Guild Wars 2

Kristen Perry.5260:

I originally started typing up a big post about explanations and reasons and theories, but I think that they’d get in the way of the point I’m trying to make, so I’ll keep it as concise as I can.

What is:
Glow mask areas remove the shiny effect beneath them in the current system.

The armor glow and skin glow are two different systems. The only control currently possible is through the armor dye of that area.

What will be:
Textures: I’ll get the textures to work like they used to. By this, I mean they can go back to darker and have their gradients as much as I can while keeping the glow.

Dye Masks: I will get them to behave more like the old shapes, but you’ll still see some tweaks because of the glow. I see a couple folks mentioning dye masks being removed. This was unintentional and I’ll look into it.

Glow Shape: I can minimize some of the glow layer shape in the texture so it doesn’t affect the broadness of specular as much. You’ll get most of your shiny leaves back.

What I’m working on:
The glow isn’t as rich and saturated as one would predict. This wasn’t touched and is not a part of the texture or dye files, even though the dye shape is now controllable. There may be a way to get this changed on the shader, but it would only affect cultural armor and nightmare court stuff, not any clothing.

The glow can get to be more aligned to the color. If you dye the shape blood red, it will glow like a traffic light. If you dye it dark red, it’ll glow dark red. If you dye it pink, it will glow pink. If you dye it white, it will blow out so bright. …if you dye it black or dark dark dark, it’ll barely glow if at all.

By dying it dark, you can effectively artificially “mostly turn off” the glow. This is the biggest middle ground while still giving the people who love the glow their choice as well.

Thanks everyone for your feedback on this change. I tried my best to explain this system and what I’m working on, but there are technical elements and nuances that are fairly complex to describe. Note that any changes I could make will not get into the game the next build release. But they may get into the build after that. Now back to work for me. :}

Thanks, Kristen, for the awesome work. I actually have learnt a way about the new glow by changing the whole dye set. But your input about the future work is exciting. If it doesn’t cause much of your troubles, could you please look into the clipping problem by mixing different cultural pants with T3 medium boots? Again, your work is most appreciated. xxx

Note on the picture: I was able to hot fix some of the nuance on the boots by changing the dye. The cape still looks darker than before and the color less “blended”. I wish for more dye channel on the boots and the cape, since they only have two.

Combination NC.9813:

I am glad we have gotten a response and that she is looking into it, but this sudden switch in attitude about changing things people have already bought has hurt my trust in Anet very, very much. I also wish they could have rolled the change back while they work on the tweaks since it will take a very long time to fix this and a lot of outfits are ruined (honestly, I wish they would just make two separate sets, one with texture and one with glow, but I can see why they would not), but at least something is happening. I am especially saddened by what this change has done to light coloured outfits, and based on her statement I worry they will never look good again. The lack of texture in the T3 light skirt is especially apparent; part of it still retains the old leaf texture, but the front is completely flat and dyes like cloth so there is no way to get a uniform look with a light colour. I miss my bright pink fairy mesmer and how his skirt used to look the same as his hair/petals. It used to look like it was all growing out of him, and now it looks like he is wearing and oddly shaped plastic apron over it.

This guy has a good idea (quoted from my suggestion thread). I doubt it’d be done, but if it would it’d solve this issue. The disgruntled will be at ease and the ones who love glowing like a dang glow stick know what is to come. And then we can just pray that the fixes to this abomination of art and plant-life do make the difference.

Just wanted to thank Kristen for keeping us in the loop. You’re putting your colleagues to shame. I for one liked the change but I am wholeheartedly sympathetic to those who were unhappy with it.

Kristen Perry.5260:

I originally started typing up a big post about explanations and reasons and theories, but I think that they’d get in the way of the point I’m trying to make, so I’ll keep it as concise as I can.

What is:
Glow mask areas remove the shiny effect beneath them in the current system.

The armor glow and skin glow are two different systems. The only control currently possible is through the armor dye of that area.

What will be:
Textures: I’ll get the textures to work like they used to. By this, I mean they can go back to darker and have their gradients as much as I can while keeping the glow.

