Guild Wars 2

I invested a lot of time and money into my current level 80 Elementalist and realized too late that for support play-style I am trying to do I should of rolled a Sylvari versus a Charr. I was wondering if race changes were possible or something that the devs may consider implementing.

i doubt they would want to go through the trouble of patching the personal story to the new race

I’m sure name changes and appearance changes will be available at some point. But as said above, they’d have to figure out how the story would be affected by the change. Charr and sylvari story are rather different :P . The only way I see it working is restarting the whole story. But then there’s an xp, karma, and money issue if one can just race change then replay all of the story at a higher level.
Anyways!!!!!!!! Yeah I don’t see Race change happening

If they add this feature cultural equipment would seem less unique.

Maybe not a race change. HOW ABOUT ( idea just hit me ) – a lvl 80 quest you could go through to “become” another race, appearance would stay the same but the race specific spells (which is what i think the OP means) would be transfered to your character at the loss of your current ones. Possilbly 1 time only mission.

It seems to me, that players are mentioning culteral armour and weapons all the time, When a player changes race, all armour will automatically transfer. e.g Norn with tier 3 culteral set changes race to an Asura. on completeing of the character creation the new toon (asura) has tier 3 culteral armnour belonging to that race. if you dont like the culteral armour of the asura…THEN dont change

Too many issues with the personal story, doesn’t seem likely.

As i have stated in my previous posts, this could be done, it just means that the storyline, skills and traints are reset. The onlything that remains is the character level and the world explored. Armour issues are not a problem. If other MMO can do it with no issues thaen i am sure that GW2 can. I know alot of players are against the idea. then its simple, do use the option.

no. no to race change.

buy 800 gems and roll a new character.

@Deimos Tel Arin. Dude if you dont want in then dont use it, other players may want the option.

Azzrael Deathbane.4965:

@Deimos Tel Arin. Dude if you dont want in then dont use it, other players may want the option.

i dun want it to be an option in the game.

CC Eva.6742:

Hi everyone.

Answering to the OP´s question: no, the team is not considering to offer this particular feature to players.

anyway anet has made their stance.

no to racial change.

cheers!

Could you please maybe bother explaining why instead of just “nope”?

I do not understand why it can’t be an aesthetic change. Appearance change, nothing more.

Story and quite a few race specific things : ex – starting pet, would probably be warped. My better question is how did you screw up what RACE you wanted?

I can not tell you how much money people in my WoW guild spent on this feature. It’s definitely something Anet should reconsider.

WeLoveKanjimari.6725:

Could you please maybe bother explaining why instead of just “nope”?

I do not understand why it can’t be an aesthetic change. Appearance change, nothing more.

Well, since there are racial skills, it can’t be just an aesthetic change.

Though, having said this, I would like to see a hairstylist or makeover option become available for changing how my character looks.

Its too bad they are not considering it. I was really hoping it would be included in an extra fancy make over or some such. Guess I better start my re-roles now then. I honestly don’t understand why anything that helps players feel good about their game options would not be seen as good for the game in the long run. As ALL professions are available to ALL races I cant see a real argument against it ether.

Kogg.5974:

WeLoveKanjimari.6725:

Could you please maybe bother explaining why instead of just “nope”?

I do not understand why it can’t be an aesthetic change. Appearance change, nothing more.

Well, since there are racial skills, it can’t be just an aesthetic change.

Though, having said this, I would like to see a hairstylist or makeover option become available for changing how my character looks.

It still wouldn’t be a big deal.

They don’t have to change the personal story. They don’t have to do anything with animations (Humans would simply use human animations, no matter what race they started as). They don’t have to change anything with voice acting (it wouldnt match the character in cutscenes, but who cares?).

I would pay 10 dollars per race change for this option.

I will NEVER play a Charr or Asura, and I will never know their stories, unless I can play them as a human or a sylvari.

I will NEVER play a Charr or Asura, and I will never know their stories, unless I can play them as a human or a sylvari.

…unless you enter those story missions with a friend who is playing them (at which point, you get to see and participate in everything).

I meant I will never personally embark on those stories, as I do not at all like the way the Charr or Asura look, or the way armor looks on them (or the stretching on the charr…).

Anet, you should take it into consideration if you want to implement new races into the game. Id like to change race of my guardian to tengu if you introduce them as a playable race, but I am not going to make it from the very start, considering that ive already invested in dyes and bag slots.

