ok so i played wow never played but do the graphics get any better

[dope_danny]

This is the worst thread ever.

Welcome to understanding what young people think about WoW a decade later. Now you know why older mmo's shrink instead of grow

[Deleted]

WoW doesn't use it's own engine. It uses a heavily modded Warcraft 3 one. So if anything the base for the engine is even older.
Genuinely the first ever screenshot of WoW. Simple WC3 Mod.

Yep, was aware of its WC3 origins, but I decieded not to make that point as it might have confused the OP.

[Hctaz]

I get the feeling you're one of those people that confuse graphics with art style.

WoW's art style is never going to change (and is part of why it ages so well), but to say that they've not done massive changes to graphics in terms of model detail, animations, lighting, ability effects etc etc is delusional.

Thank God it'll never be "Skyrim"... If people are that unable to handle the art style of WoW which has been a fact for 12 years by now, they can always just go and play Skyrim...

Well that last paragraph is the point. This is a new player and the first thing he did was complain about the graphical quality. The game TO ME doesn't look bad but obviously it does to him. I think the game looks pretty damn smooth at max settings. My point was that if he didn't like the graphic style/quality of the characters around Echo Isles then he wouldn't like the future of the game as well because it doesn't really get much better. It gets worse in BC and Wrath, better in Cata, better in MoP, better in Legion but all of those things are small improvements here and there and it has less to do with graphics and more to do with the art team fleshing zones out to make them aesthetically pleasing. Like MoP onwards has some of the best looking zones but I really think it's more to do with the layout and structure of things as an art form.

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The irony of your comment being, Skyrim isn't a very good-looking game unless you mod it to extreme degrees.

Yes, base Skyrim kinda looks "meh" if you don't mod it but people praise it as looking fantastic. It's people looking at the game and saying "Wow this looks like real life kinda" and then seeing WoW and saying "Eh it isn't realistic at all" and thinking WoW's graphics suck. My point to OP is that I think that this is his problem and he won't like the game's graphic style.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Welcome to understanding what young people think about WoW a decade later. Now you know why older mmo's shrink instead of grow

If people could fall in love with WoW and its art style in every previous iteration, they can (and do) even today.

[Marrilaife]

The art style of WoW has always been a point of contention even for people who profess to love the game.

It definitely isn't for everyone.

I'm glad it isn't. CS:GO kids can stay in CS:GO.

Or they can go play Black Desert, Tera, or any other "new" MMO with shiny graphics and a lot of eye candy.

echo isiles , btw does wow do money back if you buy the expansion then don't like it?

Hey, I ordered a pizza, took a bite of it, didn't like it, nothing wrong with it, just not to my taste, can I get my money back?

[Tharkkun]

Not really? The zones have always looked the same to me after Cata. Like they get a little better and they've revamped some player models but that isn't "better" graphics, just higher quality textures. The game isn't going to evolve into Skyrim and I'm pretty sure the person isn't asking whether or not the texture quality is going to improve or not. If he's looking at his troll and thinking "These graphics suck" then he's not going to get into Suramar and think that they're any better since the overall feel and look of the game is on par with the character models.

They have the same aesthetics but the detail in textures goes up significantly between Vanilla to Cata to Legion. They don't go for realism in their graphics style which makes people think things suck. At the same time it allows the graphics to endure the test of time. Games with more detailed, realism type graphics look like shit 3 years later.

[Droodid]

I like the graphics of WoW. I don't really care what graphics look like if I'm enjoying a game.

[A dot Ham]

I'm glad it isn't. CS:GO kids can stay in CS:GO.

Or they can go play Black Desert, Tera, or any other "new" MMO with shiny graphics and a lot of eye candy.

A statement that is beyond ignorant.

As someone who used to work at Gamestop, I can tell you anecdotally that the majority of customers we had that came in and claimed a game was a "good game" were almost always middle-aged folks.

There is nothing wrong with preferring good-best graphics for a game some people live for seeing the max capability of their rig. I would venture to say that maintaining stellar graphics and frames per second, becomes almost a game in and of itself. Much like maintaining a positive k/d ratio is crucial to success.

