Will AoC graphics be able to handle the test of time?

Just finished watching the Allcraft youtube video Featuring Rich, Asmongold and Summit1G and they made a very good Observation about the graphics of AoC versus some other MMO's

AoC have what looks like photo realistic graphics and compared to wow with there more cartoony grpahics wich have held up for the past 15 plus years. I'm not sure if Realistic Graphics can do the same thing. With wow it was probably much easier and way less taxing on computers to upgrade the look of those graphics where as for the graphics of AoC it would probably take much more work and much more processing power to handle upgrading those graphics. So can AoC graphics handle 15+ years like wows did?

Whats your thoughts?

Again everyone this is just for Discussion sake! this isn't a bash towards the game or anything like that. I just felt the Observation was a good one and thought I'd get others opinions. Regardless of gameplay or mechanics or anything else.

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Atama

PlagueMonk wrote: »

That said however I personally am drawn in BY the graphics initially, but as I play the game a switch happens. Graphics become less important while the gameplay becomes the most important thing, at least for me.

That was one of the main points of my earlier post. Graphics might spur you to try out the game but it will only become a classic if it keeps you playing, and the greatest games stay great despite the graphics becoming outdated.

Marcet

PlagueMonk wrote: »

I both agree and disagree with you. Be honest, would you really like AoCs graphics to look like say the original EQ?! I bet not so you have to care about them a little That said however I personally am drawn in BY the graphics initially, but as I play the game a switch happens. Graphics become less important while the gameplay becomes the most important thing, at least for me. If the game does still look good though, I might actually be caught off guard by a beautiful vista while running somewhere and have to stop and look for a couple moments

You have good points. For me, the game already looks too good. I would say graphics can attract a bit of interest but its more about the design of weapons, architecture, map and char modeling what makes the game and not "texture quality". If the design is good Its gonna hook you with bad textures. Once im into a game the graphics have 0 importance, It's called inmersion.

Graphics does not equal inmersion.

A book has no images and the inmersion is brutal.

Marcet

lunarsky wrote: »

No, they won't stand up for 15 years. There is not a single game in existence that's graphics have stood up that long. No, not even WoW and it's cartoony style. Gameplay makes or breaks MMOs. If people can still play Runescape, EQ, L2 etc and enjoy it even now they can do the same with AoC. If you think about it Minecraft is really popular but if we looked at it's graphics they're not good. Call it style choice or whatever you like they aren't impressive in any way compared to what is possible with today's technology but people play the hell out of that game. They can always upgrade the graphics if they want to down the line. Technology moves too quickly to make a game that graphically keeps up with processing power a decade and a half later. It's just the way it is.

That's what im talking about!

Why is the conversation "Are the graphics gonna last 15 years" and not "Will the gameplay and comunity last 15 years"?

Why is people even worried about graphics??

nidriks

KoreKode wrote: »

Just finished watching the Allcraft youtube video Featuring Rich, Asmongold and Summit1G and they made a very good Observation about the graphics of AoC versus some other MMO's

AoC have what looks like photo realistic graphics and compared to wow with there more cartoony grpahics wich have held up for the past 15 plus years. I'm not sure if Realistic Graphics can do the same thing. With wow it was probably much easier and way less taxing on computers to upgrade the look of those graphics where as for the graphics of AoC it would probably take much more work and much more processing power to handle upgrading those graphics. So can AoC graphics handle 15+ years like wows did?

Whats your thoughts?

Again everyone this is just for Discussion sake! this isn't a bash towards the game or anything like that. I just felt the Observation was a good one and thought I'd get others opinions. Regardless of gameplay or mechanics or anything else.

I don't think the graphics need to hold up with time. Like you, say only WoW has really lasted and I believe Blizzard made a concious choice of going with less realistic graphics to make the game easier to upgrade and more able to last.

Consider EQ. It was the first full 3D MMO, but the graphics look shocking now. People do still play EQ, of course. If Ashes stands the test of time then I will happily still play it in 2042.

Patch

I think we are at a point where today's photo realistic graphics are good enough to last many years into the future.

I agree with the others that have said gameplay > graphics (and by a large margin)

Atiqa

You can't look at WoW today and say that it has held up all these years though, because it doesn't look the same today as it did at launch. Check out some comparison videos of it.

AoC can make improvements later on during the game's life just like WoW did. While I'm no expert, I think the fact that they are using UE might help in that regard.

Also, I play FFXIV, which isn't "photo realistic", but it's nowhere near the kind of design WoW has. It's basically a 10 year old game that got remade 7 years ago (same engine etc, not much different graphics wise). Think it's basically a 15 year old engine at this point, at least. It still looks good enough for me, and it will continue for many years probably. They haven't even really made much changes to it since launch (think the engine is very limited compared to UE).

I don't see why AoC would be any different if they do it right.

Patch

Atiqa wrote: »

You can't look at WoW today and say that it has held up all these years though, because it doesn't look the same today as it did at launch. Check out some comparison videos of it.

