Guild Wars 2

I understand Norns are supposed to be 9’ tall towers of pure muscle and all but why was the decision made for them to run like clumsy oafs? Walking seems fine. They move with purpose and look confident. The run animation, however, is like I am about to fall flat on my face at any moment. I mean, my characters arms are always out like he’s bowing up, swings them like he’s got arthritis, and trots around like “hurr derr wait up gais.”

Sword swings look very… limp? Like he doesn’t really want to attack and is scared of hitting something. Funny with an offhand weapon since it looks like he’s actually covering his eyes.

Also, my norn thief(which is first character since launch day so I’m not deleting it :P) Death Blossoms like a ballerina. Humans/sylvari/asura front flip and spin over their opponent. Charr dive in a cyclone through their opponent. My norn decides to pirouette with a tutu. What the hell is up with that?

/endrant

Yeah, the basic Sword auto-attack animation is rather… weak.

Not nearly as awesome as Axe.

I agree 100% with the “herr derr wait up gais” statement. The offhand holding gets me so mad that my guardian only uses staff gs and hammer

The reason for this (imo) is the fact that running speed / moving skills distance is race-independent. In addition, the animation has to look natural (norn, running like a human or asura would look like he’s doing some sort of moon-walk).
For these reasons, asuras have to run like crazy rabbits, while norn or char toons have to be more slow and clumsy.

The most jarring one for me is the Norn Ranger with a sword, had to delete mine because I loved the sword but hated the animation so much. He spent most of his tome drop kicking, which sounds cool but looks like he is flopping around like a fish out of water.

Ahaha yeah! It looks awesome for female Norns, but the male animations reminds me of Magikarp from Pokemon. I have a friend who plays one and I can barely contain the laughter on Skype when he pulls out his sword and starts flopping around.

“Male Norn Ranger used Splash!”

eoloe.4379:

The reason for this (imo) is the fact that running speed / moving skills distance is race-independent. In addition, the animation has to look natural (norn, running like a human or asura would look like he’s doing some sort of moon-walk).
For these reasons, asuras have to run like crazy rabbits, while norn or char toons have to be more slow and clumsy.

This, pretty much. I don’t think there’s a way to make the Norn running animation look less ponderous without making it look unnatural in exchange. That said, I kind of like it. The Norn male animations do make the character feel weighty and heavy, which is exactly what they’re supposed to do. The slow jog of a run kind of fits.

What’s more jarring, I think, is the Charr running animation. They go on all fours, but because of their size, it feels like they’re running in molasses when they should be moving quickly.

Grakor.3450:

What’s more jarring, I think, is the Charr running animation. They go on all fours, but because of their size, it feels like they’re running in molasses when they should be moving quickly.

Should’ve made it so that you jog on two legs normally, but when you get the Swiftness Boon you change to the four-legged animation.

Nothing bothers me about the Norn but the 1h sword animation (Guardian’s for me, specifically).

Looks SOooooooobad.

But everything else looks good

You forgot the /dance animations!!! kitten man….

It really is painful. Same with the Charr sword animations. They are so hunched over that any kind of swinging animation (especially axe) makes it look like their shoulder is dislocating every time the movement ends. Their shoulder literally pops in and out and it is very noticeable in heavier armor.