Guild Wars 2

I’m not sure how high of a priority this might be for ANet, but I’d really love to see a bit more cultural diversity among the inhabitants of Tyria. The world currently features a great deal of architectural styles and clothing, and ANet has gone a long way to flesh out the cultures of the different races, however I think more can be done to make Tyria more colourful. Here are some suggestions:

Language
Novel architecture and clothing are great, but to me, nothing makes me feel more like an adventurer than when the people around me are speaking a different language. While I get that Ascalonian is the de facto common language for all the races, having all the races speak “American” (or “British”, if you’re Sylvari) all the time becomes really boring. In Factions, NPCs would spout out Canthan phrases, which at that point of time, made me feel wonderfully foreign. In the same way, ANet can subtly include NPCs who’ll randomly converse in their racial language within the racial cities. I foresee a bit of problem when translating these lines into languages that don’t use alphabets (i.e. Mandarin), but they can either be approximated into the dubbed language, or left as is, in Roman letters.

Festivals
This to me, comes at a distant to my point above. However, I remember when I first came across the group of Charr preparing for Meatoberfest in Diessa Plateau, I remember my interest being piqued. I know there are already a bunch of recurring festivals like Wintersday and Halloween, but these are obvious commemorations of real world holidays. It seems odd that the other races wouldn’t some sort of cultural festival, and it makes Tyria seem too much of a mirror of Earth.

Religion
I get that this might be a bit of a tricky thing for ANet to pull off, but I think making NPCs more firm believers of their faiths would be the cherry on the icing for this whole cultural thing. Of course ANet has to be very careful in deciding what elements are safe for the general public (players can sometimes get hostile over seemingly trivial matters), but a little more immersion can’t hurt, right?

Language, while a cool idea, is quite a project.

Fictional languages like elvish in LOTR and Na’vi in Avatar are carefully planned out and built. They actually have a language structure. A linguistic proffessional was actually hired to create Na’vi language for the movie.

If Anet were to create even for one race first, it will take quite some time. But yes it will craze GW lore fanatics.

Yeah, I think so too, but if they could just chuck in a few more sentences than what we have now, I would be so happy.

Considering that there are 5 races in guild wars 2, there’s already plenty of cultural diversity. Combine that with the fact that Elona and Cantha may at some point be accessible in guild wars 2, you’re also going to have an even further ethnic diversity for humans.

cool idea, but I´d advise against it. Our PC world has become so incredibly touchy, you would see mass outcries over the slightest imagined “stereotyping” of this and that (of cause never about bad white western “imperialist” culture).

Can’t we just have fun with a video game and not worry about cultural diversity or social equality or whatnot?

Really now.

well there is an Asuran alphabet, just need to ad a sound to each letter i guess,
norn, have the great hunt i guess.

@Aidan: Touché, although don’t you think it’s silly that all Asura seem like they all come from the same community? Humans have Krytan, Ascalonian, Canthan or Elonian backgrounds, while the Asura look like they were all born and bred in Rata Sum. Whatever happened to the proud inhabitants of Quora Sum and Rata Pten? (And what’s up with the black dark-skinned Norn?)

@Algreg: A pity, and I totally agree. It’s sad to know game ideas can be stymied because of “considerations” (see the Great Collapse), but that hasn’t stopped ANet from including other touches (see Jory and Kasmeer), so, fingers crossed! On another note, GW2 can be a platform to promote and celebrate cultural diversity!

@Ramiel: Because I am a big D&D nerd, that’s why. XD

I’m surprised no game has had a different languages thing since Everquest. Just one of the many things that made it so amazing. I know people now would think its a pain in the kitten , but it really added to the immersion that you see a troll or high elf or something and not be able to immediately understand them. Only after hearing them talk for a long time would their phrases start to make sense in bits and pieces as your language skills rose.

Can the diversification please start at clothing?

we have three sets per “race” and armourclass and thats it.
ALL other stuff (from dropped loot to crafted armours) is “humanlike” in my eyes.

I really find it very hard to properly dress a sylvari, most of them just look like your next human until you zoom in and see the face.

Why are cultutal clothes so rare and unaccessible?

They had job-openings for Sylvari fashion designers but none responded :p

Relair.1843:

I’m surprised no game has had a different languages thing since Everquest. Just one of the many things that made it so amazing. I know people now would think its a pain in the kitten , but it really added to the immersion that you see a troll or high elf or something and not be able to immediately understand them. Only after hearing them talk for a long time would their phrases start to make sense in bits and pieces as your language skills rose.

I still don’t really miss a quest like “To speak as a Dragon” here

Nadha.6097:

Can the diversification please start at clothing?

we have three sets per “race” and armourclass and thats it.
ALL other stuff (from dropped loot to crafted armours) is “humanlike” in my eyes.

I really find it very hard to properly dress a sylvari, most of them just look like your next human until you zoom in and see the face.

Why are cultutal clothes so rare and unaccessible?

This is the reason I deleted my Norn and Sylvari in beta and at release. It bugs me beyond words… :/