Poll Which is the best graphical style to pursue for ESO looking forward to next decades? Characters

SkaiFaith

Players are divided any time someone mention the need for a remaster, and also every time a flashy mount gets added.
Let's see what forum users think should be the characters' art style in case Zos will work on graphical improvements!

We already had a glimpse with Ithelia and other Gold Road NPCs... Personally I am scared a cartoonish approach would be considered - I despise it.
My vote is expressed in the options order for this poll, the higher being my favourite and the lower the one I would avoid at all costs. A mix between options 1 and 2 would be ideal to me.

What's your opinion?

Note: the entire purpose of this poll is based on the premise of IF a kind of remaster will inevitably come, hence why a "I DON'T WANT REMASTERS!" option is not listed. Choose what you would prefer if a rework would be inevitable, please...

The_Isatope8

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

I don't think that ESO should try to emulate other styles too much, let it be its own thing

colossalvoids

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Not sure there's a style divide, some people just want to utilise more of their new pc gear with better textures and vfx. Personally I'd take consistency pass so motives of the same years didn't looked like made 10 years apart at the very least.

Nharimlur_Finor

Other - explain in comment.

Nothing will change. They won't be spending any money.
I ignored your 'just stick to the topic' request. Sorry, sticking with forum precedents here.

LunaFlora

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

if zos changes the game's textures i hope it would be nothing more than better resolution, like more pixels and polygons.
i don't believe zos would do anything else nor would i want anything else.

i want the game to stay recognisable.



Do you have examples of "Korean beauty style"?

And by anime art style are you referring to Japanese games like Zelda, Pokémon, Final Fantasy, and Monster Hunter? or a specific game?

Tesman85

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

If ZoS makes some kind of an upgrade, it should either be moderate or they better give us free appearance changes for every character if such a change would be extensive. Anyway, I like the current aesthetic well enough. If changes were made, quite small ones would be sufficient: higher-resolution textures, more polygons, reflective eyes, maybe a tad more realistic facial and body features for characters. Things like that, so that the game would look much the same, but nicer. And of course, an animation overhaul while they would be at it would be nice, too. But the current style certainly is good enough for my eyes.

Orbital78

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

I like ESO because its graphics are the way they are. Not a fan of the others personally.

valenwood_vegan

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Don't want to see eso turned into something else.

tohopka_eso

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

LunaFlora wrote: »

if zos changes the game's textures i hope it would be nothing more than better resolution, like more pixels and polygons.
i don't believe zos would do anything else nor would i want anything else.

i want the game to stay recognisable.



Do you have examples of "Korean beauty style"?

And by anime art style are you referring to Japanese games like Zelda, Pokémon, Final Fantasy, and Monster Hunter? or a specific game?

Only Korean one I can think of is BDO. And anime I was thinking genshin or honkai.
I'd rather ESO stay the course though.

SkaiFaith

LunaFlora wrote: »

if zos changes the game's textures i hope it would be nothing more than better resolution, like more pixels and polygons.
i don't believe zos would do anything else nor would i want anything else.

i want the game to stay recognisable.



Do you have examples of "Korean beauty style"?

And by anime art style are you referring to Japanese games like Zelda, Pokémon, Final Fantasy, and Monster Hunter? or a specific game?

I was thinking of specific games, yes:

Realistic - Dragon's Dogma 2
Korean - The First Descendant / Black Desert Online
Anime - Genshin Impact / Final Fantasy

I thought that being specific with these games in the poll options would have hurt results...

freespirit

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Orbital78 wrote: »

I like ESO because its graphics are the way they are. Not a fan of the others personally.

valenwood_vegan wrote: »

Don't want to see eso turned into something else.

These!

I would also add my total dislike of flashy mounts, plus I don't like mounts or pets covered in armour. I always have all the mount upgrades turned off and typically only use very basic mounts.

TaSheen

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Do NOT mess with my characters! Quickest way to get me to leave and never come back, exactly as happened in the other MMOs I played. And yes, I'm quite aware no one would miss me.

As far as base game graphics go (outside of character models) - sure, spruce them up for those of us who have monster machines (which I do now, as well as others); needs to be optional though, so those with older rigs aren't having issues or have to quit the game.

Also up the poly count on old gear for those of us who can run better graphics now.

SkaiFaith

This poll was motivated by the Silorn quest giver NPC, which I found more polished but also gave me a tiny bit of cartoonish feel for some reason I can't describe.

I wanted to highlight for devs to see what style players really want, so that maybe we could avoid them going in directions that "the market says work best".

I'm surprised and happy to see the first option so upvoted!

Anyway, continue to vote for whatever you prefer, please - I'm curious to know how many have different opinions in here. Don't feel scared to disagree XD
Thanks to anyone who voted or will vote

Syldras

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

I don't think "classic Elder Scrolls style" as a term is easy to define, to be honest. If you look at the singleplayer games, they're all really different, and even the chapters in ESO have a stylistically slightly diffent feel to them (on purpose, I'm quite sure - that's part of the atmosphere). One common thing I see is a rather realistic and not too flashy style - at least until the disco mount apex stuff began.