Dye Masks: I will get them to behave more like the old shapes, but you’ll still see some tweaks because of the glow. I see a couple folks mentioning dye masks being removed. This was unintentional and I’ll look into it.

Glow Shape: I can minimize some of the glow layer shape in the texture so it doesn’t affect the broadness of specular as much. You’ll get most of your shiny leaves back.

What I’m working on:
The glow isn’t as rich and saturated as one would predict. This wasn’t touched and is not a part of the texture or dye files, even though the dye shape is now controllable. There may be a way to get this changed on the shader, but it would only affect cultural armor and nightmare court stuff, not any clothing.

The glow can get to be more aligned to the color. If you dye the shape blood red, it will glow like a traffic light. If you dye it dark red, it’ll glow dark red. If you dye it pink, it will glow pink. If you dye it white, it will blow out so bright. …if you dye it black or dark dark dark, it’ll barely glow if at all.

By dying it dark, you can effectively artificially “mostly turn off” the glow. This is the biggest middle ground while still giving the people who love the glow their choice as well.

Thanks everyone for your feedback on this change. I tried my best to explain this system and what I’m working on, but there are technical elements and nuances that are fairly complex to describe. Note that any changes I could make will not get into the game the next build release. But they may get into the build after that. Now back to work for me. :}

Thank you so much. Again, I’m glad you listen to us one more time. Don’t get me wrong, I like the glow! but I also like my old texture as much.

I hope the result will make most people happy.

edit: tbh, I’m so happy you listened. I think no matter how the result look, I’ll accept that you took the effort to try and improve it.

I’m sure you’ll figure out some way to please us all Kristen. Thank you for taking the time to reply and think of some potential solutions. I’ll keep my hopes up about this situation for the future.

@Kristen: Thanks for the input and the willingness to re-work this for those of us who didn’t like the change. In all honesty, I seriously considered quitting GW2 entirely, the change was that devastating to my concept of the game.

That being said, I hope that the alterations come quickly and decidedly. Thanks for your effort.

Kristen Perry.5260:

I originally started typing up a big post about explanations and reasons and theories, but I think that they’d get in the way of the point I’m trying to make, so I’ll keep it as concise as I can.

What is:
Glow mask areas remove the shiny effect beneath them in the current system.

The armor glow and skin glow are two different systems. The only control currently possible is through the armor dye of that area.

What will be:
Textures: I’ll get the textures to work like they used to. By this, I mean they can go back to darker and have their gradients as much as I can while keeping the glow.

Dye Masks: I will get them to behave more like the old shapes, but you’ll still see some tweaks because of the glow. I see a couple folks mentioning dye masks being removed. This was unintentional and I’ll look into it.

Glow Shape: I can minimize some of the glow layer shape in the texture so it doesn’t affect the broadness of specular as much. You’ll get most of your shiny leaves back.

What I’m working on:
The glow isn’t as rich and saturated as one would predict. This wasn’t touched and is not a part of the texture or dye files, even though the dye shape is now controllable. There may be a way to get this changed on the shader, but it would only affect cultural armor and nightmare court stuff, not any clothing.

The glow can get to be more aligned to the color. If you dye the shape blood red, it will glow like a traffic light. If you dye it dark red, it’ll glow dark red. If you dye it pink, it will glow pink. If you dye it white, it will blow out so bright. …if you dye it black or dark dark dark, it’ll barely glow if at all.

By dying it dark, you can effectively artificially “mostly turn off” the glow. This is the biggest middle ground while still giving the people who love the glow their choice as well.

Thanks everyone for your feedback on this change. I tried my best to explain this system and what I’m working on, but there are technical elements and nuances that are fairly complex to describe. Note that any changes I could make will not get into the game the next build release. But they may get into the build after that. Now back to work for me. :}

Thanks for the info and trying to work with the negative feedback given. It’s just a shock when you have expensive armor you’ve been working to get just right and it gets changed with no advanced notice. Like I said in a previous post, my armor hasn’t been changed yet so I don’t even know if I’ll like the change, but I’ve seen some t3 pics where I didn’t like the change.

