one that appeals to everyone, but everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and while you may not like the hunched charr, there are many who do — myself included.

And while GW2 is fantasy and thus not constrained by our world’s rules, any fantasy world needs its own rules if the creator wants to breath life into it. If one starts tossing out and changing rules, it takes away a lot, including depth. One of the reasons why fantasy (and sci-fi) tend to get a bad rep and are looked down on is because so many people cannot stick with the rules they created which just cheapens their book/comic/movie/game/ et cetra. Whether you like it or not, Arenanet has created their own rules and thus far is not willing to break them.

The charr are hunched because it’s a natural posture for them. It facilitates movement on either two or four legs, it lets them be as top-heavy as they are, it gives them better balance and more power, and lets them more easily defend themselves, among other things. They are capable of standing or walking upright, but it’s an unnatural and uncomfortable position for them.

The only charr that make a habit of standing upright are Flame Legion members (typically shaman). While nothing has ever been said why this is, it’s not hard to imagine them doing so because they want to look down on all the “lesser” charr and separate themselves from the rest (humans of the same mindset do the same, though it’s less noticeable compared to charr). The magic they wield may also alter their form and posture a bit, which is supported by Flame Legion shaman retaining the shoulder spikes all charr had in GW1 while the playable charr have since lost them.

And at least in the case of femcharr, they have no reason to ever imitate the posture of the very charr who enslaved and oppressed them for so long and continues to do so with what femcharr they have and would do to any femcharr they can get their paws on (if that femcharr doesn’t slit her own throat rather than go into that life).

There are biological and lore reasons why the charr stand as they do. You might not like it but it does make sense and follows the rules Arenanet established, along with rules which are shared between the real world and Tyria.

Maybe someday they’ll let people play ‘defected flame legion’ or something. Then they can walk around all stiff-like if they really want to.

Bobudo.7943:

Jeez.

My only point was that they look stupid bent over. Sure “it’s their physiology”, but since they’re fiction, they’re physiology can be anything the designers want, including “not stupid”.

Since they’re constantly hunched over, gear looks stupid on them (as an aesthetic preference, you can’t argue that – you might like that they look stupid (you’d probably say “unique” or “realistic” – bah!) but that doesn’t make me wrong). It impossible for anything to look good on a bunch of slack-jawed, mouth-breathing, feral imbeciles.

It didn’t bother me at first, but having spent a couple hundred hours looking at the hunchback of the black citadel, I’m over it. That was the entire point of this post.

I agree. I would feel like much more of a BA if I was standing up straight instead of hunched over like an old man. I understand the hunch from a anatomy point of view but it is something I think would be served better as a transitional state and not their natural stance. Especially being militaristic in their society.
That being said though, I am okay with just saying some will like it some won’t and chalking it up to just an artistic tastes debate.

This is one of those ‘you can’t please everybody’ threads. Perhaps a stronger coping mechanism?

I did not roll a charr because the hunchback, it makes my back hurt just looking at one. exact reason i did not play a troll in wow. i constantly check my posture haha.

The Charr run on all 4, being hunchback allows them to quickly drop on their 4 paws and start running. Besides, the fact that they’re hunchback is just perfect cause it differentiates them from any other race in the game. Why would I want to play a furry human with horns? No. Charr are perfect the way they are.

wouldn’t let me quote, sorry

“This is one of those ‘you can’t please everybody’ threads. Perhaps a stronger coping mechanism?”

Ergo this thread :-).

“Not quite sure why you’re getting so worked up. The charr design isn’t one that appeals to everyone, but everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and while you may not like the hunched charr, there are many who do — myself included.”

It’s hyperbole, I merely don’t like it. I like everything else about the Charr (lore, attitude, etc.), but if I had an option to transfer my XP onto on of the other classes, I would in a heartbeat. It’s not a “I can only accept strict humanoids” thing, just having seen Charr that stand up straight, I realize how oafish the playable Charr appear to me.

You like it and that’s great, I’d just prefer to send my Charr to the Dr.