Curse

Numa Pompilius · Mar 13, 2008, 12:49 AM // 00:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryant Again

By "complete lack of detail" I hope you're referring to the engine's capabilities

I'm talking about item/texture detail, not level design. The lack of detail resulting in large areas of uniform color is what makes WoW graphics "cartoony".
Which in turn is forced by a design decision to use small textures and very low polygon counts to reduce CPU and memory requirements.

The engine's capabilities is probably higher than what's actually used. WoW, like GW, has improved in graphics quality since release, with new content more detailed and richer in polygons than the release content.

Zinger314 · Mar 13, 2008, 01:47 AM // 01:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

I'm talking about item/texture detail, not level design. The lack of detail resulting in large areas of uniform color is what makes WoW graphics "cartoony".

Oh, reeeeeeeeally?

lizards · Mar 13, 2008, 02:09 AM // 02:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zinger314

Oh, reeeeeeeeally?

Yeah and that's a pic from the WOW site and those don't look nearly that detailed in game. I've been playing both games since my friend got me playing WOW a couple months ago, and I'm pretty much just waiting for GW 2 as I'm not much for title grinding. I couldn't even play WOW at first because of the graphics. I gave it another chance and it does get a little better as it goes on, but the armor and weps just look like total crap. In GW I can see gear and just totally want to get it because it looks so cool, in WOW I just don't see anything like that. I've yet to see any weapon or armor that touches a lot of stuff in GW.

The pvp in WOW is absolutely terrible. The classes are so unbalanced it's sickening and can be very irritating. It takes pretty much no skill, it's just based on who has played longer to be able to get better pvp gear.

I had fun getting to 70 but am pretty much bored with it now.

Bring on GW 2.

Numa Pompilius · Mar 13, 2008, 02:37 AM // 02:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zinger314

Oh, reeeeeeeeally?

Yes, really. And that's an in-game screenshot, not a concept rendering, and the image hasn't been downscaled (which increases perceived detail). Note the fur trimmings, the rivets, and the patterning on the leather of the rangers armor. And that the cloth has texture.

Aera Lure · Mar 13, 2008, 02:43 AM // 02:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

The lack of detail resulting in large areas of uniform color is what makes WoW graphics "cartoony".

Dont forget the garish, oversaturated color choices. Its a style thing too. Some like it. Some, including me, dont.

bhavv · Mar 13, 2008, 02:45 AM // 02:45

They cant use fur textures in wow because fur wasnt possible before DX8. Why still even bother comparing a DX7 to a DX8 game?

Numa Pompilius · Mar 13, 2008, 02:45 AM // 02:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aera Lure

Dont forget the garish, oversaturated color choices. Its a style thing too. Some like it. Some, including me, dont.

That's part and parcel of the "console graphics" style. I think one must have grown up with console games to like it. I certainly don't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

They cant use fur textures in wow because fur wasnt possible before DX8. Why still even bother comparing a DX7 to a DX8 game?

Because GW and WoW are the same age. They were both in development at the same time, although WoW was released a few months before GW.

bhavv · Mar 13, 2008, 02:51 AM // 02:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by ogre_jd

Plenty of adventure, too - both in the cutscenes and in what you do in between the cutscenes. Or do you consider that to be just mindless killing and roaming around to no purpose other than to get XP? If you do, you have my sympathy.

So sorry that I consider a fully persistant world that I can explore however I like to be adventure compared to watching cutscenes in GW. What is the point in all the mindless and REWARDLESS killing in GW? I sympathise for you if you just enjoy killing things for no reason whatsoever, which is what 90% of GW PVE is.

Care to explain how every creature and animal in GW just drops gold? Where does a wild bear get 100 gold coins from?

In wow you extract the hide / teeth / carcass of the bear and sell that to a merchant to make money. Seems a lot more like a real adventure to me.

Chronos the Defiler · Mar 13, 2008, 02:57 AM // 02:57

I enjoy getting to my objective...the things I kill just happen to be in my way...I don't need to kill them to level up, because I have other quests and missions to do that for me.

And even so, alot of the monster killing in GW isn't "mindless" if you go out there "mindlessly" they will probably kick your ass because of your lack of preparation or knowledge of what your fighting. Rather than the "every enemy does the same thing and be killed by the same thing over and over again"

lizards · Mar 13, 2008, 02:57 AM // 02:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

So sorry that I consider a fully persistant world that I can explore however I like adventure compared to watching cutscenes in GW. What is the point in all the mindless and REWARDLESS killing in GW? I sympathise for you if you just enjoy killing things for no reason whatsoever, which is what 90% of GW PVE is.

What's the reward for all the mindless killing in WOW? I play both and have no clue what you're talking about, it's pretty much the same thing except that WOW has about a million more pointless quests and NO story line whatsoever. And you also have to change your armor and weapons every 5 levels or so. I've yet to understand why people grind for gear in WOW at lvl 30 (just a random number) when they'll just have to change it in 5, 6, 7 or 8 levels. There's no point in even getting any gear until 70 and the only way to get anything decent is by pvping.

bhavv · Mar 13, 2008, 02:59 AM // 02:59

The reward is the drops. In GW drops hardly matter because you already have max gear.