Cmon guys…? Leveling in GW2 is really easy, if you want to change races just reroll =P I rerolled my warrior after hitting 80 and farming 3 pieces of dungeon gear just because I wanted to change my hair color. (LOL what? I know =P) It’ll be more fun too since you can experience the other race’s storyline. Crafting is a very fast way to level.

Also, guys? You already get something similar in-game for a few quests/hearts. Why can’t we just do this outside of those? Obviously these are static models (no armor changing, dyes, etc) but it makes it very clear that regardless of your race, you can be turned into another with little issue. Here’s me, a human (note the prayer to dwayna) as a sylvari. Everything works just fine.

Given the fact that the story, home instance, etc., is tied to your race, race changes are very unlikely.

However, profession changes would be quite easy to implement, since your profession doesn’t influence the story (naturally, you’d lose the ability to equip your previous armor if it was of an incompatible type, etc.).

Some people like to have a single character but might still want to try out multiple professions, so if Arena Net offered a way to change the profession (ex., for half the cost of a new character slot), I think it would be profitable and make some players very happy.

I doubt this will happen any time soon, though, but it’s more likely to happen than a race change.

Lets face it, race change is never going to happen, which is a shame, as i think ANet can make an absolute killing on the finance side.

Account.9832:

Given the fact that the story, home instance, etc., is tied to your race, race changes are very unlikely.

Dude.

For the hundred thousandth time, let me be the hundred thousandth person to say that AN AESTHETIC CHANGE WOULD NOT AFFECT THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.

Imagine changing your armor. Did anything else change?

Now imagine changing your character model to that of a charr. Did your story change? No, your model and associated animations changed. Did your voice change? No, your model changed. Did your home change? No, your model changed. Did your racial skill change? No, your model changed.

People seem to be having a hard time that there is a difference between how your character looks and how your character is recognized by teh game. The reason the game can cahnge you into a crab, moa, alligator, jellyfish, golem, dog, etc without flipping out is because your character model and animations are not the same thing as your actual character.

It is so, so, so, so, so, so, so unbelievably simple for them to do this. And people want to spend money on it! People are actively willing to throw money at this feature!

WeLoveKanjimari.6725:

Account.9832:

Given the fact that the story, home instance, etc., is tied to your race, race changes are very unlikely.

Dude.

For the hundred thousandth time, let me be the hundred thousandth person to say that AN AESTHETIC CHANGE WOULD NOT AFFECT THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.

Imagine changing your armor. Did anything else change?

Now imagine changing your character model to that of a charr. Did your story change? No, your model and associated animations changed. Did your voice change? No, your model changed. Did your home change? No, your model changed. Did your racial skill change? No, your model changed.

People seem to be having a hard time that there is a difference between how your character looks and how your character is recognized by teh game. The reason the game can cahnge you into a crab, moa, alligator, jellyfish, golem, dog, etc without flipping out is because your character model and animations are not the same thing as your actual character.

It is so, so, so, so, so, so, so unbelievably simple for them to do this. And people want to spend money on it! People are actively willing to throw money at this feature!

And did YOU read and understand the OP in here? becasue it is VERY clear there that it is due to the skills he wanted to change race, NOT the look

All I know is that it would greatly disturb me to see Charrs use Sylvari race skills or behave like Asuras in the storyline if they went with the “aesthetic” change. To me, that would be the same as killing the effort Anet has made to make the races unique. It would look like they sacrificed quality in favor of money, at least to me. I have never played WoW, so I don’t know how it works there, but I guess they don’t have such great differences between their races OR they don’t value them as much as Anet does.

And what if they enabled the feature of fully changing the race? It would mess up the storylines, wouldn’t it? What would it say in the log, “I magically transformed into an Asura”? Nah, not my cup of tea.

(Note that I said that it’s my own OPINIONS and GUESSES. Not laws of the universe.)

ANet’s decision on the matter aside, I don’t understand why people are against something that won’t personally effect them. I’m equally confused by the reasoning of “it effects personal story, home instance, racial skills, etc.”

As I’ve said in numerous other threads about this:

#1: ANet could easily refund any skill points spent in racial skills, effectively resetting them for the newly chosen race. There is no problem here.

#2: Personal story could also be entirely reset, forcing the player to go back through it from level 1. Experience and item rewards could be disabled until they reach story of appropriate level. This could potentially serve as a way to reset one’s order, as well.

