The graphics and polish are not an issue with Rift. Theres different issues like 'same ol same ol' and being linear to worry about.
You know you could basically toss the linear and same old, same old argument out the window considering the majority of the mmo community as a whole prefers their games like that. The people kicking as screaming "same old stuff" are such a minority that they're hardly heard by anyone of significance.
Yes I agree with this post I did need to clarify. The thread meaning was more on the models and animations. The characters move unnaturally like another poster said with male jumping.
In my original post I said the world grahpics are fine. I apologize I entirely meant character models and animations which does fall under the category of graphics. I have only tried male characters but I dislike how they move.
My comparison to other games were meant to be entirely character animations also. AoC/EQ2/and WoW animations all run smoothly compared to Rift. That's why I wanted to know if this would change.
AoC uses motion capturing to make it's animations so yes, it looks better. But EQ2? I played it for years and animations are at best in the same class. Wow might be slightly better.
But to be honest is Rifts attacks often slightly more realistic than the other 3 games, the guy who made the animations actually at least knows some basics on how to hold a sword.
As for the models they are OK but not great for me, I personally think that 75% of Wows character models looks rather silly. I am not a fan of cartoon graphics but this is just a matter of taste.
Animations is very different because anyone who know the basics of using a sword (SCA, ARMA or whatever) will know if they look like they should or not. What looks best is usually silly at best and would get you killed in a real fight so don't complain on games just before they are somewhat more realistic.
Rift is not the prettiest game I seen, neither in art or polygon count. But it is far from the worst either.
No one knows. The short answer is that there really hasn't been too much feedback on the character models... I personally like the character movement's the jump and running seem fluid and realistic. Moreover, I like the head tracking that my character does when I walk by a target.
If you played the beta and have a specific reason for not liking the character models I would suggest posting in the Rift beta forum. I believe that the forum will be open for another 24 hours or so. That's probably the best way you could hope to have some improvements made to the character models.
Yes I agree with this post I did need to clarify. The thread meaning was more on the models and animations. The characters move unnaturally like another poster said with male jumping.
In my original post I said the world grahpics are fine. I apologize I entirely meant character models and animations which does fall under the category of graphics. I have only tried male characters but I dislike how they move.
My comparison to other games were meant to be entirely character animations also. AoC/EQ2/and WoW animations all run smoothly compared to Rift. That's why I wanted to know if this would change.
AoC uses motion capturing to make it's animations so yes, it looks better. But EQ2? I played it for years and animations are at best in the same class. Wow might be slightly better.
But to be honest is Rifts attacks often slightly more realistic than the other 3 games, the guy who made the animations actually at least knows some basics on how to hold a sword.
As for the models they are OK but not great for me, I personally think that 75% of Wows character models looks rather silly. I am not a fan of cartoon graphics but this is just a matter of taste.
Animations is very different because anyone who know the basics of using a sword (SCA, ARMA or whatever) will know if they look like they should or not. What looks best is usually silly at best and would get you killed in a real fight so don't complain on games just before they are somewhat more realistic.
Rift is not the prettiest game I seen, neither in art or polygon count. But it is far from the worst either.
Regarding WoW's animations.. they are quite fluid, but extremely repetetive. A total of two different types of regular swings per weapon type (1h, Offhand, 2H, 2H-Long) and one animation for each of those for skills. They get rather old after a while, sadly
Just my input.
I personally like Rift's animations. They aren't the best, but the devs are actively improving upon their quality and fluidity, as well as actively fixing bugs with them.
You know you could basically toss the linear and same old, same old argument out the window considering the majority of the mmo community as a whole prefers their games like that. The people kicking as screaming "same old stuff" are such a minority that they're hardly heard by anyone of significance.
It is not so much prefer as the fact that most games that uses something suck even more.
I have no problem with how Rifts handles most of it's stuff, the quests could have been better written and more varied but that is about it. That doesn't mean that every single game should be as close to the older as possible.
I think a lot of complains are just general and not aimed particularly at Rifts.
