ESO graphics.

Valije · January 2015

I am one of those guys who thinks graphics are a nice adition to a game but they are nowhere near one of the main things I search for when deciding what to play (one of my favorites is rFactor 2, mind you). Everytime I see comments about how great a game is just after only seeing a few screenshots I can't help but smile a bit.

But, to my amusement, a lot of people critize ESO graphics and keep seeing comments stating that they are worse then this and that game (that are a few years old). Last time in these forums in comparison with LOTRO.

I played both and contributed to wikis related with both, mainly by taking screenshots. You can see and compare them here:

As you can see I am not motivated by hate or agendas or anything, since I liked both games enough to spend my time contributing to user generated content on the two of them.

Then I see someone that put a screenshot stating something but, to prove the other way arond a "vid is needed or it never happened".

So, here are the vids (Posted in daylimotion because you can download the original file and the recompression sucks less than YT).

Not only graphics, but the sound is good enough too (I really like the thunder sound).

Of course, haters gonna hate, but at least try to talk about bugs, gameplay or things that are not good enough yet. But graphics? Seriously?

My PC is a i5 and the graphic card is a 560GTX-Ti, so not 3k euros rig either. And yes, I play with that settings. Only in the PvP areas I have to lower the graphics.

Rev Rielle · January 2015

In my experience and from what little I understand: Graphics are often what pulls people in, but after a couple of weeks people get use to them, and it's the mechanics/game-play that holds them here.

I'd like to think most of us understand that graphic whilst nice, and important, aren't the most important feature of a game.

Also, I think graphics are a very easy topic to talk about (it's the most visual element of a game after all and the one often that's advertised by development beforehand). Finally, we're such an extrinsic-focused society these days that I think it's little wonder that's spilled over in the gaming world.

Ramtaku · January 2015

My girlfriend tried to back to WoW when the new expansion came out and ended up getting a refund two days later because of the graphics in comparison to ESO. I've been playing since pre launch and I still find myself stopping just to look around and appreciate the artistry.

ers101284b14_ESO · January 2015

The other person of which you speak was just upset that ESO was winning against LOTRO and was trying to defend a game they had enjoyed for many years. Don't act like we all haven't done that at some point. We all know that ESO has some of the best MMO graphics out there but LOTRO was probably good for its time. Just like WoW was amazing at the time. But games take graphical leaps forward and is to be expected.

freespirit · January 2015

I thought DDO's graphics were pretty good, for a nearly nine year old game

But ESO is the first game that has made me want to take screenshots

danno8 · January 2015

It is, actually, very impressive how well LotRO has held up over the years in the graphics department.

Much of this has a lot to do with the steady stream of updates the engine has received over the years. They went from DX9->DX10->DX11 in order to add special effects, and if you look at the graphical options page it is extremely modifiable with tonnes of options.

ESO however is an overall improvement in several departments. Character models are far more complex with a way higher polygon count, facial animations and textures. Lighting is more intricate all over the game and the entire game world has a greater amount of "stuff" in it.

The only couple of areas ESO falls short to LotRO is water and view distance. I know some will say the view distance or "fog" is a design choice, but it still limits the ability to display beautiful "vistas".

If you are someone who couldn't care less about graphics then, yes, you might say they are equivalent. But if you are a graphics ***, like me, you can and will notice all the little improvements ESO has in the visuals.

Amsel_McKay · January 2015

Its funny how a simple troll / sarcastic post about graphics got the community all up in arms...

The fact of my comment is that in 7 years the quality of graphics has changed very little for 7 years of "advancement", the graphics are good in ESO but not mindblowing like when LOTRO came out, ESO is just lifted that bar one inch.

I cant wait for the next real advancement in graphics...

So I hope you understand that when I said the graphics are almost the same I mean in the world of MMOs and game changing, ESO does not have game changing graphics. When the Sega CD came out that was game changing, LORTO and its water effects and reflections was game changing (considering most people played WOW and EQ before LOTRO), Farcry etc all game changing. ESO slight upgrade.

