Perhaps the real reason for the new art direction was purely financial? Just a thought, really have no idea. (See video)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=m366_9ypRBQ
Either way, I really hate the new art. Part of the reason I pledged so high was because the realism style of art, as opposed to the WoW cartoony style of art. I feel bait and switched. I have been patient for nearly 10 years. But this may be the straw that breaks the camels back, for me. It’s so hard to get immersed into a game that looks like Pokémon. Super disappointed.
As I have alluded to in another thread, I am going to wait and see as we just havent seen enough to make an informed decision. We need to see the presentation before we leap to conclusions.
I do agree the Oggrym does look cartoony, the terrain looks ok though, more stylised.
We shall see.
I have commented in other threads both on the negatives and on the positives of this move. Both exist.
It is what it is. As supporters we have a limited range of choices. We can leave in disgust. We can monitor developments with less real interest - checking in every month or three months or six months or year to see what is new. We can take the view that Pantheon is still worth actively supporting even if we only get half of what we hoped for as recently as a few months ago - as long as it is noticably better than current MMOs. As has often been said - Pantheon giving less than we hoped but actually releasing gives us some hope for a game worth playing. Pantheon imploding before release or within a few months gives no hope at all.
I intend to continue to take the third approach.
If you (the generic plural you) have been around here long enough you'll know that I have had a tense relationship with VR when it comes to this game so when I say this you can believe it: What are you seeing in the few screenshots shown so far are not a wholly accurate representation of how the game actually looks. Seeing a more complete picture, meaning seeing everything in context, in the actual world with lighting, movement/animations, etc makes it all actually looks better. Am I a huge fan of the new art style? No, not at all but I've been a firm believer that so long as gameplay remains engaging, interesting and challenging then a change to the art style will not negatively impact desire of people to check out (and then subscribe) to Pantheon. With this art change resulting in a reduced timeframe to complete every art asset then that is a net positive. We will get a game to play sooner than later. How much sooner? That remains to be seen and if VR's statement about this change speeding up development doesn't actually prove true then they are in a #%@#%@ load of trouble because that statement has been spouted time and time again without such claims coming to fruition.
I've been here almost as long as Vandraad, and I've disagreed with him almost every time I've responded to his posts LoL.
He is right on everything he said in his above comment. I totally agree.
Thanks for the feedback. Everyone is correct in their responses. I have been traveling around Asia for 3 weeks and just found out about this change a couple days ago. So I am still trying to get a sense of it all. For me, it may have been better if they didn't show us those 2 really ugly screenshots at all. I would rather just use my imagination. LoL.
Some background on why I hate the new art (from what I have seen)... I'm an original (day 1) and avid EQ player, I am literally playing as I type this message. I often think to myself, EQ is the greatest game ever created, if only it wasn't so ugly. Of course we don't play EQ for it's graphics, but 24 years ago the graphics were great. Pantheon was going to be that for me, EQ with modern and cool graphics. I remember when EQ2 and WoW came out (November 2004). I really enjoyed the early playstyle of WoW, but I always thought it was so ugly. So I gravitated more to EQ2, which I also still play. It has the look of realism. A game for adults, not for my 8 year old daughter that watches cartoons.
I backed this game because I thought I was the target audience. A hard and difficult game, that looks great. It's not for everyone. So charge me more. I will gladly pay it. I would pay $100 a month for the game I am dreaming of. I won't pay $1 for WoW graphics. I would assume most Pantheon supporters are not young teens and college kids. We are well off adults with disposable income. I think most of us on the forums are in this category. Take our money and give us what we want.
Anyway, when I saw the really ugly screenshots, it was like something triggered me and I went into full PTSD mode about my dreams to play EQ with updated graphics were shattered and my heart sunk. Anyway, yes, I need to wait and see more. Maybe it won't be so bad.
@Sweety: The topic of changes to the Unity pricing can be decoupled entirely from the topic of changes to Pantheon's art direction. If VR were making alterations in response to the Unity pricing changes the only real fix to avoid financial impact would be to abandon use of Unity entirely. That would require that Pantheon's core foundation be migrated to an entirely new engine. This change would be dramatically more impactful than just changing the art style. It would mean all the "2 steps forward, 1 step back" we've faced on the development in the last several years would be not be entirely wasted work, but not by much. The core functionality of the game itself would all have to be ported, or more likely rebuilt, in the new engine. The art would being migrated would be the very least of their worries.