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SWTOR graphics, what are your thoughts about it? [poll]
MMO.Maverick
Member CommonPosts: 7,619
Since graphics is the hot SWTOR topic this week on these forums, thought I'd make a poll out of curiosity.
Where do you stand regarding the graphics and stylised, visual style used in SWTOR? Make it known by poll.
My own choice was "it's getting there, although I prefer some additional layers of polish and improvement"
And here are the examples of where it's at now:
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Comments
I voted: Good enough for me, i'd be happy with them if they launched now.
There aren't the best but i find them good enough for now.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
I think they are great in my opinion. Not sure why so many folks hate them so much.
Played: DAoC 6 years, WoW 2 years, Ultima/EQ 1+ years, AoC/Aion/Rift/SWTOR a few months
Tried: Warhammer, EQ2, Vanguard, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Runes of Magic and many, many others...
Currently Playing: DAOC
Great for a MMO. I love it.
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no?
Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
Getting there. Lighting,shadows,cities all look great. Id like to see the canyon landscapes made to look less like building blocks and character clothing and skin look less plastic. Other than that, im actually loving most of the graphics.
Yeah I agree, it varies alot, like the Bounty Hunter and the Sith with spikes looks very good, while the Agent looks bad, makes me think they work on the graphics in iterations. All in all quite good for a cartoon/stylized look, getting there,
Voted awesome. Details and polish definitely need attention, but actually I find 90% is the style that hooks me in and that's the case in 2d or 3d, pixels or polygons. I like the style and it feels Star Wars universe so far.
edit: Oops: Should add design also with style. ie it looks like the laws of physics are acting on it etc...
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Personally I think the scenery, the environment and such, are on par with other upcoming AAA MMO's like GW2, Rift and TERA, and very probably even more atmospheric and immersive than current MMO's and all of those new MMO games (with the exception of GW2, I just love the painterly watercolor style of their art design).
So the scenery is in my eyes already great and very competitive when it comes to graphics. The character models though can use some more iterations of polish. I expect that the bounty hunter and the pureblood Sith are the level of quality and detail that the builds are at now, and that this will be at least the level that will be present at launch.
NB: I also like the lighting of the lightsabres and fired shots, how it lights up parts of the environments and characters and creates deeper shadow effects.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I think that the graphics are a bit behind the curve of other MMOs in development. Not that I care...I don't think the problem is in the environment or the characters. I think its in the bringing together of environment, characters, animations and effects and all that. I don't think that I really care about the combat in this game, and I can't bring myself to feel like the game has anything other than a poorly concocted blend of single-player bioware cutscenes (the formula comes strait from other games they have done, and I never liked it even then) with decisions and tried and tired kill x quests to tell the story.
Story rammed down my throat to tell me why I am doing the same thing? no thank you...now back to graphics.
Far behind GW2 indeed. Now, this is my opinion, but I think that the graphical quality doesn't come from just the graphical quality but how everything can fit together. GW2 is like a finely crafted (and the amount of variation between each part's size shows as much) lego set where SWTOR is a mass produced toy that looks great but falls apart because of lof quality standards.
I might as well tell you that I like GW2's way of doing the story better (but then I liked GW1, and those cutscenes without choices)
sorry for ranting...its just how I feel.
I used to TL;DR, but then I took a bullet point to the footnote.
I'm currently in the beta so I can't talk about what the graphics look like in-game or on my system...but I can say that if you think that those shots are of poor quality, that you're an idiot who should not be playing MMO's
Your argument is like a two legged dog with an eating disorder...weak and unbalanced.
Again, all I can say is that based on my beta experience in other yet to be released games, those who are drooling over certain other games will be unpleasantly surprised. With this game where I am not yet in beta, I think we are going to be pleasantly surprised.
There Is Always Hope!
While I agree to an extent, opinions are opinions.
The quality of the envirorments in those pictures is pretty amazing. They look extremely detailed. I think that part is hard to argue. I think what people are saying is bad is because it's not like "AoC" graphics, it's bad. They want the Force Unleashed graphics for an MMO.
Do I think from past pictures that character art could be a bit better? Yeah. But the graphics from these pictures are pretty amazing.
imo, SWTOR looks good(not Great but a solid good), i don't get why would someone said that's unacceptable, i mean seriously look at some of the newest screenshot, they look way better than any previous screenshot.
