Showing Posts For Chadramar.8156:

Ridiculous male faces

in Human

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

It’s hilarious hearing an adult voice coming from a character that looks like a pre-teen.

Indeed. Norn women have the biggest “WTF” potential in that regard — their faces aren’t quite as childish as the human ones, but that (awesome IMO) deep voice just clashes something fierce with a bland, painted babyteen face.

In all honesty though, there are some decent faces that you could work with getting them as battle hardened soldiers. My only gripe is that they didn’t offer any facial options like scars or wrinkles that you could apply on your character. I know ST:O has such options.

As does The Old Republic. Yes, it’s a real shame that GW2 doesn’t allow that sort of customization. A wider variety of faces with options for scars and no forced makeup would have helped a lot.

Cultural Armour Glow Compendium - Completed!

in Sylvari

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

… I’m really jealous of the male T1 now. It looks so much better than the female version, and it glows? Bloody blighted gendered armors. :/

What's your charr war band?

in Charr

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Kerron Doombreaker: Blood Legion warrior, Doom warband
Qasha Mindrender: Ash Legion mesmer, Render warband

The next time character slots go on sale, I’ll also make an Iron Legion engineer. Her first name is undecided yet, but the last name will like be Sparkstrike, of the Spark warband.

Watchknights are a bit concerning....

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Chadramar – I was speaking out in support of your statement, not refuting or criticizing it. My wording may have confused that intention, but regardless of how it may have come out when my fingers hit the keyboard, I was intending to elaborate on what you were saying. Sorry for any confusion on that point.

Thank you. It did read like a derail, but if that was not your intention, I’m glad and appreciate the clarification.

I’d say it also suffers from the “Outrage Factory” style of media now, as well.

… yeah, mainstream gaming sites and mainstream media in general are so chock-full of “outrage” against the problematic depictions and treatment of women everywhere. Oh wait. They’re not. It’s a topic that is often deliberately overlooked or shouted down, and pretty much limited to heavily moderated “safe spaces” because mentioning it elsewhere means you’re often considered fair game for graphic abuse and outright kitten and death threats — and then blamed for THAT too.

Eventually people on the outside start thinking that there’s no cohesive message to the entire feminist movement and instead figure, “Ok, so basically everything is offensive to women. Can’t really take this seriously.”

Textbook examples of how certain people who benefit from the status quo distort the words of marginalized groups or social justice movements in order to discredit them and shut them up. This one is particularly odd in the context of this game:

Your game has women, and they get hurt as much as the men? You’re sexist because your game encourages violence against women.

… because all I have ever said, and heard from others, is that having women in all roles and archetypes is a GOOD thing, and that includes villains and enemies of every description, from nameless mooks to bosses. In fact, it’s a must-have feature for any setting that is supposedly egalitarian, and it’s one of the things that GW2 does very well overall. What is sexist, very much so, is when violence against female characters is sexualized and fetishized.

Also, men aren’t the enemy, you’re right. Some of us are rather sick of being labeled “The Villain” in pretty much every scenario just because of our chromosomes.

Then I trust you’re speaking out against those who enable, excuse and perpetuate problematic and abusive behavior from certain men, because THEY are the ones painting men as villains. Pointing out that behavior and trying to get it more widely recognized as problematic is not remotely the same. In fact, it’s often us “evil, man-hating” feminists who mention how gender stereotypes hurt and limit men too.

What's up with Logan and Jennah now?

in Lore

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

@Drakkon: everyone has hormones, and people who fall in love/lust/obsession are strongly affected by them. There’s a difference between that and hurling gendered slurs that debase both men and women and show attitudes that lead to great harm for many people of any gender and sexual orientation.

Maybe you have the immense privilege of not having to give a dead rat’s last fart because YOU are not affected by these attitudes, but they exist.

Who decides on a Sylvari's name?

in Sylvari

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Heh, I think I remember that guy! Shame he doesn’t seem to have sylvari-specific dialog, since another sylvari would likely agree with what he has to say. I too always figured that the sylvari “just know”. Given all the other skills and knowledge they awaken with, it’d be a bit odd if they did not know who they are.

What's up with Logan and Jennah now?

in Lore

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

And “questioning” anyone’s “masculinity” is STILL a jerk move. As I have said before on these forums, no one gets to deny another’s gender identity, period. You’re not a shred “more of a man” for marching in lockstep with a toxic status quo, and not a shred less for “failing” to.

You can call it “bickering” and be “amused” by it, but it doesn’t change that it was you who used these degrading gender-stereotyping terms that only serve to perpetuate the old attitudes of woman/gay = bad/inferior. “Archaic” those terms may be, but the attitudes are very much alive, and they cause a whole bloody lot of harm to many people.

Call Logan a traitor or obsessive or in need of growing up and getting a grip of his hormones, and I’d even agree with you. But every time a man or male character is called a pansy or sissy or nancy or a skirt or p-whipped little b-word, I wince at the sheer amount of contempt it implies for both genders.

