Originally posted by DeaconX

Seriously, they're on par with a 1994 cgi cartoon series, ReBoot:

It's the only thing about the game I'm really not fond of ... but perhaps there will still be some changes made to make player models look less... 'meh'.  Ah well at least the gameplay in the latest update looks awesome and as wel all know, Gameplay>Graphics.

This made me LOL literally!

The game looks ok to me.. Has a LoTRO look it.

On another note.. What happened at the end of Reboot? I watched up until that guy got lost or something but never saw what happened.. Was a neat little show.

Ugly WoW wannabe characters! I made a post about  the graphics a long time ago and I still think they suck donkey arse!

We are in 2009 ffs! If people don't have computers that can't handle better graphics then this... well then I'm sorry but go play something else on your crap computer!

This is what we get when Russian and Asian players starts to play our games.... sucks!!!!!!!!!

And no I'm not going to say sorry for what I just wrote. I just hate how every game must look like crap for the poor crap computers!

tbh i don't mind it for me gameplay > graphiqs

and i am sure if you play it on high you will be amazed

The graphics might be outdated, but as many have mentioned before me gameplay > graphics. But it is true that nice graphics is an important part of a game.

I do remember before WoWs release the same complaints about cartoonish chars, ugly, etc. But people did get over that pretty quickly, did not affect the sales very much as we have seen.

Anyhow the game is still at least a couple of years away from release and the char models might, I might add hopefully, change drastically into something more of our liking.

I cannot stop from mentioning though that the gameplay we have recently seen in the voice over featured video seems pretty solid and interesting.

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Originally posted by throckmorton
Someone answer this question for me:

The original KOTOR was not graphics intensive, but it looks way better than this cartoonish crap we are getting. Why couldn't they just stick with the original KOTOR graphics?
(yes the game engines will be completely different, but you get my idea)

The entire cartoonism idea was a terrible one. Stylized realism = overt ploy to appeal to WoW players.

Yes, I realize graphics don't matter that much, I'm just ranting, bear with me.

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Because more rational people wouldn't find the graphics of KOTOR to be better than TOR.

Also if a game goes for realistic graphics it's going to be compared to games with realistic graphics. IE, after having played Age of Conan I would rather scoop my eyes out with a spork then play a "realistic" TOR with KOTOR era graphics.

By going the route of stylized realism Bioware avoids getting compared to AoC (and thusly getting completely steam rolled in the graphics department) and instead they get compared to WoW and WAR. And they can take on WoW and WAR quite handily.

    Personally, I like the stylistic approach and hope is stays that way.  I don't see why people aren't liking them at least a little.  Everyone says WoW has bad graphics, but you just turn that stuff on high and most it looks good.  I'm a former art student who used to get criticized for having a very stylistic way of drawing.  So that should give you an idea where my head is. 

    From the videos, I can tell that with this style along with the environment and story, this is going to be an immersive experience.  So, I think that they work, they will work and well.  Realism is okay, but I want an escape from realism.

Originally posted by someforumguy

Originally posted by thexrated

<snip screenshots>

 

I personally prefer this artistic approach than realism. So far the screenshots truly convey that they were designed by an artist and not a 3D engineer. It does make it look more like the KOTOR games than films, but I think over time, like with WoW, it ages better.

I also think animations are what make a character in a game to come alive.

 

 

I completely agree with this.

I agree also but I want good game play..

eye candy is nice but good game play keeps you at your keyboard for years..
 

I am a patron of the arts and can certainly appreciate the art style this game is using. However, as an adult, there is a point where what appeals to a 14-year old and what appeals to a 35-year old will be two different things. The tossed hair, slight Asian style and "heroic" sounding voices do not appeal to me as an adult. I find it tolerable, but just barely.

My guess is that, while this game may appeal to some adults, it is certainly not designed to appeal to adults. That is completely cool, by the way, but let's not pretend the game is trying to appeal to everyone, because it simply doesn't.

Perhaps some day, some game company will make a game for adults with montly costs somewhere in line with any other adult entertainment (cable tv, etc.) and with gameplay that is targeted toward folks whom have progressed beyond their teens. Personally, I would prefer this to the feeling that I have unwittingly (and uncomfortably) ambled onto some school playground and am trying to get along with the kids on the swings, all the while looking for other adults and wishing there was someplace that wanted my adult gaming dollars.

I will have to agree with the OP.
The environment is beautiful, but the character players are plain awful

I don't think they gonna change them now though, so we have to live with it.

