For me it is great disapoitment I have seen landmark gameplay videos in HD and it looks like WoW in higher resolution. Also seen armor artwork and it is just a copy of WoW especially dwarf and kat warrior. Many ppl are excited about this graphic so they won't change it but for me it has nothing to do with Everquest name at all. There was interview with some boss of SOE and he says that their biggest competion are WoW and LoL as biggest players on market, both with cartoon graphics. I don't think it is good idea to try to compete with them with same graphics. WoW players invested years in gameplay they won't anywhere else anyway but there are only few MMOs with realistic graphics AoC, ESO and some others. Imo next gen. MMO should have kick *** realistic graphics but might be just my opinion.
I'm playing Landmark, which is not EQN, and the graphics are ... different for sure. They do look very cartoony when watching video's online but when you are in the world and playing (again Landmark, not EQN) they are not so bad honestly. I'm seeing the world through a gaming PC that I just bought a few weeks ago and am playing with everything set to the highest settings though. Let me also say that I do not like cartoony or anime graphics at all. The soga models in EQ2 look terrible to me and I have never used them. The world in Landmark - the landscape, sky, clouds, moon, sun, and so on are all very well done and detailed. The building materials and props such as forges, torches, tables, and firepits all look good and are detailed. The character model(s) that we have to use look good except for the head in my opinion. Right now we are only given a basic human model, male and female with very little customization. Things are changing fast over there though so hopefully we'll be seeing more options and styles soon. I never played WoW but have heard a lot of negative things about that game over the years. One of the biggest things I've heard was the oversized armor and weapons, shoulders being an example. I've seen the same in some of the EQN video's and do not like what I've seen although to be honest they have done the same thing in EQ2 over the years. Bigger shoulder armor especially. Some of it looks bad, really bad. I prefer a more "realistic" look when it comes to things like armor, weapons, shields and so on and also hate all of the "special effects" added to things like mounts, armor, shields and so on. Glowy, frosty, firey has just been way over done in EQ2 and I do not like it at all. I did not like the cat race that we were shown in the EQN video's but I also keep in mind that was one model customized in a particular way. It's the same for the human model(s) we have over in Landmark, just the one choice, human. I do like all of the concept art for the Iksar race that was shown so I'm looking forward to seeing them rendered in game. I guess for me I will just have to wait and see what we are presented with.
The system specs right now will ensure that a large chunk of players will never get into EQN or EQNL. From a different perspective, I have a son who plays WoW instead of EQ2 because his computer can't handle the graphics (he has an older computer and can't afford to upgrade it). I even sent him a new video card to try and help, but it's simply a matter of cpu and ram for his system. In order to capture a larger player base, they will have to keep the graphics on the simple side, instead of making it so only people with the best computers can play the games.
I do not like Landmark's visual design, especially the characters. It's great if you like that sort of thing, but if you don't, it gets tough to play regularly. I had the same problem with SWTOR; it's not fun to play something when you don't like how anything looks. I don't know if the design team is intentionally copying WOW's aesthetic or if they went cartoon-like for other reasons, but it doesn't really matter when the bottom line is the look rubs me the wrong way. The biggest question to me is: why did they choose this particular 'look,' when it's soooo close to WOW? Even if their design decisions had nothing to do with WOW, they had to know people would look at the characters and their broad shoulders and highly stylized facial appearance and immediately draw that exact comparison. My first thought when I saw screenshots was, "Haven't I already played this game?" That should be the last thing I think when I see the first screenshot of an upcoming AAA game!
It's very possible that some of the artists working on EQL/EQN were the same people who worked on WoW. The industry tends to have a rather mobile population.
I just watched a trailer for elder scrolls online, also looked at some screen shots. SOE better bring their A game.
My husband has messed around with it a little bit. I personally have no desire or interest in it. It's expensive and it's just not my thing.
What Argos said. Also I heard they shose the style in part to make character expressions 'read' better and from farther away- good move IMHO and a better fit for SOEmote
I hate the graphics and they'll probably keep me from playing it for any length of time. The one good thing you can say about it is it OUGHT to be easy on the PC i.e. any piece of junk ought to be able to run it. If EQN will not run on any piece of junk then SoE really messed up. There's innovation and there's crap. I'm willing to give a new MMO a look, but that doesn't mean I'll like what I see. Actually, I do plan to try it out. But the gameplay will have to be phenomenal for me to stick with it despite the aweful graphics. And voxels aren't going to do it for me. Destroying the graphics of their game to make character expressions read better is, in my opinion, insane. It's probably way too late for them to change the graphics even if they wanted to, which they probably don't.