Likewise there are plenty of people that know a great game doesn't always need the best graphics. That's why there are so many games out there... for all those different preferences. Whoda thunk so many games to exist and be successful in the same marketplace.

Claiming that only kids care about graphics... is pretty simpleminded. Claiming that we as a community are somehow better off without new players is equally vacuous.

Warcraft has always had a "cartoony" element to it, and quite frankly I love the art style and I love pretty much everything that comes out of Blizzard (from an artistic stand point)

You have to admit though that it would be pretty badass if WoW looked like this:

[Paperfox]

They actually get worse until eventually you're playing 8-bit

8 Bit? Luxury!

Games used to be binary then it went to greyscale.

[smaktat]

in the starting instance and looks kinda dull and old skool wondered if the graphics get any better or if they stay bout the same as they do in the start.?

Hey bud, yeah they'll get better. Some of the early game is still using parts which were developed in 2004'ish. 13 years have really changed the way we've played video games!

I wouldn't suggest this website for a good opinion of the game. You should make a thread in the wow subreddit at http://www.reddit.com/r/wow instead. You'll get calmer opinions over there and the bad ones will be voted away. Hope you enjoy the game! It really is a lot of fun!

[MonsieuRoberts]

I like the graphics of WoW. I don't really care what graphics look like if I'm enjoying a game.

Children don't think like this these days.

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A statement that is beyond ignorant.

As someone who used to work at Gamestop, I can tell you anecdotally that the majority of customers we had that came in and claimed a game was a "good game" were almost always middle-aged folks.

There is nothing wrong with preferring good-best graphics for a game some people live for seeing the max capability of their rig. I would venture to say that maintaining stellar graphics and frames per second, becomes almost a game in and of itself. Much like maintaining a positive k/d ratio is crucial to success.

Likewise there are plenty of people that know a great game doesn't always need the best graphics. That's why there are so many games out there... for all those different preferences. Whoda thunk so many games to exist and be successful in the same marketplace.

Claiming that only kids care about graphics... is pretty simpleminded. Claiming that we as a community are somehow better off without new players is equally vacuous.

Warcraft has always had a "cartoony" element to it, and quite frankly I love the art style and I love pretty much everything that comes out of Blizzard (from an artistic stand point)

You have to admit though that it would be pretty badass if WoW looked like this:

They could make it happen too; HotS & Overwatch have me convinced that, given the time, they could produce some incredibly detailed stuff. They just don't have the right game to apply highly detailed art & models to.

When they get around to making a third person action game set in the Warcraft universe, that'll be the time. :P

[Deleted]

I don't think any kind of "help me chose" or "why should I chose x"-question will ever lead anywhere. If someone has to open a thread in the forums after the first few minutes it's very likely that he can not compile what people who played hundreds of days and hours have to say. Especially if something like graphics is involved... MoP proved that a group of people hated it just because of it's far-eastern theme.

[Blood Raven]

I like the graphics of WoW. I don't really care what graphics look like if I'm enjoying a game.

I agree with this completely, since as long as I'm having fun in a game then who cares what the graphics look like? I know that the art style of WoW might not be to everyone's tastes, but I feel the cartoony graphics hold up better over time than a game that tries too hard to be realistic. It's still a bit disappointing though when someone won't even try a game based purely on it's graphics.

[Marrilaife]

There is nothing wrong with preferring good-best graphics for a game some people live for seeing the max capability of their rig.

That usually works in single-player games, when it comes to MMO there is nearly never a situation you'd have an event with many players around that wouldn't become a massive lag fiesta and top notch graphics are adding to it. It's very unrealistic and inconsiderate to compare MMOs with something like Tomb Raider or Uncharted and complain the graphics aren't as good.

Games that don't have to load that many players together at once like smaller scale pvp games have it a bit better in that department.

Claiming that we as a community are somehow better off without new players is equally vacuous

Players that already start from asking about refunds? Maybe they should take some responsibility for their actions and purchases. Way to wish to eat the cake and still have the cake.

