Guild Wars 2

Could we please just zoom the camera in slightly more, and hide the player model? Such a beautiful game, it’s tragic that we don’t have the OPTION to move around in first person (you can stay 3rd person if you want).

There was a mod that allowed for first person…

But they patched it…

Apparently there were some technical issues with that camera, specially in battles, so they had to remove it.
Hopefully they will make it available.

Play a Charr and try to do a jumping puzzle. Plenty of FP mode there. Can’t even see the ground you are jumping on.

If anyone can explain a “technical reason” they can’t figure out how to do a first person camera, I will crap my pants. You put the same 3rd person camera at eye level, and hide the player model. One junior programmer could bang this out in a few minutes.

With the coming HMD revolution (oculus rift) it would be really cool if this game had a first person mode like every other mmo on the planet.

tigirius.9014:

Play a Charr and try to do a jumping puzzle. Plenty of FP mode there. Can’t even see the ground you are jumping on.

Oh Gods yes. I main a Charr and always have to deal with the camera borking every time I do something.

Yeah I would love to see a first person mode, would add a new dimension to the game and a lot more enjoyment for me~

Its already in the game as a developer feature, they just disable it for users.

Its already in the game as a developer feature, they just disable it for users.

mind blown

That would be like if they disabled the ‘strafe left’ key for no reason. It’s in the game, it works, it costs nothing to enable it, but I think we’ll leave it as a developer only feature just cause.

i actually want my camera to zoom out even more lol

If there is one area ArenaNet really shines in, then it is in fixing problems by using the sledgehammer method.
I just want to remind why we have now town clothes tonics: Because they ran into technical issues converting the town clothes into real armor.
That’s bugfixing à la ArenaNet.

If you guys are wondering about technical problems, I’ve got a couple of questions for you.

1. What kind of FP camera would you want? If you want to still be able to see your limbs while you’re fighting and stuff, then I can see there being problems implementing that into the game, what with how dynamic the fighting styles are. Example: think asura ranger sword autoattack. They pretty much breakdance all over the place, which would make the player dizzy as heck if the camera followed their eyesight.

2. If you want to just fix the camera looking forward with no player model at all and no movement aside from looking around and no battle effects from the player, I guess that work, but man that’d be boring as heck. And what if you get mobbed with a million skills at once? Your computer would probably explode from all the special effects clogging your vision, least of all making you completely blind until the smoke clears, and by then you’d likely be dead.

So I can see why there’s no first person mode. It’s not like Skyrim where the combat is just… swing sword….. swing again… swing…. open hand and throw fireball…. yell at enemy. GW2’s combat is waaay more stylish and animated.

That said, I’m just not sure it could be implemented properly, at least not in a way that would make it fun. Maybe you could FP mode only when you’re out of combat I guess…

Personally, I’m rather attached to my characters, such that I like to see their models, so not having FP doesn’t bother me at all.

Personally, I’m rather attached to my characters, such that I like to see their models, so not having FP doesn’t bother me at all.

If you don’t like first person, stay in third person. Problem solved.

Come on anet, implement first person mode already!

*edit – Correction, do nothing, because it’s already implemented, and there is no implementing involved. Just flip a switch next patch. Thanks!

just had an image of 1st person in a bobblehead.

You.2103:

Personally, I’m rather attached to my characters, such that I like to see their models, so not having FP doesn’t bother me at all.

If you don’t like first person, stay in third person. Problem solved.

I would stay in first person… and I didn’t say it was a problem. I was just stating my personal preference, that’s all. It’s issues 1 and 2 that I mentioned earlier that I’m wondering about. I’m not against FP for you guys, I’m just curious as to how you think they would implement it.

You.2103:

Its already in the game as a developer feature, they just disable it for users.

mind blown

That would be like if they disabled the ‘strafe left’ key for no reason. It’s in the game, it works, it costs nothing to enable it, but I think we’ll leave it as a developer only feature just cause.

People would start to use it, people would complain that they can’t see anything because of all the particle effects and suddendly this small option becomes a new project for the team again.

