Only because I love you guys:
They are called advanced polls...and they are down well in advance of the event ( what ever the event is) to gauge possible reaction
Should have actually read the posts. If you aren't going to take the time to read the posts why try and comment on them? Your questions would have been answered. Anyway... As I said before (in a previous post....) it's NOT really the bunny painting so much, sure it is a poster boy for hideous and all. It's the way the art has been going the last few years that is becoming ridiculous. I did make a mistake picking on the bunny picture specifically and the poll should have included the art of recent years in general with a multitude of ready examples. Naturally anyone could probably deal with one insane bunny picture. Or overlook it. Trust me if I could stop this from going live and getting no holiday content I pay for (again), I'm completely ok with that. Because it's an embarrassment to the game, the players, and the "artist". But the point of this is that we've been complaining and complaining about the art and it actually gets even worse and more absurd. This horrid painting is not this "straw" breaking the camel's back. It's the straws that have been dropping for a couple years now. Fluffy trees, 5' coffee pots, and all the other crap art that has a cartoon appearance, no texture, doesn't fit the theme of UO at all, perspective completely off. That is the real point of this poll. I regret the way the poll is worded, AND I do pay for this junk I have to toss (and have been tossing for years now), 40 bucks each and every month not including transfer tokens and all the other junk I buy. Honestly I'm totally sick of it. Inexcusable. To make it worse Mesanna tried to defend this kind of lame and unprofessional art with an actual posting in a news letter to the players. Inconceivable! (Someone toss me a Princess Bride pic). When it comes to art now we have the "Can't do crew". The odd thing is sometimes one actually sees some high quality detailed art and then they turn around and toss out this which is a child like attempt. But in general for the last couple years it would be hard to find one holiday gift done right when they actually do one that's not a recycle or they ignore the holiday completely. You would think with the few holidays they still address on occasion it would be a spectacular looking gift. *drops mic* *Stomps fanboi cap into the mud*
I've been looking at the artwork the same as everyone else, and while I agree that some of it is not exactly appealing (to me), some of the other artwork I've seen recently has been fine (to me). Again, the artwork is a subjective argument, which really shouldn't be an argument at all. You don't like the artwork in general, while others might like it just fine.Should have actually read the posts. If you aren't going to take the time to read the posts why try and comment on them? Your questions would have been answered. Anyway... As I said before (in a previous post....) it's NOT really the bunny painting so much, sure it is a poster boy for hideous and all. It's the way the art has been going the last few years that is becoming ridiculous. I did make a mistake picking on the bunny picture specifically and the poll should have included the art of recent years in general with a multitude of ready examples. Naturally anyone could probably deal with one insane bunny picture. Or overlook it. Trust me if I could stop this from going live and getting no holiday content I pay for (again), I'm completely ok with that. Because it's an embarrassment to the game, the players, and the "artist". But the point of this is that we've been complaining and complaining about the art and it actually gets even worse and more absurd. This horrid painting is not this "straw" breaking the camel's back. It's the straws that have been dropping for a couple years now. Fluffy trees, 5' coffee pots, and all the other crap art that has a cartoon appearance, no texture, doesn't fit the theme of UO at all, perspective completely off. That is the real point of this poll. I regret the way the poll is worded, AND I do pay for this junk I have to toss (and have been tossing for years now), 40 bucks each and every month not including transfer tokens and all the other junk I buy. Honestly I'm totally sick of it. Inexcusable. To make it worse Mesanna tried to defend this kind of lame and unprofessional art with an actual posting in a news letter to the players. Inconceivable! (Someone toss me a Princess Bride pic). When it comes to art now we have the "Can't do crew". The odd thing is sometimes one actually sees some high quality detailed art and then they turn around and toss out this which is a child like attempt. But in general for the last couple years it would be hard to find one holiday gift done right when they actually do one that's not a recycle or they ignore the holiday completely. You would think with the few holidays they still address on occasion it would be a spectacular looking gift. *drops mic* *Stomps fanboi cap into the mud*
Ok, off topic of this thread, but I've often wondered the same thing. Taking a break? Tired of being attacked by the ignorant masses for his pronouncements on all things economic? Inquiring minds want to know. I don't even see him listed as a member anymore.
He still has an account, I have no idea where he went though. It says he hasn't posted since June 2015 http://community.stratics.com/members/the-zog-historian.156794/
Well, good, sometimes real life beckons. I see I wasn't including "The" in looking him up. Of course it would be "The Zog."
