Graphics vs Aesthetics

[Tonka]

Okay, let's face facts.

• GW2 looks like crap.
  
• FFXIV looks okay at a cursory glance until you realise the grass is a pixelated mess and only 10% of the plants actually sway in the wind, the water is a flat tile, the world is a fancy background rather than something you can interact with, shadows are all wrong if they exist at all, etc etc.
  
• ArcheAge and Blade&Soul, on the other hand, look awesome in almost every way.

People who use FFXIV and GW2 as bastions of MMO graphics are obviously ignorant. Only Koreans know how to design games. People say "GW2 Isn't made by Koreans!" like it's a good thing. LOL. You serious?

In ArcheAge and B&S, grass actually moves, zones are seamless, character models look reasonable. Nothing is so excessive to the point of tackiness (unlike everything in GW2 for example).

http://www.archeage.com/pds/media/show/432

ArcheAge and Blade & Soul are examples of games with nice aesthetics that also require a fairly powerful computer. ArcheAge especially so. GW2 employees test using video cards that aren't even on the market any more. It's designed to run on average computers. Some people may not like their stylized approach to their art direction, but for it being designed to be so accessible, it looks amazing to me.

It's not a debate on which looks better.

[Vesperia]

ArcheAge and Blade & Soul are examples of games with nice aesthetics that also require a fairly powerful computer. ArcheAge especially so. GW2 employees test using video cards that aren't even on the market any more. It's designed to run on average computers. Some people may not like their stylized approach to their art direction, but for it being designed to be so accessible, it looks amazing to me.

It's not a debate on which looks better.

I have a pretty low end computer and FFXIV seems to run fine on medium settings for me. So I shudder to think what demographic GW2 is targetting.

If a game targets really crappy PCs then it will only become out-dated faster.

[Gramul]

I shudder to think what demographic GW2 is targeting.

...You shudder? The very idea that GW2 wants to expand its player base to as many people as possible by making sure their visuals run well on old computers causes you to shudder?!

Aesthetics can't be outdated, they are not graphical components. It's just a use of visual style to grip the attention and imagination of their players. Some people will obviously get bored of it eventually, but good aesthetics are not so easily forgotten. That's exactly why games like Parappa the Rapper still hold a visually interesting motif. It's why games like Okami, will still keep people entertained even years from now. It's why Super Metroid can still give people a feel of exploring a bizarre alien world.

And yes. GW2 has an appealing design.

Amusement parks are fun. They amuse.

[Vesperia]

...You shudder? The very idea that GW2 wants to expand its player base to as many people as possible by making sure their visuals run well on old computers causes you to shudder?!

Gosh, it's a figure of speech.

But anyway, look at it this way, in pursuing one demographic you risk excluding the other group who would scorn playing a game with such inferior graphics. So technically it's not the smartest thing to do.

And yes. GW2 has an appealing design.

Amusement parks are fun. They amuse.

They can also make you hurl.

[Gramul]

Gosh, it's a figure of speech.

A very strong figure of speech.

In pursuing one demographic you risk excluding the other group who would scorn playing a game with such inferior graphics.

Few people are going to scorn the game because it has bad graphics. I mean, it works great for WoW.
As long as they can get people in with good (or at least attention grabbing) design, they won't care if it's made out of perfect blocks...and they don't!

[Vesperia]

It's not a debate on which looks better.

As if there ever could be a debate.

Anyway.

Even as a graphically inferior game, I dispute the fact that GW2 uses what few assets it has to its advantage. I mean, come on. I don't know about you, but a gameworld should at least make sense. The cultural disparity between the races in GW2 is so huge it's almost absurd.

But that's what you get for playing a game made by western developers (no eye for beauty and cliche voice-overs).

[Physic]

As if there ever could be a debate.

Anyway.

Even as a graphically inferior game, I dispute the fact that GW2 uses what few assets it has to its advantage. I mean, come on. I don't know about you, but a gameworld should at least make sense. The cultural disparity between the races in GW2 is so huge it's almost absurd.

But that's what you get for playing a game made by western developers (no eye for beauty and cliche voice-overs).

there is a fairly huge cultural disparity in the world we live in. We sit here on computers talking with other people across the world, while other people in same world live in tribal cultures that still have witch doctors, other places have electricity as against their religion. People still hunt with handmade weapons in parts of the world, and build housing out of clay. Also if you played guild wars I you would see why different cultures are so varied, there is a lot of strict seperation, and magic itself impacts cultures, in a world with magic, and science, it is not always a linear path to advancement. Up until 200 years before in guild wars, the cultures were seperated by fairly difficult to navigate problems. So now 2 hundred years later the world is even crazie has advanced in a lot of different directions, some places more than others.

[Tonka]

I have a pretty low end computer and FFXIV seems to run fine on medium settings for me. So I shudder to think what demographic GW2 is targetting.

If a game targets really crappy PCs then it will only become out-dated faster.

Yeah. Making the game accessible graphically is a horrible idea. I bet Blizzard wishes they could go back in time and change their views on this. Then maybe they could be the undisputed most successful MMO to date.

[Vesperia]

Yeah. Making the game accessible graphically is a horrible idea. I bet Blizzard wishes they could go back in time and change their views on this. Then maybe they could be the undisputed most successful MMO to date.

You think WoW looks good?

I think I see why I cannot win this argument now.

[Tonka]

You think WoW looks good?

I think I see why I cannot win this argument now.

You don't even understand the argument.