Do You Think WoW's Graphics Are Bad?

[Deleted]

the graphics aren't 10 years old btw.
The oldest graphics right now are outland. I admit, when compared to other games, these look bad. But when compared to newer graphics, like in MoP, they look pretty bad, too. And I bet WoD will be even better.

Also, the cartoony art style of WoW ages much better than the ultrarealistic art style of some other games.

[Littleraven]

Nope. They aren't what most people would consider "good" but they are unique. I'm no graphics whore so I really don't care what a game looks like as long as its fun but at the same time art style is everything to me. WoW has a very specific art style and I love that about it.

[Deleted]

Honestly the graphics are fine. Too many people these days care about cosmetic stuff over the important things like exciting gameplay.

That's because we, by our very nature, have a tendency to judge things from our visual perception. Imagine a Warcraft trailer with bad quality; it would certainly be less appealing, no matter how good it is in every other of its constituent parts. Aside from this, your critique isn't solid, because you assume that better graphics should come at the expense of something more important, which I disagree with. With the finances Blizzard has at their disposal, I cannot imagine increasing their team and adding people who can work almost exclusively on the graphics would be a problem.

[Graeham]

I think that Wow has aged rather well. Impressive graphics are great but I'm typically more invested in a game's overall aesthetics, game-play, story and sense of immersion. A lot of the older stuff is a little on the dated side but each expansion seems to be making substantial progress in regards to the amount of detail present in new additions to the game.

[Deleted]

Also, the cartoony art style of WoW

Cartoony: http://images.mmorpg.com/features/69...n-WildStar.jpg

NOT cartoony: http://www.noob-club.ru/media/news/2...zzly_hills.png

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Cartoony: http://images.mmorpg.com/features/69...n-WildStar.jpg

NOT cartoony: http://www.noob-club.ru/media/news/2...zzly_hills.png

Wildstar is cartoon, while WoW is cartoony.

[Ulfhedinn]

FFXIV is the closest thing you will find to wows art style imo. If you compare the two its pretty bad.

WoWs are style hides a lot of the bad though so that helps.

[darkblood14]

Bad? No. Old? Yes. Aesthetically good? Yes.

Most players and developers fail to understand that it doesn't really matter how realistic your lights are or how high the texture resolution is, if the game looks aesthetically good it will look far better than a fully cranked up cryengine 3 powered game that just has shiny graphics.

[Issalice]

The art style works for it. If they went for a realistic look rather then cartoonish it would look much worse. I like how it looks overall. Some of it could use a touch up obviously, it is 10 years old after all.

[Deleted]

Wildstar is cartoon, while WoW is cartoony.

Let's agree to disagree.

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The art style works for it. If they went for a realistic look rather then cartoonish it would look much worse.

Explain why it would look worse if the concept were more realistic than originally. The graphics have, over 10 years, been updated to much higher quality. The evidence is crystal clear for anyone who goes to Elwynn Forest and then Grizzly Hills, Kun-Lai Summit, or plenty other newer areas.

[Deleted]

Personally, I think gameplay is ten times more important than graphics.

This^^ pretty graphics don't make a game good case in point FF13 pretty game but by leaps and bounds the worst game in the series

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Let's agree to disagree.

It isn't as simple as you're trying to make it, I object when people cut off important bits to make things fit their narrow view.

[jbombard]

There are a lot of complaints I have with the current game, but graphics aren't one of them. They have a style that they do incredibly well, and they really know how to get the most out of low end systems. The graphics aren't cutting edge but they aren't supposed to be. They have their own style and it they do it well.

[Ulfric Trumpcloak]

Depends, graphics look really nice in Cata and MoP zones, WotLK zones are ok. Vanilla and TBC zones look like shit though, specially tbc because most vanilla zones got a small revamp in cata.

[Sky High]

it's only short coming is how old it is. but blizzard has been upping the graphical fidelity every expansion. so answer is nope, it is very appealing to look at.

[jbombard]

Cartoony: http://images.mmorpg.com/features/69...n-WildStar.jpg

NOT cartoony: http://www.noob-club.ru/media/news/2...zzly_hills.png

It is very easy to skew that comparison by picking and choosing screenshots that agree with your argument. Both are cartoon games, the style is very similar. One is SF, one is traditional fantasy. They both have "cute races", and not so cute races. They both have brightly colored zones and darker zones. The main difference between WoW and Wildstar graphics is that Wildstar has a newer engine and uses more polygons and larger skins.

[Yig]

Of course not, in all the subjective contexts this question explodes into a spectrum of.

There is a time and place for minimalism, recognizing elegant technique and grasp of form in a mind who sees how things work, why they look the way they do, and how to describe that in a visual language using clever abbreviations and by allowing just enough of a hint for your own mind to think it's seeing something,... color palettes and complimentary color schemes with just the right dash of something to stand out and say hello to your eye, atmosphere, the emotional value of sunlight and light in general. WOW is a gorgeous work of art.

I literally get a physical high from looking at WOW, and in the original few months the endorphin fueled euphoria was so powerful I would sit and stare at this game and think hard about how long this could possibly last before I got bored of it. I had never seen anything like it in video games, and I used to be a "graphics whore" going back to the 8 bit NES Master System. There have been so many different ways to measure "good" in graphics, but ultimately the illustration and painting and sculpting and puppeteering and animating of human art all comes together in a game like WOW making one of most amazing achievements in human passion if you look at WOW like a giant perfectly replicated and identical 3d diorama you could somehow go and see built like the terrain of a Warhammer diorama or model train set, with all the whimsical form Blizzard's artists used in simple minimal shapes to suggest a thousand different trees with their own unique personality. Back when it was acceptable to use the same tree model like a stamp in video game world terrain repeating next to each other side by side, boring the eye in seconds. WOW made it possible to see a vista on the horizon right out of the most archetypal fantasy painting or animated feature and walk to that vista without a loading time with all the visual interest and character of someone's lovingly sculpted statue.

The people who have no sense of taste and have to judge everything based on lists and diagrams and what things they think are "supposed" to look like who think the higher the number count is the better are missing the point.

[melodramocracy]

The art style works well for the game. No problems with any of it.

[Yig]

Cartoony: http://images.mmorpg.com/features/69...n-WildStar.jpg

NOT cartoony: http://www.noob-club.ru/media/news/2...zzly_hills.png

I dare anyone with a bladder to visit the Sequoia national forest and it's meadows to claim that the Grizzly Hills is not cartoony.
Arguing about a vast spectrum of STYLE in a world of caricature art is like trying to put your head in your ass to see the back of your neck.
Stylized graphics have unique styles, some more simple than others, some cartoons far more detailed than others and some far more impressionistic or geometric than others

What makes stylized art cartoony is a visual language known as the cartoon lexicon. If it has elements from that visual language, you've got a cartoony style.
That's about it for today, I hope I'm not wrong and nobody shoots me in the beard.

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Playing the original Zelda Wind Waker will be a work of art for all time, the HD remake is just a treasure beyond measure.

[fernotao]

it would be nice if they made the game work off more then 1 core and or make it work evenly on every core of your computer