Of course i would love SWTOR to have the graphic of FFXIV, but does that mean SWTOR sucks? HELL NO
actually i am impress the way they constantly improve since 2009.
However i do hope Bioware improve the character model, some of the female looks skinny as hell.
and the walking/running animation needs to change badly, it's too stiff and weird.
They're good but still need polishing like additional effects and anti-aliasing.
If that's in, I bet it will look great.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
Effects - horrible
Animation - mediocre at best
Character models - brings me back to 20th century
Area textures - pretty good, fits the setting.
If BW really is catering to the playerbase that likes BW games, those graphics are enough.
Last I checked, BG didn't have good graphics (even at the time of release if memory serves) nor did KOTOR.
I agree their recent ones, ME2/DA looks amazing but I think that's because BW didn't write the engine. Think ME is unreal3(?)
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
To this day i still don't mind the graphics on KOTOR as it's such a good game, TOR's graphics are better than that and in my eyes better than most generic looking MMO's that are out there. Sure, it's no AoC but come one... how many MMO's with graphics anywhere near AoC standards are actually good?
I chose the 2nd option, now i just have to hope that the gameplay is worth it.
You did not include a poll option that fits my opinion, so I include it here:
The "stylized" graphics I do not appreciate for a Star Wars MMO. I would prefer it to look and feel as much like the Movies as possible... to me SW:TOR's look and feel is more like a painting than anything else.
Now that I have said that I will say this...
The Artists working on the SW:TOR project have done an absolutely amazing job. It's beautiful, sincerely I appreciate all the work that obviously went into the game so far.
But it's not a style I personally appreciate or would enjoy for use in a MMO.
I will also add this: SW:TOR's graphics are NOT the game breaker for me. The game breaker is the very limited selection of Class/Profession choices for characters when viewed in the context of Star Wars as a story, as a cultural experience (that IS what MMOs are shooting for now... social and cultural experiences... that is why WoW is such a huge success). Yes the classes included *so far* are central and important, but they are not the ONLY important "roles" that a Player should be able to experience in a Star Wars MMO. This is the number one reason I will not purchase SW:TOR.
I am the Player that wonders... "What the %#*& just happened?!"
...............
"I Believe... There should be NO financial connection or portals between the Real World and the Virtual in MMOs. "
__Ever Present Cockroach of the MMO Verses__
...scurrying to and fro... .munching on bits of garbage... always under foot...
They look pretty good to me.
The textures themselves are ok and the models have sifficient polygons to not look like bricks. I would like to see the saturation of the color toned down a bit. Seems excessive.
two points
First I think the option might fit you best is the last one. not impressed and don't like the art style
Second, i can totally understand the wanting more options for the classes, might be best for you to hold off until an expansion comes out that might include a few more classes. Classes can sometimes be limiting in the beginning and then more will come. Will have to see.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Very cartoony which probably means the games will play well which is good, but in 2010 i would expect more.
That's just it... the graphics are awesome... for a virtual painting (in my opinion). They just don't *feel* right to me, I can't explain it better than that. The game looks beautiful, but I would have a hard time getting immersed in it.
As for the waiting for an expansion... I myself believe it is always a mistake for a MMO to add classes/professions later in expansions, no matter what MMO it is. Class/Profession is far too tricky to balance without tossing in new classes to "rock the boat" after a MMO launches. If it's not in original release it will not be right long term for the game.
Expansions are best used for additional world areas and content, new advancements in levels, new "fluff" such as costume items, evening players housing, but not for something so basic in game mechanics as classes/professions.
I am the Player that wonders... "What the %#*& just happened?!"
...............
"I Believe... There should be NO financial connection or portals between the Real World and the Virtual in MMOs. "
__Ever Present Cockroach of the MMO Verses__
...scurrying to and fro... .munching on bits of garbage... always under foot...
Nothing wrong with the style and art. I love it all. Except those big ass lightsaber hilts.. Everytime i see one I simply wish to be a Jedi Sage with a blaster instead. :b
I am glad you started such a pertinent thread, this issue has never been discussed before, this topic is new and relevant to my interests.