Reimagining Azeroth (Aesthetically)

[huth]

I know the images are not accurate representations of the zones. That was not the point. It was just to give us an idea of how old zones could be redesigned if they were made today.

What would a modern Elwynn Forest look like? That's the key question, IMO.

It's a forest. It should still look like one, not an open plain.

Think the existing zones with modern assets rather than comparing stylistically different zones. Drustvar and Duskwood are probably the only ones that work because the style is similar already.

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Not quite that simple. Yes they have the tech to replace certain things. However you have to keep in mind the set design (set like movie set). If you remodel and replace houses without taking into consideration the layout of the doodads and npc locations, it will be off. You have to manually rerig locations of these things if the buildings aren't 1 to 1. Again its one thing to replace an individual painting, its another to completely replace an entire house (interior included)

You don't even need tech. Just replacing the model files. But unless the new asset has 100% the same dimensions as the old (at which point you're really just replacing textures), everything else will end up out of place. Even just replacing textures can make stuff look weird.

And that's ignoring that the attachment points are generally not the same. Replacing a tree will likely require manual readjustment so it doesn't sink into the ground or float above it.

[Yooginava182]

I know the money is there, but they always complained about how difficult cataclysm was. Again, this is different, as questlines won't necessarily be touched, but I can see them complaining about how difficult it could be.

They had a significantly smaller team than they do now when Cata came out.

[Dhomeli]

I think with Chromie time available it could be done. Rather than trying to update the entirety of both continents all at once, they could simply make several expansions that slowly re-release them. And players can simply talk to Chromie if they want to see the Cataclysm version of the world.

So we could have a Northern Eastern Kingdoms expansion, for example. They could rebuild those zones from the ground up (and include 2-3 brand new zones perhaps). Those zones would be the focus for end game content, rather than leveling zones only. Then in patches or expansions they could slowly do the same with the rest of the world.

I don’t want them to do Cataclysm all over again where they graphically update the world and make all quest lines focused on a single threat like Deathwing. And I don’t want minor updates. I’d love to see them reenvision zones entirely, make them bigger, show how the world has changed since Cataclysm, etc.

[DookuDookuTree]

How is that even a question? Blizzard rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars every year in expansion box purchases, $15 subscriptions, server transfers, and cash shop stuff, and that's not even counting merch sales. Blizzard absolutely could afford to give EK and Kalimdor an artistic revamp. Blizzard won't because they are cheap.

It would take 3 guys & 1 week to remake Stormwind City.

[Eazy]

Although I'd like to see Azeroth with the better graphics... I wouldn't like to see changed the one we're playing in.

The reasoning is simple: Blizzard would no longer make such a beautiful, thematic terrains and landscapes. The art team wasn't so good in the last days. The models are indeed HD, with plenty of triangles, but they're dull and unoriginal.

[Soon-TM]

I'd love it if every zone in Kalimdor/EK could be made to look like those gorgeous landscapes from Legion/BfA. For all of their respective flaws, the visuals in both of those expansions were absolutely amazing, while also feeling Azerothian enough. Even the "alien" parts (e.g. Argus) looked distinctively... Well, alien, unlike the Maw or ZM - actually, one of my pet peeves with SL is that it looks too pedestrian for an ostensibly "otherworldly" setting.

[fazaim]

Although I'd like to see Azeroth with the better graphics... I wouldn't like to see changed the one we're playing in.

The reasoning is simple: Blizzard would no longer make such a beautiful, thematic terrains and landscapes. The art team wasn't so good in the last days. The models are indeed HD, with plenty of triangles, but they're dull and unoriginal.

We're not playing in it, and we won't be playing in it before it's being updated to make sense to play in. The art team has been amazing from Legion and onwards, even though I personally don't like Shadowlands, I think that's more to do with the fact that these new zones don't feel like Warcraft except from Maldraxxus which is an underwhelming answer to the Scourge's origin.

I am personally all for going back to minor conflicts, dealing with the Van Cleef's and so on instead of this cosmic madness.