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Will WoW ever get a graphics upgrade?
Chillingham
Member Posts: 58
It doesn't really need it yet. But do you tihnk Blizzard will make an upgrade to all the graphics eventually?
Comments
It doesnt really need it, of course it wont get it. Blizzard is a sequel company, they will make WoW 2 before they revamp WoW.
Besides, PC gamers are notoriously cheap, and most of them dont know what good computer specs are anyway, that is why most pc games come out low to mid range quality even though they have been capable of HD for years now. Dont expect an HD MMO anytime soon.
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
They do a graphical update in WotLK, if you are talking about a complete graphical rehaul i don't think so.
The graphics update in WotLK won't be significant.
I think they will play around with component sof the art style overall to make it a fresher experience than the original game but Blizzard, quite rightly, pride themselves on a game built for the largest cross section of PC set-ups to ensure mass appeal. Any significant graphics update may compromise that footprint and imbalance the games accesabiliity, especially between countries such as Europe/USA vs Russia / China where perhaps the disposable income to upgrade CPU and graphics cards is very different.
To err is human....to play is divine
If you perform a graphical upgrade you lose subscribers. WoW is a world game and many people can't upgrade their pc's every few years. It would be unwise for Blizzard to upgrade.
The old cliche applies here, "If it isn't broke don't fix it."
WHen played at the usual camera distance, WOW still holds up just fine. Of course when you zoom way in, the low poly count rears its ugly head, but when played normally its still a very pleasing game to look at. The low poly count dissapears once you get far enough away from the characters anyway. Sure the ground isn't as busy as newer games. More plant life and clutter helps, but the art style doesn't need it. With real shadows and some better lighting effects in WOTLK, there are a bunch of subtle effects that enhance what was already a pretty game. A high poly option for player that smooths out the models would be nice, but it would be a whole lot of work for little payback. Again, you really only notice it alot when objects are close up.
It'll NEVER look realistic, because it was never the style of the art.
The game doesn't need one because the art more than makes up for the dated engine.
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Talking about SWG much?
HD is maybe posible for while but only for a few who have enough money to buy a high end machine.
Sinds lcd screens with 1900 resolution are not expensive anymore and graficscards like 8800gt or new ati cards are cheap HD becomes more available for bigger group of pc users in last years or so.
Most of players still have lcd screens with max 1280 or 1680 resolution and thats noT HD posible, plus your graficscard must support HD and many still dont have that.
Maybe in 2010 we gonne see games indevelopement that are more capable of HD, and more main stream have HD capable pc's.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
What I was going to say. WOW does not need it because of the way it is made. The graphics fit right into the storyline and game play. Updating graphics to a point where you start knocking off the older PC users would be really dumb on Blizzards part.
Who let you in the VIP section?
Strangely enough, I have grown to hate the Warcraft graphics, but find myself interested in Warhammer which is simular but has just the right edge to realistic fantasy setting that I love.
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I tend to agree with those that say it doesn't really need it. WoW's graphics are unique and fit well still to this day.
That being said, I hope that WotLK brings decent improvments.
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Art Direction >>> high power graphics.
I suppose WOTLK can use slightly highly poly count models but as long as it looks good, i don't think you really need ultra realistic graphics.
I would much rather to see more variation of graphics (more different looks of monsters, wackily looking zones ... ) than ultra detailed graphics with all sort of lighting & shading.
Well, WOTLK have some minor things in it to make more use of cards like the GF 8000 serie but Blizzard said that they were considering a big revamp and they will consider it for the next expansion too.
That is probably weasel talk for no, Blizz must have another game under development but anounced that WOW2 or World of Diablo or something is under work and will release ina few years would kill of their sale right now.
Of course, I can be wrong and they might throw in high textures and all the latest goodies in the next expansion in a year but I kinda doubt it. High end graphics have never really been Blizzards main selling point, they are trying for gameplay and art.
HD is maybe posible for while but only for a few who have enough money to buy a high end machine.
