Why doesn't Blizz improve the visuals of WoW like other devs?

[Ielenia]

Paragraph 1:

- Hmm. I'm not sure what colour has to do with the 'life' of the eyes.
- The nose just looks too large in my opinion.
- I also believe you could attain suitably real eyes without changing the shape.
- Sunken cheeks are actually a masculine trait, separate from muscularity/body size (although most certainly correlated with body fat
percentage). It's primarily due to wide, flanged zygomatic bones and strong cheekbone projection along with an equally wide, forward
grown jaw/mandible. The protrusion of the mandible along with the width of the zygos 'stretches' the area or distance between the cheeks,
thus causing less buccal fat to be allocated throughout the cheek and adding a lean, angular concave look.
- I checked out the cinematic and could barely make out any features of the orc, so I have no comment.

- Such an unnatural eye color, that contrasts too much with rest of the orc's colors, plus no pupils? Also, about the shade of black around the eyes on the older model? That gives the impression of sunken eyes, which further enhances the "anorexic/starving" look.
- Everything about the orc is "large". The nose just fits the rest of the model, now.
- Eyes were locked in a "shocked" expression, wide-eyed.
- But not that sunken. Look at the picture again, at the older model: there are >80º angle curves there on the cheek bones, as if the orc has been starving for weeks! It's almost like his head is just a skull bone painted green.
- I just put the cinematic on slow-motion, and while not a 'perfect still' picture can be taken, it is still possible to observe the teeth are more like tusks than fangs.

Paragraph 2:

I still feel like the eye area of the original looked naturally angry due to the downward arch of the brow bone as well as large, piercing, red eyes. Nonetheless, even if they genuinely did have to change the eye and mouth areas, there was no need to be so drastic.

The "downward arch" of the brow area is natural. Especially since the outer sides of the brow are raised so high as if the guy is in awe or shocked. On top of that, when one scowls, the brow lowers itself partly onto the top of the eye, covering it a bit. The older model's eyes were uncovered, due to the brows looking like they're being raised, not lowered.

[Joodoc]

Doesn't the 64bit client do that yet? I thought they did that already.



Well yes it does, if you didn't have to have the base settings dumbed down for potatoes, you could have them much higher, and then better top end visuals too.



Unfortunately true.

Actually no. The base settings don't affect the top end at all. You can increase the top end without touching the base, as can be seen with improvements such as sun shafts and the water changes. It's not like they have a requirement that the best can only be twice as good as the worst. It can be exponentially better than the worst.

[Magistrate]

I mean I agree on one hand but they'd be cutting off a lot of consumers to do it. I would love it but I know there's lots of people that would be fucked by it so it can't happen.

I also kind of like WoW's aesthetic and the gradual improvements to the game's visuals haven't fucked with it too much yet.

They do it gradually. For instance, they just ceased support for anything older than Win7, I believe. It's like you said. Gradual change.

[Aquinan]

Actually no. The base settings don't affect the top end at all. You can increase the top end without touching the base, as can be seen with improvements such as sun shafts and the water changes. It's not like they have a requirement that the best can only be twice as good as the worst. It can be exponentially better than the worst.

You missed the point entirely. The top end doesn't matter, the base quality should be upped is what I meant.

[Echocho]

Granted, if they actually put the performance issue on your GPU instead of CPU then I'd be all for it (since WoW right now mostly runs off your CPU which is old school and stupid), but still, why do you need better graphics? WoW has been fine for awhile now and I don't see the need to improve it at the cost of who knows what (possibly add an extra year or so to the end of an expansion or some shit).

Why would you want a good looking car over an ugly one? If this was any other game you wouldn't be defending it.
I swear wow is like one of those brain washing cults.

[adamzz]

If we look at League of Legends and other such games, over the years there have been massive graphical improvements.

But with WoW it looks fairly similar to when it first was developed. I get that they want to go for a certain artstyle but some of the textures in particular look like a game from the ps2/xbox era.

Shouldn't Blizz give this more attention? It no doubt is a major factor why new players don't bother trying the game out.

Did you even play the game before mop? Because it seems like you never saw player characters before the update.

Spell effects, water, fire, particles in general, textures, models, pretty much everything is upgraded... Do I really need to go find before and after pictures to prove it to you?

No they haven't updated every single model and texture in the game, new models and textures are a lot better than old. WoW is a lot bigger than league of Legends and even league takes many many months just to update ONE character, updating everything in WoW would take years.

