The colouring may be a very big part of the issue but what adds to the elements I listed before are the proportions of design. Everything is designed akin to the Warcraft proportions: feet are HUGE, bricks are HUGE and shoulders are HUGE (the barbarian is even wearing pauldrons that look exactly like an orc grunt's).
In the more gritty and realistic approach to the earlier Diablos' art direction, characters didn't have excessively over-sized hands and feet and bricks were realistically sized. The stone blocks in the gameplay trailer were more reminiscent of the Scarlet Monastery/Undercity than anything previously presented in a Diablo game.
I agree that conforming to a completely greyscale colour scheme would be a bad move, but I also think the current colour use went too far in the other extreme: the WoW colour palettes.
I think my previous post describing an artistic analogy probably describes my concerns better.
I honestly hope Blizzard realizes the detriments of IP ambiguity. Since the company is now a lot larger than it was when most of the games we love were created (and most of the people responsible for those games no longer work for the company), they may just want to listen to "whining" fans that see things from another perspective... or not. No one is infallible.
Nothing worries me more than the idea of a developer placating a vocal minority: "Waaaaah! Make the game I want you to make!"
The thing I'm seeing here isn't so much a few people whining about aesthetics so much as long-time fans seeing something they don't like about the direction certain facets of the product they care about have progressed and voicing their concerns about it (I'm one of them).
I've only voiced my opinions in a single post (beyond this one) and hope the developers at Blizzard heed what was said (it's doubtful, but I can't say I didn't try). In the long run, people will vote with their wallets anyways.
I highly doubt the game will be any less 'fun' with the WoW-esque art direction currently in place but it will still leave me with the sense that it could have been better. Blizzard may be choosing this new approach to Diablo III's graphics to cater to the Asian demographic (that, statistically, have preferred more colours and less realism in their art).
If that's the case, there will be more profit in pursuing the WoW art direction if it means garnering more sales in the Asian markets (almost no one in Asia played Horde characters until the Blood Elves were introduced). 'Gritty' and 'realistic' tend not to sell well in those markets and, with the plummeting value of the American dollar, I can't blame Blizzard for catering to sales elsewhere.
I would prefer to play a Gothic horror fantasy game over a quasi-WoW spin-off but, in the end, I'm sure Blizzard will make the right decision for their product.
As an artist, game developer (not affiliated with Blizzard) and long-time fan of the Diablo series, I've found the new art direction to be undesirable in many regards and hope the following points best clarify why I'm complaining about an unfinished product atop my virtual soapbox:
IP Ambiguity: Blizzard has rocketed to the top of the success ladder with its three main Intellectual Properties: Warcraft, Starcraft & Diablo. These three franchises can be categorized, in terms of genre as: High Fantasy, Sci-Fi/Fantasy & Dark/Gothic Fantasy, respectively. The categories help customers clearly identify the three IPs. This new art direction (seen in Diablo III's public announcement) blurs the lines between two of Blizzard's IPs. "Is that a Troll Witch Doctor I'm looking at or something from Diablo?" By doing this, the IPs become harder to discern and the end result is a watered down version attempting to accommodate both the demographics... akin to a jack-of-all-trades, master of nothing scenario.
Fanbase Alienation: The Diablo series has always been in a dark and dreary setting that instills a foreboding sense of hopelessness and futility. This couldn't be any more reinforced by the ironic conclusion of the first game: the hero defeats the devil but willingly sacrifices his/herself to contain the unstoppable evil. The powers of these beings is something much bigger than any of us, the heroes or the mortal world. By making things cartoonish and less 'gritty' and somberly realistic, the oppressive dread is no longer felt.
Artistic Discontinuity: In metaphoric art terms, Warcraft is a colourful oil painting: the textures contain palettes of vibrant hues and hard lines define soft shapes. Diablo, on the other hand, gives the impression of being more of a charcoal illustration: realistic and heavily influenced by black and muted hues. Magic is still colourful but doesn't over-power a scene with a conflagration of blues, green, reds and purples. Color, when used sparingly, can direct someone's eyes to an intended point of interest. When over-used, it makes the eyes tired and desensitized. On the opposite side of the that, under-use can also yield bad consequences. The point is, the world of Diablo isn't a colorful place and when vibrancy is introduced into a macabre setting, it feels more surreal than terrifying.
Well, that's just the 2 cents of an anonymous forum poster but I pessimistically hope what was listed makes any small amount of difference. I LOVE many of the concept images and have an appreciation for the Conan-esque direction many of the images appear to have gone but there seems to have been a lot lost in the translation to 3D. Diablo III will be a great game, regardless of graphics, and I'm looking forward to many lost hours killing demons once more.
0
In the more gritty and realistic approach to the earlier Diablos' art direction, characters didn't have excessively over-sized hands and feet and bricks were realistically sized. The stone blocks in the gameplay trailer were more reminiscent of the Scarlet Monastery/Undercity than anything previously presented in a Diablo game.
I agree that conforming to a completely greyscale colour scheme would be a bad move, but I also think the current colour use went too far in the other extreme: the WoW colour palettes.
I think my previous post describing an artistic analogy probably describes my concerns better.
I honestly hope Blizzard realizes the detriments of IP ambiguity. Since the company is now a lot larger than it was when most of the games we love were created (and most of the people responsible for those games no longer work for the company), they may just want to listen to "whining" fans that see things from another perspective... or not. No one is infallible.
0
The thing I'm seeing here isn't so much a few people whining about aesthetics so much as long-time fans seeing something they don't like about the direction certain facets of the product they care about have progressed and voicing their concerns about it (I'm one of them).
I've only voiced my opinions in a single post (beyond this one) and hope the developers at Blizzard heed what was said (it's doubtful, but I can't say I didn't try). In the long run, people will vote with their wallets anyways.
I highly doubt the game will be any less 'fun' with the WoW-esque art direction currently in place but it will still leave me with the sense that it could have been better. Blizzard may be choosing this new approach to Diablo III's graphics to cater to the Asian demographic (that, statistically, have preferred more colours and less realism in their art).
If that's the case, there will be more profit in pursuing the WoW art direction if it means garnering more sales in the Asian markets (almost no one in Asia played Horde characters until the Blood Elves were introduced). 'Gritty' and 'realistic' tend not to sell well in those markets and, with the plummeting value of the American dollar, I can't blame Blizzard for catering to sales elsewhere.
I would prefer to play a Gothic horror fantasy game over a quasi-WoW spin-off but, in the end, I'm sure Blizzard will make the right decision for their product.
0
- Artistic Discontinuity: In metaphoric art terms, Warcraft is a colourful oil painting: the textures contain palettes of vibrant hues and hard lines define soft shapes. Diablo, on the other hand, gives the impression of being more of a charcoal illustration: realistic and heavily influenced by black and muted hues. Magic is still colourful but doesn't over-power a scene with a conflagration of blues, green, reds and purples. Color, when used sparingly, can direct someone's eyes to an intended point of interest. When over-used, it makes the eyes tired and desensitized. On the opposite side of the that, under-use can also yield bad consequences. The point is, the world of Diablo isn't a colorful place and when vibrancy is introduced into a macabre setting, it feels more surreal than terrifying.
Well, that's just the 2 cents of an anonymous forum poster but I pessimistically hope what was listed makes any small amount of difference. I LOVE many of the concept images and have an appreciation for the Conan-esque direction many of the images appear to have gone but there seems to have been a lot lost in the translation to 3D. Diablo III will be a great game, regardless of graphics, and I'm looking forward to many lost hours killing demons once more.