What's up with Logan and Jennah now?

in Lore

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

… so how does the assumption that men must naturally dominate women NOT equal thinking women are inferior? How is insulting men by likening them to or calling them women NOT a sign of abject sexist contempt?

Charr, or Norn warrior?

in Players Helping Players

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I’d say charr, especially when making a woman, because they don’t have to deal with gendered armor (others might disagree on this being a huge plus for charr) and are awesome overall. Norn have a good theme/lore, too, though, but visually they don’t have as many options for a really unique look. Both are big and bulky which will lead to lots of camera problems in tight spaces, so expect an extra layer of “fun” when trying to navigate or do jumping puzzles in those. It’s motion sickness bait if you are prone to that sort of thing.

The biggest drawback of playing a charr? Armor. Almost all the gear in this game is designed exclusively for humans. It’s really hard and rare to find something “thematic” for anyone else, and the charr also have the added problem of being the only ones who do not share the basic human-like body. Expect a LOT of stretched textures, clipping (hardly any armors do not tail-clip) and shoulder armor floating noticeably above your body.

If you can find a suit of armor that you think looks great and actually fits, and don’t mind the weird four-legged run, I definitely recommend charr. Blood Legion, of course!

(And if you pick norn, I recommend going for the “passed out at the last moot” biography option in character creation. That one’s hilarious.)

(edited by Chadramar.8156)

What's up with Logan and Jennah now?

in Lore

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I’m not a native speaker so I don’t know every English expression. Regardless, what it boils down to is that male = good/superior, female = bad/inferior, and that is NOT “just an expression” but an attitude that permeates our society, and the gaming industry, in a pretty big way.

Watchknights are a bit concerning....

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I… feel like your whole post is trying to re-explain feminism in a thread full of people already in-depth applying/rebutting feminist terms/theory to watchknights (at least in the first six or so pages, heh). That’s probably why you got such a snarky response. It’s like coming into a physics classroom and explaining multiplication at the end of the session. No one has said that the problem is men. You brought someone’s direct, specific reply out into a generalized straw man (as relating to this thread, anyways) critique of feminism.

Thank you. Yep, that is why I will not reply to him — I do not care to have my words strawmanned, especially after I EXPLICITLY said:

It’s not that all men are actively, hatefully sexist or that all straight people are actively, hatefully homophobic, and so on, or that no one who is not part of any group can have an opinion about said group. Far from it!

Watchknights are a bit concerning....

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Or it could be they didn’t really see it as such and thought “Hey a Queen with guards who look like athletic woman wouldn’t have people complaining.”

Eh? There’s nothing remotely athletic (or Amazonian, as someone else claimed) about its appearance. It’s a scrawny, stilt-legged naked fembot with sculpted breasts, belly button and high heels. It has pretend-nipples but no pretend-muscles. In no way is that thing anything more than generic, thoughtless, stereotypical fanservice.

As soon as men are generalized into a sex obsessed group, the movement risks losing 50% of its would-be supporters.

Not to mention it’s also sexist.

Indeed it is. Mind, when I see someone speaking out against attitudes like “boys will be boys” or “it’s what men want” as sick excuses for all sorts of stereotypes or outright abuse of women, or against belittling or abuse of boys and men who are anything less than “hypermasculine”, it’s almost always a feminist, male or female.

There are bad apples anywhere, but despite what what many women go through, the “rabid man-hater” is mainly just yet another stereotype to shut women up — just as “whipped pansy” or “sissy” is an attempt to shame and silence male allies.

Isn’t the current concept art artist team lead, Jamie Ro, a woman?

(…)

If such is the case, would this affect anyone’s viewpoint on the design?

No. Members of a stereotyped/marginalized group are perfectly capable of perpetuating the stereotypes and marginalization, especially if circumstances implicitly or explicitly expect or demand it of them.

What's up with Logan and Jennah now?

in Lore

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Ahh, then I have misread the wiki. I read “call him” as in summon him, not “call TO him”, which is what it actually reads. Thanks for pointing that out!

What's up with Logan and Jennah now?

in Lore

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Zyphent, I agree he can’t really be “blamed” for the feeling, per se, of being in love/lust/obsession/whatever with Jennah. But I don’t agree that he cannot do anything about it. As you say yourself, he needs to re-evaluate his priorities, or “get a grip” as I put it and learn to better control himself. We may not be able to choose what we feel, but we can choose what to do about it. This is for his sake AND hers, because a consort who flies off the handle when his “love” is concerned and has a one-track mind in that regard would be bad for any ruler. If he won’t do that, she has to continue keeping him at a distance, even without considering his role in Destiny’s Edge.

Incidentally, Drakkon, could you please not equate a stereotypical female role (wearing a skirt) with inferiority and a stereotypical male role (wearing pants) with superiority? There are some rather painful implications for both men and women in there.

