Would you regard updated run and walk animations as necessary improvements to the game?

Lykeion

I voted 'Yes' at first, but then I suddenly realized how they 'improve' the jabs, so OH NO NO GOD PLZ DON'T NO

Mesite

I played Skyrim last night and I thought the animations looked old at times. I can't remember thinking that while playing ESO.

My dwemer camel in ESO ran like it was broken but it's just what I would expect from an old robotic camel

TheMajority

you did see the new animations for flurry...right?

no

like I'd sooner eat my own arm than ask for a update to the animations

katanagirl1

I don’t really look at my character when running, I am looking at where I am going and trying not to run into things. I have things to do and places to go.

UntilValhalla13

Only if I can have a Naruto run animation. XD

HatchetHaro

AlwaysDancing wrote: »

If it takes 40 hours of work to "update" the run and walk animations, I would rather see those 40 hours go into fixing some of the other, more impactful issues with the game.

I prioritize performance over graphics. If we can improve both, that would be great. But if I had to choose...

That's a misconception: less time spent on one aspect of game development does not mean more time spent on a different part of the game.

Animators hired to work on animations are not expected to work on gameplay bugs and issues. Programmers hired to work on implementing mechanics and fixing bugs are not expected to work on 3D models.

Also, good walk and run animations can be whipped up by a good animator in less than an hour.

francesinhalover

Remember jabs,flurry,blastbones when you ask for reworks

fizzylu

100% the game could benefit from all sorts of animations getting an overhaul.... but like so many people here have kind of said already, asking Zenimax for such things would most likely just backfire. Which is really sad and I'm tired of pretending it's not.

XSTRONG

I have never been annoyed over how my char or mount run.

But when you have the vampire stat that makes you invincible when sprinting and theres a small bump in the ground or a tiny stair that pulls you out of invisibility thats annoying.

Scaletho

The number of people in this game that "don't care about" is really dismaying.

ArchangelIsraphel

Scaletho wrote: »

The number of people in this game that "don't care about" is really dismaying.

On the contrary, I find it encouraging. It tells me they like the game for more than a walk/run animation, which is important. It shows the game has mechanics that draw the player in beyond aesthetics.

People who want to change the run/walk animations should be careful of what they wish for. They might just get it, and it wont be what they imagine it to be- as is almost always the case when something like this crops up.

Jestir

It would help but no, it is not "necessary"

fizzylu

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

On the contrary, I find it encouraging. It tells me they like the game for more than a walk/run animation, which is important. It shows the game has mechanics that draw the player in beyond aesthetics.

I feel like "character movement" is more than a simple aesthetic.... the way a character feels to move can influence how the combat feels the same way actual skill animations can. Again, not that I'm in favor of Zenimax updating the animations since I fully believe they would just make it worse.... but calling it simply an "aesthetic" is undermining the weight movement animations have in the way a game feels to play, not just to look at.

ZoeliTintanie

I think the issue isn't just with the running animation, it's the torso dimensions from when the skeleton was designed.
The torso seems to be more of a box but trying to look like a downward triangle during skeletal design/movement. Like one giant pixel cell.
To change that, just that, slightly, might actually alleviate some of the running animation complaints. If only I could show you with photoshop type stuff what I mean.

I hope this makes sense.

ArchangelIsraphel

fizzylu wrote: »

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

On the contrary, I find it encouraging. It tells me they like the game for more than a walk/run animation, which is important. It shows the game has mechanics that draw the player in beyond aesthetics.

I feel like "character movement" is more than a simple aesthetic.... the way a character feels to move can influence how the combat feels the same way actual skill animations can. Again, not that I'm in favor of Zenimax updating the animations since I fully believe they would just make it worse.... but calling it a "simple aesthetic" is undermining the weight movement animations have in the way a game feels to play, not just to look at.

But I never said it was a simple aesthetic. No where in my post did the word simple appear. It is important, but not as important as having deeper and more engaging systems. The fact that there are many who don't care about the walk/run animations shows that those who feel the walk animations are "bad" might be over inflating how "bad" they are.

Just because they have a desire to see the game reflect their personal preferences, doesn't mean that their perception of the current animations being "bad" is actually true. They want something- and because they aren't getting what they want, anything else will seem far inferior to the image they have in their mind of what they think ESO should be. They expect their opinion to be reflected in the player base as a whole, and are surprised when it isn't. And that's because, to others, the animations aren't bad at all.

I've played a lot of games over the course of my life, so I'm not seeing the walk/run through rose colored glasses- there are aspects of it that, from a technical perspective, don't meet today's gaming "standards". But the funny thing about that is, I'm glad they don't. I enjoy them as they are, they really aren't as terrible as some are making them out to be. I find them nostalgic, and charming- I actually started playing ESO 5 years ago because I liked the fact that it wasn't over the top with its animations.

Would I welcome improvements if they were actually GOOD? I might. There is a lot of things I wish ESO had, that it can't have because of engine limitations (such as cloak and hair physics) But I DO like the game as it is quite a lot.

But like you, I just don't think that what we'd get would actually be an improvement. Given the current trend of changes falling below the standards of many players, I simply wouldn't trust that that such a major overhaul would go too well.

TaSheen

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

fizzylu wrote: »

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

On the contrary, I find it encouraging. It tells me they like the game for more than a walk/run animation, which is important. It shows the game has mechanics that draw the player in beyond aesthetics.