#3: Cultural armour would be changed to the equivalent of the newly chosen race’s cultural armour. Order armour would need to be disabled until a player chose their order, whereupon it would be switched to the newly chosen order’s armour and re-enabled.

Implementing these would, of course, take time. It’s by no means an easy job, but racial changes and their appropriate switches have been included in many other MMOs, and ANet is failing to capitalize on a service that many players would gladly pay for. I am, for one, disappointed with the decision.

“And what if they enabled the feature of fully changing the race? It would mess up the storylines, wouldn’t it? What would it say in the log, “I magically transformed into an Asura”? Nah, not my cup of tea.”

It wouldn’t say anything, because it would be a frickin aesthetic option that people who care about that stuff wouldn’t use!

A vast majority of the people who want race changes want AESTHETIC race changes. VISUALS. ONLY. It would change nothing but how your character looks and their animations! How do people not get this?! We can already do this in-game, we just want a way to do it permanently and with proper equipment!

I have two elementalists, one of them is a human whose name I would have liked to have on my Asura, and I would also like to change the profession of the first elementalist, because having two of the same profession is silly.

A race change would have been nice right there.

I see no reason not to implement a full race change, not just visuals. If there is indeed a problem, then I’d like to hear what it is. Cultural armor, skills, story and orders don’t look like a problem from the surface. Just a bit of work to actually make it function like a soul change(This is only what I call it, it could be called something entirely different.). It would be a nice option.
It might break immersion for someone to start off as a lvl 80 with the same name, setting off into the world with a fresh start or something, but not for me it wouldn’t. Imagine your character forgot who he was as his soul transferred to another body. Does it fit into the GW2 lore/world? I don’t know, if it doesn’t, make it fit. I still have no idea why we are fighting against other worlds in WvWvW. Shouldn’t be too hard to write some lore, with the awesome writers that have already made such a good amount of it in GW1&2.

No one’s saying that it’s not technically possible. It’s a computer game, it’s made up of 1s and 0s, of course it’s technically possible.

It’s not a technical decision. It’s a policy decision. I’d be against race changes, too. You rolled it, you live with it.

raphaeldisanto.5478:

No one’s saying that it’s not technically possible. It’s a computer game, it’s made up of 1s and 0s, of course it’s technically possible.

It’s not a technical decision. It’s a policy decision. I’d be against race changes, too. You rolled it, you live with it.

I couldn’t agree more. If you are already 80 (or even 20+, really) before you realized you were unhappy with your character then that’s user error. Asking for an entire race change is ridiculous. Unhappy with your character? Roll a new one. They give you 5 slots for free, and ways to buy more if you have already filled them. All I really hear is complaining about being unhappy with rolled characters with an unwillingness to start a new one. Sounds lazy to me. :P

Now, GW1 did eventually add makeovers (including sex changes), that you could purchase for real money if you so choose to. That’s the absolute max I would expect to see, but I seriously doubt this is an A.Net priority or will be implemented anytime soon, if ever.

As much as some might disagree, no one should ever be forced to re-roll a character — this is what a race change service is there for, for those willing to pay. And pay many will. Not everyone enjoys losing the time they’ve invested into a character because they’ve grown bored with the character’s chosen race. Why should someone be penalized for it, when it does not effect you?

What will you do when ANet introduces a new race and there is no way to switch to the new race, other than to re-roll and lose all the time invested in your favourite character? I suspect more than a couple on the opposite side of this coin would come here and ask for ANet to change their “policy”.

Nobody is making you re-roll, that is what you fail to understand.

What will you do when (if) they introduce more races?
The same thing you did in GW1 when they introduced new primary classes.

Start a new character.

raphaeldisanto.5478:

It’s not a technical decision. It’s a policy decision.

And as I recall Arenanet also has the policy of minimalizing grind. Having race change would help with this a lot.

“Minimalizing Grind” doesn’t mean “remove need to play.”

Oh my god. Stop being stupid. They are not going to let you be an Asura regarding story, animation, voice and have, for example, the charr looks or skills. THIS IS DISGUSTING. Stop thinking it will be like the way you want it to be.

And plus, their main goal is to MAKE MONEY. Don’t you think they cosidered the fact that lots of players would want to buy the option to change race? If they don’t wanna do it, there must be some reason behind it.

A race change service would not remove the need to play the game.

NOn issue. I’ve never seen this feature introduced in a game, and likely never will. Time to roll a new character, and chalk it up to experience.

