Guild Wars 2

From the character selection screen we can not only see our character(s), we can also see basic information on those characters. Specifically, the name, followed by the guild, level and Race and Class, and more.
There seems to be some confusion over the new titles appearing there. Namely, the Mastery of our chosen Specialization.
They are a Mastery title and not a Class or Profession title.
The new title shows we have mastered our chosen Specialization, not that we have changed our Profession.

Are you talking about it saying ‘Lvl 80 Tempest’ as opposed to saying ‘Lvl 80 Elementalist’?

The use of the term ‘mastery’ here, as you are using it, is confusing, since masteries are a thing, and something different all together.

There are no classes in this game.
Masteries are different from Specializations.
Elite Specializations are different from Core Specializations.
Also Character level =/= Achievement Points =/= Mastery level.

All I’m saying is that the Profession we start with doesn’t change or end when we achieve higher levels of Specialization. So someone with Tempest after their name is still of the Elementalist Profession.

Tumult.2578:

All I’m saying is that the Profession we start with doesn’t change or end when we achieve higher levels of Specialization. So someone with Tempest after their name is still of the Elementalist Profession.

Yes, they are still an ele, they are just elite specced as a Tempest. Personally I like being able to see at a glance which of my characters are simply ‘core’ specced , and which are elite specced. As more elite specs roll out, this will be a lot more useful? late on. Being able to quickly tell this one is a base ele, that one is a tempest, that one is a battle mage or w/e the other specs are called.

It’s actually good that they’re given separate icons and titles. in some cases you can already see how the playstyle of a character can change drastically when taking on a spec. Reaper and Druid are the best examples of this. There characters aren’t really rangers or necromancers any more in terms of how they’re built and played in most cases, even though they’re still using two core spec lines.

As we move forward in to more elite specs, I assume we’re going to see a lot more build altering things like this, and keeping track of who does what is a lot easier when they’re treated by the game’s interface as a separate “class” via icon and profession title.