Guild Wars 2 Sylvari re-design detailed

Why the artist needed to bend the rules of fantasy.

Guild Wars 2 character artist Kristen Perry has detailed the process behind re-designing the sylvari race for the upcoming ArenaNet MMO.

Writing on the official Guild Wars 2 blog, she explains:

"The sylvari are a race of true plant people. They are described in our lore as a noble, attractive humanoid plant race, so it became clear that what I needed to design first was their concept of anatomy. This definition lead me to first consider wrapping vines and stems to follow human musculature.

"However, I quickly realised that this was going to have a couple of unwanted effects: one, the body looked too sci-fi, like cyborg body suits; and two, it made them look as if their skin had been peeled off. It was creepy."

She added: "This extreme concept made it obvious that whatever anatomy I created would have to be attractive and may have to bend the fantasy rules of evolution, if there truly are any such mandates."

Guild Wars 2 is the sequel to ArenaNet's subscription-free MMO Guild Wars. Recently we interviewed ArenaNet's global brand director Chris Lye about the future of the MMO.