Guild Wars 2

I recgonize that a big part of why we aren’t spgetting new races is that adding their content to the New Player Experience would be a bit hassle, with new voice acting and race specific content and so on.

It goe me wondering, is the NPE really worth it? It certainly was novel first time, as well as the little bits of lore it revealed were interesting.

But honestly, I wouldn’t mind sacrificing the NPE for a new race. Simplifying the basic story down and simply utilizing the existing quests and content in the PVE world to level.

Would you sacrifice the current NPE for the capability of a new race?

I don’t think the amount of resources the NPE cost is even remotely close to how enormous of a task it would be to add another race… so this discussion is kind of pointless.

Also, I think it would be bad lowering quality of the game by simplifying the basics for that race.

So no, I would not. Even though I’m definitely not a fan of the NPE.

yanipheonu.5798:

I recgonize that a big part of why we aren’t spgetting new races is that adding their content to the New Player Experience would be a bit hassle, with new voice acting and race specific content and so on.

Those elements have nothing to do with the NPE.

I really don’t understand this infatuation with new races. You do realize that one new class is worth an infinite number of cosmetic-only races, right?

If they add new races it’s going to be after the expansion.They said they debated it and decided not to do it with this expansion. The NPE has zero to do with it.

I suspect OP meant personal story.

The NPE has nothing to do with their decision not to implement a new race. They’ve simply deemed the cost (man hours, money, etc) to be more than the benefits a new race would bring to the game. That’s unfortunate for those of us wanting a new race, but that’s the way it is.

Johanson:
“For this one, we looked at what we would get out of adding a new race and what benefit it actually brings to the players from a gameplay standpoint. It’s very limited in Guild Wars 2. A new race adds a racial skill or two and a little bit of story, but it doesn’t give that much meaningful gameplay in the grand scheme of things. The race is more context for the early story that you experience. So we wanted to focus things that would provide a lot more gameplay and address parts of Guild Wars 2 that we felt like we really wanted to be able to make a better experience and grow. So right now, we didn’t feel that a new race was a key need for the game, whereas the other things that we’re adding really provide fundamental building blocks for the future.”

tl:dr
Nothing to do with the NPE. There were other things they could do that would be more important to improve the game so they did that.

All that Anet has to look at is the METRIX™ and see how many Charr, Sylvari, Asura and Norn characters have been made compared to human. There isn’t enough of a playerbase desire for a new race. I know that is is extremely likely that I would play any new race.

I can’t see the majority of players wanting to play any of the maybe possible new species: Tengu, Kodan or Largos. I don’t think any of those will ever be available to play.

yanipheonu.5798:

I recgonize that a big part of why we aren’t getting new races is that adding their content to the New Player Experience would be a bit hassle, with new voice acting and race specific content and so on.

It’s not that it’s a hassle, and too big of an under taking. A large part of why we haven’t yet is that story doesn’t allow for it yet. The NPE has nothing to do with the story at all, just hows it’s played. With the current events of the LS, and the story line of the PS, bringing in a new race at this point just doesn’t make sense. Of coures, maybe for season 4, they can shift the story to do just that, and make whatever race as part of that story arc. Like the Tengu for example. They haven’t been brought in yet as a playable race, because according to the story, they are locked away and refusing to come out. The current story doesn’t account for them just suddenly coming forward and being all “Hey! Sorry we were away from so long, but we are here now, so lets go!”.

Thats a MAJOR reason why a new race hasn’t been introduced. The mechanics, skins, etc. are all just fluff.

pdavis.8031:

yanipheonu.5798:

I recgonize that a big part of why we aren’t getting new races is that adding their content to the New Player Experience would be a bit hassle, with new voice acting and race specific content and so on.

It’s not that it’s a hassle, and too big of an under taking. A large part of why we haven’t yet is that story doesn’t allow for it yet. The NPE has nothing to do with the story at all, just hows it’s played. With the current events of the LS, and the story line of the PS, bringing in a new race at this point just doesn’t make sense. Of coures, maybe for season 4, they can shift the story to do just that, and make whatever race as part of that story arc. Like the Tengu for example. They haven’t been brought in yet as a playable race, because according to the story, they are locked away and refusing to come out. The current story doesn’t account for them just suddenly coming forward and being all “Hey! Sorry we were away from so long, but we are here now, so lets go!”.

Thats a MAJOR reason why a new race hasn’t been introduced. The mechanics, skins, etc. are all just fluff.

It has nothing to do with the story. Any writer who can’t write a new playable race into the game isn’t worth having on the payroll. It’s a simple case of cost and benefit. The developers weighed the cost of adding a new race (the work that goes into it isn’t trivial) and deemed it not worthwhile.

mtpelion.4562:

I really don’t understand this infatuation with new races. You do realize that one new class is worth an infinite number of cosmetic-only races, right?

Different things have different value to different people.

I mean, it’s not a difficult concept to grasp that people are different and want/like different things. Are we all suppose to value things the same? People don’t even value money the same, which is probably the most controversially controlled system of value.

