Guild Wars 2

They’re original. Not the typical elf/dwarf/human/ogre race. It’s why I played dranei in WoW, and the Sylvari are even better. So beautiful. Not to mention the starting area is probably the most visually appealing out of them all. And the Grove is mad easy to navigate. The other cities are sprawling and impressive, but from a purely functional standpoint, I prefer the Grove.

And Bioluminescence is awesome.

While I’ve played other classes in many MMOs, I’ve played Ritualist (GW1) and Shaman (WoW) the longest. I just like those spiritual-ritual thing, I guess. When all the classes were announced for GW2, unfortunately and not surprisingly, Ritualist was not there. So, I kind of mixed those “feeling” of the classes I’ve played. I suppose they are more Druid-like feeling but close enough; I’m playing Sylvari-Neco. Although I’d be really happy if I could see Ritualist-type class in the future (Cantha?) xpac. I mean, there are Shamans in Norn and Grawls >_<

Sylvari are the new elves, as there is no other.

I ended up playing Sylvari because I like the Soylent Green.

I wanted a Humanish race. Norn was boring just giant people, so that left Sylvari.

I am happy to be playing my warrior as a Sylvari. They were the most fascinating race that was announced pre-beta to me because they are close to the Dryad races in different games. To date my favorite Dungeons and Dragons character is my Dryad Fighter/Shadow Dancer. Therefore it only seemed natural for me to play a similar race in GW2.

By the way the Sword/Shield ~ Gun combo is simply amazing for utility and damage when playing a warrior.

I thought they looked cool lol.

My main: Sylvari were different.
My two female alts: Jennifer Hale.

While trying out characters in the beta I fell in love with the Sylvari starting zone. The Grove had such amazing scenery and I liked how incorporated the Pale Tree was to the area. Also Kari Wahlgren as Caithe really helped.

The single most notable thing that pushed me to play as a Sylvari is the outstanding manner of speech. From the accent to the choice of words, I find Sylvari very intriguing.

Their glow, and Jennifer Hale being the voice actress behind the female.

My main character when I played Dark Age of Camelot was a Sylvan and I loved it.

I knew that most people would pick female sylvari as it’s the sort of elven/dryad/dainty and overall feminine race option.

I picked Male Sylvari and love it.

A tree ranger, makes a lot of sense.

To me, the Sylvari first appeared as the more "Elven’’ race of GW2, and that’s an idea that I’ve always been attracted to in other MMOs. For some reason, though, I never actually played one.

Then, I started reading more about Sylvari lore and their backstory. To me, the idea of one universal Dream shared like a hive state among newborn Sylvari is utterly fascinating. So too is the way this Dream determines the personality, traits, and life ambitions that will later define your character.

The art direction of The Grove and early Sylvari zones have turned out to be just gorgeous, which I suppose is just icing on the cake for this incredibly interesting race. They’re just so different, and I’ve never seen anything like them in any other game.

The Mushroom hat, nothing else

They brought back memories of being a young child reading the Narnia books and being fascinated with nymphs and dryads. It’s also a race idea that hasn’t been done to death in other RPGs and MMOs. Feels fresh (no pun intended).

That’s not even to mention the fantastic array of colors and interesting face/hair options.

Cool story, not in GW1, great artwork

Playing Sylvari Warrior.

An number of things made want to play Sylvari.
1. They are plant people which is different than your typical race.

2. They are curious by nature and want to discover the world around them, I have background in science.

3. I find the Nightmare Court vs Pale Tree conflict interesting. While they do things others consider evil, they believe they are doing what’s best for the race. And let’s face it, holding a whole race to teachings written down by individual none of them have ever met is a bit stifling. Kinda like small plants have trouble growing when huge trees block the sunlight with canopy, one could argue that Ventari’s tablet hinders the Sylvari’s growth as a race.

4. Caledon Forest is an awesome looking starting zone, and Rowanwood in the north is probably one of the most beautiful areas i have seen in a game in a long time.

