Graphics in wow

WoW’s graphics engine is updated from time to time, and it’s a very efficient one, it’s not as out dated as some of you might think, don’t mistake purposely stylized cartoon looks with bad graphics. Also, bad graphics is very subjective, if you mean it in technical terms, everything will always end up having bad graphics, it’s only a matter of time. If you mean the art itself is bad, then that’s a valuable opinion, but opinions are highly subjective, and I have to say I strongly disagree.

This topic has been addressed on another thread very recently, if you're curious about it: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/5967338478?page=2#26

Posted by Taepsilum
Also, bad graphics is very subjective, if you mean it in technical terms

I disagree with this.

Bad technical graphics just means fewer pixels, fewer polygons, fewer details, fewer decals, shorter draw distance, etc.

Maybe I didn't express myself very clearly. Here's the full quote:

18/12/2012 13:26Posted by Taepsilum

Also, bad graphics is very subjective, if you mean it in technical terms, everything will always end up having bad graphics, it’s only a matter of time. If you mean the art itself is bad, then that’s a valuable opinion, but opinions are highly subjective, and I have to say I strongly disagree.

What I meant to say is that in technical terms, it's simply a matter of time until any kind of graphics is considered bad/out dated. But graphics as in the “artwork” is something quite different; it has an intrinsic value that doesn’t degrade over time. That's why lots of people still play Mario, Puzzle Bobble, Pac-Man... and they still love the artwork and gameplay.
Lately it seems that quite a lot of games tend to be all about who has the biggest textures and latest shaders, that's an illusion that usually manages to hide the lack of innovation and real gameplay value.

Now, of course, graphics are also important and that's why we upgrade our engine from time to time, especially if it will make it more efficient and give players a better performance, but I'd still like to think that what players value the most is the gameplay, originality and innovation.
There is also an issue with changing something that is considered classic, and in my opinion, WoW verges on that. A lot of players would dislike major changes to the artwork, so when we upgrade our graphics engine, we need to be careful to make sure it doesn’t change the classic visuals that much.