The source of my turmoil lies in an essential question I have to ask myself when I venture into a game world - who am I? Am I me? Will - the human male; 6'3, around 15 stone, all round suave entrepreneur and geekeratti? Or am I something other than that?
Am I Bristleback Firepit: The ferocious charr warrior?
Am I Willem Stillwater: Secondborn sylvari ranger?
Am I Vilhjálmr Nix-talker: Tearaway norn guardian?
Or am I Distilled: genius asuran thief?
I've always been drawn towards the sylvari, they seemed to fit the ranger profession and, having played ranger all the way through my Guild Wars 1 career, I had fully expected to take this choice into the next game. But as I have said in the past, the focus which the ranger places on the pet in the new game just hasn't grabbed my attention. As I began to question my choice of profession, so too did I question my choice of race.
In the initial flurry of excitement over the sylvari redesign I overlooked some of my doubts. I loved the fact that they embraced the leafy design and really focused on the organic growth of the race as a whole, but I don't know whether I fully agree with Ree Soesbee's assertion that the sylvari are a totally new race in the fantasy scene (let's be realistic!). Admittedly, they aren't just humans with leaves attached to them, but they aren't enough of a break from the norm to pull me away, and they aren't exciting enough to pull me away from my new loves: the asura and the charr.
The asura and the charr represent a true step away from the norm. Whilst the sylvari could be seen as essentially humanoid, the two more "animal" like races are very much a step into the other. Their animations are so much more full of life than the humanoid races - they sway and shift their centre of balance in a much more expressive way than what I've seen from the other races. It is this venturing into the unknown; into the territory of the more beastly side of role play which really intrigues me. Having asked myself the question: "Who am I?" I've come out with the answer; "Whoever the hell I want to be!" (possibly adding a: "BITCH!" onto the end of it, if I'm feeling frisky).