5. I agree with Ojimaru.8970 about the music. Its probably the reason I always port there to craft.

I would like to see Anet them develop the Slyvari story more in terms of the Soundless, and the Harbinger personal story line if you chose “Where life goes, so should you” when making a character.

I at first wanted to play an Asura because they could be condescending with good purpose. Then I (1) found out that Asura didn’t make nice-looking gear very visible, they were too small (2) read the story about Mr. Sparkles on the Anet blog, and (3) found out that Sylvari armor was soooo elegant -. Yeap.

Because glowing in the dark is boss.

Right now I’m playing it cause I did so during the beta. But going for sylvari back then was their uniqueness and I feel like they’re a true explorer as everything’s more or less new to them. They also remind me a bit about myself so… yhep!

Child-like, Fae, and sense of the Arthurian Culture/Mythology behind them.

I picked it because i wanted to be a 1 man army, so when i saw Seed turrets i was hooked. I and after seeing take root i am defently happy i picked it because now in battle im not just one im many.

At first because they can be blue (I really like me some blue people!) and different, but then…

The whole thing about Dreams, and the Glamour I’m yet to understand feels really similar to Changeling The Dreaming, which I enjoyed greatly.
They also seem to be the nicest (as in the way they act) race, which is a huge plus.

Still, mostly the being blue thing.

1) They’re very different from the normal races you see in most games.
2) Their colour selections are awesome!
3) They glow (although I had no idea until after a few days or so of playing it lol)
4) I wanted to roll a Mesmer and thought the whole purple butterflies thing suited them best.
5) I like the idea that the character you made was just “born” into the world. It makes it easier to get into the character from a lore and roleplaying point of view. Any of the other races, you’re playing a random aged <insert race here> and you only get a vague back story on what your character is, or was, up until now.

The other races looked too generic, boring.

Humans – Looked too “supermodelish”, too fake looking. Like looking at a doll.
Norns – Big humans.
Charr – Not into furies.
Midgets – Look too funny.

Sylvari IMHO are the most customizable race. You can make yourself look like a plant or you can go for a generic elf look. Also, the different skin patterns and the color highlights really add more to your look.

Because too many people were making humans and the glow

Avalron.1569:

Pyrite.9641:

The amazing artwork. And I stayed for the racial skills.
-Sylvari Elementalist
D/D air/water

Till you go into fire spec, then nothing makes sense anymore……

I personally liked the artwork on the.

What is it with the whole fire/sylvari meme?

Put a blowtorch to a side of pork for a minute. Now do the same to the stem of a human-sized bush. -see which one comes off worse. Plant cells are significantly more robust than animal cells.

the ability to choose a mushroom cap as hair.

that….and i like to make cookies from plants and eat shrooms

Their hair. At first I wanted to play a norn, because they drink and fight and boast and I like that. I was thinking “plant people? Pheh, that’s dumb!” Then I saw a video during beta of sylvari character creation, and I thought “oooohhhhh, I love how they did the hair as leaves!”

So I made one! And the more I got to know them, the more I liked them. Now they’re my favorite race.

BlueStripedTiger.3760:

The Nightmare Court.

No joke, was reading some of the lore on the wiki and the dynamics, history, and the relationships with the Nightmare Court and all the things that came out of it grabbed my attention.

This. The Nightmare Court did it for me.

Although the story is already set, my Sylvari is really a member of the Nightmare Court.

(Anet let us join it please.)

I chose to main one because all of the other races, though interesting, are all too familiar to me. The Sylvari were new, we had only seen screens, and had some ideas of them, but that was it. So I could learn the new systems of a new game with a new race.
Also I prefer to spend my time in foresty areas. Everyone else has kind of deserted, cleared areas.

I like the way arthurian and fae themes have been woven into creating the Sylvari.
The team did a great job creating the plant people look; a Giuseppe Arcimboldo turned into MMO character. If one was so inclined, one could say that the sylvari are in touch with art history
The sylvari character creation gives the most options. The many colours to choose from and the truly varied faces make creating a sylvari a real joy.

Simple answer…

English Accents

I usually play ‘elf-like’ races, so picking sylvari was an easy choice. Character creation during the beta weekends sold me on them though. The design with leaves for hair and that they can be any skin colour is pretty amazing. They also GLOW.

