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Realistic vs. stylized aesthetic. Which would you prefer? (poll)
Aceshighhhh
Member Posts: 185
I've been seeing a lot of debate lately about how EQN should look. A lot of people are really put off by the recent trend of stylized graphics, although many argue they age much better. How should EQN look, and why?
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Played: EQ1 (10 Years), Guild Wars, Rift, TERA
Tried: EQ2, Vanguard, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Runes of Magic and countless others...
Currently Playing: GW2
Nytlok Sylas
80 Sylvari Ranger
There will be a lot of unhappy people for those expecting a realistic look.
Senior Art Director discussing the visuals for EQN
It's really a shame because SOE has a great opportunity with the Forgelight engine to make a beautiful realistic game.
They argue that they want a new game that is different than the rest, but how exactly is a familiar cartoony aesthetic different from the recent slew of MMO's?
Well, the art director claims it will be a different look than what we've seen before... who knows.
I chose stylized. Reason being, it just ages much better than realistic does, in my opinion.
I'm not saying the game needs to look like a gosh darn cartoon, but more stylized than realistic just seems to age better.
Yeah, this is important, just because it isn't photo realistic doesn't mean it has to look like WoW and Wildstar.
In the video I linked above the art director mentions going for a look closer to the original EQ.
Do you have a source on this? Considering the concept art we've seen, the leaked video, and the image Smedly posted - it looks very similar to a WoW-style
Watch the first minute or so of the video I linked.
All I got to say is if I wanted wow graphics I would be playing wow, instead of EQ2. I saw the leaked photo of how they totally screwed up my beloved Kerra, I sure hope that is a faked picture. If it is not gosh only knows what they have done to my beloved rotunga the other race that I really love.
One can only hope they really don't go down that road otherwise I fear the worst, as they sure seam to have put my beloved eq2 on the back burner.
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Stylized graphics are more pleasing on the eye (in my opinion) and seem to stand the test of time better than realistic graphics.
I also think that stylized graphics can still look decent on mediocre rigs which doesn't seem to be the case with most realistic games.
All I really heard were buzzwords like "unique" and "stylized". I think we'd be hard-pressed to find a western stylized MMO that DOESN'T look like WoW.
If they manage to actually pull of a truly different style, great. Although I still personally wish for a realistic style.
The lady speaking worked on the original EQ, and she mentions in that video I linked that the art style will be closer to EQ1.
Stylized does not have to mean WoW graphics, you need to stop thinking that way.I see this rebuttal often, and I simply disagree. Here's a response I just made on Reddit
This may have been true 10 years ago when we've had exponentially worse looking graphics, but in this generation we're hitting a plateau when it comes to real noticeable graphic enhancements. If SOE decides to make a realistic game now, it would still look quite good in 10 years - they also would have plenty opportunity to keep upgrading the engine and make it look better as time goes on.
I don't know anybody who says "man, WoW really looks so great, I think I'm gonna start playing it!" If anything, many people are put off by how silly it looks. If SOE is seriously looking for more numbers here, I think a dark realistic aesthetic would sell much better than a cartoony style which looks catered toward children.
I see stylized artwork as more of a gimmick to try to sell the game as being different - which I think is counterproductive in and of itself because literally almost every current fantasy MMO out there trying to go for that silly style.
That would definitely be better, but unfortunately considering the images that we have seen - I don't think it's likley
You mean the artwork or the leaked animation video? Because the kerran is... artwork, and the leaked video doesn't remind me of WoW.
for EQN and every mmorpg i want stylized aesthetics. Stylized does not mean it will look like WoW which a lot of people seem to think that way. There are a lot of stylized types (WoW and WIldstar look similar, GW2 is stylized, Tera is stylized, all those colorful mmorpgs are stylized in their own way. Thats what i want in mmorpgs.
Look at WoW's vanilla compared to the last two expansions. Vanilla looks horribly outdated and the latest expansions updated the graphics and look really good and fresh.
Now, imagine if Age of conan or The Secret World were released in 2005 up to this day no matter how much they update their realistic graphics it would look like washed out garbage. AoC started to look dated already (except for the amazing characters). TSW will be the same maybe a couple more years down the road. Even Rift started looking dated already because of the washed out rubber-ish textures behind the purple / black / green / brown palette.
Realistic graphics dont have the longevity of stylized graphics. Their visual appeal is for very short term. Period
EDIT: another great example. Look at Defiance vs Firefall. 5 years down the road FF will still look fresh and colorful with little visual teaks here and there while Defiance will look like a 20 year old game.
Both. They each have that very familiar western stylized/cartoony aesthetic about them. The oversized shoulderpads, the WWE wrestling belt, disproportional limbs, other over-emphasized armor pieces.
It's very much in style with what I've seen in WoW. If you go to that thread about the leaked Kerran art, many are arguing right now that it looks too much like WoW.
Wholeheartedly disagree.
If Blizzard can update WoW's graphics to make them more appropriate for this generation, why can't any company do the same with a realistic looking game? I think these are just assumptions based on your opinion that stylized aesthetics "age better". Look at EVE online - they've done a terrific job at updating their graphic style, and it's very much a realistic looking aesthetic.
I've already made the point that we're hitting diminishing returns in terms of graphical advancements, so relying on cartoony aesthetics for longevity isn't quite necessary anymore.
I really just want something that looks different. Over-emphasized shoulderpads, disproportional limbs, etc have all been done to hell in these western games. If SOE truly wants EQN to be different, it's time for a realistic looking fantasy MMO.
Sounds like EQ1 to me, with giant shoulderpads:
If I have to choose one way or the other, I'll take stylized graphics over realistic graphics. Mostly because the realistic graphics don't look realistic. Not on people anyway. You always end up staring at lifeless mannequins that are one step away from trying to suck your eyes out of your head because they don't really understand how humans work.
I don't really think things heading all the way towards cartoons is the best bet either. I think starting with realistic graphics, and then stylizing them just enough to get out of the uncanny valley is the way to go.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
SWG, Eve, Planetside 2, EQN, Star Citizen
What about realistic stylization?
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