In our latest WoW Factor, we take a look at the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion to World of Warcraft and its art direction. Does it stand up to the rest of the game graphically? Well, you be the judge after you read The WoW Factor.

Looking at the screenshot below I'd say it was some new game altogether if I didn't know any better.  Well, it is technically a new game if we're counting the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion as such, however, my point was that it simply doesn't ooze "WoW" like most WoW screenshots tend to. 

Read more of Joe Sanicky's The WoW Factor: Uncanny Valley or Paradise?

anyone else think it's sad that even runescape has chest and leg armor models while WoW still doesn't??

well it took falling sub numbers until blizz decided to remodel the old races, so maybe we'll have to wait until the numbers are really low until they pull out those big guns

also not sure if I agree with the article, the female pandaren look pretty weighty to me. they're not as fat as the males sure, but male and female humanoids do have different anatomy (I know that claim sounds a little ludicrous considering it's fantasy furry pandas and all, but there has to be some consistency, right?)

meh

They are adding some interesting new features but the pandas are a turn off.  It might be fun to see them running around in the game but it doesn't inspire me to go back and play again.  Maybe if they had updated and added more human and elf faces I might be tempted.  I just can't see playing a panda though.  

"Is there some innate social mechanism oppressing female Pandarens everywhere or do males just have the ability to be crazy ninja monks with a fifty pound gut? "

I hope MMORPG.com touches on this in another section. It's not only male Pandarens but you can find it in all the games. You can't make anything short of a supermodel. Excluding AION (that I remember!) where you could really make a chubby looking female if you so pleased.

You had me at "and sultry yet unnerving grin unhinge my senses." 

Uncanny valley? I find it more jarring looking at the Pandas and then the old models. And those old gear models, unf.

Not that I was actively looking for spelling mistakes but I did notice one. Exagerrations = exaggerations.

thats easy for you to say!

ive been playing beta for kicks n such free notery- and if you feel that ozzing flames and shinny water makes a whole new gaming experience then youre still living in vanilla wow.

yes nice new farming creatures (like insects n such) new architexture (asian) and easier uie system...but once you hit level 10 and choose you rfaction = your back to origami looking textures and flat dimension on why WoW looks so dated.

WoW really needs a facelit ala joan rivers. to keep up with todays new games. i really wanna like WoW again but it feels like an atari pong game.

I recall the best moments for me in WoW was the Dranei Starting - goblin starting zone-and Northland- but iam not sure they can keep up with todays graphics by over laying on top on old ones.

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Originally posted by Asamof

anyone else think it's sad that even runescape has chest and leg armor models while WoW still doesn't??

 

What are you talking about? Of course WOW has chest and leg armor models.

Maybe you're thinking of rings and trinkets?

Originally posted by floreairfoot

Originally posted by Asamof

anyone else think it's sad that even runescape has chest and leg armor models while WoW still doesn't??

 

What are you talking about? Of course WOW has chest and leg armor models.

Maybe you're thinking of rings and trinkets?

 

He's kinda right WoW does not have models for chest armour, just textures, does have leg armour models e.g http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091028150555/wowwiki/images/e/e4/T10_Death_Knight_Official_Sample.jpg -  Mist adds real belt models though.

what is this i dont even?  lolwut?  something like that?

looks an awful lot like a big pile of WoW to me.

our esteemed Article author uses the term uncanny valley incorrectly in this article. sadly panda's are exempt. The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of robotics^[1] and 3D computer animation,^[2][3] which holds that when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The "valley" in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a function of a robot's human likeness.

Originally posted by Saryhl

our esteemed Article author uses the term uncanny valley incorrectly in this article. sadly panda's are exempt. The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of robotics^[1] and 3D computer animation,^[2][3] which holds that when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The "valley" in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a function of a robot's human likeness.

 

I invoke my right to artistic license.

Pandarens are humanized pandas, characters of fiction and the original creators imaginations, and the effects the uncanny valley place upon people when viewing "human replicas" can not only be felt and experienced outside the express definition of the term but logically correlate with becoming disgusted or reviling something because it is obviously humanoid in nature yet defies our natural sense of what humans should look like.

Thus the odd and somewhat disturbing grin of the pandaren falls under the domain of the uncanny valley, in my opinion.

Textbook definitions are hardly ever the end of the line when it comes to defining terms. :P

And if you don't like that explanation, here is the definition of "uncanny valley" from the very site you used to cite definitions, which you accept readily, so you must also accept this definition!

"A range of appearances, mannerisms, and/or behaviors subtly different from humanoid in an otherwise humanoid figure that may cause negative reactions, such as fear, discomfort, or revulsion."

That definition is open to interpretation if I've ever seen one that is before. A "range" of things, eh?

I honestly do not understand all the angst about Pandaren. Is it childish? Yes, but so is the entire setting of World of Warcraft. I wouldnt even look twice at seeing a Pandaren standing in the middle of the other cartoon races. If anything it looks less rediculous than the space cows.

"possibly just an increase in polygon count on every texture in the vicinity of my adorable, pudgy panda?"

Textures don't have a polygon count--models have a polygon count.

Its pretty obvious blizzards will not be doing a major graphical update to the game, they are opting down the path of slow progressive updates to bits and pieces of the game.

This makes sense to me from a business perspective as radically changing models within the game when you are dealing with 10 million customers could have disastrous consequences.

Eventually the game will look quite different, although the screenshots don't convey this but they also updated their lighting and shadows technology. It's been revealed to be quite a bit darker in the world of Azeroth at night. The moon is also quite bright.

First, I understand that WoW is an old game and there's only so much they can/will do in regard to updating that.

Still, the reviewer gives these graphics far far more credit than they deserve and to say that they approach a level of realism is ludicrous.

They're very cartoony. I have never thought "Whoa" or even "wow" when looking at this game in the past 5 years.

Originally posted by katriell

"possibly just an increase in polygon count on every texture in the vicinity of my adorable, pudgy panda?"

 

Textures don't have a polygon count--models have a polygon count.

 

Caught me, I'm stupid.

Thanks, appreciate the insight.

Originally posted by evilastro

I honestly do not understand all the angst about Pandaren. Is it childish? Yes, but so is the entire setting of World of Warcraft. I wouldnt even look twice at seeing a Pandaren standing in the middle of the other cartoon races. If anything it looks less rediculous than the space cows.

 

Totally agree! I don't care if it is a stick person as long as the gameplay is good and WoW has always had that.

As much as I've enjoyed WoW over the years. I really don't think this expansion will bring me back. I am not impressed with the character models of the Pandaren at all. I actually do love Wow's art style and have done since release. Just something about these Pandaren I don't like. Oh well to each their own I guess

And yeah I agree with the other posters the graphics are looking dated and a bit bland in some areas, would love to see Wow get that Joan Rivers facelift lol.

Originally posted by expresso

He's kinda right WoW does not have models for chest armour, just textures, does have leg armour models e.g http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091028150555/wowwiki/images/e/e4/T10_Death_Knight_Official_Sample.jpg -  Mist adds real belt models though.

 

I'm confused.  Was this link supposed to show  WoW doesn't have chest armor models but does have leg armor models?  

In the years I played WoW there were many different shapes, sizes and types of chest armor.   While there were a lot of models people didn't like there was never a lack of models.  If there is some technical meaning to "models" in relation graphics rendering as opposed to the many looks and types of chest armor in the game, I don't think it will matter to most WoW players.