Sinds lcd screens with 1900 resolution are not expensive anymore and graficscards like 8800gt or new ati cards are cheap HD becomes more available for bigger group of pc users in last years or so.
Most of players still have lcd screens with max 1280 or 1680 resolution and thats noT HD posible, plus your graficscard must support HD and many still dont have that.
Maybe in 2010 we gonne see games indevelopement that are more capable of HD, and more main stream have HD capable pc's.
You quoted me and said what i said...
and most real gamers know CRT owns LCD in every way shape or form, and they have been cheaper then LCD since the very begining. And HD has little to do with the monitor and more to do with the videocard. A lcd that can only do 1280x720 which is 720p btw, Is no different then an lcd that can do 1920 x 1080 because, the video card is HD regardless.
Besides, you cant see the difference between 720 and 1080 on a monitor, especially if you are sitting 2-10ft away from it.
MMO wont be getting a graphics overhual anytime soon, there arent enough people who have high end computers to make it productive, thats like making pc games vista only, it would be pointless and stupid.
Quotations Those Who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent resolutions inevitable. John F. Kennedy
Life... is the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come - Lester Freeman
Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them? - Willy Nelson
There are simply a massive amount of gamers who don't have high-end systems, and one of the levels of appeal that WoW has is that you could play the thing on some brands of toasters. Giving the game a graphical overhaul could very well alienate those players on low-end systems, and it would result is a big lop taken out of WoW's userbase. And for what? For shinier rocks? For more realistic water? It's not anywhere near worth the risk.
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Playing: Nothing
Played: Champions Online, CoX, STO, PSO, WoW, lots of free-to-play crap
Looking Forward To: DC Universe Online, Blade and Soul
Here is the thing, I don't give a crap about some poor ghetto kid with a p3 800 and voodoo 3dfx card trying to play the game. I want it to look awesome and be able to hold its own against the competition in the next few years.
It would be a great move for them to make a High Res client, and it would definately add a few more years to WoW's life. So yeah they should, it's the best selling game of all time and they keep it around alot longer that way.
I have to say that I don't only disagree with this, but I would actually go as far as say that you are wrong. Here's why:
Developing a hig res client would take a huge effort and would only cater to a small user group (people like you and me who either make lots of money, or who have a rig because we work with graphics) The so called enthusiast segment is extreemely small in comparison to what is called the "main stream" segment. The main stream segment have computers capable of running wow on high graphics, but that's about as far as it goes. As a final comment, I would like to add that I believe one of the big problems in the PC game industry is that they are pushing the graphics part too fast and therfore limiting sales to those that have money to upgrade their rig once or even twice every two years.
I have to say that I don't only disagree with this, but I would actually go as far as say that you are wrong. Here's why:
Developing a hig res client would take a huge effort and would only cater to a small user group (people like you and me who either make lots of money, or who have a rig because we work with graphics) The so called enthusiast segment is extreemely small in comparison to what is called the "main stream" segment. The main stream segment have computers capable of running wow on high graphics, but that's about as far as it goes. As a final comment, I would like to add that I believe one of the big problems in the PC game industry is that they are pushing the graphics part too fast and therfore limiting sales to those that have money to upgrade their rig once or even twice every two years.
Yeah because Blizzard just doesn't have enough money to do it...
Very good graphic cards are cheap and it is not expensive to build a top notch system now days. Plus it is not like they would only offer the High Res client, it would just be an option for those that could use it, like in LOTRO. There would still be good ol Low Res WoW for those poor folks that can't afford the $150 for a decent card.
My argument is based on futureproofing WoW more than anything.
Well you got a point that it's something to do maybe one or two years from now, that would make sense to keep the game flowing with the timeline, if people stay interested that is. When it comes to being able to afford or not affording things, I wouldn't say it's really about that, it's more about what you would like to spend your money on. I am quite certain that as it stands, most of the playerbase would rather the developers focused on content than spend their time giving you and me awesome shinies for our overgeared rigs
As long as the current strategy continues to pull in record setting subs, Blizzard will have no incentive to upgrade the graphics.
