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I want to share the agony of Charr armor, and how the Radiant Helm has taken it to a whole new level of laziness (reading warning).

The short version can be found as this image here. The longer version goes something like this:

It's no secret that when it comes to armor, Charr get the shortest end of the stick. If you're human you're at the top, followed by the other three humanoid races, likely with Asura coming in last. Pulling in far behind them are Charr. As far as my knowledge goes, issues with the armor of other races exist, but are comparably few. With Charr armor, stretching, clipping, poor texturing, and a lack of consideration are not the exception; they're the rule. If you think tail clipping is the extent of the Charr's issues, you have no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes. It's been this way since launch and it's not looking to get any better. If anything, it's getting worse. It's become a running joke among the Charr community about what levels stretching and clipping will reach next, and if you aren't a Charr player yourself, here are the reasons why:

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    Anatomy and Culture:

Reason number one is that Charr culture and anatomy sit in a context far removed from the other races. We are a race that stand hunched, with large necks and horns, big ears and obvious tails, plus all the other various beastly features such as a muzzle, claws, and the like. Additionally, the Charr are a culture much unlike the other races. The Charr revere technology, not magic, and anything that alludes to magic is almost considered insulting within Charr society. Soldiers are the norm; and if you're not a soldier you wear simple rags and outfits because you are of lesser use to the Legions. None of this, from anatomy to culture, is considered in Charr armor. The great irony, in fact, is that for a race so determined to be individualized from the other races, and for a race who are the direct antithesis to humans, the Charr receive nothing in the form of armor or town clothes except those which are first modeled for humans both in anatomy and context, and then grafted - stretched and mangled - to fit the Charr form. A simple scan through the gem shop confirms this. Sweaters, riding boots, vests and blossomed shirts, hoodies (for a race with horns). These are all human fashions, and while they don't perfectly translate to the other races, they translate even less to Charr, who systematically oppose human culture. Of course, it's not just town clothes.

Almost every armor model in the game is designed with humans and humanoids in mind first. In fact, with the exception of the cultural armors, there are, I believe, two outfits designed with Charr in mind: Vigil, and the Cook's Outfit. If you're asking about Citadel of Flame, we'll get back to that. There's a reason why I pick these two as examples: they generally conform to Charr anatomy. The Cook's Outfit features a muzzle cage which shows that it was designed specifically with muzzles in mind. Similarly, Vigil armor features large turtlenecks and shoulderguards indicative of the Charr. Heavy Vigil also features what I presume to be a rear flap for the tail, one that was never actually modeled properly and left to clip (you can see it here).

The only other reason I presume Vigil was designed with Charr in mind is because the founder was a Charr, and it seems reasonable to assume that Anet designed heavy Charr Vigil armor with Almorra Soulkeeper's physique in mind. Even so, it still presents the typical stretching issues (and you can see it in the above image, particularly about the belt on the hip, and on the backs of the calves), and all three armor tiers have tail clipping.

Back to the issue at hand; there's a concept illustration I like to use that shows how Charr armor should look. You can find that here. Notice several things about how the armor considers anatomy in its design. Full face masks protect the entire head, including the muzzle (there are currently only three full face helms in game, and they're all cultural. We'll get back to that as well). Armor extends along the entire length of the neck, protecting it. Space for horns is considered. These are the kinds of things that are essential to good looking, believable armor that are lost when you take the armor of a humanoid race and stretch it to fit a beastly race. Other examples of good Charr armor in concept are abound. Here's a small gallery with a few more images as examples. Googling 'Charr Concept Art' will yield you even more results. All are prime examples on conforming to anatomy and culture, and considers a race where even magical spellcasters wear minimalist robes or light plate armor instead of cloth gowns, and where soldiers take consideration of their form in crafting armor. What hurts me most is to know that Anet is certainly not unaware of these things. Their artists certainly are, yet maybe bits and pieces of two or three of those designs at most made it into the game.

Now, here's the thing. As much as I would love to see anatomy and culture considered in the production of Charr armor, I understand that Anet is building a game for five races, and that Charr do not exist in a vacuum. Does this necessarily excuse creating all armor for humans first and them exporting it to other races? No, but it's at least more understandable. It would take a lot of resources to design armor which would only fit the anatomy and culture of one race specifically, and thus Anet chooses to take the path that will appeal to the greatest number of people. That's good. However, here's the thing. The issues don't stop there. What's been argued above is not something that can be easily fixed, at least not without relocating a lot of time and resources. The second issue, however, brings to light just how little Anet cares even without consideration for the above.

    Undue lack of care and general apathy or indifference:

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, as a Charr player, I feel like Anet simply does not care about me or my race. Is there any truth to this? Only what truth I feel there is to it, but with perhaps a few more examples you'll begin to see why. The fact of the matter is, even foregoing the above, Anet still puts in a shameful amount of effort when it comes to dealing with what armor they do give the Charr.

