( For better formatting, you can find the Reddit thread here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1isd48/i_want_to_share_the_agony_of_charr_armor_and_how/ )
The short version can be found as this image: (http://i.imgur.com/EchgKFS.jpg ).The longer version goes something like this:
It’s no secret that when it comes to armor, Charr get the shortest end of the stick. If you’re human you’re at the top, followed by the other three humanoid races, likely with Asura coming in last. Pulling in far behind them are Charr. As far as my knowledge goes, issues with the armor of other races exist, but are comparably few. With Charr armor, stretching, clipping, poor texturing, and a lack of consideration are not the exception; they’re the rule. If you think tail clipping is the extent of the Charr’s issues, you have no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes. It’s been this way since launch and it’s not looking to get any better. If anything, it’s getting worse. It’s become a running joke among the Charr community about what levels stretching and clipping will reach next, and if you aren’t a Charr player yourself, here are the reasons why:
Anatomy and Culture:
Reason number one is that Charr culture and anatomy sit in a context far removed from the other races. We are a race that stand hunched, with large necks and horns, big ears and obvious tails, plus all the other various beastly features such as a muzzle, claws, and the like. Additionally, the Charr are a culture much unlike the other races. The Charr revere technology, not magic, and anything that alludes to magic is almost considered insulting within Charr society. Soldiers are the norm; and if you’re not a soldier you wear simple rags and outfits because you are of lesser use to the Legions. None of this, from anatomy to culture, is considered in Charr armor. The great irony, in fact, is that for a race so determined to be individualized from the other races, and for a race who are the direct antithesis to humans, the Charr receive nothing in the form of armor or town clothes except those which are first modeled for humans both in anatomy and context, and then grafted – stretched and mangled – to fit the Charr form. A simple scan through the gem shop confirms this. Sweaters, riding boots, vests and blossomed shirts, hoodies (for a race with horns). These are all human fashions, and while they don’t perfectly translate to the other races, they translate even less to Charr, who systematically oppose human culture. Of course, it’s not just town clothes.
Almost every armor model in the game is designed with humans and humanoids in mind first. In fact, with the exception of the cultural armors, there are, I believe, two outfits designed with Charr in mind: Vigil, and the Cook’s Outfit. If you’re asking about Citadel of Flame, we’ll get back to that. There’s a reason why I pick these two as examples: they generally conform to Charr anatomy. The Cook’s Outfit features a muzzle cage which shows that it was designed specifically with muzzles in mind. Similarly, Vigil armor features large turtlenecks and shoulderguards indicative of the Charr. Heavy Vigil also features what I presume to be a rear flap for the tail, one that was never actually modeled properly and left to clip (you can see it here: http://i.imgur.com/fl0EXGx.jpg ).
The only other reason I presume Vigil was designed with Charr in mind is because the founder was a Charr, and it seems reasonable to assume that Anet designed heavy Charr Vigil armor with Almorra Soulkeeper’s physique in mind. Even so, it still presents the typical stretching issues (and you can see it in the above image, particularly about the belt on the hip, and on the backs of the calves), and all three armor tiers have tail clipping.