Also, recently I found this: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/10cywa/i_found_a_beautiful_secret_in_the_grove/

I just usually play the elf-type race.

I’m abit of a hippy :P also I hate playing humans or small races. I have a norn and a Sylvari and I like them both but my sylvari is my main.

I like the look
I love the forest
I like the lore
I like their attitude and agnostic views (they dont believe things unless proven, very much like myself)

only thing i dislike is my sylvari’s (male) voice actor. he’s too softspoken and gentle. I’m more a Norn in that respect.

Mike.9185:

they dont believe things unless proven, very much like myself

Prove it!

;)

My reasoning is a bit shallow. I was initially interested in them because I saw them as the “elves” of this game. But when I was creating one, I noticed one of their skin colors was called ‘Dusk’ and I instantly fell in love XD.

I like elves.
Leaf-hair.
English accents!
So very pretty.

Initially, they were something new, a different spin to your usual elves. Still, something was missing. Then I realized Jennifer Hale was voicing them. Still, something was missing. Then I discovered they glow in the dark. Sold.

Mostly because it is really hard to classify them. You can’t really call them innocent or naive (at least not anymore). They’re also very close to the Asura but at the same time they’re not horribly pretentious. More room to explore, I guess. They can also be extremely fierce but there is still a line (and some take it way too far).

I mainly play charr or asura, but a friend made one, so I decided to as well, now I’ve decided to say “screw the wyld hunt, my calling in life is to make as many plant puns as possible!”
and so began the life of Gordon Treeman :P

There are two things that first made me interested in this game: a blog about designing the charr, especially the charr women, and one about designing the sylvari. So there was no question that I’d have at least one of each when I finally did decide to get this game.

While I don’t care at all for the naive/childlike tendency of some sylvari, many of their other traits are right up my alley. I’m a big fan of both tree-hugging, mystical bond-with-nature types, and duty-bound characters with a clear goal and purpose — the sylvari give me both. I also like the almost spiritual kinship between them as well as the Pale Tree as a sort of “Great Mother” figure. The fact that they’re sentient plants is a unique twist. Most of all, I love the fact they are not poisoned by toxic gender stereotypes. What bits you have and what bits the people you’re closest to have doesn’t matter to anyone. That’s how it should be!

I’m also a bit of a fan of Caithe — she’s easily my favourite among the Destiny’s Edge quintet (granted, that doesn’t mean much considering how most of the others spend their time being utter blockheads to each other), has a great voice and a good heart. She’s no naive kid but someone’s who’s been “tested” and tempted and suffered great loss, and that has left its mark, but it also means I’m happy to trust and respect her because she’s earned it.

Then there’s the huge range of options in character creation. Faces and hairstyles could use more diversity, and some of them look too much like plastic, but the sheer range of available colors alone is awesome and helps make each sylvari look much more distinct than the other species. I love how “alien” you can make them look, because that’s what they are.

Their special armor and weapons are also very unique and interesting, it’s just such a crying shame that there are only four armor sets, and only the T1 is any real option for any character under 80. So while most sylvari NPCs we meet look awesome and distinct in their special outfits, our characters are “born” dressed like a human and spend most of their time looking like that. I wish our starting outfits at least were culture-appropriate.

Wanted to try ranger, already had 2 Norns (love the tattoos) and 1 Asura. I couldn’t find an Asura hairstyle I felt fit a ranger, no way was I being a Charr and (imo) all female Human faces look like little girls no matter what adjustments I do.

Okay, here we go…

I have a complex emotional syndrome which includes having a lack of gender identity. I have near zero romantic interest , I do not identify my personality as masculine or feminine and have always considered myself asexual or nonsexual in disposition.

The Sylvari choice should be obvious, given my psychological situation.

Caithe.
That’s all but I need 15 chars.

Skin color choices

Good question! For me it was pretty much everything about them! Their looks, attitude, values. All of it just seemed so much like myself, even the sexuality, though I consider myself more asexual than omnisexual. The armor looks really good on them too.