The main issue: players want to farm

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Deep, rich diverse gameplay went out the window when they failed to replace the trinity. It’s like they thought the trinity was there just for the heck of it. In fact it served a very important role in bringing depth to the combat and making a multitude of build varieties possible.

I hear you. Support and control were supposed to be the superior replacements for healing and tanking, but if both can be rendered superfluous simply by “l2dodge and go zerk lol” then they are an abject failure. In trinity-MMOs, the need for tanks and healers, as well as the need for interrupts and CC, does not diminish with increasingly difficult content — on the contrary. Here, one can be a “leet” glass cannon AND have the satisfaction of accusing others of being “bad and selfish” when they run anything else. Sometimes it feels like this brings out the worst in trinity-DPS-players who relish no longer needing any “dumb” tanks or healers.

… yeah I was a tank who loved that role and the interplay between myself and the other parts of the trinity. I miss that something fierce. Even if this game will never have the old trinity, it could really, REALLY use a little more versatility in PvE. It may be possible to do most content with most group compositions, but I’d like non-glass-cannon roles to have an actual purpose beyond “training wheel and crutch for ‘bad’ players”.

Watchknights are a bit concerning....

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

You are not the one who gets to decide what’s offensive to some people. And it’s not even about that, no one is saying “I am personally upset at this and I demand Anet consider my feels,” it’s about the detrimental impact to society caused by the overuse of sexist depictions of femininity.

Exactly. In particular, if you’re a man, you do not get to tell women to shut up about problematic portrayals of women. Hell, if you’re not part of any marginalized/stereotyped group, you do not get to tell people who are to shut up about portrayals that depict and affect them but not you — or ones that even benefit you in some way while harming them, as stereotypes tend to do.

(You also do not get to say “well, my female/gay/black friend thinks it’s fine so you still have to shut the eff up”. Just sayin’, because that comes up a whole lot too.)

It’s not that all men are actively, hatefully sexist or that all straight people are actively, hatefully homophobic, and so on, or that no one who is not part of any group can have an opinion about said group. Far from it! But many people who do not have the experience of being part of a marginalized/stereotyped group nonetheless have a very troubling attitude of “I don’t see the problem, and society treats me as the norm so there IS no problem”.

Would a Charr actually become a Mesmer?

in Charr

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I’ll bet Mesmer is the Ash Legion’s favorite flavor of mage, actually.

Yep, which is why my mesmer is an Ash Legion charr. (I love the charr and wanted a mesmer who isn’t the stereotypical underdressed fancy-frilly entertainer.) I’d expect that even Ash has a good deal of anti-magic bias, but they also strike me as the most pragmatic of the lot, and the mesmer’s skill at deceiving people and messing with their minds is just too useful for a Legion of spies, infiltrators and silent killers.

Turns out my charrmer’s sire was a mesmer, too. He was also an untrustworthy moron, mind, but his profession choice was not held against him in that regard.

All in all, I don’t think a charr mesmer has more trouble than any other magic-user, which depending on your Legion or warband may be a whole lot or comparatively little.

(edited by Chadramar.8156)

The main issue: players want to farm

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

In PvE you run berserker unless you can’t dodge, are too lazy to learn encounters and want a crutch instead.

… thanks for illustrating my point. “There is only one way to play this game, and it’s my way, and if you don’t do it my way you are bad.”

What if you don’t want or like to be a glass cannon? Whatever happened to “play the way you want”? Whatever happened to the claim that getting rid of the oh-so-terrible-and-restrictive trinity would make for a richer, deeper and more diverse game? Instead of three distinctive and equally important roles, all we have now is glass cannon “zerker” or go home?

It’s a sad joke.

Dungeon Arah perm closed due to farmers

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I’m not saying that verbal abuse can’t be a problem (although you’d have to give me a pretty extreme situation before I’ll admit it is one),

So what you’re saying is that abuse isn’t real from A to X, but maybe, if you’re feeling generous, there might be an arbitrary line in the sand at Y and Z and crossing it is sort of bad.

That does not work.Treating others like trash should never be okay. It does not take extreme situations, it does not even take being a target yourself. Constant low-key disregard for your humanity can be enough, and seeing others who are close to you or who are like you abused can be enough. Also, “extreme” situations do not arise out of a vacuum. Abusive behavior escalates from “little” things to more extreme ones, and the longer it is tolerated or even actively excused and enabled, the harder it becomes to stop those people. After all, why should they stop what they always got away with and were even lauded for?

It doesn’t matter crap that it’s “just the internet” or “just a game”. People are people, whether you can look them in the eye or not.

It might be victim blaming, but honestly, if you really get your feelings hurt by anonymous people (mostly kids aged 12-18 probably) that are spewing badly worded insults at you in a game, you don’t deserve sympathy, but you need some therapy, because you have insecurity issues.