The feedback is in no way a negative reflection towards your work. I know for a fact there are several areas of this game I’d absolutely HATE if you hadn’t put your amazing touch on them (sylvari & charr females to name a few), so please keep working on things you feel need work. Just try to give us a heads-up next time it relates to something so near and dear to a lot of player’s hearts.

I’d also like to make a suggestion. For cosmetic changes, if something takes a lot of gold, or money, or time to acquire, you should handle changes in one of two ways;

either make a variant of the item with the changes so there are two looks of the item that players can choose, or
show the original and proposed change and have a vote.

An unannounced change like this usually ends up causing bad feelings even when your intentions were good.

Heres the T1 top not glowing anymore thing I was talking about earlier:

Thank you for the update.

My “SwampBlack” doesn’t look as dark and corrupt looking as it did when i originally dyed it (Tier 3 light chest). Somehow it looks “brighter” – more like Acid or Algae.

I noticed it immediately when I got to character select (I think I’ll live).

Aelaren.3784:

Sylvari split in half by heavy T1 armor.
Also, texture on legs looks like it was stretched from a much smaller sample than was enough for smooth look. Like magnified jpeg or something…

Kristen, can we get a fix for T1 female heavy along with the upgrades to the other sylvari cultural armor sets? You know…while you’re in there with all the other cultural armors. That’d be awesome!

The difference is enormous on some colour sets. I had a perfect blend of pink/yellow on my T3. How this can be considered better I have absolutely no idea. It’s garish, lacks any kind of subtlety and will leave me spending hours trying to find something similar. Unfortunately the new system doesn’t allow for that either. Please change it back

I can see how the change is bad from a few of these pictures, but a lot of the "After"’s look a lot better than the befores (poster above me). I have 0 Salad people though, so if the general consensus is that the older versions are better, I do hope that they can fix the changes.

Tamaki Revolution.3548:

I can see how the change is bad from a few of these pictures, but a lot of the "After"’s look a lot better than the befores (poster above me). I have 0 Salad people though, so if the general consensus is that the older versions are better, I do hope that they can fix the changes.

It’s really down to taste. A lot of people loved the natural-looking subtle colour variations and texture detail that has been replaced by vary garish flat colours and colour transitions with the change.

Tamaki Revolution.3548:

I can see how the change is bad from a few of these pictures, but a lot of the "After"’s look a lot better than the befores (poster above me). I have 0 Salad people though, so if the general consensus is that the older versions are better, I do hope that they can fix the changes.

That’s personal taste. I spent many hours finding the right dyes and combinations to work with the hues in the “before” picture. Now I am left with a garish, neon glow that lacks any subtlety.

Thank you for the quick update towards the situation, Kristen. I fully appreciate the fact that it’s perhaps quite hard to communicate something visually without actual visuals so I shall leave my thoughts until I see the end product. It’s very helpful to know that this current change won’t be festering around for too long, and just knowing that you’ll be working on it will surely give a lot of us tree people hope that our character will be renewed to beyond their former glory

I just checked out the change for myself and immediatly bought some T3 and T1 armor pieces for a second set for my Necro. I really like the change for the light armors.

Katreyn.4218:

I would also pay real money just to revert this for my Sylvari. I can’t find a single dye that even resembles what I used to have going. I can’t believe that someone would actually get rid of the good existing textures to change it to this washed out textureless mess. With no warning towards players at all. It is a significant change.

Pictures (Before & After patch). Been using Grass and Fern dye. I can’t even get a similar “glow” on the armor without changing the armor to some super bright color since my sylvari glows a bright green.

I understand people wanted Glow. I never really cared either way if the armor had glow or not. The thought never crossed my mind that the armor would have to be practically downgraded in design in order to achieve glow. So disappointed.

Edit: Just want to say since I am afraid I may have come off more harshly then I intended (I was quite disappointed by this) but I appreciate the effort that has gone into giving Sylvari armor more customization. And I think it would be great if it was offered as another armor set or alternative version. I just feel that after a year its about too long to greatly change an existing armor piece. It is actually a year this month that I have owned my tier 3 set so I am quite attached to its old style.

