Guild Wars 2

Please change them back. Not only did they look a lot cooler without the ‘legs’ and ‘tail’, but having walking air elementals is pretty rediculous.

No offense to whomever designed these, but they really looked a lot better without.

Could have put up a pic so I don’t have to wait till I get home to find out what it look slike…

Haha I find it funny:D

It doesnt float anymore :\

That was probably my favorite part about it, haha. I even had the mini air elemental so I could have it out all the time!

So after screwing with stuff they even nerf ELEMENTAL APPEARANCE by making them look goofy. What kind of nerf is that.

I say make all thieves have a clown nose

I love them!

Here’s me with my air elemental and lesser air elemental. Note that the air elemental was also changed in the same way that the lesser one was. http://i.imgur.com/xLBkT0Y.png
They’re like scorpions made out of electricity hehe.

I actually like this better than before. To each their own.

Finally. I always felt like the air elementals were placeholders left forgotten by Anet’s artists and modelers. Using lightning for scorpion/ spiker like legs is also pretty cool.

It has identical attack animations as karkas.

Now, make minor changes to other Lessers too!!

:C

I liked my floating ball of plasma.

It looks AWESOME! Leave the poor thing alone! I need spider feet and tail on my epic one too!

Malcastus.6240:

It looks AWESOME! Leave the poor thing alone! I need spider feet and tail on my epic one too!

It’s already there.

I agree. I like this change. They actually look kind of cute now instead of…neutral. A faceless ball has no cuteness factor but put some legs and a tail and suddenly they seem to be alive.

They look MUCH better now. A floating ball is about as boring and generic as you can get. They’re actually interesting now.

All IMO, of course. Obviously others feel differently, but I’m very happy with the change.

I have a fear of spiders so I will make sure I’m never in air when I summon an elemental. When I summoned it I was so freaked out. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. I was so glad when it finally died.

i really like the new design; but i also liked the aesthetic of having a wisp by your shoulder… guess it depends on the new animations as to which i prefer… just logged off for the night… guess im going back on

poisonedsodapop.9348:

I have a fear of spiders so I will make sure I’m never in air when I summon an elemental. When I summoned it I was so freaked out. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. I was so glad when it finally died.

it has four legs and a tail… the lesser one in the image that was posted kind of looks like a dog to me (the legs look insectoid… but arent present in the quantity i would associate with insects/arachnids)

edit
didnt see the two… arm… claws…
reminds me of a cavern scutter
not a fan of the animations… preferred the old one

I am not a fan of the change, not even sure why there needed to be a change in the first place, I don’t think there was some dire break in the lore or game because they didn’t have legs. It’s such a weird change to make now, after the game has been out for months and months. There was nothing wrong with the old skin and I always thought it was kinda cute, a happy bouncing ball. I would much rather have them changed back, or at least only available on the Lesser, like the patch notes said. Until then it looks like I’m not going to be summoning any elementals (or getting the mini) anymore.

Leo G.4501:

Malcastus.6240:

It looks AWESOME! Leave the poor thing alone! I need spider feet and tail on my epic one too!

It’s already there.

I agree. I like this change. They actually look kind of cute now instead of…neutral. A faceless ball has no cuteness factor but put some legs and a tail and suddenly they seem to be alive.

Oh yeah, I just thought the patch notes said lesser air elemental. That is marvellous news! Sooo much cooler.

Why did this have changed? I’d like to know how a sort of arachnid, bound to the ground, can make sense as an embodiment of the air element.

Rasperries grow in areas with constant frost.. how does that make any sense? I have seen so many out of place things, this should not be questioned, heh.

Imagine the ele choosing to give his air elemental a form.

Btw, did the fire elemental always cripple people with its AoE attack? I noticed it now first..

Regarding the air elemental. It does not really effectively hit much with its attack..

Malcastus.6240:

Regarding the air elemental. It does not really effectively hit much with its attack..

it does against large targets

I love the new design hated the old one, so characterless.

emikochan.8504:

I love the new design hated the old one, so characterless.

I feel the opposite, actually. The game is full of spiders and devourers and other creepy-crawlies. But only one thing was a nice shiny hovering ball :/

It’s great to see that ANet is fokusing on the real important stuff like this!

Well, for me it’s a reason to not use it anymore at any rate. Or only use it at times when I’m sure I’ll be too busy to look at them.

Same here. And yeah, a really important change. I am sure they could not have used the time needed to create this new model, rig the skeleton with animations, texture it etc. to actually work on something important.

Gaudrath.6725:

Same here. And yeah, a really important change. I am sure they could not have used the time needed to create this new model, rig the skeleton with animations, texture it etc. to actually work on something important.

just pointing out… the redesign was probably done by art department (or something)… the only other ‘important’ thing they’d be doing is creating/redesigning/concepting other stuff (as ‘something important’ seems to be synonymous with bugs/balance)

Linguistically Inept.6583:

Gaudrath.6725:

Same here. And yeah, a really important change. I am sure they could not have used the time needed to create this new model, rig the skeleton with animations, texture it etc. to actually work on something important.

just pointing out… the redesign was probably done by art department (or something)… the only other ‘important’ thing they’d be doing is creating/redesigning/concepting other stuff (as ‘something important’ seems to be synonymous with bugs/balance)

Then I have a nice suggestion for the art department; how about you guys artsy up the horrible/non-existant Obsidian Skin spell effect before you go and “fix” stuff that isn’t even broken?