Yes, textbook victim blaming. Where do “insecurity issues” come from? Gee, maybe from being considered a valid target of abuse basically from the moment you’re born? Maybe from no one ever standing up for you or helping you stand up for yourself? Maybe from being abused even worse for the slightest attempt at fighting back or establishing boundaries? Maybe from even the people who are legally responsive for you treating you as the problem instead of the bullies and worse-than-bullies? Instead of expecting basic decency from everyone, let’s just keep aiding and abetting the worst of society while shoving all the emotional and financial cost of abuse onto the victims. If they can’t get therapy for any reason, or help themselves, too bad, they shouldn’t have been such pathetic weaklings in the first place.

That’s not the kind of society I want to keep living in. That certainly is not the kind of game environment I want to spend free time in. I’m glad that this company at least tries to enforce some very basic standards of decent behavior.

What's up with Logan and Jennah now?

in Lore

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Making others do your dirty work is what being a human noble is all about. :p

The main issue: players want to farm

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

You have a very uninformed view of the current state of MMO players.

He actually has some good points, even if he phrases some of them in a way that makes for something of a pot-kettle-black situation.

It’s blatantly obvious that there are a huge amount of ego issues tied into gaming. Not for everyone, of course, but at least for a very loud and obnoxious majority. Case in point: the frequent insults towards “carebears” and “casuals”. The decrying of people who help others get achievements in, for example, Sanctum Sprint, because helping means people did not “earn” their achievements “properly”. The ubiquitous abuse of women and other “lesser beings” that many get off on because it makes them feel superior. The attitude that running anything else can the current “meta” makes you a worthless leech and a “scrub”. The PvP-related attitudes of “when I win, it’s cause I’m just so awesome — when you win, it’s because you cheese and exploit and just have much more people on”. People screeching abuse at those who dare to ask questions or make any sort of mistake. People who contribute nothing to attempts at teamwork and tactics because listening to others is beneath them, but who, again, don’t hesitate to hurl abuse if he group dies/loses. The countless “im right ur wrong” insult-fests about “proper” gear and traits.

And so on and so forth … It’s all about showing how much “better” one supposedly is.

There do seem to be a lot of people in online gaming who do not so much enjoy doing certain content or having certain items as they enjoy spitting on those who do not do the same content or have the same level of gear. Which is why they want “their” stuff to be as exclusive as possible. Just having/doing something is not enough or enjoyable in and of itself, they must be able to lord it over others, too.

It’s a pretty kitten toxic attitude and it can really poison a game’s “community”.

Farming is by far the laziest end-game “content” a developer can create.

Amen. A shame Anet is falling into that tired old trap. One does have to keep in mind that they probably do not have the sort of reliably stable income that subscriptions would bring, but still.

It’s also a shame that so many people playing this genre seem unable to imagine MMOs as anything but an endless, gear-obsessed grindfest instead of, say, a whole new world to become immersed in.

(edited by Chadramar.8156)

What's up with Logan and Jennah now?

in Lore

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

The other issue is that Jennah wants to avoid tying Logan down.

Bit late for that, what with her being able to magically yank him across Tyria on a whim.

While I don’t like Logan, I think he’s in a really unenviable position because he can’t serve in two important positions at the same time, which is bound to go very bad sooner or later as Snaff’s death shows. This needs to be resolved sooner or later. As it is, he can’t really be trusted.

Thats my take on it. I think she feels that persuing romance with Logan would be selfish and not be what Logan or Tyria really need right now. Jennah’s a very duty first kind of girl. She would have to be considering how her young life has been.

Agreed. She should really let him go completely — or make him go, since he probably would not want to, what with his constant “JENNAH!!!”-this and “JENNAH!!!”-that. The guy needs to get a grip, that sort of raging obsession would not make for a healthy relationship anyway.

That said, I still think Anise is a colossal jerkstain for pulling that stunt with the Rytlock illusion, both towards Logan AND towards Rytlock. I’d like to see her flippant use of a famous charr tribune’s form and voice, especially as an enemy, to have some diplomatic fallout. She just reeks of poncy, spoiled, egotisticial noble who thinks she can get do whatever she wants. Seeing someone like that get ripped a new one once in her life would be so very sweet.

Queen Jennah is a bit disturbing.

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I mean, just outside the massive, massive gates of DR there is a tiny field getting raided by centaurs and what not, and there are no soldiers spared to do anything about it.

To be fair, that is the usual dilemma with computer games: the NPCs are made to look uncaring and/or incompetent because otherwise, the player would have nothing to do (and fly into a frothing rage over NPCs “stealing our glory”).

Still, I don’t like it either. Even if we assume that the old threats have been pacified for the moment, there must still be lots of rebuilding, resettling and re-enforcing to do. Orphans and crippled people to take care of. The watchknights, at least, could bolster the depleted ranks of the army — if they weren’t a colossal security risk, as proven immediately upon their unveiling (not to mention the disgraceful design). But the Pavillion is a huge, useless waste of money that does not benefit anyone.

shrug Par on course for “nobility”, though. The egos of a tiny, inbred, hyperprivileged minority will always come first.