The real problem have just been that almost 100% of all games have been close to this and that isn't good, there should be more to choose from.
Rift do have the chance to become pretty popular, Wow can't last forever and sooner or later will some people drop off and want something similar but better looking. But if more games comes that are more or less the same it wont be good for Rifts either.
Rifts strong point is that it is rather well coded and I think there is room for it. It isn't however any room for 3-4 more just like it.
Regarding WoW's animations.. they are quite fluid, but extremely repetetive. A total of two different types of regular swings per weapon type (1h, Offhand, 2H, 2H-Long) and one animation for each of those for skills. They get rather old after a while, sadly
Just my input.
I personally like Rift's animations. They aren't the best, but the devs are actively improving upon their quality and fluidity, as well as actively fixing bugs with them.
Yeah, that is why I still think they are slightly better than Rifts, Rifts animations are a bit clunky.
I do think that Trion should get a motion suit and a competent fencer instead but as I said, the guy who coded it at least have the basics right.
The graphics and polish are not an issue with Rift. Theres different issues like 'same ol same ol' and being linear to worry about.
Linearity is here to stay. You need some direction in mmos. Every sandbox mmo ever made has been a failure from a subscriber or business persepctive, with the exception of EVE... but that is a glorified Facebook/Zynga game. In rift, once you get out of the tutorial you don't even have to quest. You can explore all you want via rifts, pvp arenas... you name it.
I don't think that the graphics quality of the avatars is an issue in Rift. As long as you accept that you won't see oversized shoulderpads or towering weapons, they fit both the characters and the environment well. They definitely don't stand out as being better looking than the surrounding world and they are not bad looking to begin with.
Seriously? I got warned for being honest and having a point?
That's how I know this website is bullshit. Delete this post too mods, screw this website. You guys have to moderate because you don't want people who have ACTUAL opinions and points to post.
I'll be honest, if I log into the game and I don't like the graphics and animations, I turn it off. Those two things will completely kill it for me. Now, inb4 flames let me explain what I mean by that.
Do the graphics have to be good? Not necessarily. What I mean when I say that Graphics and Animation will kill is for me. I like the characters to look like they belong in the world. I don't like it when the Character almost look like they're in a bad CGI setting. I like WoW graphics because they're consistent, they all seem to mesh together well. Hard to explain, but I hope you understand what I mean.
Animation, I dont' like hitting 5 skills, and only seeing an auto attack. I dont' like hearing a block sound, but the character doesn't even have a block animation, catch my drift?
Now, to the OP. I will be trying this game out next Beta which is next week I believe. I know 5 or 6 people in my guild have already pre-ordered having played all the beta events and love it.
Pretty funny, tbh.
Graphics really kept me from getting into WoW at first. I actually tried to play WoW twice and just couldn't do it... looked too cartoonish and 'bad' for my taste.
The third time... I just told myself to push past the looks/feel of the game and deal with it.
Of all of the things that Blizz seems to work on for WoW... character artwork isn't one of them. Unless you are talking about the druid revamps? And even those were half-assed, lazy, no effort changes. No variety in the way characters look at cap level, really. And it's damned disappointing for the single most successful game on the market to really avoid giving their players some much needed, long awaited, artwork updates/changes and some more friggin choices already.
As excited as the art teams seemed to be about creating new races and new zones, etc.... those folks could definitely get the job done and make the players happy.
People on this forum seem to forget how important graphics or an appealing artstyle are to players. I mean if graphics didn't matter we would still be playing games like EQ & AC... For me if my character doesnt look cool and the world doesnt have an appealing artstyle I will lose all interest. It could be the greatest game ever created. For me rift appeals too me, but so did wow back in the day, WAR and Lotro. People are different and as much as I want to fight with you guys all night it's all just personal preference. How do you argue that? Some people will love rifts graphics , artstyle and animation and some won't. It's all down to individual taste.
I know this game is still in beta but it comes out in a month. The world graphics seem fine but the character graphics need some polish in my opinion. At first glance of the game the first thing my friends and I see is the character looking and moving a bit silly.
