Guild Wars 2

Could we please get an option to disable backpack view on all characters ingame? I am truly tired of almost everyone having dragon wings or the new scarlet backpack – it just takes up way too much space, and is simply distracting – especially when in large groups (such as the Tequatl event), or even in dungeons.

A simple toggle would be a lifesaver.

+ 1 to this.

I would love an option to toggle on and off players backpacks, mostly because of those wings. I realize my opinion probably isn’t popular but I find those hideous. I didn’t buy this game so I can see Spyro the Dragons flapping around me all the time :P

If you argue that would kill the point of backpacks think again. They allowed you to toggle on and off player instruments. Just because everybody likes/uses something doesn’t mean we also have to.

I think you should allow the portion of your player base who doesn’t like seeing flappy dragons and metal tentacles all over your screen to hide it. I don’t think there is any sense of showing it off at this point, since everybody has it, so it wouldn’t affect the player who wears/likes it.

As soon as I can toggle off those obnoxious legendary weapon effects I’m cool with that.

Well then you might as well add an option to disable entire character models as well, because a Norn or Charr with no backpack at all is more distracting to me than the wing backpacks. Or people with Legendary GSs swinging them around, the trails distract me.

What I think should take more priority would be allowing backpacks to be seen in the Character Select screen. Why the heck is that not allowed? Sometimes I like to admire my handiwork, and that includes backpack choice as well!

Master of Timespace.2548:

They could sell the toggle item in the item mall, I think that could be good idea.

ring of freedom – 1000 gems – you don’t see backpacks
ring of monotonity – 1000 gems – asuras are rendered as humans

To be honest, joke or not, I’d gladly pay for a toggle option, even though it would spark a huge debate, most probably.

I was thinking about making the same thread myself actually. Seeing that you can disable your own backpack, there should be an option to disable others. Ever since that karka tentacle backpack, the quality of those has been…reduced, in my opinion. I know most people like those wings and blades are “cool” but to me it’s just…well terrible. An option to disable it would be fantastic.

Draknar.5748:

Well then you might as well add an option to disable entire character models as well, because a Norn or Charr with no backpack at all is more distracting to me than the wing backpacks. Or people with Legendary GSs swinging them around, the trails distract me.

What I think should take more priority would be allowing backpacks to be seen in the Character Select screen. Why the heck is that not allowed? Sometimes I like to admire my handiwork, and that includes backpack choice as well!

Disabling a whole race is seriously immersion and game breaking, and its taking it way too far. Plus, implementing something like that would be a huge and pointless effort.

Most of those “huge” backpacks are immersion breaking (For me at least), and disabling them on my client would not affect people who wear them in any shape or form, nor would the lore of the game suffer without them in any way.

And please, no gemstore items. Something as rudimentary as a toggle should NOT be in the game store.

You will view my limited time back back and you will like it sir!

Lankybird.8149:

You will view my limited time back back and you will like it sir!

Newsflash those backpacks aren’t there so you can show it off, it’s there because you like it. Nobody ever congratulated me on my legendary and I certainly don’t expect – those backpacks should be for your viewing pleasure only…

An option to disable, please!

-1 to this
why spend a lot of money on expensive stuff if you can turn it off

I can turn off the sound of player instruments. Of course, I would have stopped playing or, in the least, stopped going to LA if I couldn’t have turned them down/off.

JustTrogdor.7892:

As soon as I can toggle off those obnoxious legendary weapon effects I’m cool with that.

What? You don’t want to see unicorn ponies flying across your screen!??!! DAT BRONY BOW!!!

Malediktus.9250:

-1 to this
why spend a lot of money on expensive stuff if you can turn it off

If they don’t care that you have it anyway, hence them not wanting to see it, why does it matter to you. It isn’t like they are going to be awestruck when they see you since they see it as an annoyance to start with.

thefantasticg.3984:

I can turn off the sound of player instruments. Of course, I would have stopped playing or, in the least, stopped going to LA if I couldn’t have turned them down/off.

JustTrogdor.7892:

As soon as I can toggle off those obnoxious legendary weapon effects I’m cool with that.

What? You don’t want to see unicorn ponies flying across your screen!??!! DAT BRONY BOW!!!

Mud puddles, greatsword smears across my screen, unicorns etc. No thanks.

Malediktus.9250:

-1 to this
why spend a lot of money on expensive stuff if you can turn it off

You can already turn it off, by pressing H and deselecting “view backpack” in your trinkets section.

What we ask is an option to disable other players backpacks, just like you can disable player instruments. Heck, you can already disable player character model quality, so during large events half of the players look like poorly rendered NPC-s anyway.

Having so many flapping wings and tentacles on my screen is a real distraction and annoyance. If WoW has huge shoulder pads, GW2 has over the top backpacks. I don’t think we need more wings.