What about the Sylvari?

in Clockwork Chaos

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

As someone who’s mightily sick of the “kewl” semi-pirates of Lion’s Arch and the even “kewler” Steampunk pirates, I don’t think merely having a sylvari in a story doesn’t mean anything if the character does not ACT like a sylvari. The same applies to charr, norn, asura … if they dress like humans and live like humans, they’re essentially just humans in funny suits. That’s why I enjoy the brief early cultural story arcs far more than the rest of the persona story AND all of the living story put together: immersion in a culture as part of that culture. All the rest is so generic I can barely be bothered to play it once, much less with alts.

So I definitely hope for future story content that explores individual cultures more. Humans, eh — I don’t care for them, and they were the worst choice to focus on first IMO because the last months were all about humans and human-themed Lion’s Arch already, but anything is better than yet more semi-pirates. Sadly, the bloody Steampunk pirates keep stealing the show still.

Watchknights are a bit concerning....

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

So there are representation issues in GW2, no matter how progressive it has been on certain fronts.

(snip & paste)

Funny how there always seem to be enough resources to give male/gender-neutral/less humanoid characters diversity, but never female. Odd, that.

Very well said, all of it. Thanks for expressing it better than I could have.

I personally don’t want to be a muscle-bound, jarhead, rage filled, emotionless, violent, space marine, but so many games promote this idea that to be a man, is to go out and subject yourself to violence, and heartache, all without ever protesting, or expressing emotion. You are just expected, as a man to be strong, confident, and do your duty.

I feel this can have a potentially negative impact on how men learn what it means to be a man.

Also very well said, and definitely a subject that should be brought up more often (as long as it’s not used to derail/silence the subject of problematic portrayals of women).

(edited by Chadramar.8156)

Need Feminine Heavy Armour!

in Suggestions

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Their females are not “badly misrepresented.”

Yeah, I didn’t like that phrasing either. In fact I’d say they are the best-represented because 1) they’re not sexualized and 2) don’t have “LOOK IT’S A GIRL!!!!!!!” armor forced on them. I’m viciously allergic to gendered armor, so hopping on my charr is always a welcome escape from all the boob plates, boob windows, frills and garters that infest light armor in particular for women of the other species.

Good post overall on your part.

I’m all for better diversity in the armour sets for both genders, although I’d point blank prefer to see much less gender imbalance in the sets. Some of the male versions vs female versions of one set are so different they could have been two completely different armour sets – and that would have given better options for characters of both genders, as well as stop locking out the male-default races from some of the prettified and skimpy sets that female characters seem to get.

(snip)

I know Anet probably wanted to make each armour class distinct, but they have fallen into a rut with the design patterns for each one. More diversity within each class is desperately needed, for both genders (and available to both genders, please).

Full agreement and YES PLEASE for more overall armor diversity but fewer gendered differences. A practical, imposing set of heavy plate should look as practical and imposing on a woman as it does on a man. A skimpy, frilly bit of fetish wear should sexualize male characters as much as it does female ones. And a nifty armor design should not be ruined on women by “feminizing” it beyond recognition.

(Oh, and more charr-, sylvari- and norn-themed armor please, too much of the existing gear is themed and designed solely for humans and looks really off on others. Can’t say that often enough.)

Completing events in Cursed Shore - bannable?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

This. You have people that love to troll on purpose and annoy others and then complain that ‘’omg why are they so mad?I’m allowed to do w/e I want!‘’. You want to kill champs? that’s fine, you do it in order just like us, not decide that hey I want to solo this guy. The zergs focus very few maps while every single map in game has champs. Acting like that is literally asking to get cursed/insulted.

No. The only person who is responsible for your (generic “you”) behavior is YOU. You do not get to vomit abuse at others and then stick up your nose and say “It’s their fault, they made me do it!” That’s a pre-school level of accountability we’re talking about here, and it’s effed up beyond words that so many people will make all sorts of excuses for abusers, especially on the internet.

Killing a monster that a zerg wants to call dibs on three minutes later can be jerkwad behavior if done to deliberately annoy non-offensive people, but I doubt it would count as griefing because the zerg does not in fact get to “call dibs” on anything. The zerg does not own any given zone or any event within the zone, and it is not entitled to have other players meekly ask for permission to do something, anything, that might interfere with the Holy Farm Train. We ARE, however, all bound by the same TOS that is very explicit about verbally abusing other players.

If someone is griefing, report them. Hell, make a snarky comment in /map about pathetic trolls. But don’t cross the line into abusive behavior. It’s against he rules, it does not solve the problem, and it only serves to further poison the game’s “community”.

Do Legendary User Impress You?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Couldn’t possibly care less. It’s just pixel loot — ridiculously ostentatious pixel loot at that, from what little I’ve seen of them. I don’t play MMOs for gear, I don’t play them to show off, and I certainly don’t play them to gape at other people showing off pixel loot.