People would start to use it, people would complain that they can’t see anything because of all the particle effects and suddendly this small option becomes a new project for the team again.

You HAVE to be an anet developer, because what you just said makes no flipping sense. If they are capable of ignoring people now, they will be capable of ignoring people later.

WoW lets you zoom in all the way, and just hides your character model. It’s like that in most games. If it’s easier to play in third person, people will just continue using third person. The universe will NOT explode, promise.

Back in the start (wow I have been playing too long) the rumour was that ANet didn’t want it because it broke emergence or something. It was kinda silly back then as well not having it.

Hah never heard that… I would be curious to hear their reason now.

Why no 1st person mode? Same reason that we have limited zoom in/out options of course. That being it would hinder ganking in the PvP modes. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for it too, especially in PvE but as usual things here are done more for the pvp crowd and all others must suffer because of that.

I support of a first person mode. A previous post stated how ineffective it would be in combat, but I think it could be extremely useful for players who want to take pictures that don’t have their character in the middle of the screen, or make videos.

So still not a single reason why this has not been implemented…

Come on anet you don’t want to look incompetent do you?

I think part of it has to do with the different eye heights of the races, i.e. just putting the camera at eye level would be very different for an Asura than it would a Norn, and Anet is all about keeping the same play experience regardless of race.

In theory, anyway. Never mind all the ugly clipping if you don’t play a humanoid, or the god-awful camera mechanics that make playing a big guy so frustrating.

JVJD.4912:

i actually want my camera to zoom out even more lol

That would be awesome! I love the overhead view you can sometimes get at the Jade Maw fractal. Too bad I can’t keep it

So… Devs you out there?

You.2103:

So… Devs you out there?

Asking specifically for the devs to chime in won’t get you a response. I’d wager it actually has the complete opposite effect. I think they even mention that in the forum rules and guidelines section.

They read these forums, I’m sure (don’t ask me to prove it), and they’ll hop in when they want, I guess…

Anyways, still wondering what you guys want from a FP mode. Would you still want to see your limbs when you fight, or just eliminate your character model overall?

Seabreeze.8437:

You.2103:

So… Devs you out there?

Asking specifically for the devs to chime in won’t get you a response. I’d wager it actually has the complete opposite effect. I think they even mention that in the forum rules and guidelines section.

They read these forums, I’m sure (don’t ask me to prove it), and they’ll hop in when they want, I guess…

Anyways, still wondering what you guys want from a FP mode. Would you still want to see your limbs when you fight, or just eliminate your character model overall?

Tbh I would just be happy with a first person mode for when we are out of combat. For taking pictures and exploring inside tight spaces like buildings/jump puzzle elements. Once you go into combat you are taken out of first person mode. I would be happy with that for now. Fighting the camera in certain places (buildings/jump puzzles) is a real pain and seems to really slow down my fps.

Paulytnz.7619:

Tbh I would just be happy with a first person mode for when we are out of combat. For taking pictures and exploring inside tight spaces like buildings/jump puzzle elements. Once you go into combat you are taken out of first person mode. I would be happy with that for now. Fighting the camera in certain places (buildings/jump puzzles) is a real pain and seems to really slow down my fps.

Yeah, I love my charr main but going through my screenshot folder it gets a bit annoying that he’s photobombing so many of them.

One point I’d like to make about the lack of first person is that it takes away from the ability to make good films and machinima in GW2. I remember in GW1 there were some excellent videos. Does “And a whole lot of candy cane shards” ring a bell to anyone? I couldn’t find that video but there was one group that did a series of really great news casts!

I did a couple of videos as well (here’s probably the best one… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sncddMzDxoE). That’s one of the things that really bugs me about GW2 is that we have a beautiful world to play in with gorgeous graphics, but there’s no way to enjoy it or use it the same way we could with GW1 since we could zoom into first person there. That video would have been quite impossible to make if I hadn’t been able to zoom into ‘camera man’ mode, and I have to say it’s really been inordinately discouraging to me. :/ I can’t even take good screen shots without having to finagle my character or crop them out…

The technical issue is that the camera is a physical object behind the player and the environment is a physical object – you’ve noticed this in every jumping puzzle ever and caves. Because they made it a physical object they can’t just turn on ghost mode and clip it through things – if you’ve ever found terrain that isn’t physical it doesn’t go transparent when it is between you and the camera. You are also a physical object even though when pressed up against a surface you will go transparent it doesn’t mean the camera can intersect your physical body – in fact it pivots wildly when it touches you.