[Mellrod]

Here's what old Vanilla & BC-era WoW zones, (2004-2008) look like. Notice the old water texture and the very obviously low polygon count on almost every object and mountain, along with low-res textures on grass, structures trees, etc. Especially the trees. Max view-distance was also pretty low from Vanilla to MoP, giving everything a thick veil of fog past a certain point of your vision until either WoD or Legion improved this. Also note that from certain angles the grid-like structure of all ground, building, & water textures in old world zones is very visble. In the shot of duskwood, you can see the cobblestone texture creating three straight lines pointed towards the npc & town hall, almost as if the same graphic was copy/pasted across the ground multiple times. This is how ground textures look until roughly WoD zones and onwards.







Wrath-era zones. (2008-2010). Textures and shading are a LOT better, trees still have papery leaves, but there's enough of them to look believable, and less like Papier-mâché, and in some places like Sholazar, the custom palm tree models look very well done. Mountains and structure still have low textures and polygons, but a lot higher than vanilla or BC. Their use of color, shading, etc really helps this zone look beautiful. Textures on things like the ground are higher res now.



Cataclysm-era zones. (2010-2012) Water has finally been updated and given a better texture, reflection, varying degrees of transparency, and movement-based ripple effects. Mountains have a MUCH higher polygon count here, and look more organic rather than frumpy lumps that were just stretched up out of the flat ground. Not only are Trees much more detailed in every respect, notice the fact that you can see every individual brick on the lighthouse. Shading and color work are also infinitely better than before, and the visuals have been very much revamped since Vanilla.



MoP-era zones. (2012-2014). In Valley of the Four Winds on Pandaria, (top image), the color work, shading, building, and mountain qualities have drastically increased. The ground clutter looks natural and less papery, and the grassy details on the mountain are something we'd never see in old WoW. In the shot of The Jade Forests, you can see there are multiple different models for trees and general foliage now, getting more and more customized and detailed to the point where you can identify different species of plants (ex: I see several weeping willows, cherry trees, and bamboo trees). Even generic the trees with multiple 2D leaf textures look believable now. This also goes for structures too. Tons more detail.



WoD-era zones (2014-2016). Blizzard's art team has practically mastered their craft at this point, giving Draenor arguably the most beautiful zones in the game. The flora are all incredibly detailed along with the ground and structure textures. Ripples can be seen in the water, and The skyboxes are breathtaking and incredibly unique, really adding to the atmosphere of each zone (e.g. the "dust-bowl" feel of Gorgrond). The color work, textures and shading is so fine-tuned that even the rocky/snowy wastelands of Gorgrond/Frostfire Ridge manage to look incredibly picturesque and impressive, creating a sense of scale like nothing before. Also notice that the grid-like textures on everything are hardly noticeable and have all but disappeared. Everything looks more natural now. If you really think nothing has changed between Vanilla and WoD, you should check your eyes.




Legion-era zones. (2016 - Present Day) look nothing like old WoW. Compare the two and they look like two separate games. Notice the high polygon count, gorgeous colors, shading, shadows, texture work, high detail on structures and trees with leaves looking less like origami, and the painted skybox of immaculate golden clouds. Also note in the first one the buildings are brighter implying the sun shining and reflecting off of them. In the other pictures you can really see the lighting effects, and the finely detailed texture and color work as well as high polygon count. There is also mist that hangs in the air in #2, and the skybox of the #3 that leaves you absolutely speechless. All of this is in WoW's stylized fashion.




If you think there hasn't been any update or change since Vanilla, you obviously haven't played in Vanilla. WoW's graphics have improved with every expansion to become what they are today. It took a little over a decade to get to where we are today.

When you say,

With WoW it looks fairly similar to when it first was developed. I get that they want to go for a certain artstyle but some of the textures in particular look like a game from the ps2/xbox era.

I am pretty confident you are speaking with hyper-realistic graphics in mind. disregarding the fact WoW has been running on the same engine for 10 years (and has still managed to make the game look amazing and modern), the truth about realistic graphics is that they never age well compared to stylization. Just look at un-modded Skyrim for example. Meanwhile games like Wildstar continue to look great.

So you're right, Blizzard doesn't update their game's graphics like 'other devs'. Instead of going for realism, they slowly and steadily improve their own iconic artstyle until they've mastered it, and even then, the zones still look better every expansion. 10+ years and the art team hasn't peaked yet.

On another note, here is a cool video of Duskwood put into the Unreal Engine. It looks nice, and there's a large sense of scale, but it loses some of the personality WoW's artstyle has. It looks like i'm just playing another RPG.

[Joodoc]

You missed the point entirely. The top end doesn't matter, the base quality should be upped is what I meant.

Why? All that does is removes people from being able to play, with no actual benefit. Basically reducing the funding for wow without actually gaining anything. If you don't like the base setting, play on a higher setting. The fact that there is a lower setting doesn't affect your gameplay at all. All it does do is allow more people to experience the game.