Leo G.4501:

mtpelion.4562:

I really don’t understand this infatuation with new races. You do realize that one new class is worth an infinite number of cosmetic-only races, right?

Different things have different value to different people.

I mean, it’s not a difficult concept to grasp that people are different and want/like different things. Are we all suppose to value things the same? People don’t even value money the same, which is probably the most controversially controlled system of value.

its not a matter of personal value, its a matter of production cost and benefits for the game.

If they are new to the game then most of the races are new to them well all but humans and may be norn (you tend to see these in other games) but the others are very GW2 only. New race is more for ppl who have played with the other races or ppl who have been playing gw2 for some time.

darkace.8925:

pdavis.8031:

yanipheonu.5798:

I recgonize that a big part of why we aren’t getting new races is that adding their content to the New Player Experience would be a bit hassle, with new voice acting and race specific content and so on.

It’s not that it’s a hassle, and too big of an under taking. A large part of why we haven’t yet is that story doesn’t allow for it yet. The NPE has nothing to do with the story at all, just hows it’s played. With the current events of the LS, and the story line of the PS, bringing in a new race at this point just doesn’t make sense. Of coures, maybe for season 4, they can shift the story to do just that, and make whatever race as part of that story arc. Like the Tengu for example. They haven’t been brought in yet as a playable race, because according to the story, they are locked away and refusing to come out. The current story doesn’t account for them just suddenly coming forward and being all “Hey! Sorry we were away from so long, but we are here now, so lets go!”.

Thats a MAJOR reason why a new race hasn’t been introduced. The mechanics, skins, etc. are all just fluff.

It has nothing to do with the story. Any writer who can’t write a new playable race into the game isn’t worth having on the payroll. It’s a simple case of cost and benefit. The developers weighed the cost of adding a new race (the work that goes into it isn’t trivial) and deemed it not worthwhile.

While that is certinaly true, about the work, costs, and benefits. The writers have to work within the confines of the current story arc. They just can’t go “Ok we are in the Maguuma Jungle, about to head to the stronghold of Mordremoth, and the Sylvari are actually dragon minions. We are going to do X, Y and Z with this and see where it goes. But hey, lets just add a few lines of dialogue, and bring in the Tengu (or insert favorite race). We could just have it be a cut scene maybe, that briefly explains why they have been shut away, and why they choose now to come out. That should be enough.” But what about the PS? “Well, just tack it into the current one, it’ll be fine.” Yeah. No. Not so much. That would be a terrible way to do it, and in fact would be the most lazy way as a writer to introduce a new race. Especially a race with a rich history, unique culture, and interesting story.

No. There is a rather large story line concerning the Tengu, and their reasons for avoiding everyone. One that could take a lot of time to fully flesh out as a story. Throwing it in as more of an after thought with a few lines of dialogue and maybe a cut scene would not do it justice.

Again, it would have to be a whole LS season where they become unlocked AFTER you complete the last episode. Something that plays out why we convince them to join with the other races to fight the dragons. Just adding them in willy nilly would be an example of terrible writing. It’s not that it can’t be done, but that there needs to be a story arc that reflects WHY they join us. Of course the writers can do that, they are good at what they do, but the current story arc just doesn’t allow for it. YET.

yanipheonu.5798:

I recgonize that a big part of why we aren’t spgetting new races is that adding their content to the New Player Experience would be a bit hassle, with new voice acting and race specific content and so on.

But what is wrong with…..

… completing the story unlocks “play as tengu” who don’t get the personal story / Zhaitan story or access to most armors?

If you got a new race in a barebones state would you take it?

nekretaal.6485:

But what is wrong with…..

… completing the story unlocks “play as tengu” who don’t get the personal story / Zhaitan story or access to most armors?

If you got a new race in a barebones state would you take it?

Well at this point in the LS, Zhaitan is already defeated. So it would make sense when introducing a new race to have a different PS. One that works with the current state of affairs in Tyria. As far as not having the Zhaitan story, that would mean that the new race would have to go back in time, then be transported to the current time in order for things to work. Of course players who have already done the current PS would still have access to the same armor skins to use on the race, or the new PS can include those armor skins.

pdavis.8031:

nekretaal.6485:

But what is wrong with…..

… completing the story unlocks “play as tengu” who don’t get the personal story / Zhaitan story or access to most armors?

If you got a new race in a barebones state would you take it?

Well at this point in the LS, Zhaitan is already defeated. So it would make sense when introducing a new race to have a different PS. One that works with the current state of affairs in Tyria. As far as not having the Zhaitan story, that would mean that the new race would have to go back in time, then be transported to the current time in order for things to work. Of course players who have already done the current PS would still have access to the same armor skins to use on the race, or the new PS can include those armor skins.

Nice thinking. Doing it this way could also open up a greater possibility of the species helped within the Personal Stories to become playable, since that was the reason they wouldn’t be considered before. A PS could stem from being part of the Pact. Boatload of work though. I could see the introduction of new species being a whole expansion on its own.