I prefer REALISTIC. Listen to what this guy has to say about the both of e'm:

There are two fundamental graphic styles in most MMORPG games and they are Realistic and Cartoony. Some of the most popular free to play games today are anime inspired and thus fit into the cartoony model. Games like Maple Story and Scions of Fate have millions of players worldwide and one of their most attractive features is their graphic style. Even popular Western pay to play games like World of Warcraft benefit from the cartoony style.

Realistic graphics are generally pursued by Western developers though they are becoming more common in Asia too. Voyage Century is a clear example of Asian developers taking an interest in realistic graphic styles. Published by IGG, Voyage Century has markedly different graphics than other more traditionally Asian IGG games such as Zu Online and Tales of Pirates.

The FPS genre has long been dominated by realistic styled games. Shooters are considered to be on the leading edge in terms of graphical capabilities and it often takes other genres years to catch up. Even in theMMO field, games like War Rock, Soldier Front, and GunZ are all realistic styled. Recently, however, many developers have seen the wisdom of trying something new. A good example is the new game under development by DICE, Battlefield Heroes. Known for their historically themed Battlefield series, DICE has decided to offer a free to play, third person shooter withcartoony graphics that draw inspiration from Team Fortress 2.

As a personal preference, I tend to favor cartoony graphics. These games tend have lower system requirements yet can still look impressive. Most realistic games limit their audience by setting their system requirements too high which I feel is one of the reasons for the general decline of PC gaming in relation to consoles. My preference does change depending on what genre we're talking about. ForRTS games I like realistic graphics over cartoony graphics.

Do you have a preference when it comes to graphic styles? Is it genre specific or game specific? Please share your thoughts with me by leaving a comment below!

MY COMMENT:

Realistic.
Nobody today likes cartoony stuff unless your at a young age and very immature. Although some adults may Dig that look, most adults don't. Image EVE ONLINE being cartoony, it would suck. Even though the game isn't just about graphics, it wouldn't be the same. Therfore things should be realistic, at least if they want hits for their game.
I understand it's not all about graphics but in some cases it is. Graphics is a big part of the world today andcartoony is out dated. Realistic will be made fun of in the future, but for now, its the thing.

To many people confuse "Cartoony" with stylized.

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Originally posted by RetroMonster
Nobody today likes cartoony stuff unless your at a young age and very immature. Although some adults may Dig that look, most adults don't. Image EVE ONLINE being cartoony, it would suck. Even though the game isn't just about graphics, it wouldn't be the same. Therfore things should be realistic, at least if they want hits for their game.
I understand it's not all about graphics but in some cases it is. Graphics is a big part of the world today andcartoony is out dated. Realistic will be made fun of in the future, but for now, its the thing.

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Your use of absolutes in the most subjective aspect of a visual based entertainment medium speaks volumes of your hubris and your ignorance.

I dont like Cartoony or Realistic.

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

To many people confuse "Cartoony" with stylized.

Too many developers think "stylized" means cartoony, as most "stylized" graphics look cartoony.

Frankly I don't like either and always prefer realistic.

As with any game I play I want the graphics to properly represent and bolster the world in which I am playing.

In other words if I'm playing WAR or WoW I expect the graphics to properly represent the Intelectual Property they are based on. If I'm playing a realistic shooter a la Raibow (Etc.) I expect good realistic graphics that bring me into that experience.

In my opinion there is a time and place for "graphic types". Recently Left 4 Dead (PC and 360 Version) I provided proof to this affect, the graphics are on topic and right for the feeling of the game but are not really the best graphics ever released.

To me, it has to have a mature look.

Lets take I game I happen to enjoy, sorry currently no mmorpg, other then some I am not aloud to speak of freely, there is GTA4, in a sense atleast to me it's the most realistic open world game I have ever played in way of looks, on the other hand even in high detail Rockstar always manage to have a distinct style to it, which is good in my opinion, but which lets it slide slighty towards a more cartoonish look in a mature way. This a a look I really would love seeing in a MMORPG one day.

