Video Games are Toys

I have been seeing people did not like the looks of the animation in this update. Personally, I was very pleased with this update and the way things are looking. I want to play!
However, I think this brings up something I addressed months ago: stylization in art style is key to success.
The more realistic you go, the higher the expectations of realistic animation becomes. Noticing tiny details of unrealism in animation becomes greater when you are setting the expectation of an appearance that replicates "real life." It's uncanny valley!
Not only that, frankly, it's a boring art style. Picasso mastered realism until he realized it was BORING. Now, what paintings do you think of when you think of that name?
The creativity that opens when a game becomes more stylized is immense. Every "problem" with the animation in a realistic art style becomes part of the style in a stylized one. It is what gives a game it's character and those nostalgic feelings that we all enjoy from our mmos of the past.
Let's not forget that the more realistic a game looks, the harder it is to run on the average computer, thus limiting the player base. Also, who doesn't want their fantasy world to look magical and different from the real boring world? Lastly, video games are a way to play pretend, which essentially just makes it a toy... toys are made colorful, stylized, and silly because it evokes their imagination.
So, I think that instead of refining the animations, that already look good, to try to make them meet the expectations of realism... just stylize the art style more.

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Comments

DesertFang

If anyone played WoW for any length longer than a year and is now complaining about AoC looking "toyish" I bite me thumb at you.

It is a video game at the end of the day and personally I think it looks incredible. I just want to game to be fun and engaging, I am hoping that the servers remain full and the game finds legs.

grozavoron

TheDarkSorcerer

I am loving Intrepids direction of mixing realism with fantasy. Like ElderScrolls Online. I personally don't like the overly goofy, cartoonish games.

"colorful, stylized, and silly because it evokes their imagination." this is purely a subjective opinion.
I worked on every major horror film that has come out the past five years. None of them were colorful, like recently, The Exorcist: Believer, SAW 10 etc. I had a crazy amount of imagination working on them. Just like Intrepid has on this game.

daveywavey

TheDarkSorcerer wrote: »

I worked on every major horror film that has come out the past five years.

Ooooh, you know of any good ones coming out soon that you're allowed to tell us about?

Solvryn

There’s no proof in stylization in the key to success.

Kilion

Agreed, the topic of "this will look dated by the time it comes out" and other complaints about the graphics in the showcases just bore the hell out of me by now. Steven has addressed this already - he agrees that decent visuals are important to attract customers but in the end to him its nothing more than a supportive vehicle on which compelling mechanics are delivered. And creating and refining these compelling game mechanics seems to be the obvious focus (IMO) for the remaining Alpha stage - which I would suspect to be over only in maybe 2 or 3 years.

TheDarkSorcerer

daveywavey wrote: »

TheDarkSorcerer wrote: »

I worked on every major horror film that has come out the past five years.

Ooooh, you know of any good ones coming out soon that you're allowed to tell us about?

Only upcoming film linedup i'm working on as of right now is Night Swim with Blumhouse

But we'll see what 2024 has in stock.

Blood_Raven

As said above style is subjective. One reason I never liked Wow was the art aesthetic they selected it felt to much like a cartoon to me. ESO is probably the best looking MMO imo. That said I use to play EQ, Ultima Online, Daoc etc. Aoc already has them beat, so long as the style does not look retro or cartoony I will probably be just fine.

grozavoron

Stylized games tend to be more accessible and can run smoothly on a wider range of computers, making them inclusive for a larger player base. Plus, who doesn't want to escape to a magical and fantastical world when playing games?
You've got the point that video games are essentially a form of play and should embrace their toy-like nature. Toys are colorful, stylized, and silly because they ignite the imagination, and video games are no different.
Since we're discussing gaming, I'm a big fan of Counter-Strike. Recently, I found https://bitskins.com, where you can discover CS:GO skins. It's a neat way to add some flair to your in-game weapons.

Enigmatic Sage

They are for the most part created for the intent of entertainment depending on the audience and purpose. They're fun in their own ways to many different people but that doesn't mean they are toys in my opinion. Although, there is a lot of games designed quite toybox-like especially with how much dress up and appearance customisation there is commonly across the genre's now. Not much different than just making yourself look like another toy to play as.

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