JustTrogdor.7892:

As soon as I can toggle off those obnoxious legendary weapon effects I’m cool with that.

Dreamer hater! :P

“whinnie! whinnie! whinnie! whinnie! whinnie!”

Why stop there?

why not toggle off shoulder pieces?

Weapons?

Minipets and pets/minions?

How about all Sylvari since I don’t like looking at rotting trees?

I don’t want to see other players. Can you fix that for me too?
Trees less than my characters height are annoying as well.
Oh, and any shade of red should be vanquished also.

Can we also toggle stealth on and off? Planet-Side 2 did it!

I have to respectfully disagree with the OP. These bells and whistles are part of the game. Their value and prestige would be diminished if others could just hide them..

Vol.7601:

Why stop there?

why not toggle off shoulder pieces?

Weapons?

Minipets and pets/minions?

How about all Sylvari since I don’t like looking at rotting trees?

Oh oh! and underwear!

(come on, someone had to say it)

What about toggling off enemies? I think it’s immersion breaking that there are enemies running around everywhere.
They are also in the way when I’m trying to explore and do jumping puzzles.

On a serious note, no. You should view the other people as they have chosen to be viewed. There is no point in any unique armor or weapons otherwise.

Edit: If your immersion gets broken by something that is in the game, then that’s your problem. It’s in the world, it’s canon, deal with it. If we go to a space station and it breaks your immersion, pity, it’s part of the game.

I would also like to see this implemented. I don’t like being reminded of how poor I am…

Vol.7601:

How about all Sylvari since I don’t like looking at rotting trees?

Well now you’ve gone too far!

You flesh based creatures are the ones that are rotting, slowly but surely. We Sylvari only get stronger, and as far as I’m aware we live forever. So there.

CharrGirl.7896:

Lankybird.8149:

You will view my limited time back back and you will like it sir!

Newsflash those backpacks aren’t there so you can show it off, it’s there because you like it. Nobody ever congratulated me on my legendary and I certainly don’t expect – those backpacks should be for your viewing pleasure only…

An option to disable, please!

I was just joking/trolling yeah disable feature would be fine. I do think they are there to show of just like having a rare weapon though, but yeah disable feature for backpacks and a health bar feature would be fine by me.

Lankybird.8149:

CharrGirl.7896:

Lankybird.8149:

You will view my limited time back back and you will like it sir!

Newsflash those backpacks aren’t there so you can show it off, it’s there because you like it. Nobody ever congratulated me on my legendary and I certainly don’t expect – those backpacks should be for your viewing pleasure only…

An option to disable, please!

I was just joking/trolling yeah disable feature would be fine. I do think they are there to show of just like having a rare weapon though, but yeah disable feature for backpacks and a health bar feature would be fine by me.

Sorry then, didn’t get the sarcasm

And for the nay sayers above, an option, an option. Not mandatory disable. If you like to wear it, it doesn’t affect you in any way if others don’t want to see it. I’m against disabling armor parts that are not backpacks though.

Mikuchan.7261:

What about toggling off enemies? I think it’s immersion breaking that there are enemies running around everywhere.
They are also in the way when I’m trying to explore and do jumping puzzles.

On a serious note, no. You should view the other people as they have chosen to be viewed. There is no point in any unique armor or weapons otherwise.

Edit: If your immersion gets broken by something that is in the game, then that’s your problem. It’s in the world, it’s canon, deal with it. If we go to a space station and it breaks your immersion, pity, it’s part of the game.

I’m sorry, but “unique” is such a strong word when everyone and their grandma has an item of similar description. And besides, it would be a simple toggle option that does not affect you, the owner of said item/s, and those who find them cool, in any way whatsoever. Why would that bother you in such a case? It simply does not matter.

Its annoying to me, and apparently to some other people as well (judging by some of the replies here). So we want a way to hide it. Simple as that.

Also, people, please stop trying to derail the thread with silly and over the top suggestions like “remove Charr and Norn and Trees from the game” or similar. If you agree with the idea, say that you do and why, if you don’t agree – try to be constructive about it at least. Being sarcastic leads to nothing but pointless arguments.

CharrGirl.7896:

Lankybird.8149:

You will view my limited time back back and you will like it sir!

Newsflash those backpacks aren’t there so you can show it off, it’s there because you like it. Nobody ever congratulated me on my legendary and I certainly don’t expect – those backpacks should be for your viewing pleasure only…

An option to disable, please!

Newsflash! Many people specifically wear those backpacks in order to show it off! How else will people feel leet if people around them don’t start having seizures from all the particle effects?!

(sarcams aside, there really are a lot of people who pick flashy armor in order to show off and they would be upset by such a change.)