I dont find getting better gear grind. I find chasing pointless titles in GW grind.

Made In Ascalon · Mar 13, 2008, 03:00 AM // 03:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

So sorry that I consider a fully persistant world that I can explore however I like to be adventure compared to watching cutscenes in GW. What is the point in all the mindless and REWARDLESS killing in GW? I sympathise for you if you just enjoy killing things for no reason whatsoever, which is what 90% of GW PVE is.

The majority of killing which goes on in WoW is either pointless grind or rewarded with mediocre items which are outlived very quickly.

Quote:

Care to explain how every creature and animal in GW just drops gold? Where does a wild bear get 100 gold coins from?

Care to explain how every creature and animal in WoW is capable of dropping magical weapons and armor? Where do they get them from?

Quote:

In wow you extract the hide / teeth / carcass of the bear and sell that to a merchant to make money. Seems a lot more like a real adventure to me.

Uh... that's your definition of a real adventure? Professions in WoW are my definition of a real job.

I can't help but wonder if you play WoW at all.

Redfeather1975 · Mar 13, 2008, 03:03 AM // 03:03

There's got to me more than gameplay and graphics that draw people to one or the other.

Everquest 2 has virtually identical gameplay to WoW, except...

EQ2 has player housing.
Tradeskilling in EQ2 is a whole subsystem of gameplay elements. Some people only tradeskill because of how much you can do.
EQ2 has a more advanced graphics engine.
EQ2 has more combat options, such as the ability to control enemies and their skillbars, 2 complete class trees each with 3-4 paths, Heroic Opportunities, Miracles, and more.
Voice acting for almost every line of dialogue in the game.
Changing content galore. The game's content is constantly being added to or updated. Almost every month a huge patch is done that can add a new area or new game feature.
24 professions. Not including tradeskilling. There are probably a dozen of those.

If I took the time I could go on for a while.

I think the reason why people prefer a particular game is far more than what the game has in it and how it looks.
Popularity? Accessibility? Lore? Who the developer is? Or maybe it plays just how you like it. Probably a lot of factors involved. I knew a number of people in WoW, whom when I asked if they played EQ2, they said no only because Sony made it.

bhavv · Mar 13, 2008, 03:04 AM // 03:04

No i dont play wow at all lol. I played for a month then moved onto lotro.

No one here seems to be bothered about lotro though which is just perfect in everysingle way.

Numa Pompilius · Mar 13, 2008, 03:11 AM // 03:11

I played EQ2 before GW, and... well, it's a good game, it just never grabbed me. There were all these little annoyances, like item wear, or waiting in line for a boss to respawn, or the random people milling around when I was trying to quest... Also I really like the tactical aspect of GW combat, which is completely missing in EQ2 combat. Not at all a bad game, but not my cup of tea.

Redfeather1975 · Mar 13, 2008, 03:13 AM // 03:13

I enjoyed EQ2, but when I found out about WoW, I switched to that, but then when I found out about GW I switched again. I simply found something I enjoyed more than the previous two. There are probably a lot of nuances to whether or not we like a game.
Also what we played before a game, is probably a crucial factor as well. My time spent in WoW did not last as long as EQ2, only because I was growing bored with the type of game they both were when I switched to WoW.

bhavv · Mar 13, 2008, 03:16 AM // 03:16

How do you think GW2 persistant world is going to work? There is going to be boss camping a plenty. If everyone loves the instanced play so much in GW, then why are Anet changing it? Obviously because persistant world is better.

Numa Pompilius · Mar 13, 2008, 03:20 AM // 03:20

Because persistent worlds improve social interaction, and social interaction is what keeps people hooked to a MMO.

Personally I like that GW is instanced, but then I'm not big on social interaction.

Redfeather1975 · Mar 13, 2008, 03:22 AM // 03:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

How do you think GW2 persistant world is going to work? There is going to be boss camping a plenty. If everyone loves the instanced play so much in GW, then why are Anet changing it? Obviously because persistant world is better.

GW2 is going to have both. Persistent areas will be new to the series, but instanced areas are still going to be crucial. Any information about persistent world bosses was that they'd be designed for everyone to fight together, such as the big dragon example they gave.
Bosses needed for specific quests or story arcs, will probably still be in instanced areas.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that persistent world zones are going to function as outposts and hubs to instanced zones. Basically giant outposts where we can fight monsters now.

bhavv · Mar 13, 2008, 03:29 AM // 03:29

Wow and Lotro have instanced areas too. Although im not too keen on playing with other people in GW, as I mentioned before its just sooo amazing how much better it works in lotro. Your doing a quest, you see people, you join up. And you dont get noobs because the game is balanced well enough for everyone to be able to play well.