Guild Wars 2 armour "sexy" by design

By Robert Purchese Published 10 February, 2011

ArenaNet shows "strategically placed skin".

Would a female warrior really charge at the opposing ranks wearing a metal Basque, boobs wobbling enticingly and legs flashing alluringly?

It's an argument Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet hears time and time again - but that hasn't hindered the decision to show "a generous level of strategically placed skin" in its new MMO.

"I would like to say a quick word about where we stand when it comes to the sexiness of our armours and costumes," wrote lead character artist Aaron Coberly on the ArenaNet blog.

"I understand that many players feel that armour should be practical, realistic and shouldn't leave skin exposed to attack. When coming up with ideas for armour, the character and concept department try to balance the practical with the fantasy. We make armour that looks protective and functional, but we also make armour that looks sexy and shows a generous level of strategically placed skin.

"We recognize the fantasy aspect of our game," he added. "If you are able to rain down balls of fire from the sky, your clothing should not be a factor when it comes to body temperature, whether you are wearing your underwear or a fur coat.

"We've always intended to create outfits for male and female characters that are appealing and attractive without making our players feel uncomfortable about what their character or other player-characters are wearing."

Guild Wars 2 adds "a great deal" of appearance customisation beyond what Guild Wars 1 offered.

A hero's body has six interchangeable armour slots: helmet/headgear, shoulders, coat, legs, gloves and boots. You can either cobble together a piecemeal armour set - a modular approach - or try something new.

A human warrior might have an elaborate coat that has its own shoulder-pads and helmet, for instance. It's considered one piece of equipment but takes up three armour slots. And there are other pieces that occupy all six slots.

This allows for "greater diversity". Couple that with an improved dye system as well as a "refined" character face and body customisation element and the chances you'll create a unique look are strong.

Coberly's post coincides with a week-long spotlight on humans in Guild Wars 2. There are five races in total: Asura, Charr, Human, Norn and Sylvari.

A human from Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2 are stood side-by-side for a comparison. The new model is more relaxed, believable, and although similar, has "a lot of upgrades" technologically: "normal maps, real reflections, per vertex specular, new skin shaders, more polygons..." listed Coberly.

Also, Guild Wars 2 won't alter your body shape depending on your class - the change now correlates to armour-class. This means a Warrior and a Guardian, both heavy armour wearers, have access to the same equipment, which increases variety.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • cloud_ix #1 1 year ago

    exposed in the places where vital organs and limbs could use protection...

  • dirtysteve #2 1 year ago

    At least they're reasonably honest about it. Most developers seem to accept bikinis as practical armour choices.

  • MojoDex #3 1 year ago

    i raise you x-blades!

  • Shikasama #4 1 year ago

    A lot of the scenery screenshots look quite Fable-ish

  • nuanimal #5 1 year ago

    So many mid-rifts... I think someone at ArenaNet has been watching too many episodes of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

  • riz23 #6 1 year ago

    GW was always about impossibly beautiful and sexy fantasy characters of either gender. I don't want that to change at all.

  • hiddenranbir #7 1 year ago

    I LOVE GUILD WARS!

  • Zaiz #8 1 year ago

    I love how the page title has little to do with the actual content of the quote. Eurogamer's news section is like reading the Science section of the Daily Fail.

  • SFG_Clan #9 1 year ago

    Sex!? IN VIDEO GAMES...
    Quick someone call Fox News!

  • Der_tolle_Emil #10 1 year ago

    I love how the page title has little to do with the actual content of the quote.

    They said they wanted the armor to look sexy, how is that not summed up by the title? Seems like your "Daily Fail" visits are starting to affect your reading comprehension.

    On topic: A nice and honest attitude by the developers. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, personally I'd much rather look at a bit of virtual skin than just bulk of steel just so that the armor looks more "practical" - especially in a fantasy setting where realism is probably the least of my concerns.

  • Murton #11 1 year ago

    I didn't think Guild Wars was that bad for it to be honest, and looking at the pictures for GW2 I can honestly say that I've seen worse. Many fantasy games are content to put female characters in metal bikinis and call it armour, at least GW offers something that actually looks like armour and the supporting classes get some pretty tasteful robes too, so while it isn't perfect it's a damned sight better than most.

  • dagas #12 1 year ago

    As long as it's done tastefully I've got no problem with it. Too often they make it look like some bondage costume. The dress should say powerful and sexy, not submissive and slutty.