The graphics are a secondary, or perhaps tertiary concern, and what I've seen from Landmark is certainly adequate. I used to tout EQ2 graphics and style over WoW when the games were new, but it became obvious quickly that graphical realism and sophistication is not always the differentiator some expect it to be. These days, I'm more interested in innovative systems and engaging content, hopefully with just enough Norrathian flavor to trigger that nostalgia. kono
All the justifications in the world will not make these character models appeal to me. http://eqnwire.com/2013/08/09/eqnext-art-director-goes-on-defense-about-character-design/
Environment: A Characters: D- But since I am in Euroland I will likely not be playing anyway (will not go PSS1), so for me it is a moot point.
Ugh...Feldon, I really didn't need to be reminded of Great example of why stylized faces will rock the emote world http://t.co/F3nUB79dDS — Rosie Rappaport (@Rosierap) August 7, 2013 She probably will hate this:
Hate the graphics. Personally I hate cartoon style which is one reason, among many, I quit WoW. I am withholding judgment until I see the final product, but good gosh the character models are ugly.
I refused to play WoW for a very long time, mostly because of the cartoony looking characters, but finally caved in to join a few friends. I barely noticed it after a while of playing and by the end when I quit, probably after about 6 months, didn't bother me in the slightest and I realized if it helped their game run on everything, it was probably one of the smartest moves ever. I can't even remember why I quit, probably my wife or friends quit playing. I loved EQ1 for about 7 years and have loved EQ2 because of its gameplay and how it is designed, not for the graphics, though for such an old game, I think they have held up pretty well. Of course when I look back at EQ1 now, I don't think I could ever go back to those graphics. I'm definitely going to give EQNext a try because I love what Sony does, I think they are the best at what they do and I hope it does run on most machines because they designed it that way.
I think trying new things is important, that pushing art and ideas forward is exciting and should always be attempted. And having said that? The EQN art? Not a fan. I think as a player we tend to have to 'bond' a bit with our characters and their looks, we like to see on some level the look of the personality they possess in our mind. EQN art looks like things a ten year old might identify with, Disney like and youthful, impossibly smooth skinned and nary a flaw. Cute upturned noses, amazingly large eyes.... it's all a little bit much for me and I think it would derail any sense of immersion. Just my two cents. It just doesn't appeal to me.
When I saw first EQ2 screenshots I was stunned, characters looks amazing. You could recognize chain armors and plate armor just by look it was not standard back then. In same time WoW armors looks all like cloth. But EQ2 at release has really hard time I had average pc and had fps lag fest in cities, there also was not pvp and you needed group just for standard mobs and questing, I am not sure if I played whole month. So WoW altough with cartoon graphics but with open pvp and solo oriented content was big hit, the graphic was fine back then for me mainly becouse it came from W3 which I liked a lot so noone had problem with that graphic back then. EQ2 in current state is amazing, awesome itemization almost like D2, leveling in dungeons is great with merc etc. But what put me off is pvp, if you like pvp you need to grind pvp gear and your pve gear is usellless which is the biggest let down for me. I dont want to spend whole days in BGs but I would like just occasionally pvp but without pvp gear I am just fodder for everyone even with decent pve gear. I agree that graphic is not main thing and gameplay can make up for it. Good example of fail is AoC not many players could play it due to high requirement on hardware and even then the game lacks many things to be succesfull, imo it was and still is too grindy altough pvp there was great. But great graphics was not enough. Another example is Diablo III it was too cartoony for me but I bought it anyway but it lacks atmosphere for me to hold my attention for longer time then few weaks, only good thing was item hunt but gameplay it self wasn't impressive neither. Wildstar is just meh, it has graphic and toons for some creepy ppl or I just didn't get it. So if EQN will looks similiar it will be so sad. I can't recall any succesfull game with cartoon or realistic graphic other than WoW they all failed anyway no matter what None of them lived up the hype and any of them din't raised players number after initial sales for longer then few months. (WoW sold 6 milions at release then raised to 12 milions in few years and now is arround 6 milions subs) EQN should be released sometimes in next year and I think that emote thing with web camera is not worth that toons looks so terrible, how many players will use it anyway? It will be F2P so everyone will try it but I think real blast would be with graphic from Black desert or similiar realistic graphic.