Have you ever noticed how many Charr Warrior and Guardians wear full tier 3 cultural, or some armor with a combination of tier 3 pieces? There's a reason for that. It looks good. It looks really good. It exemplifies everything I said above about conforming to Charr anatomy and culture. The unfortunate truth, however, is that not only does it look really good, everything else looks really bad. There's a reason why. Rytlock wears tier 3. Almost everything positive you can say about tier 3 heavy cultural can be chalked up to the fact that Rytlock had to have something to wear, and needed to look good doing it. The other Charr cultural armors? Some present tail clipping, and other issues that could have easily been avoided. In fact, it seems the only time Anet specifically cares about making sure Charr armor has a high level of quality to it is when it's being crafted for an important figure. Why do you think I mentioned Almorra Soulkeeper and Vigil armor?

If the armors are not being purposed for a significant character, they will almost invariably be modeled for humans, exported to Charr, and come with all the features thereof. Stretching. Clipping. Removal of horns. It's almost impossible to find any armor or any combination of Charr armors without these things. And that's where the laziness comes in. Anet has shown no signs of improving these things, and continues to release stretched models, clipping, and other designs that clearly show undue lack of care for the Charr. Remember how I excluded Citadel of Flame armor from the list of armors designed for Charr? That's because it wasn't. Ironically, it's one the Charr's worst armor sets. Consider the first argument, and you realize that no Charr would ever be caught dead wearing anything relating them to the Flame Legion. Consider the second, and you realize just how foolish and lazy the design is. This is a set of armor designed by a Legion of Charr, for a Legion of Charr, and yet it comes with some of the most obvious stretching and clipping issues in the game. The outfits don't even have slots for a tail, and they were designed for Charr. It's indicative of how little Anet cares to treat the Charr and their armor with due consideration, and another example of how the designs and implementation of our armor falls dead last on their list of priorities.

So, where does the Radiant Helm fit into all of this?

Here's what my Charr looks like without the helmet on.

And here's what he looks like with it on.

Absent: Horns, ears, mane, dignity.

On a general level, I wasn't going to get the Radiant Helm anyway. Sans that fact I'm short a few achievement points, it's too bright for my tastes. Of course, this isn't about that. This is such an extreme level of laziness and lack of care that I can't even be mad, I'm simply impressed. This is a helmet that I'm guessing a very small proportion of the population has even dedicated enough time into the game to receive yet. It's supposed to be prestigious. On Charr, it's anything but. I have absolutely no doubt that whoever was tasked with modelling this helm simply took the helm for the humans, and placed it right on the Charr's head without even a thought that, culture and anatomy argument aside, it might be both ugly and uncaring to not even make an attempt to preserve the ears and horns of the character. Of course, I don't blame the modeler - this has been the precedent since the beginning. And that's what this is about.

So the helm looks awful, just don't wear it, right? Of course, and that's the plan. But here's the problem: this sets a whole new precedent for laziness when it comes to modelling armor and putting even a trace amount of care into crafting a quality product. That's what this is all about. As I said, it's no secret that Charr get the short end of the armor stick, but this takes it to such a high degree that I can't help but worry for the future of Charr armor. This isn't an isolated incident being extrapolated by a slippery slope argument - it's a continuing decline in quality that is the basis for why I and many other Charr players feel that Anet simply does not care.

And that's why I made this post. I have my completed Armor set for my guardian, and have had it for months without incentive or good reason to change. Many other Charr players probably care less than me about how their armor looks, and I wish I could have that level of indifference. I'm making this post because I think the Radiant Helm represents an unacceptable decline in quality that crosses a line Anet should have stayed well above, and someone had to say something. In the grand scheme of things, is it a big deal? Not really. There's a whole game with lots of other issues to worry about. However, this is an issue that's very close to a race and a community that I very much enjoy, and to see things like this completely frustrates me. It's my hope that there's at least one person at Anet who it frustrates as well, who might be able to have a say. Not for the helmet, but for the future of Charr armor, the quality of the armor of other races, and the quality of armor for races to come. The Charr community already has no hope for good looking armor unless we get new cultural sets, and I can't imagine the same is untrue for any potential future races if they happen - Tengu, Quaggan, Skritt, what have you. For their benefit as well, someone needs to start caring.

As a result of some feedback on a comment I made in this thread, I'd like to stage a formal protest!

WHEN: This Wednesday, July 24 at 8PM Pacific time for NA. 8PM GMT for EU.

WHERE: Tarnished Coast server, Lion's Arch for NA. Piken Square server, Lion's Arch for EU.

HOW: Get naked, run around Lion's Arch, asking fellow Charr to join in /map and getting the word out about the poor armor.

It'd also be awesome for everyone to take screenshots and post them on ANet's Facebook page, do an @ mention on twitter, post on the official forums, etc. Let's try to get ANet's attention.