Truthfully, few people avoid WOW strictly because of its graphics (there's always other reasons as well) and the cost to create a high rez client would not be offset by a gain or retention of subs.
One day this may change, but this is not that day.
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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I have to say that I don't only disagree with this, but I would actually go as far as say that you are wrong. Here's why:
Developing a hig res client would take a huge effort and would only cater to a small user group (people like you and me who either make lots of money, or who have a rig because we work with graphics) The so called enthusiast segment is extreemely small in comparison to what is called the "main stream" segment. The main stream segment have computers capable of running wow on high graphics, but that's about as far as it goes. As a final comment, I would like to add that I believe one of the big problems in the PC game industry is that they are pushing the graphics part too fast and therfore limiting sales to those that have money to upgrade their rig once or even twice every two years.
I bet over half the WoW userbase has a computer capable of handling over twice the workload of what WoW currently takes... And whose to stop blizz from keeping current servers as "Low res" and then creating new servers for the "High res" and giving everybody and there mom a free server swap, "1 time" exclusively for the purpose of going to a high res server, but no inbetween low res server swapping. It is just like, "Dare I say it" Runescape... And it worked with runescape, they had traditional old graphics servers, and the new and enhanced, slightly better but still crappy graphics servers...
It's curious that only a mere 2.5 months after the disaster of Age of Conan our players already seem to forget that so called "Hi Res" graphics don't mix well with MMORPG's.
Putting 25 Gigabyte of data into 256/520 MByte graphics cards isn't the ideal solution for open seamless worlds of MMORPG's.
The client couldn't keep up with it in Conan, so FunCom clearly showed the limits there.
Go out on the web and search for the End game Sieges of Conan and see the 3 frames per seconds (on 9800 cards !) and awful resolution.
So unless you want long loading screens, instances, copys of zones and still more loading screens, you are indeed limited in playing MMORPG's.
I can't blame some players they don't understand this simple limit, but you can blame developpers who try to sell loading screens in MMO's, just to have a few pixels more.
Once again I have to say that I believe you are outright wrong. I wish that I could post the source of this to back up my statement, but I can't seem to find the interview with the CEO of Stardock. Apparantly they had done heavy research into the computer specs of the average gamer rig, and they were quite surprised that a lot of people still play games on what is now considered very low end.
Umm. Look at the history of games which went after massive graphical upgrades this far into the game's lifespan. Almost all such endeavors, at best, failed with minor bad press, and at worst, made things far worse. Runescape and UO are two examples of horrible attempts. EQ is a good example of an attempt which merely got them a bit of bad press.
What you don't realize is that merely updating the engine isn't going to provide nearly the kind of improvement you want. WoW's main fault at this point is its low poly count, and redoing model geometry across the board is simply impossible.
So, at best, they could add some minor features which would improve the look of the game. I think realtime shadows will help a lot in that regard. The only other feature I want now is HDR. At least I think I want it. I might end up hating that. A lot of zones are bordered by generic mountain range #293, and being forced to see that in the distance at all times might look even worse than the gray outlines we have now.
Blizzard said they are always talking about upgrading WoWs engine but dont have time or resources. Yeah, Blizzard has a lot of money but no matter how much money they have are still bound by laws of physics. Redoing the all the graphics for an MMO as big as WoW would take a lot of people a long time to do. Blizzard could hire in a ton of new people to help but would that be worth it in the end?
Also, have you people actually really looked at the graphics in WotLK? The graphics are about 2 times better than old WoW. The modeling is better and smarter and the texture mapping is in a completely different league.
One way that Blizzard could sorta upgrade is to keep the third expansion on the same level as WotLK and bring old WoW and TBC up to the same level as WotLK.
However Blizzard does it WoW will need a graphics upgrade at least once in it's lifetime and it would be better if it wasn't at the end of it.