The only characters I actively, positively notice are those who are, hmm, let’s call it well-designed. A charr or sylvari with an awesome bark/fur/pattern/hair/eye color combination, or anyone with a wicked dye job, or a more unusual combination of facial and body features (such as a tough-looking human woman instead of a babyfaced supermodel) is what I like to look at, because that shows some thought and creativity.

Dungeon Arah perm closed due to farmers

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Telling the victims of verbal abuse to “just don’t let it affect you” solves nothing. All it does is perpetuate the culture of abuse as well as actively aiding the abusers by victim-blaming. That toxic BS needs to stop. Also, anyone who seriously thinks that threats, hatespeech and other contemptible behavior is “just words” and thus harmless needs to think for a moment. Speech is a central part of what we are. Our culture is “just words”. Our laws are “just words”. Our entertaiment is “just words”. Our human rights are “just words”. Words are actively uses as weapons every second of every day. They matter. We even think in words. Try going without them for even an hour.

Standing up against verbal abuse can take a lot of guts, especially for people who are still considered fair game because of gender, sexual orientation, skin color, disability etc. They are not the ones who should be held in contempt. The people who flaunt their contempt for basic human decency as well as the game policies are. And THEY certainly don’t deserve babying. If you make it to an age at which you are capable of interacting with the world without constant parental supervision, you had ample time to learn basic decency. Abusing other people is not innocent ignorance, it’s deliberate malice.

Any news on NPC outfits being available?

in Living World

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Bumped and seconded (thirded?). We badly need more armor and clothing that is not human-themed, and releasing existing those NPC-only cultural outfits for PC use would be he easiest step. Sylvari just look terrible in almost everything except cultural gear, and charr suffer badly from clipping and texture-stretching (not to mention all all the fancy-pants human gear looks weird on them too).

Are Our Characters Suddenly Mute?

in Living World

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

For the records: IMO, it was not worth it. We can see in the personal storyline how the plot had to be adapted under the idea of making our characters talk as little as possible. I have a strong feeling that one of the reasons why so many players complain that Traheane steals our spotlight is due to how he spoke a lot, in order to convey dialogue that our characters would have said, had it not been too expensive to record those lines 10 times.

In other words, voice acting, instead of being a tool to improve storytelling, actually became a deterrent, making the story worse. How could this be allowed to happen?

A very good point! This game and its story are, sadly, a prime example of how the industry’s ever-increasing trend towards fancier windowdressing hurts storytelling quite badly. Voice-acting is meant to increase immersion, but if its inclusion leads to shallow writing and exclusion of the player character in order to keep costs under control, it only achieves the opposite.

We are considering other ways to let players express themselves in the game through choice (actions, unspoken conversations, etc.), though those discussions are ongoing.

Please do! I just want to be a participant in the story instead of a mute servant. I’m someone who still happily plays ASCII games, so fancy bells & whistles like voiceacting are not even on my priority list when it comes to enjoyment and immersion. Let’s have more (and longer and deeper) interactions between the player character which allow us to actually be involved and acknowledged in what’s going on. It would make such a huge difference.

A-net dissapointed in lack of Charr

in Charr

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Stop it with the personal insults . I very much disagree with Brutalisk and ABSOLUTELY HATE gendered armor and gender stereotypes with an undying passion, but that is no excuse for vomiting abusive BS at each other.

Are Our Characters Suddenly Mute?

in Living World

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I’ve mentioned this before, as well. It’s the #1 factor that makes me feel as if there is no place for my character in the story, and it’s hugely frustrating. We’re not involved in any way in moving the story forward and might as well not even there at all because all the important scenes and conversations happen exclusively between NPCs. All we are is silent, obedient errand runners who MAY, if we are lucky, get a pat on the head in a non-voiced, meaningless one-line “conversation” before the NPCs go back to ignoring us.

It’s really killing any interest I have in what’s going on. The “personal story” is disappointing enough in how impersonal it actually is, but at least there we are some sort of active participant. In the “living” story, Rox’ flippin’ pet is more of a character than we are.

I need a Light armor set for my Charr

in Charr

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Light armor is the hardest IMO since it shows the human-bias of the armor designs the most and will often make a charr look rather poncy. I agree with the recommendation for Feathered (minus the head/shoulders), and the chest and legs of the Shadow outfit also look quite good, but there is tail-clipping. I don’t like the Shadow shoulders, gloves and head, though.

A-net dissapointed in lack of Charr

in Charr

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

@Weindrasi: very well said. This is a huge part of the charr’s appeal to me. While the other species are designed as having egalitarian cultures as well, the gendered armor flies in the face of that. Also, gendered armor always smacks of “men are the default” to me. Why can’t armor be armor, instead of (default/male) armor and “female armor”?

