It's an adjective related to anything come from that Eastern European country sandwiched between Germany and the Ukraine.. y'know the place that zubrowka and Chopin come from?
You forgot to put that in your poll, not to be confused with any other homonyms that might be flying about.
It's the difference between having a car that has been driven for six months and is covered in road dirt and bird crap and the same car that has just been washed, waxed and polished to look like new.
It's good stuff. It should happen more often. With cars and with games.
Rift is polished and has earned a spot on the show room floor. Earthrise is a Jeep that's been run through a swamp, then taken to a desert and flipped end over end. That Jeep is now on it's way to the metal recycling center.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Robin Williams
In mmorpg land: nothing being hampered by game breaking bugs, ui functioning smoothly, available content feels rich and features are well implemented. Derp.
I am Polish. (damn, thats some real deep selfreflection right there for yah) o.O
Originally posted by nethaniah
Seriously Farmville? Yeah I think it's great. In a World where half our population is dying of hunger the more fortunate half is spending their time harvesting food that doesn't exist.
After reading through early-access reviews, I have come across this term frequently - and obviously I am not the only one, because this poll showed up demonstrates that it has become activated in our current discussion vocab.
So here's my beef with it, because the most popular schema that it has been used in is something along the lines of :
Oh, yes, it has a lot of polish.
--
Polish is not something you want a "lot" of. You want it to be used, to burnish or give a shiny coat to whatever (take that metaphorically for the game of course - we all know what this is trying to mean, I'm just arguing against its use). You don't want it to still be there when you get your polished thing.
Example: If I take my car to get it detailed, and they whistle me out to the front of the shop to pick up my car and the dude says "check it out, it has a lot of polish!" then I would tell him, "yeah, so take it back and wipe that crap off please."
--
Polish is a tool that serves a purpose. Games, cars, shoes should "be polished" but not "have polish." If the only thing that sticks out in someone's mind is the "polish" something "has," then it makes me think initially that it is actually incomplete and hiding behind a veneer of sticky gunk used to "finish" but not to "COAT" something.
--
Anyway soapbox off. All the best wishes to Rift and the players, maybe I'll join you guys one of these days.
How dare you present him with logic! Don't you understand? He fights epic fights, in epic games, with epic toons....eats epic food and takes epic dumps! He has more e..pic..icity...ness in his little finger than you have in your whole unepic body! - ChicagoCub
To me, "polish" means overall smoothness of my gaming experience. It's a rather broad term to describe how well is the game carried out in terms of playability from the customer's point of view. In other words, polish is absence of techincal and design flaws that interfere with my gaming experience.
Some things that contribute to a "polished" game:
1) No crashes, no major bugs, little to no minor bugs
2) User-friendly UI with ergonomic layout of all the controls which let me do stuff i want quickly, easily and intuitively
3) Absence of graphical glitches
4) High quality and consistent art style (graphics, sound, music)
5) Fluid animations which appear very natural
6) In MMOs in particular - zero UI lag - all technical issues related to PC performance limitations, connection speeds and delays are well managed and accounted for on the application level and do not "make it" through to the UI level
7) No typos in story texts, no variables or constant names appearing within some of them, etc :-)
8) User interface using fluid transition animations helps, although it must be unobtrusive and simple otherwise it gets annoying after a while (quick, smooth, direct movements)
The list is obviously not intended to be exhaustive, these are just some examples.
To a certain extent, "polish" is subjective. Also, that the game is polished doesn't mean that I like it or vice versa. Many people don't like WoW yet it's probably the most polished MMO out there. On the other hand, many people like to play Eve Online despite it has possibly the worst user interface design imaginable.
TL;DR: Polish is generic term expressing absence of technical and design-related annoyances interfering with smooth gaming experience.
For developers, it's all the stuff to do once the game is stable and reasonably bug-free. It's the clean up and last minute fine tuning of a product before it's headed out the door.
- the adjustment of quest distances and paths
- terrain changes for more fluid travel
- adding some extra color or emotion to existing text/dialog
- presentation features like NPC outfits, town dressings, dungeon decorations and interior adornments
- tweaking classes, combat, animations
- bug fixes.. because you NEVER run out of bugs to fix
- And I know this one is hard for many to believe, but... integrating user feedback.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
After reading through early-access reviews, I have come across this term frequently - and obviously I am not the only one, because this poll showed up demonstrates that it has become activated in our current discussion vocab.
So here's my beef with it, because the most popular schema that it has been used in is something along the lines of :
Oh, yes, it has a lot of polish.
