Thanks for the kind words. This was my first editorial for mmorpg.com.

As for not mentioning UO, I left it and other games of the 2D genre (like Drakkar, Diablo, etc.) out for the simple fact that they were not crucial to the points that I made in the article. I skipped right to the phenomenon that happened when the MUD was mixed with a first person shooter.

I certainly enjoyed those old gems as much as most of you, so please don't take offense at my leaving them out. This article was not meant to be a history of the MMOG so much as it was an explanation for the genre's success, and why we play them.

I have a very quick question. Is this a paying position, or a volunteer effort?

Thanks.

*edit* I got too excited to read thoroughly, heh. My bad. Resume sent.

I agree with you about the gameplay. EQ2 isn't what it could be with respect to game mechanics. The characters are in my opinion too overspecialized. However, all that aside, playing the game is actually a lot of fun. When you look back at how monotonous all of the previous MMOGs have been, it becomes clear that the developers had some incredible insights. EQ2's gameplay is dynamic, engaging, and just plain fun. That is something I didn't expect, and will happily praise whoever is responsible for.

However, just like yourself, once the gameplay dies down, I find myself staring at those play dough character models and wondering what else I could be doing. As for whether or not characters look identical, that's not my point. The problem is that they all look extremely similar. The range of customization in the faces is negligible, and there are only three body types, all of which exactly the same except for the size. Pretty much, the only distinctive features are characters’ hair styles, of which three or four colors can be chosen, and none of them look natural.

I just downloaded the free trial version of the new Dark Age of Camelot graphics. With less than half of the system requirements, the people at Mythic have managed to do exactly what EQ2 were attempting to do, only better. If EQ2 looked that good, these sorts of posts would never see the light of day. However, the gameplay in DAoC is so monotonous that there is no way I’ll ever consider going back to it. Pushing the same five buttons over and over, the same way every encounter, just so I can hit level 50 and begin to be competitive in the Realm vs Realm combat is not my idea of fun. It is my idea of an exercise in futility.

So, those of us who actually care about this issue are in a difficult spot. It seems that EQ2 has the best gameplay of the genre, but the worst graphics. We’re going to have to decide which is more important to us, and that is a choice that we should never have had to make, because the Art Direction of this game should never have produced the character models it did.

If it were up to me, I’d hire the people that updated the DAoC engine to revamp the character models. They are most likely looking for work, and I don’t think anyone would complain if the characters actually looked good for a change. The only argument I keep hearing is ‘They’re not that bad. Quit complaining.’ That certainly doesn’t sound like ‘We love the play dough graphics!’ to me.

No. A masters degree in graphic design, national awards for illustration, and over 20 years of experience as an art director for with addy awards for my work at NBC news say that my opinions are in fact facts. When multibillion dollar companies start paying you to make viable aestetic desicions that will create the highest level of viewer appeal, then your opinions will also be facts.

The character models in EverQuest 2 are not the result of outdated graphics. The are simply poorly designed by an artist without a lot of scope in his ability to render. I have taught illustration and 3D animation in college, and the sorts of mistakes the artist in question makes are precisely the thing that students paid me to help them overcome. The features of all of the character models are uniform, showing that the artist has not yet mastered representation of the subject, but instead relies on a system of visual symbols. Overcoming this would allow the artist to render as in nature versus as in his own style. Additionally, the artist has a poor understanding of anatomy. The characters' limbs and body frames are slightly out of perspective to one another. The fact that they are all uniformly disproportioned again illustrates that the artist is relying upon a sensibility rather than nature. Finally, the textures and patterns in the costuming shows that the artists who did them took short cuts. The difference in style shows that these items were produced by someone other than the main character modeller, proving that the entire project's responsibility boiled down to one art director who settled for substandard work from his employees instead of making them correct the problems. All in all it was a team that was just talented enough to get the job, but unfortunately not talented enough to actually do it.

If this game was turned into me as a college project, I'd give it a B for effort and consistancy. But this isn't student work. It is an international video game, and the standards are as high as they get for this media. It is in the league with motion pictures and national television. And quite clearly, it fails to compete.

The charatcers look like they are disney toys made out of playdough.

Please fix this or give us the option to fix it.

The latest rendering technology does not automatically equate to well rendered graphics. Someone still has to MAKE the graphics look good. If you are going to have system requirements that can choke a horse, at least give us graphics that are worth it. If you don't know what I am talking about, go look at what your competitors have managed to produce with less.

I really have to ask. Why is it that some game developers are willing to put forth the extra effort and make a graphics set that makes the best looking game they can with as little as possible while other developers are under the impression that the latest technology is somehow superior to good looking models?

For instance Lineage 2, although a rather bland game, managed to take some very low system requirements and created a gorgeous game. Final Fantasy Online had a few more polygons, but still used what they had to create beautiful graphics. City of Heroes can run on almost any system and looks great. The new Dark Age of Camelot graphics are all but stunning. These are all excellent examples of what developers are capable of doing if they would just put forth the effort.

Then we turn our attention to games like EverQuest 2... a game that has system requirements that could choke a horse, and yet it still looks awful. The characters all look alike, which is poorly designed playdough people with plastic hair. Am I the only one who finds it self defeating to spend all the money on developing a graphics engine, a game, and everything else only to wrap it up in a poorly constructed package? Why won't these developers take some extra time and tweak the models, create good textures, and produce quality skins? To me, it is like building a car from the ground up with the most expensive parts you can, and then painting it primer with a spray can, when you could have cut out a few stencils and airbrushed the hell out of it. I will freely admit that the people at Sony did an excellent job with their environmental textures, and have set a new standard for motion capture animations, but all of that is moot when your character looks like butt.

World of Warcraft is so cartoony that I just can't get over it. However, if you consider the system requirements, the graphics are stunning. And I have to admit, they did a great job of mnaking the game consistant. It is cartoony in the same way the whole way through, and that pulls it all together and makes it work. On top of that, they had some people do some very amazing things within that format. So while I couldn't get into it, I do have to say it was a true work of art and quite appealing on its own level.

But back to EQ2... the biggest problem with the game is that the character models don't match the rest of the game. It was like they had two seperate art directors working on the game. One was told to make it as realistic as possible, and did a great job. And the other was told to go for a Disneyesque feel and make everything look like a toy, and also did a great job. Unfortunately, these two things do not work together.

So, after all of that rant, because I am bored waiting on a download, I will postulate my real question...

If you are going to spend millions of dollars developing, creating, and advertising an MMOG, why in the world would you settle for graphics that don't work, or mistake the newest rendering technology for being well rendered?