Guild Wars 2

I made a terrible mistake with my main, my precious sylvari ranger. At char creation I thought I paid attetion to every detail, but I had no idea sylvaris glowed in the dark, so I totally missed switching the light and checking how the glow looked.

I totally missed the glow existed, because nothing happened when I changed color or intensity (in daylight)… Which now results in a GLARING red glow at the tips of her hair and inside her :( The glow on her body is fine, really, I could live with that. But the glaring red tips look like the standard “not dyed” color from GW1, it’s disgusting and making me so sad. :( (see attached pic)

Do you think there is any chance we will be able to change glow color through buying appearance changes in the gem store later? I’m totally ready to pay money for it.. I think this is a big oversight in the char creation on Anets part, but I won’t blame them for me not paying attention.

Well I notice it, and made my glow awesome.

Same here tbh, I missed it too and want to change instead of rerolling.

I saw it. Spent a long time getting it just right. And she never glows. It’s so unnoticeable it’s sad. Even in those conversation cutscenes…nothing. A bit disappointed.

Seras, they only ever glow at night, not simply in dark places. I think it’s coded that way.

As for the topic, I think this more appropriately belongs in the Black Lion Trading Co. section, where there are already several appearance change requests. However I don’t think Anet is going to pass up this cash cow and it’s practically a fool proof mechanic for players that find out later their character really isn’t exactly how they wanted them to look. Seldom few character concepts survive the first iteration Either because they aren’t as interesting to look at over a longer period of time or the creator found a better appearance for their character concept.

Race changes will likely never happen due to personal stories, but appearance changes should be all right.

Race changes should be possible, as it’s easy to wipe all personal story progress on your current character and have you start fresh. And if people want to pay to experience every personal story with a single character, why should that bother anyone, especially ANet? I don’t see any reason to ignore the desire for race changes.

I didn’t notice either – I just got REALLY lucky that I picked a light blue with dark purple hair and it ended up looking nice. Wished it had been an informed choice though.

…wondered what that toggle for lighting was for. Now I know.

It’s true, it’s a great money sink that Anet probably won’t pass up on, I just hope they include glow and not just hair and hair color.

I wish I had been lucky and got a nicer color :/

Besides requesting a make-over pack, I think the OP is making a more important point: it is not obvious to everyone at the creation of a Sylvari that they glow (or perhaps more accurately, pulsate) in the dark and that you can affect both the colour and the intensity of their glow. Perhaps Anet can easily fix this by either automatically toggling off the light the moment someone picks a glow colour or changes the glow intensity at the creation page, or by introducing a pop-up/hover-over text that informs the player that the glow can be seen by toggling off the light.

I actually think this glow-in-the-dark is an awesome feature and really adds to the unique feel of the Sylvari. I literally squeled the first time I noticed it and just had to sit and stare at her pulsate for a few minutes. I was lucky to have picked the right colour for her, but it would be real nice if people were fully informed on this brilliant feature so they can make the most of it even with their first Sylvari.

Because theres is no glow preview i created and done de intro parte more than 10x

There is a glow preview in character creation.

They glow in some dark places as well as at night.

…I noticed that mine doesn’t have the pulsing effect. He just gets…red lines. And they look off – in the previewer they were a nice pulsating crimson, in effect they’re just really light red strips.

I do love the fact that Sylvari actually glow when its dark and during the night. It gives them that extra bit of mysteriousness.

I also hope they allow us to change our look. I switched my Sylvari’s skin color at the last moment and forgot to adjust her glow. So now it’s the exact same color as her skin.

Cinder.4865:

Race changes should be possible, as it’s easy to wipe all personal story progress on your current character and have you start fresh. And if people want to pay to experience every personal story with a single character, why should that bother anyone, especially ANet? I don’t see any reason to ignore the desire for race changes.

It would cause problems with cultural armor the character may be wearing or has bought. That stuff isn’t cheap.

This is why I spent like 15-20 minutes clicking that lil’ light bulb during character creation to get my glow just right. Thankfully, I have. A nice, bright green apple color that counters my nice darker, red apple color body.

And it’s also why I will always have my helm hidden.