--
Polish is not something you want a "lot" of. You want it to be used, to burnish or give a shiny coat to whatever (take that metaphorically for the game of course - we all know what this is trying to mean, I'm just arguing against its use). You don't want it to still be there when you get your polished thing.
Example: If I take my car to get it detailed, and they whistle me out to the front of the shop to pick up my car and the dude says "check it out, it has a lot of polish!" then I would tell him, "yeah, so take it back and wipe that crap off please."
--
Polish is a tool that serves a purpose. Games, cars, shoes should "be polished" but not "have polish." If the only thing that sticks out in someone's mind is the "polish" something "has," then it makes me think initially that it is actually incomplete and hiding behind a veneer of sticky gunk used to "finish" but not to "COAT" something.
--
Anyway soapbox off. All the best wishes to Rift and the players, maybe I'll join you guys one of these days.
Except that doesn't work with MMOs. Because part of polish is how complete the game feels, guess what? Using your analogy, we jump in your car and we drive it. We cruise through the streets and nearly run over little old ladies (well, maybe the PvPers do). If the car isn't complete, if it's "hiding behind a veneer of sticky gunk used to 'finish' but not to 'COAT' something", it's not polished.
You can't have too much polish when it comes to MMOs because MMOs are never complete. A certain level of polish needs to be maintained with the release of new content, and the only time you'd have too much of it is when the game is perfect in every way, shape, and form. Guess what? Never gonna happen. Just equate polish to a high level of quality, okay?
I have always taken 'polish' to mean all the extra detail in a game beyond basic functionality that makes you go 'oh cool!'
For example, polish in Rift for me would mean maybe appearence slots.
Trion seem to think it just means a game that works (ie has functionality, which I would have thought was a basic requirement in a product and not an indicator of 'polish').
I obviously don't define it the same way as they do, but plenty of people seem to have swallowed the tag line and repeat it like some holy mantra, so I guess Trion are getting away with it.
I have always taken 'polish' to mean all the extra detail in a game beyond basic functionality that makes you go 'oh cool!'
For example, polish in Rift for me would mean maybe appearence slots.
Trion seem to think it just means a game that works (ie has functionality, which I would have thought was a basic requirement in a product and not an indicator of 'polish').
I obviously don't define it the same way as they do, but plenty of people seem to have swallowed the tag line and repeat it like some holy mantra, so I guess Trion are getting away with it.
Or maybe appearance slots aren't a mandatory deal-breaking feature for many. Next we'll hear it's not an MMO because it doesn't have appearance slots.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Comments
1 : to make smooth and glossy usually by friction : burnish
2 : to smooth, soften, or refine in manners or condition
3 : to bring to a highly developed, finished, or refined state : perfect
Probably one of those?
It's an adjective related to anything come from that Eastern European country sandwiched between Germany and the Ukraine.. y'know the place that zubrowka and Chopin come from?
You forgot to put that in your poll, not to be confused with any other homonyms that might be flying about.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
polish - to improve, refine, or add finishing touches to.
basically the degree to which a game feels complete or prepared for release.
Polishing a game means working out the kinks. Every game has something, but the level of polish determines the amount of bugs, glitches, etc.
_The Sauce Man
I think the poll results definately shows what kind of people we have here. Majority votes are for "a language". Thank heavens for smart-asses.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
This. Polish is everything in the game functioning as it should.
Always read the small print.
It's the difference between having a car that has been driven for six months and is covered in road dirt and bird crap and the same car that has just been washed, waxed and polished to look like new.
It's good stuff. It should happen more often. With cars and with games.
Rift is polished and has earned a spot on the show room floor. Earthrise is a Jeep that's been run through a swamp, then taken to a desert and flipped end over end. That Jeep is now on it's way to the metal recycling center.
In mmorpg land: nothing being hampered by game breaking bugs, ui functioning smoothly, available content feels rich and features are well implemented. Derp.
My brand new bloggity blog.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland
Looky looky here. XD
..
Sorry, couldn' resist. ^^
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I am Polish. (damn, thats some real deep selfreflection right there for yah) o.O
After reading through early-access reviews, I have come across this term frequently - and obviously I am not the only one, because this poll showed up demonstrates that it has become activated in our current discussion vocab.
So here's my beef with it, because the most popular schema that it has been used in is something along the lines of :
Oh, yes, it has a lot of polish.
--
Polish is not something you want a "lot" of. You want it to be used, to burnish or give a shiny coat to whatever (take that metaphorically for the game of course - we all know what this is trying to mean, I'm just arguing against its use). You don't want it to still be there when you get your polished thing.