Anyway, I really hope they do not deviate from what they did so far in ESO in the future. I'm fine with higher resolution textures or slightly more details, but I don't want any style change. I really hope ZOS understands that a "signature style" is worth a lot. It's one aspect that draws people to ESO (no, not everyone, of course, but I know that it is an important aspect for a good percentage of people), it's one aspect where ESO is unique, and that shouldn't be wasted.

I'm also against updating character models. Doing it in general will drive people away who don't want their characters to look differently. Doing it only to new npcs creates an ugly style mashup that's not really pleasing to look at either.

TaSheen

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Syldras wrote: »

I don't think "classic Elder Scrolls style" as a term is easy to define, to be honest. If you look at the singleplayer games, they're all really different, and even the chapters in ESO have a stylistically slightly diffent feel to them (on purpose, I'm quite sure - that's part of the atmosphere). One common thing I see is a rather realistic and not too flashy style - at least until the disco mount apex stuff began.

Anyway, I really hope they do not deviate from what they did so far in ESO in the future. I'm fine with higher resolution textures or slightly more details, but I don't want any style change. I really hope ZOS understands that a "signature style" is worth a lot. It's one aspect that draws people to ESO (no, not everyone, of course, but I know that it is an important aspect for a good percentage of people), it's one aspect where ESO is unique, and that shouldn't be wasted.

I'm also against updating character models. Doing it in general will drive people away who don't want their characters to look differently. Doing it only to new npcs creates an ugly style mashup that's not really pleasing to look at either.

Well, to be fair, the single player games were all very graphically different more due to the graphics possible at the times they were released.... Even Oblivion character models were a mess (still are without mods), though the countryside graphics were pretty nice. As for Arena, Daggerfall, and Morrowind.... eh, the less said the better!

TheMajority

Just want to see results...

Note: the entire purpose of this poll is based on the premise of IF a kind of remaster will inevitably come, hence why a "I DON'T WANT REMASTERS!" option is not listed. Choose what you would prefer if a rework would be inevitable, please...

Ok

I chose quitting the game because I don't want remasters.

Bias of the poll is bad because it's not inevitable and zos need to know people don't want it at all and would drop the game.

I would drop all 6 account and not look back.

SkaiFaith

Syldras wrote: »

I don't think "classic Elder Scrolls style" as a term is easy to define, to be honest. If you look at the singleplayer games, they're all really different, and even the chapters in ESO have a stylistically slightly diffent feel to them (on purpose, I'm quite sure - that's part of the atmosphere). One common thing I see is a rather realistic and not too flashy style - at least until the disco mount apex stuff began.

Anyway, I really hope they do not deviate from what they did so far in ESO in the future. I'm fine with higher resolution textures or slightly more details, but I don't want any style change. I really hope ZOS understands that a "signature style" is worth a lot. It's one aspect that draws people to ESO (no, not everyone, of course, but I know that it is an important aspect for a good percentage of people), it's one aspect where ESO is unique, and that shouldn't be wasted.

I'm also against updating character models. Doing it in general will drive people away who don't want their characters to look differently. Doing it only to new npcs creates an ugly style mashup that's not really pleasing to look at either.

"Rather realistic and not too flashy" Is already a good description of Classic TES style, and I put emphasis on "Classic" because as you noted in recent times ESO seems to be deviating a bit. It also seems here many players would prefer to not see any further deviations from that Classic feel.

One way to describe it, to me, is the difference from "Default" to "Vivid" HDR option that consoles had when HDR was broken: I always stick with Default because it made it feel more realistic, while Vivid felt more cartoonish.

SkaiFaith

TheMajority wrote: »

Note: the entire purpose of this poll is based on the premise of IF a kind of remaster will inevitably come, hence why a "I DON'T WANT REMASTERS!" option is not listed. Choose what you would prefer if a rework would be inevitable, please...

Ok

I chose quitting the game because I don't want remasters.

Bias of the poll is bad because it's not inevitable and zos need to know people don't want it at all and would drop the game.

I would drop all 6 account and not look back.

Note to myself: next poll add an option "today I choose fight"

Would be fun XD

Syldras

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

TaSheen wrote: »

Well, to be fair, the single player games were all very graphically different more due to the graphics possible at the times they were released.... Even Oblivion character models were a mess (still are without mods), though the countryside graphics were pretty nice. As for Arena, Daggerfall, and Morrowind.... eh, the less said the better!

I personally think it's more than just about what the current tech allowed. Even ignoring that, Skyrim went more for "harsh and dirty" while Oblivion had a brighter, more colorful approach. Certainly there were big differences in landscape, but even the dark and gritty places in Oblivion never looked as dirty as Skyrim, and the brighter interiors in Skyrim never were as vivid and bright as the ones in Oblivion.

