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ESO - Depressing color palette?

MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
Hey folks,

I swear, I'm not a graphics snob.  But when it comes to ESO, I think that the real problem I have with the game is looking at the gray, drab color palette.  I actually find it borderline depressing.  It bothers me so much that I can't enjoy what is probably a pretty decent game.  

Am I the only one?
MikehaRueTheWhirl
«1

Comments

  • LuidenLuiden Member RarePosts: 336
    All of their games have been like that.. dating back to Elder Scrolls I.  They have always had a rather depressing look.. even though the graphics are in a lot of cases fantastic, the feel has always been gray. 
  • LacedOpiumLacedOpium Member EpicPosts: 2,327
    edited February 2018

    Perhaps its due to the fact you have been playing another MMORPG that has an overly colorful palette and have become accustomed to that type of graphic style?  ESO is not cartoony like many MMORPGs.  It has a more realistic color palette.  If you have been playing WoW, B&S, Wildstar, or any of a number of MMORPGs with overly colorful palettes for years, and then you come start playing ESO, you will obviously find ESO's color palette drab in color.  Its all relevant.

    Scot
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    Repeating the same color is easier for game engines and lessens overall bandwidth needed.It does other things like making it easier to optimize maps/zones,just overall less work needed to be done.
    I see this in a lot of games,what bothers me more is the background graphics dropping off very quickly and seeing constant drawing as i move.There is no perfect answer,these games claiming to be always persistent "no loading zones" are not the answer at all to better gaming.

    Besides drab colors,even low quality color like lacking in shaders/lighting effects to simply being a one 8 bit color.

    Yeah i like picking on Blizzard because they are over rated.Wow is VERY low end,not much optimizing needed.Overwatch is actually terrible,the lighting is too bright causing a "wash out "effect.If you google "wash out graphics"you'll likely see someone explain it further.To me it really looks amateur if the map designer/developer cannot see his own poor quality work.

    If you ever used Unreal Editor an Unreal Engine+tools,there is icons to press that'll show optimization/poly count used,how different colors and stuff affect the mapping scene.This whole mapping idea was huge back in the Unreal days,very skilled mappers would sit and critique each others work all the time because the map is the most important part to bringing a game to life.

    What i see now a days is a LOT of very amateur work and likely no effort put into optimization at all.What we end up seeing is devs after release talk about optimizing for better frame rates,so a lot of LAZY work done prior to release.

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000
    They are dull but they do have some vibrant colors available. Maybe as a subscriber you get to use them regularly.  They had a free subscriber weekend or week and someone on this site mentioned to be sure to use the dyes you get access to as a subscriber.  I did and it made a big difference.

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • TheScavengerTheScavenger Member EpicPosts: 3,321
    edited February 2018
    I think that was my issue with ESO as well. Just unrealistic drab colors. People say games with color are unrealistic and games with drab grey colors are realistic, obviously have never been outside their basement.

    Thats my issue with vanilla Skyrim (though not as much as ESO, Skyrim looked "okay" out of the box. Mods made it next gen though) and vanilla Fallout 3. Fallout 3 was actually okay once the green effect was removed with a simple mod, though I liked new vegas overall graphics wise more.

    Fallout 4 does color better, it doesn't even need lighting or graphics mods at all. That one looks great out of the box, though I added greenery mods anyway since played 1000 or so hours of fallout 4 and wanted a change of pace from the vanilla look.

    With that said...Dark Souls games have really depressing overall atmosphere with dull colors. Those games look amazing however. Its dark, depressing, sad and horrible...and it does it perfectly. if ESO went with that approach, it have been the most amazing MMO graphics wise in the genre despite the drab unrealistic colors. 


    MaxBacon

    My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB: 

    https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul



  • SpiiderSpiider Member RarePosts: 1,135
    Its true. But it has always been like that with their games.

    No fate but what we make, so make me a ham sandwich please.

  • LacedOpiumLacedOpium Member EpicPosts: 2,327
    edited February 2018
    I think that was my issue with ESO as well. Just unrealistic drab colors. People say games with color are unrealistic and games with drab grey colors are realistic, obviously have never been outside their basement.

    Thats my issue with vanilla Skyrim (though not as much as ESO, Skyrim looked "okay" out of the box. Mods made it next gen though) and vanilla Fallout 3. Fallout 3 was actually okay once the green effect was removed with a simple mod, though I liked new vegas overall graphics wise more.

    Fallout 4 does color better, it doesn't even need lighting or graphics mods at all. That one looks great out of the box, though I added greenery mods anyway since played 1000 or so hours of fallout 4 and wanted a change of pace from the vanilla look.

    With that said...Dark Souls games have really depressing overall atmosphere with dull colors. Those games look amazing however. Its dark, depressing, sad and horrible...and it does it perfectly. if ESO went with that approach, it have been the most amazing MMO graphics wise in the genre despite the drab unrealistic colors. 



    I seriously doubt that anyone goes around blanketly claiming that games with color are unrealistic whereas games with drab grey colors are realistic.  Pretty sure that what they mean is that games with less coloring are more realistic than games with over the top cartoony coloring like WoW, B&S, WildStar, etc.  They are all games, therefore by definition they all have unrealistic colors.  Unless, of course, you are claiming that the coloring in games like WoW, WildStar, B&S, and so many others of the like, are more realistic in color than the coloring in a game like ESO. 

    Personally, as amazing as you think ESO would have been with the over the top dark, depressing, sad and horrible approach, that is something that would not have appealed to me in the least.  That would have definitely kept me from playing it as it is the reason why i stopped playing Secret World.  I like ESO's toned down graphics just the way they are, and given Zenimax' success with many of their games, I dont appear to be alone in that preference.   Game graphics and coloring are all just a matter of preference.  Let's try to keep things in perspective.  