“The developers have it in developer mode” This is the internet, no proof then it didn’t happen.

All that said, I would like it for screenshots as using it for combat would be unproductive.

pdavis.8031:

JVJD.4912:

i actually want my camera to zoom out even more lol

That would be awesome! I love the overhead view you can sometimes get at the Jade Maw fractal. Too bad I can’t keep it

This… It would make leaving the effects on so much more tolerable especially on my large norn.

First Person view always makes me feel dizzy and quite nauseated. Plus, I like being able to see everything around me when I’m in combat. So, even if it were an option in the game, I wouldn’t use it.

The entire game is designed around a third-person scheme. The combat is flashy and stylized, not something like Fallout 3 or Skyrim where you’re far more integrated into the movements of combat (i.e. aiming guns, swinging swords, etc.). It just doesn’t synergize right.

Plus, with the gorgeous character designs, it’d just be a shame!

Colin did an interview and explained it pretty well – http://www.guildmag.com/community-interview-with-colin-johanson/

“GuildMag: In the original Guild Wars you were able to zoom all the way till in front of your character to create a sense of a first-person camera. Will you be implementing the same system in Guild Wars 2?

Colin: Right now, you cannot do that. The furthest you can zoom in is right up behind your character. The reason why we’ve done that is because we want you to be able to see your character. We think that part of having this personal story and having a strong attachment to your characters, is being able to see your characters and feel a bond with them, having an attachment to them.

There are no plans currently to do a full first person camera view, that does not mean it will not happen between now and release. We are just simply not working on it at right not, and do not currently plan to do that.

We’re playing with all the camera options, we’re still trying to decide what we want to do. For example, one of the new camera features which we put in for the demo, is that all of the giant bosses you fight, the camera actually pulls back further when you’re fighting against them so you can have a better view of the battlefield when you are fighting them. That’s a development to try and respond to the request of some people to see more of what’s going on, we want to feel a better part of these giant boss fights, so that’s a new camera thing we did recently. There certainly might be more camera stuff going forward."

“We think that part of having this personal story and having a strong attachment to your characters, is being able to see your characters and feel a bond with them, having an attachment to them.”

I’m sorry, but to use that as an excuse for why there is no first person OPTION has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You could just as easily argue that not being able to go into first person DETACHES you from your character.

The only real reason I can think of for why this hasn’t been done already – it would look really silly to add it now after all this time. It would be like announcing in the patch notes – “GW2, now in FULL COLOR! .. LIKE EVERY OTHER GAME ON THE PLANET!”.

And can we stop discussing the details on how it would be implemented? This is just first person mode, were not launching rockets to the moon. This is a SOLVED PROBLEM.

You.2103:

“We think that part of having this personal story and having a strong attachment to your characters, is being able to see your characters and feel a bond with them, having an attachment to them.”

I’m sorry, but to use that as an excuse for why there is no first person OPTION has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You could just as easily argue that not being able to go into first person DETACHES you from your character.

The only real reason I can think of for why this hasn’t been done already – it would look really silly to add it now after all this time. It would be like announcing in the patch notes – “GW2, now in FULL COLOR! .. LIKE EVERY OTHER GAME ON THE PLANET!”.

And can we stop discussing the details on how it would be implemented? This is just first person mode, were not launching rockets to the moon. This is a SOLVED PROBLEM.

You THINK it is an EXCUSE, they do not. They designed and wrote the game – period. That is what they said, and now you are disputing it because you don’t like it.

No 1st person mode in this game – go play an FPS if you want that.

You.2103:

If anyone can explain a “technical reason” they can’t figure out how to do a first person camera, I will crap my pants. You put the same 3rd person camera at eye level, and hide the player model. One junior programmer could bang this out in a few minutes.

