Is it just me or do developers have a hard time with the motion of running in MMOGs? I can name a hand full of games off of the top of my head that made me cringe the first time I saw my avatar run. That and/or limbs were disproportionate; arms were too long, legs were too short. I would think that animation is the first aspect of development that gets the most attention but in most MMOGs I just don't see any proof of that.
Also, combat and spell animations are critical to me as well. I play MMOGs to escape reality, I play a sword swinging gleamming engine of destruction because it allows me to be something I have dreamed of doing since I was a small child. Not only that when I cast a spell I want to look like I've summoned the power and magic from the either the depths of hell or from the heavens above, spell casting animations should not resemble a hand wave.
Nothing, and I must restate nothing can take me out of the immersion of an MMOG faster then poor character animations, as vain, vapid or as shallow as that sounds its true.
User Comments
This is so true. It really makes you wonder how they do the animations for toons in MMORPG's. Worst I ever saw was in AC2. ::cringes::
I agree. I guess avatar movement is one of the first things you notice when you start playing a game. Recently I played Fury and it's not exactly the movement but the way the camera angles to the side you're turning to while you're running and your avatar kind of bends to that side, as if you were a motorcycle. It really made me cringe (almost vomit).
Another things that kills immersion for me is how the avatar holds his/her weapons. In Star Wars Galaxies you don't really grab your melee weapon. And when you mount your speed bike you don't holster your weapon and grab the handle bars - you keep holding it close to your belly. Just a bit of animation, PLEASE!
Yep, amazing that such little things, well big things to us, can have such an impact on the game. I love to play bow classes and its so important to me that my character has the proper bow animation. I think that Guild Wars had the best looking/shooting bow class that I can recall in recent memory. My Elf Hunter in LotRO had some bad animations, I didn't care for it. And the way the models in LotRO moved overall was a letdown, the combat responsiveness just felt sluggish and I never felt like I had precise control over my character.
Yes, character movement and how they interact with the world is the first thing I notice and it can decide whether or not I play the game long term.
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