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Why would you want a good looking car over an ugly one? If this was any other game you wouldn't be defending it.
I swear wow is like one of those brain washing cults.

Except the thing is wow GIVES you the option of running it as a good looking car. but for those who, to continue the metaphor, can't afford the gas/insurance/maintenance of the good looking car, they get to turn it into an ugly one.

[Seramore]

Blizzard doesn't improve the visuals of their art because of shit like this. People get separation anxiety from the old artwork that gets updated and throw a fit equivalent to a toddler's fit and Blizzard ends up caving in and providing a way to get the old model of whatever got updated.

There's also the fact that it would just be a huge waste of time, but the reason above is a big reason why many things outside of the terrain aren't updated.

[Jastall]

Because a lot of WoW players play on potatoes, and so they can't update the graphics too much.

Because we've seen with the new PC model controversy that a lot of people are attached to the game's current look.

Because it's a huge waste of money that won't attack too many players since the game will never look cutting edge anyways.

Because shiny graphics is not why people stay subbed.

[Hashcrypt]

I would love WoW to get a graphic update that matched something like Heroes of the Storm.

[Maquegyver]

Uhh. I dare you to get in a time machine, go back to 2004, boot up WoW on a average computer from that time and compare your results to today... Moron.

[Aquinan]

Except the thing is wow GIVES you the option of running it as a good looking car. but for those who, to continue the metaphor, can't afford the gas/insurance/maintenance of the good looking car, they get to turn it into an ugly one.

No no and just No thats not an apt comparison, even if you turn your graphics up your still limited by the base graphics.

[Tharkkun]

No no and just No thats not an apt comparison, even if you turn your graphics up your still limited by the base graphics.

Actually they get pretty damn good. But they aren't using realism so the detail gets lost in the cartoon look and feel.

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Because Blizzard. A company that has made HUNDREDS of Billions of dollars off this game... Is lazy.

Anyone who tries to claim they don't have the manpower or know-how is a shill.

Updated character models likely cost us other content - because that's how they work.

It's 2017 and it barely looks like a game from 2010.

What game looks better and performs better with hundreds of players present in the same zone? None. The game play and fluid combat is second to none. The only time you see better is with a FPS and they use different technology.

[dwarven]

WoW needs a total graphical and mechanical overhaul.

[SirBeef]

considering the age of the engine.. its amazing its being pushed as hard as it is. I suspect soon (tm) a new engine is part of an expac.

Not really since it is constantly being updated and expanded upon. It's not like this is the same engine that WC3 used. It is completely different at this point.

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True but that's their problem. You don't see Fifa and Call of Duty worrying about that.

Dedicated hardware with never changing specs, with new iterations every 5 or so years. Is a lot different than the PC market. Try harder.

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WoW is fine visually, I am a strong proponent of 'stop playing on a fucking toaster' but WoW visuals suit the game they have always been cartoony and stylised and that is just perfect. If WoW had been one of the ultra realistic current gen MMO's, back in 2004, it would not have aged anywhere near as well as it has so why fuck with what is working well?

I dare the OP to take a look at EQ2, which went for a more realistic, higher graphical style, which has been updated since 2004 and try to say it looks better than WoW.

[Lahis]

WoW has been fine for awhile now and I don't see the need to improve it at the cost of who knows what (possibly add an extra year or so to the end of an expansion or some shit).

A raid tier is the common unit of cost for development.


Makes one wonder what in WoD or Legion cost us one raid tier though.

[SirBeef]

But with WoW it looks fairly similar to when it first was developed.
.

https://www.google.com/search?q=WoW+...oH7G-HDyZnswM:

First known screenshot of WoW in development. Looks nothing like it does today.

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You missed the point entirely. The top end doesn't matter, the base quality should be upped is what I meant.

And it has.

[Paulosio]

I agree there have been improvements but major ones. I've read game reviews which are independent and they say the same thing. That the game looks old and dated. It's what people see.

WOW is 4 years older than league of legends and LOL is still far more basic visually just due to the type of game it is. WOW has had plenty of graphical updates.... go look at any Vanilla raid such as Molten Core or AQ compared to raids from more recent xpacs or any of the original zones and compared to the modern ones and try and tell me there haven't been updates... Everything from water effects, character models, shadows, general texture quality and lighting have been massively improved as the game has gone on.

It's never going to look as up to date as a game that's been released in the last 5 years without completely starting over and redoing everything from scratch.

[HuxNeva]

I love the more cartoony visual language of WoW. In fact, it is one of the major things I miss in other MMOs such as Rift or FF.