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Monday 28 March 2011

The Sylvari Redesign: Taking a Leaf out of Guru's Book

One of the largest threads on GW2Guru's Tyrian Assembly board is the one focused upon the redesign of the Sylvari. Every player seems to have an idea of what they want (and do not want) the race to end up looking like. The original Sylvari design gave them an appearance which very much reflected the innocence of their character:

Notice: childlike appearance, "Elf" like pointed ears and green complexion.Whilst I see why ANet went down this route, I believe that they can do far more with the race than simply depicting them as "green elves" or "children" of Guild Wars 2, which is what I see above. Whilst the Sylvari are essentially a "new" race in Tyria, they are borne from the Pale Tree with all the working wisdom of their race and I think this needs to be communicated in their appearance.

There are several routes ANet could go down with the redesign, each with their benefits and their downsides:

Make them more "Planty"

Perhaps Avatar of Melandru
could act as inspiration?

This is an idea I really like. In order to distinguish them from humans it might be a nice idea to play on their horticultural origins and give them a far more plant based look than before. With branches and leaves for hair, and stems and shoots growing from the skin, they would be a truly unique MMO race - one which would stand out amongst all the dark elves, dwarves and goblins out there. Quoting Kymeric:

As far as innocence goes, I don't see the need to make them look like wide-eyed children. In fact, I like the tension between something that looks woody and gnarled, but is innocent in heart and mind... A race that looks as ancient as the tree they were born from would make it interesting when they are actually childlike and filled with wonder.

There is, however, a balance to be found - it would be difficult to fit armour over all those branches and twigs. Similarly, we already have a decent description of the Sylvari from Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny, so we can't stray too far.




Make them more "Nightmare Courty"

Look at me, I'm a badass.

One of the most interesting elements of the Sylvari culture is the shady Nightmare Court. The Sylvari are guided by dreams and visions from the Pale Tree, within these dreams there also exists nightmares. These nightmares go largely unexplained by the Sylvari - the Nightmare court embrace the nightmares and attempt to understand them. Their embracing of this terrible way of life corrupts the Sylvari who choose to join the Nightmare Court, and their appearance is suitably changed.

Some players have asked whether some of the concept art for the Nightmare Court might act as inspiration for the Sylvari redesign. Giving them a wholly more dark and gothic feel.

Whilst it might be interesting; there are obvious problems with this suggestion. There is a need to visually distinguish the Sylvari from the Nightmare court, in the same way as we need to distinguish the Sons of Sanvir from the regular Norn. Without this distinction, it would be difficult to tout the Nightmare Court as truly corrupted. They might appear to be nothing more than Sylvari with a different point of view.

Make them more "Elfy"

Ever got halfway through a forest walk
and realise you've forgotten your trousers?
The Elves have been a staple of fantasy stories since Tolkien said "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if there were people who were like humans, right? But better. And with pointy ears". The original Sylvari design was pretty "elfy" to begin with, and a number of players are hoping that ANet haven't totally axed the Elf root entirely. I can see the attraction, the standard fantasy elf has a great deal in common with the Sylvari - an innocence, a connection with nature and a lithe, quick and lean air about them.

The Sylvari could easily be akin to "Wood Elves" or even "High Elves" of Elder Scrolls fame.

ANet have always cleverly danced around the subject of Elves in the past and I've always respected them for that. I believe that going further down the Elf route would be a bit of a cop-out. I hope that ANet have balls enough to do something a little more daring and not pander to the crowd (plus, can you imagine the Charr on Sylvari Elf-porn? No thanks).

Make them more "Bowie"

Have you seen his codpiece in Labyrinth?
 Jesus.
Just kidding.

That would be awesome though, right?