Compared to other games such as Everquest 2, Age of Conan, and sadly even somewhat WoW, the character graphics arent as good. Age of conan on Directx10 with graphics on max the character looks next to real.
Overall my question is will the graphics on the characters be changed at all? If there is no change I know I won't be playing.
I know this game is still in beta but it comes out in a month. The world graphics seem fine but the character graphics need some polish in my opinion. At first glance of the game the first thing my friends and I see is the character looking and moving a bit silly.
Compared to other games such as Everquest 2, Age of Conan, and sadly even somewhat WoW, the character graphics arent as good. Age of conan on Directx10 with graphics on max the character looks next to real.
Overall my question is will the graphics on the characters be changed at all? If there is no change I know I won't be playing.
I'm not sure if the character graphics will be changed. But I would not expect them to be changed before release.
Now, I was looking at a thread on the Rift Forums where they were talking about the importance of Graphics, in comparison with Gameplay. I personally want one (graphics) without having to give up the other (gameplay). And I think Rift strikes a nice balance between the two. Clearly the Graphics are superior to WoW, though I may not think they are perfect. The other comparison I might make is to Aion, where the graphics (character graphics) were better, but I found the gameplay past lvl 25 to be lacking.
See Rift, IMO, does one thing right. It allows me to build a flexible character. Where I don't have to feel like I made a mistake, because they decided to nerf the crap out of my class. So I'm willing to put up with graphics that are less than perfect, in order to enjoy the gameplay Rift has to offer. Only time will tell if they (Trion Worlds) either nerf the gameplay, or improve the character graphics. I'll just have to see how it works out.
For those of you here still skeptical or unsure about graphics quality of RIFT, subjectively, they look amazing on my rig and have no problems when 50+ players are all simultaneously pounding on a Major RIFT event. I run a 2gb ATI HD5870 with my settings on Ultra in-game. To put it plainly, RIFT runs incredibly smooth despite a dip in framerate when 100+ players crowd the screen--it still is ridiculously playable & not slideshow-like at any moment.
You either need 1) a new video card, or perhaps two. 2) turn up your graphics.
I put my settings on ultra and all of it looks really well done. The character figures aren't perfect, they could add more customization I suppose, but the character graphics apperance wise are sure as hell better than any other mmo I've played right now.
The subjective "the graphics suck" and the objective "the graphics suck."
To the person who has no experience with the creation of such art assets and render engines involved, it is merely subjective.
To the person who does have experience in making such art assets and knows what to look for (they see a completely different picture) is becomes closer to objective.
Half of the models in Rift look like bad zbrush sculpts. The low poly nature of the meshes are not well hidden, texture work is very sloppy in many areas. Its pretty obvious the art director doesnt know all the dos and donts of the art form. If you are going to go after stylized realism, which they stated they were, then a lot more attention to detail needs to be present. Color theory and how shadows work should be part of the process, which its not.
Add completely generic art assets with a team of inexperienced level designers (those who place these assets in the world) and you have Rift.
On the art end, its not very compelling nor well done to the trained eye. I suppose though some fanboy will respond to this with a personal attack instead of addressing actual details.
Graphics have the power to help immerse and sell types of challenges, it also has the power to alienate. Rift comes closer to alienate. Congrats though to those who dont have an eye for detail, because quite frankly you may enjoy it more.
I would say it will probably get a little more finish for the models, but it more for function probably. People have said they have been in battles with nearly 500 people and the performance hit was not bad. If you go crazy on characters, you will then lag. Vanguard knocked the polygon count down on about everything in the game, due to hitching and load times, I know they have problems, but everything counts.
I don't think they look bad, I am not crazy about the races, but they are fine for what they are, and I would rather be able to play in big open world pvp battles, than look super cool and be a lag monster. Most if not all that try to have super cool looking classes would be a lag monster on the high majority of systems or the server would do it for them.