Example: If I take my car to get it detailed, and they whistle me out to the front of the shop to pick up my car and the dude says "check it out, it has a lot of polish!" then I would tell him, "yeah, so take it back and wipe that crap off please."
--
Polish is a tool that serves a purpose. Games, cars, shoes should "be polished" but not "have polish." If the only thing that sticks out in someone's mind is the "polish" something "has," then it makes me think initially that it is actually incomplete and hiding behind a veneer of sticky gunk used to "finish" but not to "COAT" something.
--
Anyway soapbox off. All the best wishes to Rift and the players, maybe I'll join you guys one of these days.
How dare you present him with logic! Don't you understand? He fights epic fights, in epic games, with epic toons....eats epic food and takes epic dumps! He has more e..pic..icity...ness in his little finger than you have in your whole unepic body! - ChicagoCub
Stuff I put on my nails to make them super sexy
.
~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
Come Join us at www.globalequestria.com - Meet other fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!
To me, "polish" means overall smoothness of my gaming experience. It's a rather broad term to describe how well is the game carried out in terms of playability from the customer's point of view. In other words, polish is absence of techincal and design flaws that interfere with my gaming experience.
Some things that contribute to a "polished" game:
1) No crashes, no major bugs, little to no minor bugs
2) User-friendly UI with ergonomic layout of all the controls which let me do stuff i want quickly, easily and intuitively
3) Absence of graphical glitches
4) High quality and consistent art style (graphics, sound, music)
5) Fluid animations which appear very natural
6) In MMOs in particular - zero UI lag - all technical issues related to PC performance limitations, connection speeds and delays are well managed and accounted for on the application level and do not "make it" through to the UI level
7) No typos in story texts, no variables or constant names appearing within some of them, etc :-)
8) User interface using fluid transition animations helps, although it must be unobtrusive and simple otherwise it gets annoying after a while (quick, smooth, direct movements)
The list is obviously not intended to be exhaustive, these are just some examples.
To a certain extent, "polish" is subjective. Also, that the game is polished doesn't mean that I like it or vice versa. Many people don't like WoW yet it's probably the most polished MMO out there. On the other hand, many people like to play Eve Online despite it has possibly the worst user interface design imaginable.
TL;DR: Polish is generic term expressing absence of technical and design-related annoyances interfering with smooth gaming experience.
What is polish easily explainable , Bug Free Crash Free Playable Enjoyable content .
Isn´t that simple enough to achieve ?
So many games can´t even reach that with launch .
Polish is the measure of how closely a game, in its current state, matches the expecations of the players/devs.
Which is why games are rarely polished at launched because most games are launched to some extent in an unfinished state.
It's a language.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
The people who are forgotten. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mahTGNIk4q4
I'am polish also
.
But... for me it's that product is finished - no bugs, it has everything what is supposed to have - all announced content.
For developers, it's all the stuff to do once the game is stable and reasonably bug-free. It's the clean up and last minute fine tuning of a product before it's headed out the door.
- the adjustment of quest distances and paths
- terrain changes for more fluid travel
- adding some extra color or emotion to existing text/dialog
- presentation features like NPC outfits, town dressings, dungeon decorations and interior adornments
- tweaking classes, combat, animations
- bug fixes.. because you NEVER run out of bugs to fix
- And I know this one is hard for many to believe, but... integrating user feedback.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Except that doesn't work with MMOs. Because part of polish is how complete the game feels, guess what? Using your analogy, we jump in your car and we drive it. We cruise through the streets and nearly run over little old ladies (well, maybe the PvPers do). If the car isn't complete, if it's "hiding behind a veneer of sticky gunk used to 'finish' but not to 'COAT' something", it's not polished.
You can't have too much polish when it comes to MMOs because MMOs are never complete. A certain level of polish needs to be maintained with the release of new content, and the only time you'd have too much of it is when the game is perfect in every way, shape, and form. Guess what? Never gonna happen. Just equate polish to a high level of quality, okay?
I have always taken 'polish' to mean all the extra detail in a game beyond basic functionality that makes you go 'oh cool!'
For example, polish in Rift for me would mean maybe appearence slots.
Trion seem to think it just means a game that works (ie has functionality, which I would have thought was a basic requirement in a product and not an indicator of 'polish').
I obviously don't define it the same way as they do, but plenty of people seem to have swallowed the tag line and repeat it like some holy mantra, so I guess Trion are getting away with it.
Or maybe appearance slots aren't a mandatory deal-breaking feature for many. Next we'll hear it's not an MMO because it doesn't have appearance slots.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Where's the 'My plumber' option?
"Come and have a look at what you could have won."