Around Wintersday, the game was updated so that the background of the character in the Hero panel and preview panel became more colorful. It frankly looks awful and serves no purpose IMO. The game started out with a neutral, undistracting background, now there is one with rainbow like colors and junk in it.
Compare these two.
Original background: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Tungsten_Dye_%28light_armor%29.jpg
Current background: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Ocean_Dye_%28light_armor%29.jpg