Goodluck on your wait for the perfect game, I have been waiting for 1.5 years or more, maybe 2, it sucks, Rift isn't the perfect gem, but it'll do, since nothing else is really close to being out, nor proven to be anything better imo. People are hyped about gw2, sure ill probably be buying it (if the cash shop isn't bad), but its quest logic trees and anything else havent been shown to be anything more substantive than people wish list. Swtor will make Rift probably feel like a sandbox...Arch Age, really interested in this, but its probably 1.5 years away realisticly (1.0 if your glass is half full and wish very hard).
I prefer more sandbox, but all that seems to be out is mid sprinkled in sand, so have fun on the next game that previews that some of the people on here will make a living knocking, while ya don't have a game and run kids off your lawn!
For those of you here still skeptical or unsure about graphics quality of RIFT, subjectively, they look amazing on my rig and have no problems when 50+ players are all simultaneously pounding on a Major RIFT event. I run a 2gb ATI HD5870 with my settings on Ultra in-game. To put it plainly, RIFT runs incredibly smooth despite a dip in framerate when 100+ players crowd the screen--it still is ridiculously playable & not slideshow-like at any moment.
Judge for yourself and form your own subjective opinion. Good luck and see you in-game on Friday!
Yeah, that was an Excellent Thread! And its just totally clear, or it should be, to anyone not running on the lowest graphics settings that Rift is superior. The only thing that is not quite up to this level of excellence is the "character" graphics themselves. And I know its just my opinion, but most of them lack very much appeal. The strange thing is that one can grow attached to things that don't initially appeal... And most of that will eventually be obscured by Armor.
And I also agree that I really enjoy "playing" because even when there are a boatload of players in one place the game doesn't come to a crawl. This was not the case in Age of Conan. There I could hardly move in the cities either with or without other players... So Yeah! I'm with you all the way. I'll be there on Friday.
Comments
You know you could basically toss the linear and same old, same old argument out the window considering the majority of the mmo community as a whole prefers their games like that. The people kicking as screaming "same old stuff" are such a minority that they're hardly heard by anyone of significance.Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
AoC uses motion capturing to make it's animations so yes, it looks better. But EQ2? I played it for years and animations are at best in the same class. Wow might be slightly better.
But to be honest is Rifts attacks often slightly more realistic than the other 3 games, the guy who made the animations actually at least knows some basics on how to hold a sword.
As for the models they are OK but not great for me, I personally think that 75% of Wows character models looks rather silly. I am not a fan of cartoon graphics but this is just a matter of taste.
Animations is very different because anyone who know the basics of using a sword (SCA, ARMA or whatever) will know if they look like they should or not. What looks best is usually silly at best and would get you killed in a real fight so don't complain on games just before they are somewhat more realistic.
Rift is not the prettiest game I seen, neither in art or polygon count. But it is far from the worst either.
No one knows. The short answer is that there really hasn't been too much feedback on the character models... I personally like the character movement's the jump and running seem fluid and realistic. Moreover, I like the head tracking that my character does when I walk by a target.
If you played the beta and have a specific reason for not liking the character models I would suggest posting in the Rift beta forum. I believe that the forum will be open for another 24 hours or so. That's probably the best way you could hope to have some improvements made to the character models.
Good luck in your endeavors.
Regarding WoW's animations.. they are quite fluid, but extremely repetetive. A total of two different types of regular swings per weapon type (1h, Offhand, 2H, 2H-Long) and one animation for each of those for skills. They get rather old after a while, sadly
Just my input.
I personally like Rift's animations. They aren't the best, but the devs are actively improving upon their quality and fluidity, as well as actively fixing bugs with them.
.. But in a good way.
It is not so much prefer as the fact that most games that uses something suck even more.
I have no problem with how Rifts handles most of it's stuff, the quests could have been better written and more varied but that is about it. That doesn't mean that every single game should be as close to the older as possible.
I think a lot of complains are just general and not aimed particularly at Rifts.
The real problem have just been that almost 100% of all games have been close to this and that isn't good, there should be more to choose from.