TaSheen

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Syldras wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

Well, to be fair, the single player games were all very graphically different more due to the graphics possible at the times they were released.... Even Oblivion character models were a mess (still are without mods), though the countryside graphics were pretty nice. As for Arena, Daggerfall, and Morrowind.... eh, the less said the better!

I personally think it's more than just about what the current tech allowed. Even ignoring that, Skyrim went more for "harsh and dirty" while Oblivion had a brighter, more colorful approach. Certainly there were big differences in landscape, but even the dark and gritty places in Oblivion never looked as dirty as Skyrim, and the brighter interiors in Skyrim never were as vivid and bright as the ones in Oblivion.

I suppose that's true with Skyrim, but since I love gloomy and grey, I was fine with the scenery, and just used mods to clean up things like clothes etc. Thank the Divines for mods....

Syldras

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

TaSheen wrote: »

I suppose that's true with Skyrim, but since I love gloomy and grey, I was fine with the scenery, and just used mods to clean up things like clothes etc. Thank the Divines for mods....

The dirty hair was realistic, at least, considering there was neither a bath house nor a shower anywhere
(Or was there a shower in the Markarth house? Or was that a mod?)

TaSheen

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Syldras wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

I suppose that's true with Skyrim, but since I love gloomy and grey, I was fine with the scenery, and just used mods to clean up things like clothes etc. Thank the Divines for mods....

The dirty hair was realistic, at least, considering there was neither a bath house nor a shower anywhere
(Or was there a shower in the Markarth house? Or was that a mod?)

I don't know about the Markarth house.... never used it (or mods for it). I used a bathhouse mod which put them in every inn, and another for various houses.

I don't play fantasy games for "realistic".... I get enough of that IRL thanks.

Calastir

The most realistic graphics/design possible as tech permit

I want the quality and realism they present in their game trailers.

Syldras

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

TaSheen wrote: »

I don't know about the Markarth house.... never used it (or mods for it). I used a bathhouse mod which put them in every inn, and another for various houses.

I had a mod that added a bathhouse to every city. And I even had another mod once where you had to eat, drink, sleep and wash regularly, but that was bugged and lead to weird problems at times.

Calastir wrote: »

I want the quality and realism they present in their game trailers.

As long as the mer look like mer and not just like humans with pointy ears.

wilykcat

More Anime art style direction

I would love to see more anime hair styles and stuff in the game. Also some more outfits, clothes, armor, etc that are based off of Japanese and Hanfu fashion.

SkaiFaith

Calastir wrote: »

I want the quality and realism they present in their game trailers.

I dream this too...!

wilykcat wrote: »

I would love to see more anime hair styles and stuff in the game. Also some more outfits, clothes, armor, etc that are based off of Japanese and Hanfu fashion.

Hairstyles is definitely a point where the game can improve and where I'd like to see some more artistically bold takes (a la anime, but not in an excessive manner). Right now even dyes are very limited there...

TaSheen

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Calastir wrote: »

I want the quality and realism they present in their game trailers.

No thank you. Realism is for "real world" games, not fantasy. That and anime anything would cause me to flat quit. And again, I know no one would miss me, so you don't have to say so.

Lugaldu

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

Why they should even change the style to something completely else, like catoonish or Korean...? I am sure that this will never happen although the flashing mounts and childish talking foxes are of course a little concerning.

SkaraMinoc

Remain faithful to the Classic Elder Scrolls style as much as possible

They can upgrade graphics like ES6 but art style should stay the same.

JemadarofCaerSalis

Syldras wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

Well, to be fair, the single player games were all very graphically different more due to the graphics possible at the times they were released.... Even Oblivion character models were a mess (still are without mods), though the countryside graphics were pretty nice. As for Arena, Daggerfall, and Morrowind.... eh, the less said the better!

I personally think it's more than just about what the current tech allowed. Even ignoring that, Skyrim went more for "harsh and dirty" while Oblivion had a brighter, more colorful approach. Certainly there were big differences in landscape, but even the dark and gritty places in Oblivion never looked as dirty as Skyrim, and the brighter interiors in Skyrim never were as vivid and bright as the ones in Oblivion.

I think part of it was just a stylistic change in games overall. IE, my brother and I are constantly complaining about all the game that are 'dark and gloomy' or 'harsh and dirty', because game companies feel that sets the atmosphere of the games. Dull colors, stark landscapes etc..

Before this trend, there were more games that were brighter or took a more colorful approach. Which I like, I like color

SkaiFaith

Lugaldu wrote: »

Why they should even change the style to something completely else, like catoonish or Korean...? I am sure that this will never happen although the flashing mounts and childish talking foxes are of course a little concerning.

Yeah, I know I am taking this whole consideration in advance and we are not there yet, but as you noticed there already are reasons to be concerned...
Time will tell but I thought would be good to let Devs see our opinions on the matter.