Graphic looks that are to cartoony, that for some reason I have outgrown, not due to age, wel perhaps might play a part, but also due to already been there sort of and ready for the new, for example WOW was fun for a while, but at a certain time I just could look at what I saw, on one hand I really like the artstyle of WOW, on the other hand I started to play the game merly for it's feature's instead of what I was used to playing MMORPG's, which is living the life of my character <<<<GAMERSTYLE!!

Originally posted by Abrahmm

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

To many people confuse "Cartoony" with stylized.

 

Too many developers think "stylized" means cartoony, as most "stylized" graphics look cartoony.

Frankly I don't like either and always prefer realistic.

All of your "Realistic" Graphics are stylized. Realistic, stylized, and cartoon are different things, even you are confused.

Next, you will say Anime are cartoons.

Originally posted by RetroMonster

Nobody today likes cartoony stuff unless your at a young age and very immature. 

What a load of bs. Stopped reading there. 

Realistic with a bit of a twist. Aion/ Guild Wars = yes. WoW= no.

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

Originally posted by Abrahmm

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

To many people confuse "Cartoony" with stylized.

 

Too many developers think "stylized" means cartoony, as most "stylized" graphics look cartoony.

Frankly I don't like either and always prefer realistic.

All of your "Realistic" Graphics are stylized. Realistic, stylized, and cartoon are different things, even you are confused.

Next, you will say Anime are cartoons.

 

You seem to be the one that is confused. Realistic graphics are realistically stylized, as in they are stylized to look realistic, while cartoony graphics are stylized to look cartoony.

The major problem is developers make crappy looking, cartoony graphics, and then slap the word "Stylized" on it as an excuse. They really should just come out and say "We made these graphics look stupid so that Aunt Sally and her Pentium II Packard Bell can play our game".

As for Anime, they look like cartoons to me. Frankly I don't really care as I find anime to be extremely lame.

The art syle just needs to fit the game and tone.  I dont' prefer one over the other.  I like them all because I'm an artist;)

If the game is depicting realistic events and expects me to take it serious, then it needs to look realistic.  It wouldn't make sense to see rabits or mice with no pants talking about serious economic and social issues.  It also wouldn't make sense to watch a realistic looking adult, bouncing around like superman, talking like a 6 years old.  It has to make sense.  Its part of the reason Anime for the most part comes off as absurd.  Teenage fem looking boys, that kind of look like girls that sound like 40 year olds, yet have the resonsibility of the world on their shoulders, YET have the maturity of 8 year olds with ADD, who have talking animal pets that are supposed to be wise and all knowing, and all of this is to be taken seriously...so many contridicting concepts jumbled together.  Not all Anime is like that, but it sure makes up a big chunk of it=)

I prefer stylized art thats animated well.   Very few videogames ever move well enough to fool me into thinking their realistic.  Motion capture isn't enough.  Normally the more realistic it is, the more wooden and robotic  the faces are, which just makes the game look that much worse.

For example, WOW and WAR look far better to me the AOC does, because I'm not looking at a still frame.  In motion, AOC comes of as stiff and more FAKE than the latter.  WHile playing WOW or WAR I never needed to accept  it as realistic because it wasn't trying to be.  It didn't need it to fool me.  ANy game that tries to be realistic has to convince me its real and thats a very very difficult thing to do.

I perfer somewhere in the middle. I like my games to look and feel like games. I also think you can do more with a balance between the two, and it also seems like it's much less taxing on the majority of systems.

Originally posted by Raztor

Originally posted by RetroMonster

Nobody today likes cartoony stuff unless your at a young age and very immature. 

 

What a load of bs. Stopped reading there. 

.

  I appreciate games with great styles under both categories. I grew up with the original NES, so "cartoony was normal, even when they were trying to be "realistic" it still was  cartoony realistic.

   I would say the newer generation of games, maybe whos first console was a PS2, may be jaded by cartoony graphics. i can name plenty of great games that fit both categories, that are enjoyed by any age range.

Originally posted by RetroMonster

 

MY COMMENT:

Realistic.
Nobody today likes cartoony stuff unless your at a young age and very immature. Although some adults may Dig that look, most adults don't.

That statement itself is immature. It depends on the audience yes but mostly it depends on the theme and overall style you are going for. Theme is most important.

Champions is seriously stylized and has that comic feel but it certainly still looks pretty cool to a number of people and I bet most of them are older then you.