There are many of us that second guess our race…character features…all the choices made on character creation…but that’s just part of the game. Learn to love what you create……just like life…

K Cross.3458:

If they don’t wanna do it, there must be some reason behind it.

The only reason I’m seeing at the moment is exactly that – they don’t wanna do it.
Oh well. It is their game after all. I wouldn’t mind being able to change race at some point. Any time soon is obviously out of the question, there’s just too much other work to do.

can I just bring up again that the reason I personally want race changes is so I can do other stories without having to be a race I don’t find visually appealing?

Is that really so unreasonable?

urtv.8791:

i doubt they would want to go through the trouble of patching the personal story to the new race

I’m not sure they would have to. Just wipe the personal story and require the player to do it all over again (or not, since it’s not really required in the firsts place). Most people who want to change races would be ok with that tradeoff.

Legicon.7952:

The only way I see it working is restarting the whole story. But then there’s an xp, karma, and money issue if one can just race change then replay all of the story at a higher level.

I don’t see that as an issue either. After you race change, you either spend your play time farming Orr/dungeons/WvW/TP/whatever, or getting rewards from redoing your personal story. Six of one, half dozen of the other – they’re roughly functionally equivalent.

rickets.1386:

I can not tell you how much money people in my WoW guild spent on this feature. It’s definitely something Anet should reconsider.

Same. I bet they made as much or more money selling race changes than they did on the extended playing time of people rerolling the race they really wanted, esp factoring in the handful who just quit b/c they didn’t want to go through the grind again and weren’t happy with their current race.

ANet is leaving money on the table, especially as a sub-free game, to not implement this.

man i wouldnt mind paying like 15 bucks for race change that would be awesome the only reason i dont play my main is cause im tired of being an asura

Guys i have asked from this from the very beginning, however, i was told to get back in my box. ANet have already posted that they will not be considering this feature in the game. Case closed

Linnea.5146
“And what if they enabled the feature of fully changing the race? It would mess up the storylines, wouldn’t it? What would it say in the log, “I magically transformed into an Asura”? Nah, not my cup of tea.”

Dude, did you read the commends about the storyline, about a thousand peaople (slight exageration) have already stated that the storyline would need to be reset.

CC Eva.6742:

Hi everyone.

Answering to the OP´s question: no, the team is not considering to offer this particular feature to players.

Well since you now have introduced gender change, why would it be so hard to give us race change? Seriously, I play a Charr necromancer and ALL armors imo look crap(except charr t3 male helm) compared to other races. How can I possible know that when I first made my character? I’m so disappointed with the armors for charr.

You just dont have to make it so hard. Like someone else here before me said:

Cinder.4865:

ANet’s decision on the matter aside, I don’t understand why people are against something that won’t personally effect them. I’m equally confused by the reasoning of “it effects personal story, home instance, racial skills, etc.”

As I’ve said in numerous other threads about this:

#1: ANet could easily refund any skill points spent in racial skills, effectively resetting them for the newly chosen race. There is no problem here.

#2: Personal story could also be entirely reset, forcing the player to go back through it from level 1. Experience and item rewards could be disabled until they reach story of appropriate level. This could potentially serve as a way to reset one’s order, as well.

#3: Cultural armour would be changed to the equivalent of the newly chosen race’s cultural armour. Order armour would need to be disabled until a player chose their order, whereupon it would be switched to the newly chosen order’s armour and re-enabled.

Implementing these would, of course, take time. It’s by no means an easy job, but racial changes and their appropriate switches have been included in many other MMOs, and ANet is failing to capitalize on a service that many players would gladly pay for. I am, for one, disappointed with the decision.

Make the players happy.

@ehragus

Are you just playing kitten?

Don´t you really read all the posts and all the topics relating to the same problem.

Did you at least noticed that this a post 2 monts old?

All right I will clarify something.

1 – Story mode, it´s almost racial based, if you change races how they could adjust to your new race, your decisions?
2 – If you are one of those kitten the story mode, well if they put more stories in this game based on your actual race (not the changed) imagine how broken things can be in the future. And if your future story be broken you will come here again complaining that it´s broken.
3 – Tere are RACIAL equips, and will not be just a change to another race because we have BOUND systems.
4 – We have RACIAL SKILLS and most people don´t even buy this skills, or they have a very different funcionality in most cases.

So if you want another class, just delete your char and create a new ONE, don´t come with this ideas to create more bugs than necessary.