Poster: Kavaries at 9/7/2005 1:58:24 PM PDT
Subject: [Caydiem] No mention of environment changes? |
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With the battleplan posted there is much to be excited over, however, with some lingering problems still exist in World of Warcraft since its launch.
I have seen community representatives comment on the issue of weather being worked on by developers but has since died out, and yet with the notes from 1.8 issues such as Hero status remain top priority. While I agree that content promised left out from initial launch should be addressed in a battleplan so should simple things such as environmental effects for a number of reasons.
While World of Warcraft looks stunning, don't get me wrong, certain elements of realism are severely lacking. Obvious ones are that there is no rain, snow, sleet, even hail. Less obvious ones are recreations of fog, morning dew, or even heat. While we know Warcraft has its own "feel" the fantasy aspect should not sacrifice the notion of realism. People want to believe the environment to adhere to most aspects of real life.
Night and day in WoW have minimal differences. While we can only imagine things like magic, we do understand certain concepts soundly. Light does not appear out of nowhere and cannot penetrate stone. Being able to see where you are going in a deep cave or dungeon is important but one cannot deny that there is no element of finding any dark cave or secret passage at all in WoW. Night is as bright as day, and caves stay the same. Point is ometimes walking into a pitch black cave can be exciting, even if the developers have you fall into a troll trap.
Clip planes mimic fog, but do not do it justice. There is no haze on the horizon or partial parts of the zone being rained upon in the distance. I think the importance of implementing this technology into the game is underlooked. The design team needs to remember while WoW might look terrific now (compared to other mmorpgs) the look will be outdated very very shortly. Games using engines such as the Doom3 with Quake 4 will set new standards for realism, and other mmorpg's will incorporate it into their fantasy worlds.
When simple things such as rain prove major hurdles for development after 8+ months of game launch this worries me a bit that expanding upon the game's visual aspect has little room for improvement. And I'm sorry to commit the sin of comparison but let lesson be learned with Sony's Shadow's of Luclin that overhauls don't always work as intended.
(note: this is not for the suggestions forum, these are known but seemingly ignored issues that I feel need more attention)
-Kav
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=4787014&p=#post4787014 |
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Poster: Caydiem at 9/7/2005 2:07:18 PM PDT
Subject: Re: [Caydiem] No mention of environment chan |
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Weather is still in the works, but I'm not positive when it's coming.
Odds are, however, that night will not be significantly darker than it is due to the 24-hour clock (which we have no plans on changing).
- Caydiem -
/moo
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=4787014&p=#post4787172 |
Poster: Caydiem at 9/7/2005 2:09:00 PM PDT
Subject: Re: [Caydiem] No mention of environment chan |
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Q u o t e:
I don't understand why you can't just make night/day every hour or two...
some of us don't play at 1 in the morning.
Mechanics in the game are designed around the 24-hour clock.
- Caydiem -
/moo
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=4787014&p=#post4787205 |
Poster: Caydiem at 9/7/2005 2:14:17 PM PDT
Subject: Re: [Caydiem] No mention of environment chan |
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Kavaries, many of the "deeper" questions you pose are questions for which I don't have an answer and, indeed, may never have an answer. You are asking questions regarding our internal development processes, which I can't precisely reveal in full detail, and seeking an assurance that I can't give at this time.
So I gave what pertinent information I could.
- Caydiem -
/moo
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=4787014&p=#post4787293 |
Poster: Caydiem at 9/7/2005 2:07:18 PM PDT
Subject: Re: [Caydiem] No mention of environment chan *edited post* |
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Weather is still in the works, but I'm not positive when it's coming.
Odds are, however, that night will not be significantly darker than it is due to the 24-hour clock (which we have no plans on changing).
- Caydiem -
/moo
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=4787014&p=#post4787172 |
Poster: Caydiem at 9/7/2005 2:09:00 PM PDT
Subject: Re: [Caydiem] No mention of environment chan *edited post* |
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Q u o t e:
I don't understand why you can't just make night/day every hour or two...
some of us don't play at 1 in the morning.
Mechanics in the game are designed around the 24-hour clock.
- Caydiem -
/moo
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=4787014&p=#post4787205 |
Poster: Caydiem at 9/7/2005 2:14:17 PM PDT
Subject: Re: [Caydiem] No mention of environment chan *edited post* |
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Kavaries, many of the "deeper" questions you pose are questions for which I don't have an answer and, indeed, may never have an answer. You are asking questions regarding our internal development processes, which I can't precisely reveal in full detail, and seeking an assurance that I can't give at this time.
So I gave what pertinent information I could.
- Caydiem -
/moo
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=4787014&p=#post4787293 |