LOTRO took a lot of risks with game play and graphics. ESO did not seem to take many risks to make it the best MMO ever, instead it followed a cookie cutter MMO with slight upgrade to graphics approach.

ESO deserved more, and that is why in my opinion LOTRO is a better MMO then ESO, if you are talking about "The best MMO of all time", EQ 1999-2001 will still win in my book.

All you people posting personal messages to me can stop I find it funny that you all cant handle the fact that not everyone thinks ESO is "The best ever"...

(by the way the only reason I saw this post is because of the personal message linking it, and that is just as sad)

kelly.medleyb14_ESO · January 2015

Ramtaku wrote: »

My girlfriend tried to back to WoW when the new expansion came out and ended up getting a refund two days later because of the graphics in comparison to ESO. I've been playing since pre launch and I still find myself stopping just to look around and appreciate the artistry.

^ this. ESO graphics are far superior to any game out there. They just have a gloomy style which some people don't like.

Valije · January 2015

Funny how I never stated it is "the best mmo of all time" but you think I did. But, of course, you admit being a troll.

And thanks, I won a bet with a friend. You posted in the fist page of the thread. I got a free dinner. Hehe.

danno8 · January 2015

Amsel_McKay wrote: »

I cant wait for the next real advancement in graphics...

I kind of wonder when that will be. 22nm is so tiny and 20nm is believed to be as far as silicon wafers can go.

The next advancement is either going to be something completely different or our computers will just have to be bigger/hotter and require more power in order to keep getting faster.

skillastat · January 2015

I always prioritize the content before the graphics.

Ultima Online 2D - I played a lot of this lol

Rosveen · January 2015

Aesthetics are more important than graphics anyway.

Amsel_McKay · January 2015

Valije wrote: »

Funny how I never stated it is "the best mmo of all time" but you think I did. But, of course, you admit being a troll.

And thanks, I won a bet with a friend. You posted in the fist page of the thread. I got a free dinner. Hehe.

When you send a private message to get me to post, lol, talk about troll bait, well played I guess to get a free dinner.

Amsel_McKay · January 2015

danno816_ESO wrote: »

Amsel_McKay wrote: »

I cant wait for the next real advancement in graphics...

I kind of wonder when that will be. 22nm is so tiny and 20nm is believed to be as far as silicon wafers can go.

The next advancement is either going to be something completely different or our computers will just have to be bigger/hotter and require more power in order to keep getting faster.

Star Citizen seems to be right at that next level, but I think the thing that hurts graphics is actually the physics that go with it: Hair that is stiff, running that looks weird, lava that does not flow well, true facial expressions. I think when graphics add better at physics that will be the next level not the number of pixels per inch.

CreepySpydre · January 2015

In my opinion the game that excelled in graphics before ESO, is Age of Conan. The problem with AoC, it was a huge resource hog.

Tarikko · January 2015

Age of Conan is spectacular in every area. Shame it had a poor initial release

Valije · January 2015

Amsel_McKay wrote: »

When you send a private message to get me to post, lol, talk about troll bait, well played I guess to get a free dinner.

I did? sure? Check again.

Skullemainia · January 2015

I like the graphics of eso, I think the world is beautiful and I don't need a comparison with another game to change my thoughts

Amsel_McKay · January 2015

Amsel_McKay wrote: »

Its funny how a simple troll / sarcastic post about graphics got the community all up in arms...

The fact of my comment is that in 7 years the quality of graphics has changed very little for 7 years of "advancement", the graphics are good in ESO but not mindblowing like when LOTRO came out, ESO is just lifted that bar one inch.

I cant wait for the next real advancement in graphics...

So I hope you understand that when I said the graphics are almost the same I mean in the world of MMOs and game changing, ESO does not have game changing graphics. When the Sega CD came out that was game changing, LORTO and its water effects and reflections was game changing (considering most people played WOW and EQ before LOTRO), Farcry etc all game changing. ESO slight upgrade.