Rift do have the chance to become pretty popular, Wow can't last forever and sooner or later will some people drop off and want something similar but better looking. But if more games comes that are more or less the same it wont be good for Rifts either.
Rifts strong point is that it is rather well coded and I think there is room for it. It isn't however any room for 3-4 more just like it.
Yeah, that is why I still think they are slightly better than Rifts, Rifts animations are a bit clunky.
I do think that Trion should get a motion suit and a competent fencer instead but as I said, the guy who coded it at least have the basics right.
I give Rifts animations 3/5 (average).
Linearity is here to stay. You need some direction in mmos. Every sandbox mmo ever made has been a failure from a subscriber or business persepctive, with the exception of EVE... but that is a glorified Facebook/Zynga game. In rift, once you get out of the tutorial you don't even have to quest. You can explore all you want via rifts, pvp arenas... you name it.
I don't think that the graphics quality of the avatars is an issue in Rift. As long as you accept that you won't see oversized shoulderpads or towering weapons, they fit both the characters and the environment well. They definitely don't stand out as being better looking than the surrounding world and they are not bad looking to begin with.
games beta andmore enjoyable then WoW... what more you little kids want huh
Seriously? I got warned for being honest and having a point?
That's how I know this website is bullshit. Delete this post too mods, screw this website. You guys have to moderate because you don't want people who have ACTUAL opinions and points to post.
GG mmorpg.com. Your website fails.
The animations for walking and combat leave something to be desired, but overall I think the graphics are fine.
Pretty funny, tbh.
Graphics really kept me from getting into WoW at first. I actually tried to play WoW twice and just couldn't do it... looked too cartoonish and 'bad' for my taste.
The third time... I just told myself to push past the looks/feel of the game and deal with it.
Of all of the things that Blizz seems to work on for WoW... character artwork isn't one of them. Unless you are talking about the druid revamps? And even those were half-assed, lazy, no effort changes. No variety in the way characters look at cap level, really. And it's damned disappointing for the single most successful game on the market to really avoid giving their players some much needed, long awaited, artwork updates/changes and some more friggin choices already.
As excited as the art teams seemed to be about creating new races and new zones, etc.... those folks could definitely get the job done and make the players happy.
Still amazed by the number of people who hate rift but feel entitle to post in rift's forums. Its just sad.
Read my blog http://sanmonocobra.blogspot.com/
Graphics CAN't kind of suck.. Eather it sucks, or it don't.
AOC had good graphics, but how whas the experiance in siege combat? Remember?
With so many people at the same place, without having lagg makes its limitations..
And rift can handle more players at the same place than wow does with its graphics.. Need i say more?
Join next beta test, and experiance it for yourself!
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
LMFAO are you serious????
I think they graphics are nice. FAIL
I'm not sure if the character graphics will be changed. But I would not expect them to be changed before release.
Now, I was looking at a thread on the Rift Forums where they were talking about the importance of Graphics, in comparison with Gameplay. I personally want one (graphics) without having to give up the other (gameplay). And I think Rift strikes a nice balance between the two. Clearly the Graphics are superior to WoW, though I may not think they are perfect. The other comparison I might make is to Aion, where the graphics (character graphics) were better, but I found the gameplay past lvl 25 to be lacking.
See Rift, IMO, does one thing right. It allows me to build a flexible character. Where I don't have to feel like I made a mistake, because they decided to nerf the crap out of my class. So I'm willing to put up with graphics that are less than perfect, in order to enjoy the gameplay Rift has to offer. Only time will tell if they (Trion Worlds) either nerf the gameplay, or improve the character graphics. I'll just have to see how it works out.
For those of you here still skeptical or unsure about graphics quality of RIFT, subjectively, they look amazing on my rig and have no problems when 50+ players are all simultaneously pounding on a Major RIFT event. I run a 2gb ATI HD5870 with my settings on Ultra in-game. To put it plainly, RIFT runs incredibly smooth despite a dip in framerate when 100+ players crowd the screen--it still is ridiculously playable & not slideshow-like at any moment.