I know this is not a debate WoW graphics thread, but this is just wrong. WoW looks very different (yet similar within it's style) than it did upon release. They have added so many polygons and smoothed out just about every model and terrain in the game.

I agree with you. FFXIV still looks lovely. I sometimes wish there were more contrast in their color scheme, but it feels wonderful to adventure through Eorzea.

Edit: I read your post incorrectly. we're on the same page! sorry!

KoreKode

Patch wrote: »

Atiqa wrote: »

You can't look at WoW today and say that it has held up all these years though, because it doesn't look the same today as it did at launch. Check out some comparison videos of it.

I know this is not a debate WoW graphics thread, but this is just wrong. WoW looks very different (yet similar within it's style) than it did upon release. They have added so many polygons and smoothed out just about every model and terrain in the game.

I agree with you. FFXIV still looks lovely. I sometimes wish there were more contrast in their color scheme, but it feels wonderful to adventure through Eorzea.

Edit: I read your post incorrectly. we're on the same page! sorry!

Yes I 100%, agree with mostly everyone that obviously the "classic" graphics of wow were improved upon in the last 15+ years to help it hold up. Plus combat animation were also improved and things like that. I believe AOC could also do this with the upgrade to UE5. Who knows the possibilities!

I think that's the great thing about AOC being made now! Its got so much more possibilities with new engines and with all the people involved in making this game.

I like how everyone has great opinions here and I think talking about something as simple as this (and this could sound corny) will help us all realize what we enjoy and cherish in a mmo at its core as a community. We might see it differently but in the end we all want a great mmo to play.

Ashes will look different in 15+ years just like wow did

rodzor

I play Realm of the Mad God all the time, it is literally a pixel game and it's fun as hell to me. Graphics don't make a game good imo. If the gameplay and community stand the test of time the game could last 10-15 years easily.

CaptnChuck

@KoreKode

Every game will age. Even WoW ages, you can notice it in the diff between the texture of newer and older gear and in the detail of newer and older zones as well.

As long as the new content that is added into the game is on par with game graphics of its time, it won't matter as much.

BaSkA_9x2

Every aspect of games are important, some more than others, but graphics are definitely high on the list. If the game isn't eye-candy, some people won't even play it and, when the game starts looking old to the current standards, the influx of new players also decreases. That's what happened to many great bad looking games in the past.

On that premise, I believe that as long as Intrepid is able to revamp the game with the newest Unreal Engine release when they feel like it's needed, we're gonna be fine. It's definitely a lot of work to revamp the graphics of older games, but it's probably also a requisite if you want to stay on the top.

KoreKode

BaSkA13 wrote: »

Every aspect of games are important, some more than others, but graphics are definitely high on the list. If the game isn't eye-candy, some people won't even play it and, when the game starts looking old to the current standards, the influx of new players also decreases. That's what happened to many great bad looking games in the past.

On that premise, I believe that as long as Intrepid is able to revamp the game with the newest Unreal Engine release when they feel like it's needed, we're gonna be fine. It's definitely a lot of work to revamp the graphics of older games, but it's probably also a requisite if you want to stay on the top.

yes exactly! and i find MMO's suffer most when it comes to graphics because people tend to think about how much time they are going to spend looking at this game and if it will appeal to them or not for long periods of time because yes mmo's take up A LOT of your time. where I could play the first call of duty which would take me maybe a few hours to beat and I would probably just suffer through the old looking graphics because its just for a few hours. This could also depend on how much time you have in a day, week or month to play games to. There are lots of factors I just personally feel MMO's are also criticized for the way they look a lot more then people might think even if they do by standard look worse then say a single player open world RPG.

I to believe if it's going to be as easy as just tweaking the game to the new Unreal engine's as needed then AoC will thrive graphically no problem and even with the current graphics its got quite a few years before it becomes to much of an eye sore for even new players.

Nagash

Its off but games with worse graphics are the ones that look better in a few years time

Leroher

I prefer the game to be pretty and I don't mind how it will look like in 15 years tbh, we will see when we get there.

Jexz

If the PvP is good, there will always be a player base who will play in potato mode for that extra bit of FPS advantage.

ParadoxPK

The initial graphical standpoint needs to look decent. If it looks like a 5 year old game at launch it will hurt it. As time goes on obviously the earlier things in the game might not look at great as something just introduced 10+ years down the road.

Jyunkix

cant they upgrade unreal engine with newer version tho? or im i mistaking?

Ulf

The way I see it is that there are 2 options.

1.- They take their time with the eyecandy, thus releasing later but with amazing graphic and enviroments.

2.- They make the eyecandy not that amazing at first, but use tools to leave room for improvement and focus on the gameplay first.

Have a great day !

Ulf

NatureHacker

Yes the graphics can hold up. Still unreal 1 engine from 1990's (AOC is unreal 4) still look decent to me.

NatureHacker

Jyunkix wrote: »

cant they upgrade unreal engine with newer version tho? or im i mistaking?

no, no game should ever update graphics engine, even to the same engine type. So so many cases where they did and it lost it's charm.

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