I want choices in what my characters wear, what I don’t want is to have a giant HEY LOOK IT’S A GIRL! sign forced on me, even if that sign does not include hanging my character’s T&A out.

Devs disappointed by human race bias

in Human

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I rolled toons of every race, but I had a real problem with the Charr just for storyline reasons. I mean, they’re evil, or rather the Legions are. I was frankly disturbed and a little sickened by the fascist hell of the Legions, and I was actually rather shocked the game makes the Separatists out to be the bad guys and encourages you to murder as many as possible. That was a hard lump to swallow.

Interesting. I’m usually not a fan of militaristic people at all, but I do like the charr and generally find them more palatable than the humans. The human class system in which your value is based on the accident of birth, and a tiny hyperprivileged “noble” caste grows rich and spoiled and cruel on the backs of everyone else is pretty horrible. While the charr are not “nice”, they appear to be more egalitarian overall, despite the strict military structure and discipline. All cubs grow up together and are trained the same. Promotions are based on merit. There’s no crass contrast between wasteful decadence and poverty. And your warband is your family as well as your military unit, there’s a lot of closeness there. The main issue I have with the charr is how the gladium are treated — it’s one thing to revile someone who truly let their warband down, but if you lose your ’band without any fault of your own, you should not be treated dishonorably.

Anyway, on topic: if the devs are disappointed, then maybe they should look at the pro-human bias they created. Pretty much all the armor is designed only with humans in mind, be it the outfits that came with the game or the ones introduced on the gem store. Play a human and you can be sure that you have a wide variety of choices that all fit you and look at least decent on you. Sylvari on the other hand look plain wrong in pretty much anything but cultural/Nightmare armor, and even that has issues — the light T1 looks like cheap plastic on women, and so do parts of the heavy T2. Charr? Stretched textures and tail clipping are everywhere. Even the stupidly expensive cultural T3 light armor has tail clipping! Not to mention how many pauldrons hover a handspan above the body.

Anet really needs to make more armors available that are NOT human-themed. There’s plenty of human outfits already. Give us some norn-themed, sylvari-themed, charr-themed gear — and make sure it actually fits!

More face and hairstyle choices for non-humans would not hurt, either.

Despite all this, I still vastly prefer charr and sylvari to everything else, and the only species I like less than the humans are the asura. I don’t play tiny characters, and the arrogant supremacist attitude is extremely off-putting too.

I don't like this update

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Living world should be all about changing the world around you.
(…)
You will not make a deadline for these, they will be on forever untill the players would finally built them all.

to resume, make players BUILD something permanent in the world through common efforts. Even dungeons could be developed in this way,

Yes, I fully agree! Does anyone here remember how the Isle of Quel’Danas was opened up in WoW’s first expansion? Or how Ahn’Qiraj was opened in vanilla? I’m sure the writers here could easily do something similar but much better, something that requires an extended, coordinated effort of a server’s playerbase, something that even low-level characters could contribute to. Gathering materials, crafting items, solving puzzles, completing story-steps, killing monsters, and finally we’d be rewarded for that with new content. That would be MUCH more involving and engaging than just having new stuff plopped down without personal involvement.

If we can help build a new, fully equipped settlement in a zone we first had to take from an enemy, then we secure and cleanse the surrounding land of dangers and corruption, then defend it against dragon minion attacks, discover a new dungeon underneath it … that would rock.

Anyone create a decent looking black male?

in Human

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

There’s absolutely nothing “attention-seeking” about wanting decent character creation options for non-white characters, and if anyone accused you of it, they’d deserve a swift kick in the pants. That is one aspect where the human options definitely fail, IMNSHO.

Ridiculous male faces

in Human

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

At least the men don’t have makeup forced on about 90% of available faces, and if you think the guys look too young, look at the gals. :p

It’s a shame that the same company that gave us some fantastic visual options for charr and sylvari went full tilt for surgically enhanced and photoshopped, samey-same, barely adult blandness on the humans. I’m sorry, was I meant to type “sexiness” or “prettiness” instead? Ugh.

Thankfully, I prefer the lore of the other species anyway.

A-net dissapointed in lack of Charr

in Charr

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

They really need to have different armor sets for the asura and charr females.

Could not disagree more. Gendered armor makes my blood boil every time I see a neat design on a male character that becomes unrecognizable on a woman, or a practical suit of armor that turns into “teats, garters, frills, and a giftwrap bow on the butt” fetish wear. I am beyond sick and tired of it, and it is one primary reason for why I love the charr, clipping and all: not only do female charr not look like furry fanservice (unlike say the worgen in WoW) as a result I also don’t have to deal with all those gendered armor issues.

Even if gendered armor on charr would not be the same sexualized BS other species get — and it would not be, since there are no boobs to drool over, thankfully — it would still annoy me. There’s no reason for it. Instead of forcing gendered outfits on people, there should be more armor to choose from for everyone, skimpy or practical, regal or whimsical, regardless of gender.