  • Miths #13 1 year ago

    I'll take sexy over realistic in a fantasy game. Realism doesn't really apply in most other areas of the genre anyway.

  • Synthesis #14 1 year ago

    Holy bloom Batman.

  • Stranded87 #15 1 year ago

    Doesn't bother me, and at least they're equal opportunities in their approach to inappropriate attire.

    Slightly off topic but im not that thrilled by the graphics, not that they're bad, but the first game still somehow looks reasonable now, and this one doesnt seem to look much better, maybe it's just me..
    Anyway atleast it means there might be more chance i'll be able to muster something that can run it.
    Edited by Stranded87 at 10/02/11 @ 19:07

  • varkdm #16 1 year ago

    Its fantasy, beautiful people in inappropriate armour is a commons taple of the fantasy genre and long may it continue. Games that use realistic armour in fantasy settings often look a bit dull and most of the characters look pretty similar, man or woman, because of it. Ultimately if you have a game where a character can pull a fireball from thin air or take a sword blow to the face without dying then there is little room for the "its not realistic" argument.

    Warcraft made a bit of a mistake in its armour designs after the tbc expansion. Up until that point their designs were impractical but sexy and some were practical and not sexy and some were a mix of the two. When WOTLK came out, they completely switched to practical armours only.. and .. they all looked the same, just with a slightly different base or trim colour as they got slightly better, really dissapointing and most of all boring for a colourful fnatastical world like that.

    Fantasy means fantastical, outrageous.. its not real by its nature. And anyway, judging by the dresses and outfits that girls wear out at night, to parties, awards do's etc. If they are wearing cloth it doesn't seem that far fetched they would have cleavage, legs or midrift showing. They arent all militant man hating feminists ;)

  • Zaiz #17 1 year ago

    Here's the title - "Guild Wars 2 armour "sexy" by design" if you hadn't missed it. That description is both universal(all the armor is sexy) and claims to be precisely what was said by putting sexy in quotations. So basically, the title says "All guild wars armor is sexy."

    What was quoted -
    "When coming up with ideas for armour, the character and concept department try to balance the practical with the fantasy. We make armour that looks protective and functional, but we also make armour that looks sexy and shows a generous level of strategically placed skin."

    Very. Different. They quote-mined that for the title statement(pulling out just the sexy), when this can be essentially summed up as "We are trying to make everyone happy with our armour".

    Also, nice ad hom.

  • ShiftyGeezer #18 1 year ago

    GW's fantasy armours are way better than most fantasy games that do place female combatants in bikinis and boob-tubes. GW's didn't get much beyond 'cheerleader' in terms of short skirts, and some of the armours, if not very armoury, were at least good costumes that a fashion conscious adventurer would feel comfortable in. Ordinarily female RPG characters seem to be designed by the archetypal DnD nerd living out their fantasies, with enormous breasts protected by a couple of bottle caps over the nipples. So I'm not sure why ArenaNet are feeling a need to explain themselves given the norms of computer games.

    Plus as for unrealism, what computer game is realistic?! Self healing protagonists; gymnasts who can jump further with their arms than the best longjumper can with their legs; characters who can change direction in mid air - apart from some sims and sports games, computer games are all about unrealism, just like a lot of escapist media.
    Edited by ShiftyGeezer at 10/02/11 @ 22:45

  • FortysixterUK #19 1 year ago

    I raise you Onechanbara

  • tulx #20 1 year ago

    This is light years behind the level of design quality Age of Conan has. :(

  • DrMGinius #21 1 year ago

    If video games were sensible, armours would serve the same function as an "stab me" sign and concrete blocks strapped around your wirsts and ankles.

  • 3william56 #22 1 year ago

    Bollocks. Why can't they just be honest and say tits and flesh attract the sad pimply teenage boys that are their target demographic and they don't give a shit if it discourages girls. Pompous justification fools noone.

  • djed #23 1 year ago

    Shut up woman get on my horse.

  • Sunyavadin #24 1 year ago

    There's a reason my GW1 Necromancer wears Kurzick Armour.

    IT ACTUALLY PROTECTS HER ENIRE BODY, rather than having big "STAB ME" sections over useful regions like her stomach, heart, etc.

  • Spekingur #25 1 year ago

    So, does this only apply to the women character models?