Most of the time I could care less since you will not notice the graphics at all after playing for 15 mins, this even holds true for me in text/browser games.  

____

However when I do have to choose between two completely identical games I'd probably go for the one that was "cartoonier" just because everything you can interact with is more defined and you can tell where stuff starts and ends better.  

I also utterly hate games that have only have the color "D  I  R  T" in them, then after that forcing a bit of realism out of their art by applying a stupid post effect and render filter.

Saying that nobody likes the anime/cartoon style is a bit, no, a HECK of a generalisation. There are a lot of people who like all kinds of styles, and you can't possibly claim to know all of them. Even from previous discussions on these forums over graphics, you can find that a lot of people like all different kinds of graphical styles.

Personally, the graphical style isn't a big issue, as long as the game plays right, and has the right community and "feel" to it, it can use any graphic style going. I have to admit though that I find it hard to get into any of the 2D/semi-3D games though, I guess it's the fact that they just don't convey the same level of imersion.

Cell shaded drawn look but realistic (not jacked up proportions)

Personally, I'll take cartoony over plastic wars anyday...  The problem with the "realistic" graphics groups all the animations I've seen tend to look like the avatars are running around with sticks up their asses.  They look like animated barbie and ken dolls for the most part.

I'll take a animeish EQ2 over the 'realistic' AoC any day of the week (even if they had the exact same gameplay/company behind them to remove the other issues besides graphics)

As for the comment about no adults liking cartoons, I believe you are incorrect in your generalization and preceeded to show the entire MMORPG community how mature you really were with your attitude anyways.

Originally posted by Xiaoki

 

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Originally posted by RetroMonster
Nobody today likes cartoony stuff unless your at a young age and very immature. Although some adults may Dig that look, most adults don't. Image EVE ONLINE being cartoony, it would suck. Even though the game isn't just about graphics, it wouldn't be the same. Therfore things should be realistic, at least if they want hits for their game.
I understand it's not all about graphics but in some cases it is. Graphics is a big part of the world today andcartoony is out dated. Realistic will be made fun of in the future, but for now, its the thing.

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This has got to be some of the most horrible generalizations made on this board in a while and that is quite a feat.

 

Your use of absolutes in the most subjective aspect of a visual based entertainment medium speaks volumes of your hubris and your ignorance.

/agreed

my take: i prefer cartoony graphics such as WoW's because when im playing an MMO i play it to escape the real world and have fun. If it looks realistic it reminds me of the real world which isnt what an MMO should be doing. But i dont play games based on graphics i play based on gameplay.

Originally posted by Cynthe

Originally posted by RetroMonster

 

MY COMMENT:

Realistic.
Nobody today likes cartoony stuff unless your at a young age and very immature. Although some adults may Dig that look, most adults don't.

 

That statement itself is immature. It depends on the audience yes but mostly it depends on the theme and overall style you are going for. Theme is most important.

Champions is seriously stylized and has that comic feel but it certainly still looks pretty cool to a number of people and I bet most of them are older then you.

Yep, that statement was pretty stupid. It all depends on the game, imo champs and DCO I wouldn't care for the cartoonish look. STO I want realistic graphics.

Anyways most of the time idc, a good amount of years of gaming on a crappy computer has made me learn to put gameplay WAY ahead of graphics.

I prefer all 3 as long as they are consistant in there style and quality.

They dont have to be photo-realistic, but I dont like cartoony or overly stylized. Cartoony usually means simplified, and I prefer my characters toony. Even more so with landscapes.

I found the LOTRO landscape a good example. Its not photorealism, but believable and not cartoony like WOW.

As to characters... no MMO has REALLY made it very good so far. Maybe take the character creation from Sims 2 as example; I like them alright. LOTRO toons looks kinda soulless, same goes to VG toons.

I want as much detail as computers can handle.

Our kids really love WoW and its graphics, but me and the wife preferes games with more realistic graphics. Like Crysis, EVE, Lotro, Mass Effect, etc.

Just feels like we both have outgrown cartoons at the age of 36, and i dont think we would play one even if the game would "rock" in every way... :P Immersion is too important of a factor for us both.