Blizzard release schedule up to 2015

[patience]

I love how people call stylized art direction "dated".

That has nothing to do with it. Compare WoW to Wind Waker, which is more stylized and came out earlier. WW looks far less dated.

I can't agree with this, simply because of the resolution you're stuck with with WW. It looks like hell on any modern tv.

Modern tvs are crap because the majority have poor or nonexistent upscaling. Even the expensive ones for the filthy rich have this issue because the priorities on feature sets are catering to HD content (that doesn't exist in the volume it should at this point) instead of ensuring SD content doesn't look like ass while we wait for HD content that is still being slowly delivered. Seriously LCD manufacturers are pants on head silly by chasing after the HD shiny and now going after the 3D shiny.

[Minvaren]

It's amusing to note that the end of 2012 coincides with the release of the WoW movie.   

[UnSub]

"Bad" art like WoW's may turn some people off on first impressions. There are a small minority of people who won't play it because it looks "like crap".

A key factor is that WoW lasted longer than a lot of people's first impressions.

For a lot of games, graphics are a big thing they have to hook in players who might just be looking at screenshots, online videos or on the back of the box. It's a short step from "it looks good" to "it must play well". Obviously that isn't true, but WoW had the advantage of having a rapidly (rabidly?) growing group of people clamouring about how fun it was.

Completely agree with the system specs though - the lower devs can set the specs, the greater number of potential players they have.

[Paelos]

My favorite games of all time had nothing to do with the graphics. I don't get that mentality.

[UnSub]

My favorite games of all time had nothing to do with the graphics. I don't get that mentality.

Graphics are your interface with the world as well as representing the world itself. Some people can get over lower levels and enjoy titles that don't have fancy graphics (e.g. Dwarf Fortress) but graphics matter for attracting a player before they even start the game. Word of mouth that it is fun also helps, but not everyone reads game reviews and I'm sure there is a lot of impulse buying of video games (which can be aided by screenshots / videos).

It's retroactive as well - I mean, I played games that had stunning graphics for the time, but going back they look so basic.

[Margalis]

My favorite games of all time had nothing to do with the graphics. I don't get that mentality.

Graphics matter to me but my idea of good graphics is a mix of charm, art direction, etc, not raw tech stuff. For example I think many SNES games have great graphics. Not "great for their time" but plain great.

[Simond]

So explain why that doesn't apply to WoW.

[Chimpy]

So explain why that doesn't apply to WoW.

Because he categorically hates WoW, nothing good can ever be said about it.

[Reg]

He categorically hates pretty much everything. Nothing new there.

[Margalis]

So explain why that doesn't apply to WoW.

WoW doesn't look very good.

[Simond]

In what way? Be precise. Give examples.

[Margalis]

I didn't intend to pick on the graphics of WoW, in the end for an MMO I don't think graphics really matter, if you're going to play a game for hundreds of hours the gameplay dwarfs graphic quality. I was just objecting to the idea that people call WoW dated looking because it's stylized. Generally stylized games are considered to age better. Yoshi's Island aged better than Donkey Kong Country. Wind Waker has aged great. Nobody called Prince of Persia 2008 dated, or Limbo, or Shank. Mad World was black and white but I never heard anyone call that dated. I don't think being stylized has anything to do with that, if anything it's an immunization against aging.

If anything WoW could be more stylized. In particular the shading model is still pretty standard phong / blinn / approximate BRDF whatever. The proportions on the characters and colors and such may be stylized but the engine and the way the graphics are presented is pretty standard. So you tend to notice things like general lack of polygons. People say it looks like a cartoon but the shading / lighting model is nothing like a cartoon. Wind Waker looks like a cartoon - WoW has cartoony proportions.

My original "it was dated on release" comment meant that producing a new MMO to replace or run concurrent with WoW probably won't be motivated by graphics because graphics have never been a selling point of WOW. At some point the game might look so dated that people stop playing but I don't think that's going to happen for a long time.

[Paelos]

My favorite games of all time had nothing to do with the graphics. I don't get that mentality.

Graphics are your interface with the world as well as representing the world itself. Some people can get over lower levels and enjoy titles that don't have fancy graphics (e.g. Dwarf Fortress) but graphics matter for attracting a player before they even start the game. Word of mouth that it is fun also helps, but not everyone reads game reviews and I'm sure there is a lot of impulse buying of video games (which can be aided by screenshots / videos).

It's retroactive as well - I mean, I played games that had stunning graphics for the time, but going back they look so basic.

My point was that as long as you are in the ballpark with graphics, I don't see the appeal of "This game simply LOOKS awesome." I don't really give a fuck. Tell me how it plays, because I ignore the graphics after 10 hours into gameplay. Minecraft, WoW, Total War games, Pirates!, Civ games, etc. These have little to do with graphics but they were some of the most fun to me.

[Malakili]

My point was that as long as you are in the ballpark with graphics, I don't see the appeal of "This game simply LOOKS awesome." I don't really give a fuck. Tell me how it plays, because I ignore the graphics after 10 hours into gameplay. Minecraft, WoW, Total War games, Pirates!, Civ games, etc. These have little to do with graphics but they were some of the most fun to me.

Yes, in the ballpark is all that matters, I agree with that. 

[Threash]

The few people turned off by WoWs graphics are more than made up by the millions playing it on computers that have no chance in hell of running a prettier game.  All cutting edge graphics do is remove 90% of the computer base as possible customers.

[tmp]

The few people turned off by WoWs graphics are more than made up by the millions playing it on computers that have no chance in hell of running a prettier game.  All cutting edge graphics do is remove 90% of the computer base as possible customers.

