"That special Sony feel..."

Strezz

Is it just me, or does the Sony MMO's have a certain plastic feel to them? Especially the characters seem's like made out of plastic, in EQ, EQ II, SWG and Vanguard...



i know it's a design choice, and they cant all look like WoW (That's both good and bad), but come on... Since Vanguard is very demanding on your computer, couldnt they (Sigil/Sony) at least have made the characters look a bit like Lotr? :P



Well, just my thoughts...



CHeers

CleffyII

Its because they hire no talent artists who can't create a descent specular map.  Remember interns are free or really cheap.

RedwoodSap

The character models in classic EQ actually looked better than the ones in EQ2. A lot of people complained about how lifeless the characters appear in EQ2.

jhall229

I hate the character models and animations of EQ2 .  Especially when they are running.  SWG on the other hand, has nice character models, but they even more retarded when they are running than the ones in  EQ2.

Tastywheat1

I am no Sony fan to defend them by any means, However I as well as most reviewers of LOTRO found those Avatars to be some of the weakest uninspired looks seen  and were far from a next Gen. I will stick to the plastic look of Sony if LOTRO is the is the only other choice.

Zarraa

 

 

Originally posted by CleffyII


Its because they hire no talent artists who can't create a descent specular map.  Remember interns are free or really cheap.

While a good point Cleffy the same could be said for every MMO not named Lineage II, Guild Wars or Granado Espada. 

To take it a step further the same could be said for the majority of platform gaming houses as well. Companies recruit rookies fresh out of school who'll work for half of what us old timers will.  Not to mention the majority are single so they can work them 12 hours a day plus pay little to nothing for insurance because again their single.

The company I worked for was the #1 independent game developer in the world 2003. Since they employed the tactic you outlined above fast forward to 2007 and they've no more A titles and do mainly ports..

As is the case with the majority of things in life, you get what you pay for.

Chiram

I quit LOTRO for that sole reason. I could not stand the character models and animation. If you step back and look at the models compared to how good the world looks they simply just do not fit by looks and quality wise. It's as if a master of arts took over the world design and they handed the character models and 2 motion animations over to some one handed, 3 fingered A.D.D child.

 

 

MaeEye

SOE should have done a lot of things different in their games.  To me, their game barely hit medicor in a sense.

sinster

 

soe is on something...

iffymack

I always loved the plastic rocks and floors found in eq2 and vanguard..stunning.

the faces in both titles were actually really good-even if everyone looked more like relations rather than individuals-just a shame that most of the scenery looked like it was coated in glue. LOTRO on the other hand had great scenery but characters who looked like they belong in a 2002 ps2 game.

miagisan

are you crazy...the background , landscape, etc are gorgeous in eq2....character models, yes, kinda poor, but the game itself is gorgeous

Daffid011

I thought SWG did a wonderful job of animations and characters.  Such a HUGE array of choices, styles and looks it still looks up to date even by todays current games on the market.  All that is pretty much underminded by the benny hill antics as they run around since the nge though. 

The models and animations that were launched with EQ1 were good considering the timeframe of course.  They animations get really bad when they did the graphics engine update and most of the models were really bad too. 

I agree so much about EQ2/Vanguard.  While they look somewhat lifelike in screen shots, they fall very short of looking anything realistic when put into game play.  It is sort of creepy just how unnatural it all turns out.

 

0k21

hehe.hehehhh...heheh... good characters....heheheh...... water effects that look like play-do.... hehehehhh...

Elikal

Originally posted by Strezz


Is it just me, or does the Sony MMO's have a certain plastic feel to them? Especially the characters seem's like made out of plastic, in EQ, EQ II, SWG and Vanguard...



i know it's a design choice, and they cant all look like WoW (That's both good and bad), but come on... Since Vanguard is very demanding on your computer, couldnt they (Sigil/Sony) at least have made the characters look a bit like Lotr? :P



Well, just my thoughts...



CHeers

I am playing EQ2 since launch, and while its a fairly good game, I can - alas - only agree. All SOE games do have this plastic look, especially in the characters, but also in world design. Artistically you can see a clear line from EQ to EQ2 and Vanguard - even tho it was made by Sigil, the design line is 100% EQish. I felt VG really is the summit of platicy design, especially in many of the buildings and world design, but of course also the characters. All those characters have this kind of Ken & Barbie look.

But making characters look like LOTRO? Hurm... was that a joke? I felt the LOTRO characters were just as sterile, or even more so. The SWG models where there best SOE has made so far IMO. But a really good character model design ... hard to say. Personally I like great diversity and I like anime style, but unfortunately all Asian games with anime look have a VERY limited choices, so for me all good never came together.

I value the SIms 2 models, CoH was alright too. But for me WOW are the most abhorrent models. *shudders* But what can you expect when you leave fashion to straight males.*snicker* =P