They have gone from 3D depth and textures to sooth the mind into thinking it is in a reality, to a flat, emotionless, and BLAND art style probably for the sake of lag – nothing more.

When anyone is expected to spend money to outfit and color a model – for that is what they are – one would expect that the “look” would be protected in a locked file – but ANET changes the textures without so much as thinking about what it does, in reality, to the mind’s ability to accept as “real” the characters that are still literally flat but so much flatter without the good texturing, depth, warmth and clarity.

The new colors aren’t even clear – as some have already said, they are really very muddy.

For some this game is a hobby and for others it’s a serious endeavor to keep our minds sharp when our bodies can do very little due to illness or injury.

Anet, go back to the beautiful, clear and bright art that brought you so much attention at the beginning of the game.

Failth.2935:

It’s something with Sylvari cultural T3 medium. First I noticed that dye slots were completely changed at least on male. But after trying to fix the dyes I noticed that they react completely differently to the gear after the patch.

I Attached a picture of my gear before and after the patch using the exact same dyes on the same slots

My helmet, shoulders and gloves are not T3 and they look exactly the same as pre-patch, but boots and the chest look completely different

Not sure did this change how every dye react on the gear, but at least glacial dyes look completely different. I had to remove Deep Glacial Sky from boots & chest and I just bought it couple days ago ;__; Such an expensive dye…. feels like wasted now

(Left before -, right after the patch)

Kudos, best sylvari ive seen in my life!

Lewis Burnell.2493:

The difference is enormous on some colour sets. I had a perfect blend of pink/yellow on my T3. How this can be considered better I have absolutely no idea. It’s garish, lacks any kind of subtlety and will leave me spending hours trying to find something similar. Unfortunately the new system doesn’t allow for that either. Please change it back

AMG Lewis, I checked on my ranger as well ;(. It’s horrendous.

The greenish tonality around the edges is completely lost now, it’s all yellow. The pants lost a lot of detail and the organic feel is diminished.

And what did it get replaced with? A barely noticeable bioluminescent glow. The glow is so ridiculously small.

Big Tower.5423:

Failth.2935:

It’s something with Sylvari cultural T3 medium. First I noticed that dye slots were completely changed at least on male. But after trying to fix the dyes I noticed that they react completely differently to the gear after the patch.

I Attached a picture of my gear before and after the patch using the exact same dyes on the same slots

My helmet, shoulders and gloves are not T3 and they look exactly the same as pre-patch, but boots and the chest look completely different

Not sure did this change how every dye react on the gear, but at least glacial dyes look completely different. I had to remove Deep Glacial Sky from boots & chest and I just bought it couple days ago ;__; Such an expensive dye…. feels like wasted now

(Left before -, right after the patch)

Kudos, best sylvari ive seen in my life!

Aww thank you so much <3 ^^

It might be worth while to consider instead of a straight up “glow” effect, to have some type of high-low multiplier, so upper value colors “glow” and lower value colors create a dark haze around themselves, without going to deeply into particle effects.

So if your armor was in front of something white, and it was dyed dark purple, the white object behind would be dimmed a bit around the armor.

lunyboy.8672:

It might be worth while to consider instead of a straight up “glow” effect, to have some type of high-low multiplier, so upper value colors “glow” and lower value colors create a dark haze around themselves, without going to deeply into particle effects.

So if your armor was in front of something white, and it was dyed dark purple, the white object behind would be dimmed a bit around the armor.

I’d pay money for this effect.

Kristen Perry.5260:

I originally started typing up a big post about explanations and reasons and theories, but I think that they’d get in the way of the point I’m trying to make, so I’ll keep it as concise as I can.

What is:
Glow mask areas remove the shiny effect beneath them in the current system.

The armor glow and skin glow are two different systems. The only control currently possible is through the armor dye of that area.

What will be:
Textures: I’ll get the textures to work like they used to. By this, I mean they can go back to darker and have their gradients as much as I can while keeping the glow.