With the coming HMD revolution (oculus rift) it would be really cool if this game had a first person mode like every other mmo on the planet.

lets talk about a game called skyrim. how intense were the graphics there? insane right? okay, well this game has great graphics too. imagine programming graphics like that for potentially millions of players. thinking it is not difficult to program something like that is a little astronomical.

First Things First

I don’t care what the reason is, when I’m handicapped while doing a jumping puzzle or trying to fight and survive in a tight interior space, all I care about is being able to see.

I don’t want excuses, or developers telling me what I should or should not be looking at.

Just give me a first-person option.

Why no response from the devs? This is simply first person mode… Perhaps one of the most common features in any game like this. We’re talking about changing one variable, to allow the camera to zoom in just a tad more (and just hiding the player model/spell effects if you want to be lazy).

You.2103:

Why no response from the devs? This is simply first person mode… Perhaps one of the most common features in any game like this. We’re talking about changing one variable, to allow the camera to zoom in just a tad more (and just hiding the player model/spell effects if you want to be lazy).

If that was as easy as you think, they would have implemented already.
Or if you are such a good developer, you should apply for the job, Anet is hiring developers.

I also would like to see a first person option. Something as simple at scrolling your mouse wheel in until it goes into first person would be great. I was actually surprised you couldn’t when I started playing this game back at release.

Belzebu.3912:

If that was as easy as you think, they would have implemented already.

I don’t know if we’re thinking of the same Anet.

Anyway they’ve been pretty clear that the reason they haven’t done it is because they don’t want to, not because it’s hard.

Issues with a first-person view, not already mentioned:

— it potentially gives more of an advantage to taller characters over short ones.
— LOS from head height is not necessarily LOS for targetting purposes, and a first-person view would highlight that effect and feel wrong. (Of course, some targeting is a bit broken…)
— some effects would most likely look bad for technical reasons without reworking them (beams, for instance)
— some effects rely on third-person view for context. (What would you see if you were stealthed, for instance?)
— some effects would be problematic for animation reasons. (What do you see when your character dodges, gets knocked down, does a shadow step, gets turned into a slime, etc.?)
— generally, FPS view is worse for situational awareness anyway.
— it limits ground targetting.
— overall it would probably take more development effort than it’s worth. It’s really, honestly not just a matter of changing the camera offset and turning off the character and weapon models; when the game is designed for third person view there are a thousand little things that creep in that look stupid or don’t work right in FPS view. (I am a former game developer, I started to do it for another game — one that never even got released — and it was a huge hassle.)

I have a theory.

One of ANet’s employees was kidnapped by a frustration gaki .

Now, the frustration gaki is impersonating this employee (who is probably still alive in some damp and dark basement), and is working behind the scenes to make sure there’s always things in the game designed to frustrate players to the point that this frustration can manifest actual physical pain for some people.

This gaki needs this frustration to feed and live.

That’s why there’s lots of small things all over the place that will frustrate players, and new sources of frustation are added in the same updates that remove others, to keep a steady and constant supply of frustration for this gaki.

Having to buy or farm countless keys instead just being able to buy the weapon skin directly? Frustration gaki.
Over a year without being able to disable right click activating things? Frustration gaki.
Horribly bad performance on a newly acquired high end computer? Frustration gaki.
Getting tonics instead outfits when town clothes were removed? Frutration gaki.
Doing something 100 times more than someone else and they getting 1000 times better rewards? Frustration gaki.
And the list goes on and on and on.
Since not everyone is frustrated by the same things, the frustration gaki needs a wide variety of frustration sources.

The frustation gaki theory would also explain why there’s no first person. So whenever you get close to a wall, you’ll end up seeing your character’s head or back and the camera would wobble all over the place as if you had someone behind you grabbing your arms and waving them around randomly instead just going to first person like it happened in GW1. Because that can be frustrating for some people, and the frustration-eater gaki needs you to feel frustrated to live.

It’s all the frustration gaki. I’m telling you.

I feel seasick just thinking about dodge rolls with a first person camera.