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How Much Do Graphics Really Matter in MMORPGs? | OGR | MMORPG.com
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How Much Do Graphics Really Matter in MMORPGs? | OGR | MMORPG.com
In the ever-evolving world of gaming, graphics have always been a hot topic. As technology continues to advance, Steven found himself asking whether graphics still matter in MMORPGs?
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That said I put too much importance on graphics in games and can't shut up.
I accept that everything does not have to be as good as BDO, but that game is telling us it can be done. What I won't accept is going back to 2D or isometric toy figures to make a MMO work, anything like that.
Lotro is actually my minimum graphics standard for a MMO, so it has done well over the years, being cartoony but not too cartoony is a big help there I think.
However I accept that the more building and so on you can do yourself the less we can expect graphics wise. Trove is still too low bar for me, but Archage or FO76 look fine.
Latest example this would be New World , pretty game impeded by a host of very shallow and broken systems..Hence why it is carrying only 2% Retention rate at this time.
People want more than pretty .
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
I'm not going to say that graphics don't matter, but I will say that looking good isn't so important that it's acceptable to run poorly or to have little content in the game.
To some degree, there are trade-offs between looking good, running efficiently, and being cheap to make. But more skilled programmers, better tools, and better artists can make all three improve at once.
We have the perfect example in BDO, as while the game might look fine nowadays for many folks, we also have to keep in mind that the amount of new assets that they've pulled out has been minimal when comparing it with other games like FFXIV. And the latter is only doing a partial graphical upgrade now, on its 10th anniversary, but clearly at the expense of the current expansion cycle (longer wait between patches, and less new assets being released when compared with previous expansion cycles). Of course, as I mentioned earlier, we can't even try to hold smaller companies to the same standards as these big studios. And that's why choosing carefully an art style is important for the long term success of both the game and the studio.
So, to make it short, and just as any other piece of software, it's important to design MMO games in a way that it makes it easier to keep them going while, at the same time, looking as up to date as possible. Aiming for ultra realistic models, for example, is a sure way to make them deprecated within just a couple of years after better engines, hardware, and graphical capabilities become available, which will inevitably push forward the realism to which our game would be compared. And it would also make it harder to keep the game updated in a way that said models still look fine, or least okay, when compared with the current gen. Choosing that design would put the studio in a hard place on the long run.
Just compare which kind of older games stood the test of time better, and it's very obvious that those that had a less realistic art style are the ones that still look graphically enjoyable (or at least acceptable) even for today's standards. And that includes many 2D games.
I think for most, graphics fall in the middle and don't affect your decision on whether to play or not. It's the graphics style that you really really dislike that matters. Going back to my painting analogy, it's like going through a museum. Most rooms, are ok and you enjoy it. Some Rooms you really enjoy and take your time (For me ancient). On the other hand, there are rooms that you avoid or go through, but you have to grit your teeth (For me modern art. For me, Modern Art = Anime style graphics. I really dislike them as a rule and I have to grit my teeth. On the other hand, simple, yet well-done graphics like Albion, I really enjoy.
https://biturl.top/rU7bY3
Beyond the shadows there's always light
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Me, not so much, sort of middle of the road on their importance.
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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If the game is good I will play it
But when it comes to mmos its a different story
I expect an other level of immersion from mmos and graffix do play a big role for that
A good part of our world is visual, so in the end what matters is how visually appealing it is and for this reason Korean, Japanese and Asian games in general call our attention even though they are generic and do not present anything innovative. The graphic itself and the art style already bought us and for that same reason American games like New World and Crucible are a failure, because in addition to not showing anything innovative, they are extremely ugly and carcinogenic to the eyes and for that same reason more and more people are abandoning american and european games to play asian games and even these eye cancer creators are starting to buy asian games because they know they are not able to create something that has quality or that is visually appealing.
Spending real money for better graphics sounds like a good way to judge how much people care about their graphics.
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But, I spend most of my days.. thousands of hours.. in Project Gorgon.. where the gameplay is mud-old-school-mmo-excellent and the graphics aren't much better than Minecraft. *shrug*