It would cause problems with cultural armor the character may be wearing or has bought. That stuff isn’t cheap.

If said cultural armour didn’t switch to your new race’s armour, sure, there would be problems, but I’m sure ANet would plan for that. A lot of other games have factions that switch faction-specific armours and mounts over correctly when you make the change, I don’t see any reason ANet wouldn’t do the same.

Azulu.5926:

I do love the fact that Sylvari actually glow when its dark and during the night. It gives them that extra bit of mysteriousness.

That’s why I take my armor all off for that one bit in Sharkmaw Caverns.

Imrhien.2397:

Perhaps Anet can easily fix this by either automatically toggling off the light the moment someone picks a glow colour or changes the glow intensity at the creation page, or by introducing a pop-up/hover-over text that informs the player that the glow can be seen by toggling off the light.

I think this would be the best solution. There’s no point picking a glow colour with the light on anyway.

seconding the idea of auto-turning off the lights. it took me a couple character recreations to realize what “glow” actually meant (thank goodness for being picky and redoing a character before I really used him…), and this thread is proof enough that it’s bound to happen to every new player who doesn’t know any better.

Happened to me with my ranger. I didnt notice the glow effect in the BWEs. But when the red glow showed up on my green sylvari…. It was too late, really.

Huh, I’m level 49 and I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself glow. I’m going to check on this tonight, and hope I look OK.

When I created my Sylvari, BirchFlower, it was with the two skin tones called “birch” (d’uh) with a substantial “rose” glow. In the creation screen, the three colors were very noticeable in a relatively subtle and harmonious way. In the world of GW, however, she looks like a dusty albino whose glow is very rarely present, ever. It is most distressing but, at level 38, I am not going to lose her progression.

It would be most welcomed to be able to adjust these things – without re-creating (or paying cash since I believe this to be an error in the creation screen lighting perhaps, not “just” cosmetic upset).

While I got my appearance right, I’d absolutely love a “gems for character recustomization” feature.

FalconDance.1637:

It would be most welcomed to be able to adjust these things – without re-creating (or paying cash since I believe this to be an error in the creation screen lighting perhaps, not “just” cosmetic upset).

Even tho I don’t have the problem myself, I do agree with this. It would be a pain to just pay for changing the appearance of a character.

I’m another person who had no idea what the “glow” settings were for. It was not intuitive at all. I tried changing colors and intensity…didn’t see any change on my character…and moved on to other settings. It wasn’t until I got to the starter area (where it happened to be night) that I realized what “glow” meant.

They definitely need to somehow make it more clear what that setting is for and how it works. I had no idea at all you could change the lighting in character creation.

I ended up with a glow I think I’m okay with, but it would have been really nice to be able to play with it and get something just perfect. I guess I may just re-roll since I haven’t gotten too far.

Please take a look at this, ArenaNet.

Gem store hair cut and facelift feature should be coming fairly soon. Items were datamined in the last patch. So just hang in there. Don’t do anything like reroll or anything drastic like that.

I’m suprised there are so many people who missed the “Lighting Change” button on the character creation screen. I for one experment with every single button I can find during character creation. I suppose a notice of some sort would be nice, but… I thought it was fairly self-explanitory if you actually know about the lighting button.

My main complaint about the glow is that the pulsating makes it annoying to actually see the changes you’re making. Every time you change color you have to wait a couple seconds for the glow to reach “max brightness” to see what it really looks like, and then you only have a second of bright before it dims down and you have to wait again. Makes it take a lot longer than it should (and taking longer is a bad thing, I’ve been timed-out on character creation and lost everything twice as I was making my characters).

Actually I had no idea what the glow was or how it worked. Although it is possible to preview it, when you’re new to the game it’s not particularly intuitive. I don’t mind what I ended up with but had it been clearer I would have made more of it. I had no idea Sylvari COULD glow and so when it mentioned glow I didn’t really get wth it was talking about.

I missed out on the glow as well, I can’t believe I missed it. I’d be very keen to be able to change my characters hair through the Black Lion Trading Company – whatever the cost!