    Post edited by LacedOpium on
  • YashaXYashaX Member EpicPosts: 3,098
    Hey folks,

    I swear, I'm not a graphics snob.  But when it comes to ESO, I think that the real problem I have with the game is looking at the gray, drab color palette.  I actually find it borderline depressing.  It bothers me so much that I can't enjoy what is probably a pretty decent game.  

    Am I the only one?
    It kind of reminds me of Skyrim, there is a kind of greyish/blue tinge to everything; but like Skyrim there are also some really nice areas. For example I think Auridon is a nice zone with all the trees and so forth, and Cyrodiil has some great areas.
    ....
  • hallucigenocidehallucigenocide Member RarePosts: 1,015
    i don't really mind it.. but i wonder if this is why i tend to get tired after playing this game for awhile especially when night time kicks in in game =/ haven't really experienced anything like that with other games.

    I had fun once, it was terrible.

  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    It's downright bright and cheerful compared to the typical single player Elder Scroll game. It also varies by zone. Auridon is a good example of that as @YashaX said above.

    But overall the muted pastel look works for me compared to the typical over-saturated garish mess with over-the-top GFX and teen super models and lolies in lingerie... or the zany cartoons that try too hard to be humorous. I find it hard to take those others seriously.

    So I guess it depends on what you're used to. I like my fantasies darker.../shrug. 
    YashaX
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • MikehaMikeha Member EpicPosts: 9,196
    edited February 2018
    Hey folks,

    I swear, I'm not a graphics snob.  But when it comes to ESO, I think that the real problem I have with the game is looking at the gray, drab color palette.  I actually find it borderline depressing.  It bothers me so much that I can't enjoy what is probably a pretty decent game.  

    Am I the only one?

    You are not alone,

    Probaly the #1 reason why I stopped playing.  It just looks bland and cheap to me for some reason. 
  • bcbullybcbully Member EpicPosts: 11,838
    It matches the lore OP, dark. If ESO was all bright and colorful it just wouldn’t fit.
    YashaX
    "We see fundamentals and we ape in"
  • MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
    I think what gets me is that even when I'm outside in the daylight, it seems gloomy.  Like the sun is obscured.
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    A typical day in Auridon:


    LacedOpiumYashaXScot
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • LacedOpiumLacedOpium Member EpicPosts: 2,327
    Iselin said:
    A typical day in Auridon:



    No better way to expose the doom and gloomers than to post a pic Iselin.  ESO may have a more conservative color palette when compared to the cartoony graphics and color palette of most MMOS,  but there is nothing gloomy or drab about ESO.  It is actually quite the refreshing look from the overbearing cartoony coloring that is prevalent in most MMOs available today.
  • MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
    Never made it to Auridon, but it does look nice.  
  • MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
    Iselin said:
    A typical day in Auridon:



    No better way to expose the doom and gloomers than to post a pic Iselin.  ESO may have a more conservative color palette when compared to the cartoony graphics and color palette of most MMOS,  but there is nothing gloomy or drab about ESO.  It is actually quite the refreshing look from the overbearing cartoony coloring that is prevalent in most MMOs available today.

    And, do we really need to be "exposed" for having opinions?
  • LacedOpiumLacedOpium Member EpicPosts: 2,327
    Iselin said:
    A typical day in Auridon:



    No better way to expose the doom and gloomers than to post a pic Iselin.  ESO may have a more conservative color palette when compared to the cartoony graphics and color palette of most MMOS,  but there is nothing gloomy or drab about ESO.  It is actually quite the refreshing look from the overbearing cartoony coloring that is prevalent in most MMOs available today.

    And, do we really need to be "exposed" for having opinions?

    You are, of course, entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts.  And the above pic posted by Iselin is a fact that renders said opinion baseless.  Merely that, and nothing more.  I don't know how most of the posters on this thread talking about how ESOs graphics are so doom and gloom never considered that all it takes is a few factual in-game pics to totally negate those claims. 

    Still and all, for those who still consider the above "gloomy" there are mods to fix that as well.  



    There really is nothing to see here, but it has been fun.
  • MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
    Would it make you feel better if I posted tome gloomy pics from the game?
  • LacedOpiumLacedOpium Member EpicPosts: 2,327
    edited February 2018

    Yeah, well, eerie is the theme of that particular area.  It obviously does not reflect, or speak to, the entirety of ESOs graphics.  It would be rather odd to have a sunny, cheerful, and colorful landscape for an area that is suppose to showcase ghosts, skeletons, and the like.  It other words, yes, as showcased in these last few posts, there are a variety of landscapes and themes in ESO, as it should be.  It would probably give the "dissenters" a lot more to complain about if it were not the case.

    YashaX
  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    Never made it to Auridon, but it does look nice.  
    Its a very big game. Bright sunny zones, wintery ones, gloomy ones. More bright than dark imo but your choice of starter zone can colour your initial experiece!

    So whilst I could add a "dark" picture to the one above since there seem to be a lot of people who have missed the brighter zones (not played perhaps?) here is one from The Thieves Guild DLC. Bright "desert": 

  • YashaXYashaX Member EpicPosts: 3,098
    Never made it to Auridon, but it does look nice.  
    Yeah, the zones are really different. Some are perpetually gloomy, some brighter etc.
    ....
  • Pr3sid3ntSkr00bPr3sid3ntSkr00b Member UncommonPosts: 53
    edited February 2018
    I don’t love nor hate the ESO look.  It’s the animations and character movement that is dreadful. The run animations, spell animations are just bad. But I also think the overall look of the world is rather meh. I like site seeing in mmorpgs not so much in ESO. My favorite for that is GW2. Some pretty beautiful spots in that world. 
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,824
    Its not TERRA, but then my eyes are thankful for that.
    [Deleted User]
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