The other races are very well done aesthetically, but they missed the mark here.
For a while I wasn’t able to put a finger on it but I’ve got it now. The problem with the Norn is that they look too much like humans while not enough like humans, if that makes sense.
Norn would have been far, far cooler if they had gone one way or the other, instead of trying to kludge both:
a.) Had more human-like size and proportions; in other words being more or less a 2nd human race with only a moderately different appearance and significantly different culture/aesthetic (much like the Canthans and Elonans in GW1)
b.) They looked much less like humans overall and instead resembled a more winter-hardened race of giants with distinctly non-human features.
Even though it’s very doubtful, I hope at some point they’ll review this and give the norn a bit of a redesign.
Sorry but disagree with you. Norn are known to be arrogant, and even a little selfish. Their looks/size/lore supports that. I Just love them 6 of 9 of my characters are norn. And they definitely look more arrogant/sturdy. Humans look fragile in comparison.
Legendary weapons can be hidden now!
No excuse anymore for not giving ‘hide mounts’-option
No thanks to unidentified weapons.
I see your point OP but I also disagree. A more beastly race for the Norn would have been the obvious choice that’s been done to death. With the current Norn, they are a race of giants with comic book fantasy proportions. Straight out of Mother Goose. yet, they are also civilized enough to identify with. I love that about them because this particular blend hasn’t been tried. It’s either a big human or a beastly race that walks upright. And with current norn, it opens the way for a myriad of styles and personalities and customs, as each village will venerate one Spirit of the Wild over others. Rather than a cookie cutter race or snow giants with one style.
I think they just look a little too chunky. If they were a bit slimmer, more cut, their proportions would probably make them appear taller than they are. I still think they should be bulky, but more chest heavy and slightly slimmer in the waste. Other than that I think they should try and make some of the armor skins look less stretched out, but their cultural armor fits them well.
Norn’s are the most uncreative characters. If they looked like Thor or Conan I could agree with Phoebe. However they were lazy modeled after the Golem. Run beside a Golem you notice their hands swing robotic and they run flat footed. Golem animation. All other races are unique but norns are golems uncreative. I must say the women look gorgeous but run too slow like makes them look too manly. Sylvari run like sexy strong women, humans run regular charr and asura are ok.. Norns just suck at movement, while the women look good the men are GOLEM models. It’s the laziest design. Fix the men
Males look like beef-cake superheroes – like if you made a Huge gender in CoH/CoV and moved the sliders all the way up. It’s comical more than anything.
Norn women just aren’t stacked like they should be. All their models should be some variation on Eir – their rail thin models are just awful.
I might lose forum “privledges”? Oh no! Anything but!
I think that the problem is that male Norn and female Norn are a bit too different. The males look distinctly not human, but the females look a little too much like a scaled up human to me.
They do not look exactly the same, but besides the slightly less curved torsos, and slightly wider shoulders female norn resemble female humans quite a bit.
Unlike the males that have wider shoulders, smaller heads, and shorter legs than normal humans.
Only the frailest male norn could be mistaken for a tall human. otherwise they look straight out of a fairytale, to me.
The problem with that picture is the angle of the shot. Take it front on and you will find that the difference in shoulder width is quite small while the change in girth of each body section is rather large.
Norn females are fine. This is mainly because their body proportions are scaled properly with their height. If, for example, Norn females are 40% taller than human females, than their shoulder width, head circumference, arm and leg circumference, even bust size is all 40% larger. Even the upper body height to leg length ration is maintained.
The same isn’t true for the males. If they too are 40% taller, than what you have is all those things mentioned above being scaled up by 60% instead.
While the female Norn look like larger versions of human females, the male Norn look like larger versions of Dwarves.
I don’t really see that as a problem because I think the male Norn were intentionally designed to look like a fairy tale. but you can get a human looking norn with the thinnest body. This pic even has shoulder pads on. All you have to do is increase the size and width of the head.
This might be the sexual deviant in me; but I would like a Norn female model with a wider booty…>_> That one Human female model has and enormous bust, thinner waist and bigger booty… Norn women are perfect; but I like the butt.