THAT is how they would achieve the greater visual diversity among characters that you want, and that I want too.

Like how achievements was done this patch

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Yes, this is definitely a big improvement that I hope will return in the future.

Too many balloon-blocking events

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

In the past patches, people complained about meaningless scavenger hunts that don’t involve anything, now having to merely remember where one has been before and interact just a little with the surrounding area is bad, too? Eh. I like this part of the update , though it is a bit weird that the “kill the Aetherblades” event often seems to be followed by an escort/champion right away without giving access.

The agony of Charr armor. (Long read)

in Charr

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Drakkon, there are quite a few outfits (both armor and town clothing) worn by certain NPCs that are sadly not available to us.

Caladhog - will it ever be available?

in Crafting

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I don’t think it should be available. It’s a unique weapon grown by the Pale Tree and wielded only with her approval, and it comes with its own skillset that makes it very much not a normal greatsword.

I’d be annoyed to see a thousand wannabe-Caladbolgs, especially in non-sylvari hands. It would also be annoying to have a sylvari who used the real thing in the personal story but is unable to wield the crafted version because that character’s class can’t use normal greatsword.

Another thing I noticed (Opening Ceremony)

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

As I have said before, I am very much not a fan of Logan most of the time, but he definitely has my sympathy here. Anise is a complete tosser. I did not like her condescending, spoiled noble kitten when I tried playing a human, and I like her even less now.

Sanctum Sprint: exploit or legit tactic

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Personally, I do consider it cheating because of the issue of arriving on the wrong side of the finish line. If it was a shortcut like any other, one that did not essentially take you off the track, it would not be an issue. So I don’t use it. Well, I did it once, during the Bazaar, but felt so dirty afterwards that I decided not to do it again and earn my achievements properly.

Also, IMO there’s a big difference between people who feel justified in doing anything to win, every time, and those who pull back to help others get their achievement. Both may not compete “as intended”, but one is purely selfish and the other is not. I see nothing wrong with some kindness to another person. Besides, “sportsmanship” to me would also imply a level playing field, which very much does not exist here. Winning against people with slower connections, people from overseas, less experienced players, those with slower reflexes, or those who simply do not have each centimeter of the track memorized is really nothing to brag about.

I really like Sanctum Sprint, but I do wish it had a kind of tier system so it’d be more fair.

A Civil Conversation about PvE Balance and QG

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Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

We need more bosses like this, both in gauntlet and in PvE in general, otherwise we’ll never get away from the current “everyone is full glass-cannon because everything kills you in one hit regardless of armor and heals” situation.

Yes, please. I was a tank in WoW for seven years, and I just do not like playing glass cannon DPS, yet it feels that in PvE, we’re “meant” to and that is frustrating. More diversity and viability of builds, please.

Also, I do not PvP myself, except for very occasional stints into WvW, and it aggravates me to no end that a tiny part of the game that I have zero interest in (sPvP) seems to dominate balance concerns so much.

Visibility: Legit or artificial difficulty?

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

However I’ve always considered things like low or no visibility, unhelpful UI, poor cameras/angles and RANDOM instant kills to be Artificial difficulty.

Yes. And cruddy design — especially if it affects some people more than others. (example: camera issues in tight spaces on charr/norn versus asura). I’d really like to see some acknowledgement of this. I can’t weigh in on the Gauntlet yet, but issues like spell effects obscuring enemy AoE circles or obscuring the whole enemy so you can’t tell what it’s doing are extremely frustrating. The camera getting shoved in your face by the flimsiest obstacles during battles (or jumping) is aggravating as well.

Penalty for failing the gauntlet?

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

Not only that, but killing people who fail a challenge is … really skeevy, in terms of theme. Is this Rome, where hordes of sadistic freaks were screeching for the public slaughter and torture of gladiators and prisoners in the Circus Maximus? Or is it a supposedly half-decent, half-civilized society celebrating the prowess of its heroes? Who’s going to save everyone’s hides from the real enemies out there if all these fighters are deliberately killed when they don’t spec glass cannon DPS as everyone apparently “should” take a second too long to kill a pretend-enemy?

Enjoyed Opening ceremony

in Queen's Jubilee

Posted by: Chadramar.8156

Chadramar.8156

I rather enjoyed it, too, though I fiercely hope we’ll see the end of the Aetherblades in this arc and go back to giving some much-needed attention to older enemies. Not having been around for Flame & Frost, I liked meeting Rox, Frostbite and Braham and wish I’d have been able to do the story where they were introduced. (Though yikes, HER EYES! They’re so huge they’re creepy. The “cute little kitty” design isn’t my thing at all.)

Also, while I was never fond of Logan before, he has my sympathy in this. Anise sounds like a complete kitten and I want to rip her a new one for pulling that stunt with the Rytlock illusion. Curious that there was no mention of Logan and Rytlock reconciling, if all this is supposed to take place way after the personal story. How come?