I feel like "character movement" is more than a simple aesthetic.... the way a character feels to move can influence how the combat feels the same way actual skill animations can. Again, not that I'm in favor of Zenimax updating the animations since I fully believe they would just make it worse.... but calling it a "simple aesthetic" is undermining the weight movement animations have in the way a game feels to play, not just to look at.

But I never said it was a simple aesthetic. No where in my post did the word simple appear. It is important, but not as important as having deeper and more engaging systems. The fact that there are many who don't care about the walk/run animations shows that those who feel the walk animations are "bad" might be over inflating how "bad" they are.

Just because they have a desire to see the game reflect their personal preferences, doesn't mean that their perception of the current animations being "bad" is actually true. They want something- and because they aren't getting what they want, anything else will seem far inferior to the image they have in their mind of what they think ESO should be. They expect their opinion to be reflected in the player base as a whole, and are surprised when it isn't. And that's because, to others, the animations aren't bad at all.

I've played a lot of games over the course of my life, so I'm not seeing the walk/run through rose colored glasses- there are aspects of it that, from a technical perspective, don't meet today's gaming "standards". But the funny thing about that is, I'm glad they don't. I enjoy them as they are, they really aren't as terrible as some are making them out to be. I find them nostalgic, and charming- I actually started playing ESO 5 years ago because I liked the fact that it wasn't over the top with its animations.

Would I welcome improvements if they were actually GOOD? I might. There is a lot of things I wish ESO had, that it can't have because of engine limitations (such as cloak and hair physics) But I DO like the game as it is quite a lot.

But like you, I just don't think that what we'd get would actually be an improvement. Given the current trend of changes falling below the standards of many players, I simply wouldn't trust that that such a major overhaul would go too well.

Spot on. There's no way to look at what we have, and get an idea of what the devs might choose to do. And THAT is a major problem.

Do I pay much attention to animations? No I don't. That's not why I play a game. But I DO pay attention to the (sometimes quite lengthy) threads where people are appalled, unhappy, upset, uncomfortable, disturbed, distressed, disheartened - over changes that are egregious to them. And the fact that the devs just.... do what they want without any input from those who play the game is in itself appalling.

This is again something that has happened to me in the past. Dev indifference to player input caused me to never play 2 games again - dropping a total of 12 subs over those two games.

*shrug* I can always add a third game to that. I'd prefer not to - because the other two were NOT Elder Scrolls IPs. So they are long gone and I don't miss them that much now (after many years). But I would be really really sad if ESO did something that I just could not stomach to the point I couldn't play any more.

ArchangelIsraphel

Spot on. There's no way to look at what we have, and get an idea of what the devs might choose to do. And THAT is a major problem.

Exactly! Players make requests with the idea that the devs are going to go through with them exactly as they have imagined, when they definitely will not. Often times, major overhauls go against what the players had in mind when making the request. Then when the complaints start rolling in on the PTS, the lack of communication begins.

So many times, these kinds of major overhaul threads end in players saying "Yes, we wanted this, but not this way!" or a QOL change players wanted, ends up being a shadow of what it could have been, because it was not implemented in a complete, polished state.

TaSheen

Yep. The "NOT LIKE THIS" refrain.... it's ongoing and has been for all the years I've played these games. I've got to the point by now where (especially when a game's devs aren't responsive at all) I just really cringe when people post YOU HAVE TO FIX/UPDATE/CHANGE.... whatever.

Unfun.

fizzylu

@ArchangelIsraphel
Yeah, I didn't mean you said those words exactly and did adjust my wording to clarify that. But my point still stands that people who have an issue with the run animation aren't necessarily just seeing it as a visual problem. I know for a fact that I hate riding mounts in this game because they feel so terrible to use and I can't help thinking thoughts like I should go jump around on my raptor in GW2 or fly around on my dragon in WoW when I do.
And considering those are thoughts that manage to push me away from the game sometimes, to the point of canceling my sub, I cannot comfortably say that a run animation isn't a deep or engaging part of a game. I mean, it is definitely the thing we use and do the most.

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

I've played a lot of games over the course of my life, so I'm not seeing the walk/run through rose colored glasses- there are aspects of it that, from a technical perspective, don't meet today's gaming "standards". But the funny thing about that is, I'm glad they don't. I enjoy them as they are, they really aren't as terrible as some are making them out to be. I find them nostalgic, and charming- I actually started playing ESO 5 years ago because I liked the fact that it wasn't over the top with its animations.

And I'm kind of also wondering if this thread was born from the one where players were discussing people they knew that tried the game and quit because of things like the run animation.... because I would assume that people who do find the animation that bad didn't stick around very long at all, in game and definitely probably not on the forums, considering the first thing you do when you enter the world of ESO is run. I definitely have a problem with mounts, but that took me quite some time to figure out with the whole speed upgrade process and etc. I didn't use my mount for the longest time just because it was slower than running on foot, haha. But for someone who truly cannot stand the run animation.... be it the way it looks, feels, or both.... well, they're going to figure that out pretty quick.

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

Would I welcome improvements if they were actually GOOD? I might. There is a lot of things I wish ESO had, that it can't have because of engine limitations (such as cloak and hair physics) But I DO like the game as it is quite a lot.

And yeah, like the lack of cloaks.... I do feel like the character run animation and even the mount movement is kind of an "it is what it is" situation no matter what someone's stance is on them. Clearly many players agree that Zenimax probably wouldn't handle such an update well and everyday I question the capabilities of ESO's engine more and more on top of it all.... but I can definitely understand people who do have an issue with these things and would want to see better for the game. I just, again, doubt we would get that. But hey, that housing though~ (one of the things I do actually like about the game quite a lot).