Guild Wars 2

I would love to get a few old people faces for all the races(sans Sylvari for obvious reasons). The Norn have 1 or two for the dudes. I like those, but humans and Charr and Asura really don’t have a lot of options when it comes to modifying a character for age and it’s a bummer. I don’t really have much to add other than it will help diversify the population a ton. As it stands now, characters for the most part look to be between the ages of 16-25. It’s super yawn inducing.

Well to be fair the PC is supposed to be an able-bodied individual. Not an oldie that might die of old age before getting to the front.

Old people usually don’t manage to do all that much in the heat of battle, especially not in battles against completely new and unknown foes.

Both genders of Charr and at least the males for Asura have a few older looking faces.

I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to a few more, but they need to be added gradually (at least if faces keep getting added slowly 3 at a time). I wouldn’t want a full batch of faces with nothing but old looking faces or anything.

lordkrall.7241:

Well to be fair the PC is supposed to be an able-bodied individual. Not an oldie that might die of old age before getting to the front.

Old people usually don’t manage to do all that much in the heat of battle, especially not in battles against completely new and unknown foes.

Druss The Legend turns in his grave!

I’d like to see this also, although it might be better to have like an age slider that was sort of skinned on top of the existing faces.

Old people faces remind me of my impending mortality and launch me into deep depression. ANET PLZ NO OLD PPL FACES WILL QUIT GAME.

One of the problems is that there’s a perception that it’s mostly young males that play MMOs when that isn’t that accurate. A very sizable percentage of players are older (and/or female). I have known a good number of people in their 50s and 60s that play MMOs, and that trend is only going to grow.

Einlanzer.1627:

One of the problems is that there’s a perception that it’s mostly young males that play MMOs when that isn’t that accurate. A very sizable percentage of players are older (and/or female). I have known a good number of people in their 50s and 60s that play MMOs, and that trend is only going to grow.

I agree with some of your points. I have seen research on gamer demographics and yes, the age range of gamers is quite diverse. And given that more and more people today are exposed to games as part of their everyday life-style, I would agree with your prediction that the percentage of “older” gamers is going to increase in the future.

However, the perception that the majority of gamers are young males is actually quite accurate according to the studies that I have seen. While more women and older individuals are starting to play games, young males still make up the greatest portion of gamers. If you have come across any current research that suggests otherwise, I would be interested to see it.

By the way, I love your idea of a sliding scale to control the appearance of a character’s age in the character creation tools. That would be awesome.

What they need, is a few cooler faces, especially for humans.
Everyone looks like a super model, and naturally, everyone chooses females.

Silvatar.5379:

Einlanzer.1627:

One of the problems is that there’s a perception that it’s mostly young males that play MMOs when that isn’t that accurate. A very sizable percentage of players are older (and/or female). I have known a good number of people in their 50s and 60s that play MMOs, and that trend is only going to grow.

I agree with some of your points. I have seen research on gamer demographics and yes, the age range of gamers is quite diverse. And given that more and more people today are exposed to games as part of their everyday life-style, I would agree with your prediction that the percentage of “older” gamers is going to increase in the future.

However, the perception that the majority of gamers are young males is actually quite accurate according to the studies that I have seen. While more women and older individuals are starting to play games, young males still make up the greatest portion of gamers. If you have come across any current research that suggests otherwise, I would be interested to see it.

By the way, I love your idea of a sliding scale to control the appearance of a character’s age in the character creation tools. That would be awesome.

Obviously young people and males are the most common, but the gap just isn’t nearly as big as is commonly perceived by people. Here are some recent graphs:

http://www.statista.com/statistics/346271/mmo-players-usa-age/
http://www.statista.com/statistics/240998/gender-split-of-mmo-gamers-in-the-us/

Now, granted, these stats are across all games and GW2 probably trends more toward young and male gamers like much like WoW does. Still, it’s important to realize the facts that gamers are much more diverse than they’re typically thought of as being.

Edit: without a premium you’ll only see the graphs once. The breakdown is:

60% male, 40% female
50% under 30
30% 30-40
15% 40-50
5% over 50

So, yeah, a very substantial number of players are not tweens.

More diverse character options are never a bad thing. More variety on body shape, size, and age allows people to both be more creative when making a character, or better represent themselves.

Just an aside, the average age of my guild is currently 40.

I would like to see this too. Together with some cool long wizard-like beard and a chance to modify the standard voices a little. That day, my Gandalf will come and stay forever Q.Q

This has been a long-standing gripe of mine – every human/Norn character looks like someone straight out of Vogue or GQ. Let’s see more variety!

Spellcasters especially would benefit from older-looking faces. Wizards and Witches are often thought of as older, due to the length of time it takes for them to polish their craft. Although the occasional older warrior makes a nice addition as well, giving them a “veteran” or “old army General” look.

Perhaps hair highlights? The possibility of gray coming in around the temples? (The younger crowd would probably get a kick out of crazy bright colored streaks in their hair as well). Beards could use some attention as well. Most of them look very artificial.

Variety is the spice of life. Next episode: The Beer-Belly Guardian!

Sarisa.4731:

Just an aside, the average age of my guild is currently 40.

Hehe… you young whippersnappers!

I remember a bunch of “old” faces when I created my male Norn, Charr, and Asura (most of the male Asura faces look old). I don’t remember if this held true for female characters though.

Even if there is one “old face” available: I can currently make my human female character look like 20 or 60, but not much in between.

Hint: most players are in between.