And last I heard, there are several legendaries still waiting for their beautification. Those particle effects sure won’t make themselves, guys!

At least don’t apply the tail and legs to the endless potions that we threw millions of karma into getting. They use the same character model of karkas, which are ugly. The change doesn’t make any sense to me. It was never problematic in any situation beforehand.

I really like this change. YMMV, but I think it gives them much more personality. Now they’re not just floating particle effects but an actual creature.

katniss.6735:

At least don’t apply the tail and legs to the endless potions that we threw millions of karma into getting. They use the same character model of karkas, which are ugly. The change doesn’t make any sense to me. It was never problematic in any situation beforehand.

Pretty much this. Transform into a floating orb of light? Cool! Transform into an electric crab? Not so much.
I guess I lucked out since I only bought mine last night, but I feel sorry for people who dumped tons of karma into getting one.

But the main thing is… of all the art issues they could be addressing, they go and change that!? I do 3D and game art professionally, and I can tell you that creating a whole new model with a different skeleton rig, textures and effects, even if you already have most of them in a library is way more time consuming than creating a few particle effects for an existing model or ability.

In the time they took to make this completely unnecessary (and you could also say unwanted since noone had an issue with how the Air Elementals looked before) change, they could have fixed Obsidian Skin plus at least two legendaries that lack their particle effects.

This, plus that bow shooting unicorns with ANet logo on their butt, makes me believe that the art department consists of one very bored person without supervision.

The worst part is that the air elemental know walks. Instead of legs it would be much better if the flashes circle around the elemental.

Linguistically Inept.6583:

the only other ‘important’ thing they’d be doing is creating/redesigning/concepting other stuff

I think there were other possibilities to improve design: I can’t find a proper looking mace and then the legendary a disco ball ….

The new design is really awesome. I love it!
I get that some people are variety averse and that when they go to the supermarket they always buy the same type of cornflakes and the same brand of beer but let’s just forget that this a change and admit that the new design is a huge improvement over the old one.

SuddenlyOnFire.3162:

The new design is really awesome. I love it!
I get that some people are variety averse and that when they go to the supermarket they always buy the same type of cornflakes and the same brand of beer but let’s just forget that this a change and admit that the new design is a huge improvement over the old one.

Not at all. Now you have less variety. Air elemental was, appropriately, a wisp, and it looked like one. Google “will-o’-the-wisp” if you don’t know what it is. Now, all elementals have legs, even the one which by definition should be as far away from earth as possible.

As for design, I’m sorry, but I could have made you a 10x better looking air elemental with a “character”. Sticking a karka skeleton onto the existing elemental orb just makes it look silly.

And there is a general rule in game design that you never force an arachnid or an arachnid lookalike on players in form of mandatory pets or other integral gameplay elements. Some people have a problem with that, as you can see in this thread already.

So no, not a huge improvement from a designer standpoint. It was a quick slap-job with subpar results.

I think they are cute.

Apparently as someone else mentioned its a nerf too because ppl can see it more clearly now. Sugar coated nerf.

‘During the Zhan guo period (Warring States period 475 B.C. to 221 B.C.),  in the country of Chu,  a large household held a ceremony and made a sacrifice in memory of their ancestors.  After the ceremony was completed,  the master of the household gave his servants a jug of wine to thank them for their help.  But there wasn’t enough wine for all the servants.  One of them proposed that they should all draw a picture of a snake.  The one who finished a good picture first would get the wine.

One of the servants finished a good drawing.  He looked around and saw that the others had not finished,  so he then added feet to his snake to consolidate his victory.  When one of the other servants finished his drawing, he looked at the first servant’s drawing and said: “It’s a general rule that snakes do not have feet,  so that isn’t a snake.”  Having said this,  he snatched the wine and drank it down.’

Moral: air elementals didn’t need the extra legs

TheBlueI.3486:

The worst part is that the air elemental know walks. Instead of legs it would be much better if the flashes circle around the elemental.

Linguistically Inept.6583:

the only other ‘important’ thing they’d be doing is creating/redesigning/concepting other stuff

I think there were other possibilities to improve design: I can’t find a proper looking mace and then the legendary a disco ball ….

Moot is awesome now with the square dance floor footprints. You can NEVER be outpartied when you have moot equipped. It’s imbalanced and all non mace using professions are at a severe party disadvantage because of it.

Have you ever seen what happens when you get served by someone with moot equipped? You don’t stand a chance 1 on 1.

I like them. They’re both cute and creepy at the same time. It makes me actually want to summon them instead of switching to one of the more useful elements first.

I do kind of wish the “Spark” creatures were still generic floating balls though.

I used to hate air elementals and never summon them because they look so bland in comparison to others and they offer nothing really special. I personally love this new model and definitely going to use them more.

Air Elemental—- Now a devourer breed. I liked them more when they floated..

hate them so much now… so so much… want my old floaty wisps back

I think they’re awesome now, they were bland and boring before the update. <3 my new electric elemental karka friend.

Oh no, I’ve bought the mini air elemental. And I hate spiders so I really don’t like the change.

Fire elemental flies, air elemental crawls. One question, why?

Obviously because ball of energy would look silly with wings.