Graphics matter. It’s really appealing to go with the general approach of being above simple graphics informing your opinion about a game, but we all know that a game’s appearance does directly impact both how many people will give it a shot in the first place and how appealing it is while playing. So it makes sense why games like Bless and Blade & Soul get marketed at first on the sheer power of their graphics, an extended lap of “look how nice our game is at a glance!”
The problem, of course, is that it’s entirely irrelevant. You can have gorgeous graphics and a terrible game (there’s a reason I picked out Bless up there), and stylized graphics can weather time quite well even with less raw graphical power. Even modern World of Warcraft isn’t going to be taxing most newer video cards, but it also keeps delivering pretty stuff within the limitations of its engine. So how much does raw graphical power matter to you for MMOs? Do you find yourself more likely to play games because they’re using some cutting-edge graphical engine delivering top-tier visuals, regardless of the game mechanics?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