Dye Masks: I will get them to behave more like the old shapes, but you’ll still see some tweaks because of the glow. I see a couple folks mentioning dye masks being removed. This was unintentional and I’ll look into it.

Glow Shape: I can minimize some of the glow layer shape in the texture so it doesn’t affect the broadness of specular as much. You’ll get most of your shiny leaves back.

What I’m working on:
The glow isn’t as rich and saturated as one would predict. This wasn’t touched and is not a part of the texture or dye files, even though the dye shape is now controllable. There may be a way to get this changed on the shader, but it would only affect cultural armor and nightmare court stuff, not any clothing.

The glow can get to be more aligned to the color. If you dye the shape blood red, it will glow like a traffic light. If you dye it dark red, it’ll glow dark red. If you dye it pink, it will glow pink. If you dye it white, it will blow out so bright. …if you dye it black or dark dark dark, it’ll barely glow if at all.

By dying it dark, you can effectively artificially “mostly turn off” the glow. This is the biggest middle ground while still giving the people who love the glow their choice as well.

Thanks everyone for your feedback on this change. I tried my best to explain this system and what I’m working on, but there are technical elements and nuances that are fairly complex to describe. Note that any changes I could make will not get into the game the next build release. But they may get into the build after that. Now back to work for me. :}

This is how a dev communicates with and demonstrates that she cares about the concerns of her players.

Thank You

I feel the blue dye on Sylvari cultural T3 medium become colder than patch before, I still hope there is little bit green in the blue part.

(the upper picture is patch before)
(the bottom picture is after patch)

Thank you for addressing this, Kristen Perry. It was a very confusing and distressing change for me. I really hope I can do this kind of blending again after the change

Edit: Just a note, my colors in this pic were Mahogany, Red Cherry, Red, and Cucumber. On the chest piece, I think I had all but the Red. And, I do appreciate the attempt to add glow to the cultural armor, I just thought it could have been better done.

Back to the top.

Hoping to see some changes in today’s release.

Yay dye channels are back to normal and i can play around with the dye combinations like I used to. With some added features of controlling the glow on certain pieces!

Thank you Kristen for your work on fixing this issue!

I soo love you for getting it back to the old glory like before <3

Can we get an update on how the dyes/glows are supposed to function with the latest patch? The textures are fixed on my medium tier 2 culture armor now (thank you! :] ), but I can’t really tell if his legs are glowing (doesn’t seem like it, I check by looking at his hair), even when I change around the dyes.

Ivy.8702:

Can we get an update on how the dyes/glows are supposed to function with the latest patch? The textures are fixed on my medium tier 2 culture armor now (thank you! :] ), but I can’t really tell if his legs are glowing (doesn’t seem like it, I check by looking at his hair), even when I change around the dyes.

how it works now is that the glow intensity is influenced by the dye you are using.
So if you use a lighter dye it will glow brighter, while darker dye will have a less bright glow

Morrigan.2809:

Ivy.8702:

Can we get an update on how the dyes/glows are supposed to function with the latest patch? The textures are fixed on my medium tier 2 culture armor now (thank you! :] ), but I can’t really tell if his legs are glowing (doesn’t seem like it, I check by looking at his hair), even when I change around the dyes.

how it works now is that the glow intensity is influenced by the dye you are using.
So if you use a lighter dye it will glow brighter, while darker dye will have a less bright glow

Hmm, even when I use a light dye like Quickstalk it really just looks like the lighter dye instead of like its glowing. Guess it just doesn’t glow bright overall, but I do see it now. Thanks.

hm, are you sure there is a glow? i can’t find any glow on the T3 Light armor even with very light dyes…

I’d just like to say thank you Kristen for doing such a great job with the Sylvari. I only hope if we could hear if this was last change you’re doing to the armors? I have had to use several makeovers already because of all this changing.

I also attached before-change (first one) and after-changes (second one) pictures. I think the new one looks pretty close to what it was, just without the violet parts.

And once again, thank you for listening to us.