I wouldn't wish to work in customer's support or billing department where your boss puts you rules "all purchases are final, don't refund or I cut it from your salary" and then be bombarded by tickets from people who don't like to take responsibility for their decisions like "hey Blizz I boosted x class and I don't like it, refund me", "hey Blizz I blindly transfered to x server, and it's dead or 90% opposite faction, refund me", "hey Blizz, I'm going for 2 week vacation, can you pause my sub?" etc. etc. I'm 100% sure customer support has to shift through these, because I see a glimpse on the official customer support forum.

But funny how you decided to cherry pick my comment while leaving the others just fine, like these:

Jesus Christ, are these the new players we're getting?

the new entitlement generation is growing up...

This imo is a troll... ready to post links as soon as the 10 postcounter has been met.

Welcome to understanding what young people think about WoW a decade later. Now you know why older mmo's shrink instead of grow

Tbh, to the last sentence, MMOs shrink not because of outdated graphics in my opinion, but because they're designed for a long-time commitment, while there are less and less people who are interested in a long time investment instead of short-burst experiences.

[Enthusiastic Steward]

I agree with this completely, since as long as I'm having fun in a game then who cares what the graphics look like?

I care to the extent that I want the graphics to 'fit' the game. And I feel WoW does this. The game has its serious moments and themes, but overall is a lighter-hearted adventure game and I feel the graphics do a good job of conveying the 'feel' the game is supposed to have. Not every game is supposed to be a hyper-realistic cutting edge graphics bonanza.

[Tharkkun]

WoW doesn't use it's own engine. It uses a heavily modded Warcraft 3 one. So if anything the base for the engine is even older.

Genuinely the first ever screenshot of WoW. Simple WC3 Mod.

It was based off that engine but that doesn't mean it's using that engine. The WOW engine has gone through dramatic upgrades over the years. They create support for the latest graphic technologies along the way. That's what other people don't understand.

Do people understand that Windows 10 is still based off the old NT core? yet Windows NT is nothing compared to a modern OS. Same comparison. It's very rare that you actually design an engine from scratch today.

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Children don't think like this these days.

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They could make it happen too; HotS & Overwatch have me convinced that, given the time, they could produce some incredibly detailed stuff. They just don't have the right game to apply highly detailed art & models to.

When they get around to making a third person action game set in the Warcraft universe, that'll be the time. :P

You'd be hard pressed to find a machine that could render that in a city, battleground or raid.

EDIT: Btw, BDO looks horrid. I don't get where people think it looks better. It looks more realistic but the textures make me cry.

[dextersmith]

Look at wow on youtube.

[Blood Raven]

I care to the extent that I want the graphics to 'fit' the game. And I feel WoW does this. The game has its serious moments and themes, but overall is a lighter-hearted adventure game and I feel the graphics do a good job of conveying the 'feel' the game is supposed to have. Not every game is supposed to be a hyper-realistic cutting edge graphics bonanza.

I can agree with that. In general I figure most people will see a game's graphics and art style and know right then and there if they feel it fits or not and if it's something they like or can deal with if they enjoy the gameplay. But I still think it's always worth trying out a game if it has a demo or free trial, since it won't cost you anything and you might end up finding out that while you might dislike the art style, you end up loving how the game plays.

[mizeri]

the new revamped area will look ok untill you are lvl 58 when you go to outland and then you go back in time to 2007 for a bit till you are lvl 68 and go to northrend then it always gets better. but the game always remains cartoonish because its just the style the game is made.

[Marrilaife]

You'd be hard pressed to find a machine that could render that in a city, battleground or raid.

Yep, overwatch is only small number of players and limited area map that needs to load, you don't have kilometers of view distance or 100s of players around. The new view distance in WOW is a resource hog, it's often a good idea to lower it even on non-low spec machines. And some things that work smoothly in empty space suddenly choke when it comes to big groups of players for example zerging a world boss that also has a lot of spell effects. It's not just WOW though, I played GW2 and SWTOR and mass-player events always had this issue.