Another poster on the main RIFT forums was kind enough to show a comparison in graphics from her perspective on a thread she started there. Here's the link: http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?43354-Some-images-that-compare-side-by-side-Rift-with-WoW-graphics-design
Judge for yourself and form your own subjective opinion. Good luck and see you in-game on Friday!
I don't think they are going for crazy cartoon armor and anime-style animations.
So we're left with criticism of - "the level 30 armors aren't flashy enough?" Really? REALLY?
As for the general graphics, I'll join the chorus. If you don't think these graphics are good - it's probably time to upgrade your machine.
You either need 1) a new video card, or perhaps two. 2) turn up your graphics.
I put my settings on ultra and all of it looks really well done. The character figures aren't perfect, they could add more customization I suppose, but the character graphics apperance wise are sure as hell better than any other mmo I've played right now.
There are two types of statements here.
The subjective "the graphics suck" and the objective "the graphics suck."
To the person who has no experience with the creation of such art assets and render engines involved, it is merely subjective.
To the person who does have experience in making such art assets and knows what to look for (they see a completely different picture) is becomes closer to objective.
Half of the models in Rift look like bad zbrush sculpts. The low poly nature of the meshes are not well hidden, texture work is very sloppy in many areas. Its pretty obvious the art director doesnt know all the dos and donts of the art form. If you are going to go after stylized realism, which they stated they were, then a lot more attention to detail needs to be present. Color theory and how shadows work should be part of the process, which its not.
Add completely generic art assets with a team of inexperienced level designers (those who place these assets in the world) and you have Rift.
On the art end, its not very compelling nor well done to the trained eye. I suppose though some fanboy will respond to this with a personal attack instead of addressing actual details.
Graphics have the power to help immerse and sell types of challenges, it also has the power to alienate. Rift comes closer to alienate. Congrats though to those who dont have an eye for detail, because quite frankly you may enjoy it more.
No, it looks like 5 year old crap, and the engine is bad so that's about what it will always look like.
I would say it will probably get a little more finish for the models, but it more for function probably. People have said they have been in battles with nearly 500 people and the performance hit was not bad. If you go crazy on characters, you will then lag. Vanguard knocked the polygon count down on about everything in the game, due to hitching and load times, I know they have problems, but everything counts.
I don't think they look bad, I am not crazy about the races, but they are fine for what they are, and I would rather be able to play in big open world pvp battles, than look super cool and be a lag monster. Most if not all that try to have super cool looking classes would be a lag monster on the high majority of systems or the server would do it for them.
Goodluck on your wait for the perfect game, I have been waiting for 1.5 years or more, maybe 2, it sucks, Rift isn't the perfect gem, but it'll do, since nothing else is really close to being out, nor proven to be anything better imo. People are hyped about gw2, sure ill probably be buying it (if the cash shop isn't bad), but its quest logic trees and anything else havent been shown to be anything more substantive than people wish list. Swtor will make Rift probably feel like a sandbox...Arch Age, really interested in this, but its probably 1.5 years away realisticly (1.0 if your glass is half full and wish very hard).
I prefer more sandbox, but all that seems to be out is mid sprinkled in sand, so have fun on the next game that previews that some of the people on here will make a living knocking, while ya don't have a game and run kids off your lawn!
Yeah, that was an Excellent Thread! And its just totally clear, or it should be, to anyone not running on the lowest graphics settings that Rift is superior. The only thing that is not quite up to this level of excellence is the "character" graphics themselves. And I know its just my opinion, but most of them lack very much appeal. The strange thing is that one can grow attached to things that don't initially appeal... And most of that will eventually be obscured by Armor.
And I also agree that I really enjoy "playing" because even when there are a boatload of players in one place the game doesn't come to a crawl. This was not the case in Age of Conan. There I could hardly move in the cities either with or without other players... So Yeah! I'm with you all the way. I'll be there on Friday.