LOTRO took a lot of risks with game play and graphics. ESO did not seem to take many risks to make it the best MMO ever, instead it followed a cookie cutter MMO with slight upgrade to graphics approach.

ESO deserved more, and that is why in my opinion LOTRO is a better MMO then ESO, if you are talking about "The best MMO of all time", EQ 1999-2001 will still win in my book.

All you people posting personal messages to me can stop I find it funny that you all cant handle the fact that not everyone thinks ESO is "The best ever"...

(by the way the only reason I saw this post is because of the personal message linking it, and that is just as sad)

Valije wrote: »

Amsel_McKay wrote: »

When you send a private message to get me to post, lol, talk about troll bait, well played I guess to get a free dinner.

I did? sure? Check again.

Yes as you can see by my unedited post that: "(by the way the only reason I saw this post is because of the personal message linking it, and that is just as sad)" - Why would I post this before you told me of your bet? lol sorry did you lose your dinner bet?

kelly.medleyb14_ESO · January 2015

I always put graphics before game play that's why I had to leave WoW.

Amsel_McKay · January 2015

kelly.medleyb14_ESO wrote: »

I always put graphics before game play that's why I had to leave WoW.

You are missing out on a ton of gems, some games have really really bad graphics by game play can keep you busy for years (XCOM TFTD anyone)

Valije · January 2015

I still don't understand how is well played by my part, because I never PM you nor did mention any nickname.

If someone pointed it to you, it has nothing to do with me.

Muizer · January 2015

Well, I play games with Nvidia 3D vision, and ESO works pretty well. And when a game works well in 3D, it will trump anything in the gfx dept that doesn't.

Moonshadow66 · January 2015

Skullemainia wrote: »

I like the graphics of eso, I think the world is beautiful and I don't need a comparison with another game to change my thoughts

This.

I even play it only on medium settings (my graphic card is only about half as good as the newest Nvidia cards), but still I think the game is just beautiful! In my ESO screenshots folder are nearly 29k images at the moment..

I think it's not only the textures and the artworks what makes it so awesome looking, but also the lighting which couldn't be any better. What I posted months ago: not even the Skyrim ENB could make it any better than this. Well, except for the saturation, I'm still hoping for a slider to be implemented someday to turn it up, at least just a bit.

Lord_Kreegan · January 2015

The problem with any assessment of “graphics” per se is defining what the unit of measurement is for a qualitative assessment.

In a quantitative sense, it is easy to discuss numbers of vertices/polygons, texture/mipmap size and density, scope of the color table, etc., but all of those are poor measurements of “quality”.

For instance:

How good is the use of shadows? Do they look realistic or are they too “edgy”? Do they appear properly with respect to light sources or to they just suddenly appear “in the air” and then magically find their way to the ground surface?
How good is water? Does it have the proper transparency and reflection of objects, or is it just a “shimmer” over submerged surfaces?
How good are animations? Are they fluid or choppy? Do they transition readily between different character actions or are animations dropped when sequences don’t mesh well, leaving players wondering whether or not an action has actually been performed?
How good is character depiction? Do characters in-game look the same as they do during creation?
How good is voice-synch? Do NPC's lips move properly with respect to sound or does it appear that the NPC is a ventiloquist? Are facial animations appropriate to the spoken emphasis of words?

And most importantly, the environments:

How well are the environments portrayed? Do different environments fit together well? Is the transition between environments appropriate to the game world or too sharp a distinction to maintain suspension of disbelief?
Are sub-zones spaced appropriately such that there is adequate space between questing areas such that the areas don’t feel like they’ve been jammed together?
Do areas appear as if their boundaries are decidedly artificial with invisible walls, oddly placed cliffs, and inaccessible locations?
Do players feel like they are channeled into going specific routes rather than being able to pick their own path?

All of these things make a difference in a player’s appreciation of graphics.

ESO is decidedly a graphically beautiful game, but it has a lot of flaws in its presentation. I’d score it very, very high in terms of quantitative measurements; quite frankly the best I’ve ever seen; but qualitatively I can only rate it as above average. Very good, but not great.