On "Cartoony" vs "Realistic" Graphics

Gudrunix

Complaints over "cartoony" graphics seem to be the theme of the week, so I thought it would be of interest to address the issue directly.

First off:  "cartoony" graphics are typically not that cartoony; a better word would be "stylized".  What people here call "cartoony" is nowhere near the level of stylization found in cartoons, or even in comic books; it's simply less realistic than, say, Hollywood movie CGI.

Second:  "realistic" graphics are usually nothing of the sort.  They often feature heavily stylized elements, such as exaggerated figures, massive armor and weapons, and ludicrously over-the-top explosions.  The reason they feel more "realistic" is simply because they are more detailed:  textures have more detail, there is a wider palette of colors, more sprites and special effects are used, etc.

Computer game companies now have the technology to make games as detailed as they would please; so why are they going for more stylized graphics?  The reasons, as I can see them, are these.

- The action is easier to follow with more stylized graphics.  This is particularly true the more objects there are on screen.  With more detailed graphics, it simply gets busy and cluttered any time you have more than two or three objects moving at once.  It's why FPSs continue to use detailed graphics (there are only a handful of moving objects on screen at once) while RTSs and MOBAs are almost all using more stylized graphics.  When textures and color palettes are simplified, it's easier to follow the action when there is a lot of movement on screen.

- It's easier to distinguish a game with a stylized look.  Games that feature higher levels of detail tend to look the same - once you've seen one modern era FPS, you've seen 'em all.  Likewise with the Korean grinders, whose graphic designers love the detail - they all look the same.  World of Warcraft, in contrast, is instantly recognizable due to its stylized graphics.  It's simply easier to market and build a brand for a  game if it has a distinctive look, and that's only possible if the graphics are stylized.

- Stylized graphics give more freedom to set tech specifications, which widens the potential customer base.  This is critically important for MMOs, which have a "network effect", where the appeal of the game goes up exponentially with the number of players playing it.

- Detailed graphics look good in posed shots, but in practice can look busy, particularly if there are a lot of objects on screen.  Too much detail is ugly.  (It's why very good filmmakers have tight control over the number of ojects in their shots, and the range of colors present as well.)  Again, that's something the FPSs and single-player RPGs can control, because all the encounters are tightly scripted and have a limited number of elements, but it can't be controlled in an MMORPG.

Bottom line:  I think stylized grahpics are here to stay.  Individual games may be more or less stylized - e.g., lightly stylized games like EverQuest Next, or heavily stylized games like Age of Empires Online - but I don't see MMORPGs going back to the heavily detailed graphics approach of yesteryear, for the reasons above.

maplestone

It's hard to argue tastes.  If people don't like the look of something, they don't like the look of it.  Visceral initial reactions to one game over another are the reason graphics tech has been pushed forward so far in the first place.

Ticklepink

9 out of every ten threads started about the cartoony graphics are by people like you in favor of stylized graphics and then ultimately someone comes in and posts "OMG shutup already about cartoony graphics they're not cartoony!!"

So..just remember readers..this was started by your team.

Kaneth

I have to agree with most of what the OP has said. I just find that the more stylized look tends to withstand the test of time longer. Additionally, something else I've noticed is that the more "realistic" a game tries to look, the weird the animations tend to get. Running is one of those issues where I find stylized better than realistic. Far too often the more realistic look makes running look...well weird. The back tend to be too straight, and the stick-up-the-booty look prevails. At least with stylized, they tend to make running animations a bit more exaggerated so as to prevent their weird postures while moving.

Not that I am crapping all over realistic look, since I do love my Skyrim, but I prefer them in single player games or in games where there are less potential people on screen than in a mmo (FPS games for example). In those environments the devs have to sacrifice less of the "real" to enhance performance. Unfortunately, mmos with high comp specs tend to lose a good portion of their potential playerbase due to hardware limitations. Hence, stylized will be the staple of any mmo that wants a larger audience...for now.

TL;DR I like em both, but prefer stylized for my mmos.

JJOneway

While I do understand the differing viewpoints on "cartoony" versus "realistic" graphics I think it's arguing for the sake of arguing in a lot of cases. It's an aesthetic position and therefore there is no right or wrong and logically this means there is no right or wrong answer, or even a right or wrong argument.

However I will say that since the (very limited, let's be honest) reveal of EQNext I have rarely seen the same level of vituperative arguments on this site, most of which have little basis in fact and are either hearsay, misinformation or wishful thinking, or often a fairly toxic mix of the above.

I don't mean to suggest that there's no value in passionate discourse about it but I do question the sense behind some of these arguments. A lot of them seem to boil down to "It's not like EQ1" or "It's not like I envisioned EQNext in my imagination". If this is your base motive for arguing the graphics style, mechanics or whatever then I suggest you are arguing from a flawed and ultimately indefensible position. 

Things change and evolve. This is the most natural state of the world, with MMO's as with anything else. We may not always like it but it's a fact that we all have to live with and adapt to.

If the direction of this new game (which we still know next to nothing about) isn't to your liking then, by all means, vent your ire but stop and think about your motives for doing so before posting what amounts to another "I don't like it!" thread just for the post count.