In a new article on the Guild Wars 2 site to begin Asura Week, Arena.Net's Matt Barrett talks about designing the Asura to capture exactly what the race is without making it to creepy or too cute.

Barrett shows off several iterations of his vision of the Asura. They range from the odd with a model wearing an 'amulet' made out of utensils to the eerie with the race taking on sort of a cute ET look.

The article also includes a video showcasing how the team created a piece of Asura concept art.

i dont know about you guys. But those new news about gw2 are boring as hell. They should release theyr damn game before i lose all my interest in it. (im a former gw1 beta player)

As an amateur artist, I found the video quite interesting.  As a GW2 fan, I appreciate any tidbits they give us during the lead up to release.

This is an awesome piece explaining computer art....  and painting for people like me that are not intoo it.

@makii

They are doing the race weeks for the lore buffs and for those who want to know more of the races in game. The other info released is a small taste of what the actual game offers. If you look at what's left (WvWvW and the last profession) they are right on track for having beta at the end of this year with release sometime in the first half of 2012.

In regards to the blog post, love the way the Asura have changed from their first design. What they are in GW2 works great since you can go from scary to cutsey with how your Asure looks.

Originally posted by makii

i dont know about you guys. But those new news about gw2 are boring as hell. They should release theyr damn game before i lose all my interest in it. (im a former gw1 beta player)

The vids are always fun to watch and the sylvari thing weren't so bad. But even I am getting bored now. It might be because small inventor races gives me hernia... Death to all gnomes! *mumbles about garden decorations*.

Still, I rather have you losing your interest than me getting an unfinished game, I can wait.

I haven't yet transferred my pen and ink artwork to a tablet environment where I can let my Photoshop run wild and free, but this serves as great inspiration for me to take that leap.

Fun to watch and very easy to appreciate this guy's artistic skills.

Glad to see that creepiness was kept in the final design, although I have to question ANet's taste of "cute" as a result of it.

Originally posted by makii

i dont know about you guys. But those new news about gw2 are boring as hell. They should release theyr damn game before i lose all my interest in it. (im a former gw1 beta player)

 

I completely agree, they definitely should be talking about it AFTER it's out. Talking about the creation of the races and the lore is boring as hell unless you can STAND right there in the areas they are talking about or writing books about, RELEASE THE GAME!

Originally posted by itgrowls

Originally posted by makii

i dont know about you guys. But those new news about gw2 are boring as hell. They should release theyr damn game before i lose all my interest in it. (im a former gw1 beta player)

 

I completely agree, they definitely should be talking about it AFTER it's out. Talking about the creation of the races and the lore is boring as hell unless you can STAND right there in the areas they are talking about or writing books about, RELEASE THE GAME!

So you rather have a unfinished game than lore and developement articles? Or do you want a finished game which takes as long as it will take now but with less articles?

Originally posted by itgrowls

Originally posted by makii

i dont know about you guys. But those new news about gw2 are boring as hell. They should release theyr damn game before i lose all my interest in it. (im a former gw1 beta player)

I completely agree, they definitely should be talking about it AFTER it's out. Talking about the creation of the races and the lore is boring as hell unless you can STAND right there in the areas they are talking about or writing books about, RELEASE THE GAME!

All I have to say to you 2 is this... Final Fantasy XIV.

Personally I like how ArenaNet have been giving us fans these development related tidbits on the game, instead of going completely dark and re-emerging several months later, with a beta date.

People are actually stupid enough to believe these posts are delaying the release of the game in any way, shape or form ???

people man. lore is so big in GW as a true fan of the GW world/lore and of Jeff Grub (lead wirtter) this lore is grand and the creation process of these races which while all fit into some genertic catagory, have a great and unique back story and the creation process is a result of that coming together and the stories giving artist the best picture to draw from.

I love the lore bits and pieces.  This is actually making me more excited for the game because it gives me more background and perspective for when I do get to play.  In the meantime, I'm working on my HoM and gobbling up any bit of lore I can to immerse myself in the game even more when it comes out.  I would rather they take all the time they need to get the game as polished as possible than rush it out.  I have actually only been following the game really intensely for a few months.  I've followed it a little before that, but I've become pretty obsessed with it lately.  That being said, I'm not going to freak out and demand they stop releasing lore and just go quiet until the game is ready to be released.  If anything, that would make me lose interest.  I'm glad they keep giving us stuff.  It only intensifies my excitement for it.  

Nice drawing, showing the drawing develop is quiet amazing, my kid loved it too. It make me wonder why i stopped drawing, and should get myself a graphical palette.

8 minutes watching guy drawing a head? Sure the guy is an artist and knows what he's doing, but come on give us some real news about the race.

Originally posted by Kwintpod

People are actually stupid enough to believe these posts are delaying the release of the game in any way, shape or form ???

Sadly, yes. Can you really blame them though? I'm betting that none of them have a clue about what actually goes on when it comes to game development. To them, everything takes time and they want their game, now. Oh well, it's done when it's done.

That said, I actually enjoy these vids. I'm a bit biased, being an artist myself, but I'll take lore vids over no info any day (and no, I'm not a lore buff).

For any of you that are thinking about / trying to get into digital painting, the guy has a lot of very helpful info. The way he explains his drawing is spot on. He drops tidbits about lighting & rendering, push / pull, shading, laying the groundwork for a successful drawing. Very very good stuff. These are topics that all visual artists struggle with if they want to get good. I'm glad they posted it.

There are always arguments like "GIVE US RELEASE DATE!" but I honestly think that Anet has absolutely brilliant strategy on creating the hype, feeding the crowd with information and creating a feeling of progress.

Comparison to e.g. SWTOR is easy to make due to it being an own article here already. Difference is like night and day. Anet really gives new pieces of information all the time and from various areas of game creation, like that german voice acting, now these drawing stuff and I gotta say I love these race-weeks, stuffed with lots of blogs from creators and finally a brand new video about their starting area. It would be really interesting to compare (hint hint you guys and gals at MMORPG) on a timeline lets say how e.g. GW2, SWTOR and lets say TERA have published new information about the game, would be interesting to see the difference, like for the past few years, some datamining for sure but nothing impossible and would be interesting to see.

While I have some game I anticipate greatly I love every piece of information they  share, it keeps my eagerness alive, fuel for the fire so to speak =). So keep it coming! It's a long wait and I love to fill it with every piece of information you can possibly share =)

dont complain guys, enjoy this last 1 year of your sweet life before sacrificing it to gw2.