In the end, the new Sylvari design is likely to be an amalgamation of all of these ideas, at least I hope. Players have come up with some really interesting and innovative ideas for the race over the past few months, from TedTheShred's pollen roots whereby the race would have a constant pollen trail leading into the ground to symbolise their link to the Pale Tree, to Ammanelle's photosynthesis depicting flowers and leaves opening up on their skin whilst under the sun to invigorate the Sylvari with greater health regeneration. ANet would do well to listen to their community as they consider where they want to go with the race, they have a real opportunity to do something very exciting with them, I hope they don't pass it up. 

12 comments:

  1. i enjoyed this post... but Tolkien didn't invent elves. they're a form of Nordic lesser deity. (he made up the pointed ears, though.)

    ironically, the Norn actually resemble the original, mythic concept of "elves" the most -- and "norns" were the Nordic Fates, while the fates became known as Fay, then fairies.

    so, the Sylvari seem more based on the "tree-hugger" D&D elf than the original concept.

    as for the redesign, i'm just hoping they change them enough so they don't look like Bratz Dolls, anymore!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm certainly with you on that!

    When I mentioned Tolkein I meant he really introduced the modern idea of an "Elf" - the defining factor of which, most people would say, would be their ears.

    ReplyDelete
  3. (from same anon as before.)

    you're absolutely right -- though Tolkien only once mentioned that their ears were "leaf-shaped." now, WoW, etc., have elves that are basically runway models with donkey ears.

    i wouldn't mind if GW2 went towards D&D elf with the redesign -- anything would be better than what they have... it looks like a Ferngully mod.

    since you're the expert on this stuff, though -- they said they finished the redesign in October; why are they holding off on showing it? it's not new content, so i can't figure out the reason for the delay.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think it's because they've got this whole schedule set out for when they want to reveal information. They know that the two things people are most eager to see are the final adventurer class and the Sylvari. So they will do the adventurer class reveal last, and Sylvari week will come after Asura and Charr week.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks; see, i didn't even know they were doing theme weeks!

    i am not a fan of their steady trickle of info. although, i guess it's doing it's job if we're anxious to learn more.

    i just hope the redesign is worth the wait -- won't be pleased if they're all versions of Tinkerbell.

    p.s. the best "traditional elf" design scheme i've found was in the Disciples Series of games... still elfish, but with an edge.

    ReplyDelete
  6. They've done a brilliant job of hyping the game up to the max. I really hope it doesn't disappoint (I've been burned before! Aion, Spore, Black and White 2... :( )

    It seems the community is divided about where to go with the Sylvari. Some do really want the more rugged and out there look, and others are leaning towards your "Tinkerbell" abomination!

    I'm with you, down with the fairies! Up with the planties!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Why not give them options to make them either planty or elf like. That would make everyone happy. I on the other hand would prefer elf.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I can see that happening. We haven't seen anything of the character creation for any of the races. But imagine if there were a slider system, if the slider is far to the right there are long gnarled branches sprouting from the skin and the hair turns more grass/leaf like. As you slide it further left the branches retract and the skin becomes smoother, the hair turns more silky etc.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lady, that isn't a codpeice.
    I watched this awful movie he was in called The Man Who Fell to Earth. You get to see his wang flopping around the screen in it. That thing is like an elephant trunk, I shall never be able to unsee it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lady, that isn't a codpeice.
    I watched this awful movie he was in called The Man Who Fell to Earth. You get to see his wang flopping around the screen in it. That thing is like an elephant trunk, I shall never be able to unsee it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. They've done a brilliant job of hyping the game up to the max. I really hope it doesn't disappoint (I've been burned before! Aion, Spore, Black and White 2... :( )

    It seems the community is divided about where to go with the Sylvari. Some do really want the more rugged and out there look, and others are leaning towards your "Tinkerbell" abomination!

    I'm with you, down with the fairies! Up with the planties!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think it's because they've got this whole schedule set out for when they want to reveal information. They know that the two things people are most eager to see are the final adventurer class and the Sylvari. So they will do the adventurer class reveal last, and Sylvari week will come after Asura and Charr week.

    ReplyDelete

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