I am glad I kept digging through the other posts to find this one :D
I am a huge fan of being more stylized than realistic. I think it has a longer shelf life. I had brought up years ago having a painted stylized game trying to mirror the box art or posters of the old D&D - EQ type images. Aiming for a retro colorized art style instead of realistic features and textures I think would be fantstic but it needs more than a painted filter pass.
2. The game needs "grit" it's a little happy go lucky, at least it looks like it from the short 5 minute video clip that you shared with us. I want to see some darker styling, darker colors, to me they tend to feel more immersive and adult. Too happy go lucky and colorful really does make it look like a game for younger kids.
Colors and textures can be simple and pretty basic while still being a painted aesthetic. Tons of armor and weapons can have two or three tones only but still look great if done well easing the burdan on any system. I agree the brighter colors take away from what I view as an adventurer aesthetic in my head. Clothing in cities can be more varied but I hope the armor becomes a bit more subdued.
3. The grass and trees look a little TOO hand painted. I think these 2 aspects are a large part of what's causing the "too cartooney" look.
This also could be done in a way that changes how they are rendered at a distance. The up close vs far away can be some of the aesthetics changed in a "painted" world. If done well and something like faded in (not sudden popped in render lines) would allow for an interesting aesthetic that can have a painted feel that simplifies more the further out you go into the "background" The up close grass is what I would say looks "too hand painted" I think it needs to aim more for a leaves / dirt on the ground type painting for the up close base floor. At a distance though the relatively larger brush stroke field in he background is a cool aesthetic look.
7. Most importantly, please show more as soon as possible. You didn't show enough to give people a good idea of what it really looks like. Show us some combat, mine a node, a short group fighting in a dungeon clip, some climbing, just show a little bit of everything so we have a proper idea of what it looks like. I thought I'd be able to come up with a list of things but the video is so short, this is all I've got.
I really want to see the low light scenarios too. It is always my favorite part of the adventuring RP even though it is counter to the solo god mode MMOs of the convieniently well lit MMOs. The simple basic thought of what is in the unknown while trying to recover with the party (simply needing to recover with the party is super rare) What made that sound and can the group handle it? The painted style can look great here if done well or we may look all orange and yellow. I am a bit concerned. It can even be used AGAINST the players to make things more thematic. Oh you turned up your gamma to max? Well too bad, without your orange torchlight changing the color of the enemies in the dark they are actually painted to match the darkness. You may see their eyes at a distance.
I would be excited if the game ended up looking more like this old "Elmore campfire painting" you can google it if they remove the image.
Like all paintings it has a variance to the detail from a distance. Upclose is far more detailed than further away but if you were to walk up to the tree in the background and cast some light on it I would hope it would have the details of the fallen log in the foreground. This rendering has to happen in a video game and adopting the painted feel can make it look great and less cartoony.
As for the grass and fallen leaves look I referenced earlier, look at the area in the foreground without the grass growing. It is a perfect example of what I hope the base forest texture becomes for the local area. It can be a painted look without looking the same as the long distance hills in the background.
All that said gameplay is what I care most about. I know the game may live and die by the art but it's simply not my main focus. If I have fun in the game and don't ultimately like the art I will simply push for them to update the art in the future, but if the gameplay is bad... Good luck VR.
SilkyWhip said:Allow modders to create client side only graphical overhaul packages with HD textures and shaders. Akin to EQ allowing UI skins. I'm sure there's already plenty of people who know how to do that with Unity.
This is NOT a good idea for a MMO. It would end up with people playing in the same group but seeing radically different things, seeing each other in a different way.
Then when they start discussing how this or that armor looks, and figure out that they all look at the same thing yet see different things, the verisimilitude - the believability - immersion in the game world - suspension of disbelief - goes down the drain.
And once that happens, it's just a matter of time until people stop playing.
Please note that this is not the same logic that would apply to single-player games. But if I'm playing a MMO, I do it to play together with live people, and for that, we all need to see the same world.
Reality of a single-player game can be subjective (though even for single-player games it's often not the best way), but reality of a MMO has to be objective, outside of any single player's influence.