I picked a soothing blue colour for my glow. It goes pretty well with my dark green hair-leaves.

Thankfully I stumbled on what the ‘glow’ meant while trying to make sure my dark color scheme would not be washed out in the evening/dusk. I’ll admit I sat there and stared at it for a couple minutes, then promptly spent another 20 minutes making that work too. After all, I’ve dealt with other multiplayer venues where appearance was more prominent (SL, Uru), and wanted to make sure I had a character I’d be happy with for some time.

I would still be interested in the ability to tweak. I’ve picked up some dyes since starting a week ago, and two of the colors are better green hues than what I was using before.

I agree that this should be explained more carefully in the character creator.

Personally I noticed it, but only after fiddling with the creater for a long time so I guess I kinda stumbled upon it. Really all that needs to be done is add a line of text:

“Sylvari pulsate in the dark. Hit the “show lighting” button to see the effects". Preferrably phrased better, but that could eliminate problems like the one the OP is facing.

To you OP, if it REALLY bothers you consider rerolling if you’re still low level. It could potentially be a long while before you get the chance to change it ingame.

Personally I would love the option to change appearances ingame aswell and hopefully it’s something we will see later, but who knows when.

Oh and hi everyone, it’s my first post here

When I created my first Sylvari, during the Headstart Weekend, I completely missed it too.
In fact, I didn’t find out about it until a few days later when someone announced how much they enjoyed the fact that Sylvari glowed.
At the time, I figured it would eventually be an option to change it in the gemstore, when is the real question.
As my character is a Subterfuge Thief, I don’t actually get to see the glow unless I switch to town clothes, so it doesn’t bother me so much.
One of the nastier comments I encountered ingame was the suggestion that it only takes a few minutes to reroll, which as we both know is not an option for a character we’ve spent so much time leveling up.

I noticed the glow off the bat because when i made my sylvari i happend to click the light bulb and noticed im glowing.

However when i made my guardian sylvari i went with a blue/white tone with her because of the guardian attacks all being blue but, after being blue for so long im tired of it.
I also didnt know that when i decided to become a female that alot of the armor was going to make her look like a prostitute (should of seen it coming) and with her blue skin peeking out of every end of the armor looks ugly and has become an eye sore to me and wish to completely redesign her if i could. A redesign would be one of the only things id be willing buy with real money for gems and after reaching lvl 47 i dont really want to reroll my amazing guardian.

I went with a dark sylvari, with white hair… and while I did know about the glow, I forgot this time.

Ended up with a red glow.

It actually suits me :S

I didn’t miss it, but I’m sure many people did. Maybe they should add a quick tooltip to the character creation screen pointing out the light bulb icon and explaining the sylvari’s bio luminescence. I honestly think the default red glow looks nice though, but I know that’s no consolation to you if you don’t like it. I’m sure there will be a character makeover in the cash shop at some point.

My first character was an Asura, so while I had found the lighting button during character creation, I didn’t really see a use for it. Thus, I ignored it when creating other characters. The only reason I’ve got an appropriate glow on my Sylvari is because I read about it on the forums before making her (thanks guys).

I would also pay money for the ability to change appearance in-game. I like my characters colors / features to harmonize with their armor, but since I have no idea what I’ll be wearing at 80, it’s hard to plan accordingly ahead of time

Bullfrog.1324:

I would also pay money for the ability to change appearance in-game. I like my characters colors / features to harmonize with their armor, but since I have no idea what I’ll be wearing at 80, it’s hard to plan accordingly ahead of time

I agree, I’ve encountered several times, races, and characters where the hair, hair attachments, and hairstyle just don’t look right with the armor, or the look I’m after at the time.

I’d really like to see a Beauty Shop in Lion’s Arch, or on the Gem Store so we can address this issue.

I agree with the fact that the glow is hard to spot in the creation screen if you dont know about it. I didnt until i actually read about it here, …. after i created my sylvari and was well on my way the server and i spotted PINK glow on her. Now I dont tilt heavy on this item, but it does mind sometimes, and it is kind of anoying at sometimes, and I hope to see an npc that allows you to change it (like the image designer in SWG or barber in WoW)