While I agree many of the back items are distracting and would not mind an option to disable them, I don’t see it ever happening. The main issue is for almost everything in the game, someone will not like it and not want to see it. Auras, legendary effects, spell particle effects, glowing flame armor, minis, the list just goes on and on. At what point would you stop, and who’s opinion would count the most on what would and would not be seen?

ShiningSquirrel.3751:

While I agree many of the back items are distracting and would not mind an option to disable them, I don’t see it ever happening. The main issue is for almost everything in the game, someone will not like it and not want to see it. Auras, legendary effects, spell particle effects, glowing flame armor, minis, the list just goes on and on. At what point would you stop, and who’s opinion would count the most on what would and would not be seen?

A valid point – but here are my 2 cents about that debate:

A backpack item is a simple accessory – not a whole armor set, or a character, or part of a legendary weapon that’s hard to get. Imho, comparable to instruments – and it would not break anything for anyone – as I said before, only those people who find them annoying (and don’t care about them in the first place) would disable them.

Also, particle effects are a whole other story – while I have my gripe with this game lacking proper optimization and particle culling options, it is not part of this debate or suggestion.

Mikuchan.7261:

What about toggling off enemies? I think it’s immersion breaking that there are enemies running around everywhere.
They are also in the way when I’m trying to explore and do jumping puzzles.

On this, sometimes my game loads badly and there’s no enemies XD.
Sadly it’s never at useful times, like in LA, during a rubble search.. ): … ..

I find all the backpacks a lil annoying too, OP, but at the same time, showing off your character is part of an MMO, alot less people would get stuff/wear it if they couldn’t show it off. (or knew a large number of people or going to block it)

This game needs a lot more configuration of the graphics local to the client. First and foremost we need to be able to turn done the crazy particle effects levels that makes everything we see on screen pointless.

Sandpit.3467:

This game needs a lot more configuration of the graphics local to the client. First and foremost we need to be able to turn done the crazy particle effects levels that makes everything we see on screen pointless.

Yes. It needs an Atari graphics mode. :P

Just switch your character detail setting to low and you will only see a generic character model per race. No armor, no backpacks, no weapons.

Wanze, good idea, +1!

To OP, you can keep everything high but the character model quality and limit set to lowest! So you can enjoy the landscape but not the other obnoxious looking players (sarcasm).

I couldnt care less about how I look to myself, but I am getting the most expensive items such as Eternity purely to brag with it. So letting others turn off prestige would be a huge turn off.

a t s e.9614:

This is a cosmetic game , turning stuff on or off is a terrible idea . Lets say you buy a Ferrari in real life , you want people to look at it right ? It’s the same thing here in gw2 and like other people said . I hate asuras because I think they are ugly and have a PvP advantage , can I see them as a big as a human instead ?

If you can’t afford something like a legendary , doesn’t mean you have to punish the others . If it affects your gameplay that much then send a report to arena net .

I have most people turned off anyway. :p
Character Model Limit: Lowest

Malediktus.9250:

I couldnt care less about how I look to myself, but I am getting the most expensive items such as Eternity purely to brag with it. So letting others turn off prestige would be a huge turn off.

And most people don’t care if you have it.

JustTrogdor.7892:

Malediktus.9250:

I couldnt care less about how I look to myself, but I am getting the most expensive items such as Eternity purely to brag with it. So letting others turn off prestige would be a huge turn off.

And most people don’t care if you have it.

I still want to rub it into peoples faces that I am richer than them, even if they dont care

Malediktus.9250:

JustTrogdor.7892:

Malediktus.9250:

I couldnt care less about how I look to myself, but I am getting the most expensive items such as Eternity purely to brag with it. So letting others turn off prestige would be a huge turn off.

And most people don’t care if you have it.

I still want to rub it into peoples faces that I am richer than them, even if they dont care

If they don’t care how would it be rubbing it in their faces? I don’t care about people that drive BMWs and when I see someone driving one I certainly don’t feel like it is bing rubbed in my face.

Lol wait wait wait…did I really just see people scream ‘I have no personal preference, very low self-esteem and require validation from others in the form of (what they believe) is envy over pixels or my existence will be meaningless!!!’ and really think that’s somehow a valid argument? Wow….so now I really do feel sorry for you people. +1 to global disable option…some of you need to toughen up and stop seeking validation from others-if you like it, you get it…doesn’t matter if no one else does. What’s funny is really it won’t affect you in the least bit as you won’t know whether or not the other player has it turned on/off…but just the mere knowledge that they could possibly have it turned off is enough to irritate those people….oh my sides.

Dang…this…I am actually depressed now. ‘Waaaah waaaaah I want to think people are jealous of me waaaah waaaaah!’ Lol….great now I’m alternating between laughing till my sides hurt and being just totally and utterly depressed