Originally posted by DeaconX

Seriously, they're on par with a 1994 cgi cartoon series, ReBoot:

It's the only thing about the game I'm really not fond of ... but perhaps there will still be some changes made to make player models look less... 'meh'.  Ah well at least the gameplay in the latest update looks awesome and as wel all know, Gameplay>Graphics.

I'm with you . I like everything about this game except for the graphics. I've always been one that cared more about gameplay over graphics, but these character models really do test that preference to the limit. They are just so god awful.

I have no problem with these models. it's alpha footage they will be tweaked in the next coming year. Fuss for nothing.  In all the games Bioware has released, they wouldnt risk something like that. This mmo is still in developement can still take another 1 year and half. You' ll never know with bioware.

I feel like i'm taking crazy pills here, I think the model looks fine.  You know had they not released any pics or screens at all this post would be about why that is, and it would be 9 pages of speculation, but we all love to speculate and formulate opinions here.

Originally posted by Ozryk

They are indeed, God-awful.

They alone will turn many people off from trying the game.

I can't stand how they justify the decision in every podcast/video too ... "...we didnt want to go for a realistic (appealing) art style.  Instead, we chose to go with something we're calling "stylized reality" (dogsh*t). tee hee!"

 

Companies need to learn to stop emulating WoW if they want to make money.  Copying any aspect of WoW is a mistake, especially it's cartoony "stylized reality" art styling.

Most successful MMO ever?  Yep, clearly a mistake.

Christ, some of you people are allergic to logic. 

Content and end game are more important to me than graphics. AoC is an example of great graphics but nothing to show for it.

Originally posted by Swanea

From what I've seen, the less armor they are in, the worse the characters look.

AS they add armor, which the characters are made for, it really makes them not look so...meh.

 

But I still like it, and I will still play it. I just hope I can have some...normal clothes outside of the armor to wear sometimes.  I do enjoy to look different.

I will play the game as well. Models alone do not make a game. However, that being said, I am not a fan of the current set of models.

Originally posted by catlana

Originally posted by Swanea

From what I've seen, the less armor they are in, the worse the characters look.

AS they add armor, which the characters are made for, it really makes them not look so...meh.

 

But I still like it, and I will still play it. I just hope I can have some...normal clothes outside of the armor to wear sometimes.  I do enjoy to look different.

 

I will play the game as well. Models alone do not make a game. However, that being said, I am not a fan of the current set of models.

I'm not sure why, but they remind me of some of the current player made skins in SL. Maybe the art folks play SL lol.

I completely disagree, i just love the ToR character models, and believe me, the way they are done will allow the game to still be bearable in, lets say, 4 or 5 years, by that time the graphics will have become so much more evolved that realistic characters like we see in other games will look alot more dated than this

 As long as the game is fun and immersive I can live with it.

Originally posted by tryklon

I completely disagree, i just love the ToR character models, and believe me, the way they are done will allow the game to still be bearable in, lets say, 4 or 5 years, by that time the graphics will have become so much more evolved that realistic characters like we see in other games will look alot more dated than this

That is very true. Genera aside, it’s like looking back at Unreal Tournament 2004 or Deus Ex and comparing them to today’s games like Halo 3 ODST or Fallout3. They may still be fun, but they look dated. Yet if you play a game like say Monkey Island 3 from 1998 It can still hold up graphically.

I tend to believe what makes a Character believable, is the person playing it. I think once people get into the game, find their roles, it will become a world, full of real people, because there are real people behind those characters.

NPC will always be NPC, it’s their dialog and AI that make them believable. MMO gamers are kinda spoiled in those regards, we get so used to dealing with just other players that NPC have no real personality, and developers have never really coded them to have any. They’ve always just kinda been vending machines for content or target practice like fairground duck shooting. Hopefully BioWare does what they say they are, and really take NPC/player interactions to the next level
 

The male jedi and sith look like sponge bob with a lightsabre. They need to have more detail and shape to them.

I like the models myself.. seeing some in game footage made it for me

Hmm KotOR 2 actually looks better than TOR.

I realize the game's still in alpha, but the character models are almost WoW bad.  Not game breaking like WoW, but they're pretty bad.  At least TOR's environments are decent looking.

It's alright that the character models are horrible, but why must the animations be so clunky? It turns me off from western MMO's so much when they don't put enough time and money to create decent animations for their models. 

     There there, younglings. Have some faith. Unclear is the future of TOR graphics. Smooth polygons does not make a game great. Judge KoToR by graphics did you? And well you should not!

     **Many Bothans died to bring you this thread reply**

     **All Former Pre-CU Vets are required to report on deck # 4 on the medical freigther "Persistence" for a briefing on new jump coords for the upcoming base/home**

They said that they wanted to look different from others mmo's.

I think it looks great.