Pretty much that. Also, for every guy not playing the game because the graphics aren't good enough for him a poopsocker in the basement will be running five+ copies thanks to the low hardware requirements...

[Numtini]

The few people turned off by WoWs graphics are more than made up by the millions playing it on computers that have no chance in hell of running a prettier game.  All cutting edge graphics do is remove 90% of the computer base as possible customers.

I just saw a question on WoW Ladies on LJ from someone who plays WoW on a MacBook. Not a MacBook Pro. A MacBook with the integrated intel graphics. And not a new one either.

I think people here would be shocked at how many of those casual players who never did an MMO before WoW started playing on or are still playing on an integrated chipset or $20 video card. I'm constantly answering hardware questions by looking up whether or not a PC has a PCIe or AGP slot and recommending a sub $50 card.

[UnSub]

But those people aren't real gamers. We can safely ignore them. 

[Dren]

I didn't start playing or stop playing UO for the graphics.

Deep, I know.

[MrHat]

B.net third parties?

Turning B.net into a steam competitor w/ Activision games included?

[waffel]

Why does every Blizzard thread turn into a discussion about WoW?

[Rasix]

It's a little difficult to ignore the 800lb gorilla in the room, especially when it's wearing a double breasted money jacket and bathing in the blood its failed challengers.

[Slayerik]

Damn near sig-worthy.

[Typhon]

except the imagine is of a cultured, uptown simian, who for some reason is wearing his best double breasted jacket while sitting in a bath tub of blood.

I like, "It's a little difficult to ignore the 800lb gorilla in the room, especially when it's wearing a double breasted money jacket and sipping on the blood its failed challengers", better. 

Now I see him with a bloody mary glass in his hand, celery stick poking out.  He's wearing a monocle and (double breasted) money suit.  He's elegant. He's proud.  He crushes competitors and drains their blood to make bloody mary's.   Are there hooker gorillas in the background?  Is that blow on the table?  Could be, hard to tell from here.

[ezrast]

I dunno, I kind of like the vision of the gorilla sitting back in a steamy competitor-blood-filled jacuzzi, maybe a couple lady gorillas in there with him, not having bothered to take off his double breasted money jacket because who cares if it stains, it's not like he doesn't have more.

[Ashamanchill]

Damn near sig-worthy.

Dang it! I was going to say that.

Seriously though, WoW is the beast that it is because it has broken through, if you know what I mean.

WoW has the same casual acceptance as a normal old console game. At a party recently; my (nerdy) friends were asking what we all were playing these days. There was some Assasin's Creed 2's, quite a few CoD Black Ops; a dude who was playing Fallout 3 New Vegas, and like 3 WoWs (likely do to Cataclysm.....I was the only dedicated WoW player there [and my friends all know WoW is one of the only games I play anyways]). Then there was one dude who mentioned he was playing FFIV. He was looked at like he had a third head. I mentioned that I had taken a brief gander at that game, but I was waiting for RiFT, and GW2.....and GW2; and suddenly I was in the Three Head category. All of a sudden I wished I had stuck to my last statement of 'Yeah, Paladins are cool: but no amount of gear can make up for my druid's instant flight form!' so I didn't look like such a nerd 

TLDR: WoW being mainstream is not just a perk, is exponentially responsible for it's success.

[WayAbvPar]

Now we just need someone to make a game that we can tell people 'It is like WoW- but good!'.

[Kageru]

I wish I had your sense of optimism. I'd settle for someone releasing an MMO that wasn't a half-baked mess.

Having played some cataclysm it's definitely absorbing influences from console games and modern gamers with short attention spans. Everything seems noisy and exaggerated even compared to WoW on release. And having quick time events was a bit 

[FieryBalrog]

Just wanted to chime in that I think WoW's art design and direction is near the best in the business. Most big-budget HD games have incredibly bland art design coupled with great technical effects.

I rather like GW's art direction too. But I despise the generic art design that infests way too many games, the "Two Worlds" category. Recently Final Fantasy XIV has really great art design for the characters, the outfits and some specific locales, but everything is hideously bland.

I generally like stylized art direction because it avoids the uncanny valley blandness that still plagues current generation videogame technology. I would still rather look at Baldur's Gate 2 than Dragon Age.

[Tale]

For maximum revenue, a WoW movie release should coincide with a WoW expansion pack release. Perhaps "WoW movie" actually means both.

[ajax34i]

No, cause then the fans won't know what to do - stand in line at midnight to buy the expansion or stand in line at midnight for the movie.  For maximum revenue they release the movie and at the same time several pets (from the movie) for sale, and the expansion three weeks later.

[Mrbloodworth]

Add a vanity pet code to every box of popcorn.

[DraconianOne]

The film won't be made for WoW fans - there aren't enough in NA/Europe to ensure that the film is going to get its money back.  It'll need to appeal to the movie going public and will probably piss off the fans entirely because it'll be nothing like the game.

[Chimpy]

A Warcraft movie will be just like a comic book movie. It may very well piss off the rabid fanbase of the IP for not being "true" to the "original" but when it comes down to dollars, making a movie that poops on the head of someone's precious story but sells 500 million in tickets is always going to be the way of things.

[Draegan]

A Warcraft movie will be just like a comic book movie. It may very well piss off the rabid fanbase of the IP for not being "true" to the "original" but when it comes down to dollars, making a movie that poops on the head of someone's precious story but sells 500 million in tickets is always going to be the way of things.

Most of the rabid fans don't even know what the true or original lore is.  Or if they do, they know it's never consistant.

Except for the red shirt guy.