Hoping you're doing well out there, The Zog
Should have actually read the posts. If you aren't going to take the time to read the posts why try and comment on them? Your questions would have been answered. Anyway... As I said before (in a previous post....) it's NOT really the bunny painting so much, sure it is a poster boy for hideous and all. It's the way the art has been going the last few years that is becoming ridiculous. I did make a mistake picking on the bunny picture specifically and the poll should have included the art of recent years in general with a multitude of ready examples. Naturally anyone could probably deal with one insane bunny picture. Or overlook it. Trust me if I could stop this from going live and getting no holiday content I pay for (again), I'm completely ok with that. Because it's an embarrassment to the game, the players, and the "artist". But the point of this is that we've been complaining and complaining about the art and it actually gets even worse and more absurd. This horrid painting is not this "straw" breaking the camel's back. It's the straws that have been dropping for a couple years now. Fluffy trees, 5' coffee pots, and all the other crap art that has a cartoon appearance, no texture, doesn't fit the theme of UO at all, perspective completely off. That is the real point of this poll. I regret the way the poll is worded, AND I do pay for this junk I have to toss (and have been tossing for years now), 40 bucks each and every month not including transfer tokens and all the other junk I buy. Honestly I'm totally sick of it. Inexcusable. To make it worse Mesanna tried to defend this kind of lame and unprofessional art with an actual posting in a news letter to the players. Inconceivable! (Someone toss me a Princess Bride pic). When it comes to art now we have the "Can't do crew". The odd thing is sometimes one actually sees some high quality detailed art and then they turn around and toss out this which is a child like attempt. But in general for the last couple years it would be hard to find one holiday gift done right when they actually do one that's not a recycle or they ignore the holiday completely. You would think with the few holidays they still address on occasion it would be a spectacular looking gift. *drops mic* *Stomps fanboi cap into the mud*
I don't think you've said anything you should regret. Especially when spoken truthfully from the heart. I apologize for your hat, send me a bill for a new one
Some art is debatable. Some art is actually very nice and fits the game. Some art anyone with a brain should think, hey I don't know what I was thinking when I made that I don't need to be an art history major to spot it when it appears in game. The bunny pic is just a glaring prime example of having jumped the shark. One could introduce a modern 7-11 store into the game and some would absolutely love it. But that doesn't mean it's justified to introduce it. I'm a big boy it doesn't bother me. Seems Broadsword is failing to hold my attention. Seems they prefer to annoy me over pleasing me. UO continues to bleed people and players and wither. So hey, they can do anything they want. For as long as it lasts. They can either meet our expectations or learn to like to work on DAoC I imagine So I try and point them in a certain direction from a player perspective. I'm not here to destroy UO. I here to point out what I see as glaring mistakes. I provide feedback. They are free to do whatever they want. But once they drop enough straws I'll be banking up all my junk and taking another 2 year break, and to be honest I kinda doubt UO will be here when I think about returning. But UO has been "dying" for 10 years lol. So who knows. Anyway... they should listen to me and everyone else about the players legitimate concerns whatever they may be. That's their job. We don't come here cause it's a slow day and we have nothing else to do than to invent some topic and raise hell about it. We raise hell over things we care about. I focus on rares and deco, others focus on say taming, or whatever they deeply care about in UO. If BS doesn't seriously listen to what we are saying they are making a mistake, they're not doing their jobs. I provide the feedback on what I care about, that's my job. So I'm doing my job and hopefully it falls on the ears of someone who agrees, cares, and will act on it. That's all. Cause if they don't care, games are lined up to take my money. NP
Amazing!Only because I love you guys:
Although... perhaps we are all missing the obvious here...
God bless the ignore function, that's all I can say.
That's the thing. Once you head down that road where does the roads end? lol But the stuff Riyana kicked out in a few minutes looks every bit as good as the BS (God I do get some glee outta their initials being BS haha) one, if not better. As far as silly painting go, Riyana's actually look better. In The Sims they would be incredible, UO not so much. I find it interesting the original team cut many corners. They took actual famous art, shrunk it down and blurred it a little. BAM! Awesome painting lol. Quick and easy and it looks awesome. *sigh* Somewhere online I saw where people had compared some of the old school paintings to the actual art and it's very clear they copied that. So it's possible to take the quick and easy road and still do something incredible. Actually a cat "hanging in there" is more appropriate. There were cats in the 1400's. Someone might have actually painted their cat. I kinda doubt there were Easter bunnies. Someone will probably call me on that since I didn't check itAmazing!
Well, considering they didn't release it, but it's in the art files, you can at least assume, no, it wasn't some trick. Why they would want to waste time trying to make us upset I don't know. They make us upset no matter what they do, so why put in extra effort?
I'd prefer they learned their job over me learning psychology. Because they seem to really not care how much sunshine we blow around. I've learned that the lol's and smileys are necessary. Not crazy about them either. But it seems here one is forced to. I've heard so many times, over and over, about how upset I was, how angry I was, and nothing could be farther from the truth. I see stupid and I'm like a dog on a bone with it. Because I'm persistent people think I'm angry. I'll repeat nothing could be farther from the truth. It is like telling a joke, then saying "Hey that's a joke". That does suck. Because the internet works that way and people read it anyway they want with any tone they want. I'm all about cheer leading. I'd love to praise Broadsword or whoever they can get next to get UO on track. Nothing would make me happier.Don't speak too soon, Easter is still three weeks away.
Personally, yes, there seems to be a lot of diatribes and analyzation here (I pitched in too), but Lucky's right about one thing; it's specious to suggest that it's all just because of an Easter painting.
I've been a fan of Ultima since Ultima III when I was ten years old. I've been a fan of UO since the first teasers appeared in gaming magazines. I'm familiar with the art direction. Almost all my posts on these forums (and nearly 1,000 posts before the forum purge) are supportive toward UO's various teams over the years, including Broadsword. But a real fan isn't in it for the brownie points they might receive by helping to create an echo chamber. You don't need to be an artist to be able to recognize a fictional universe's look and feel, so the team always needs to be open to criticism.
But I also have criticism for some fans, especially Capt. Lucky because of many of his posts. It's hard for me to click "like" on almost any criticism around Stratics because it's so often acidic, laced with sarcastic remarks and lots of lols. I'm not here to make game developers feel bad. Yes it's a service, and we're customers, but be an adult about it. Constructive criticism can be a positive process. There's a whole Internet of guides out there, filled with tips and advice about critical thinking and constructive criticism. Google it.
I think people in this thread have probably gone overboard with the sarcasm and vitriol, I absolutely think it's just fine to speak out about whether or not you like any aspect of the game, art included. How else will they know we do or don't want something?Don't speak too soon, Easter is still three weeks away.
Personally, yes, there seems to be a lot of diatribes and analyzation here (I pitched in too), but Lucky's right about one thing; it's specious to suggest that it's all just because of an Easter painting.
I've been a fan of Ultima since Ultima III when I was ten years old. I've been a fan of UO since the first teasers appeared in gaming magazines. I'm familiar with the art direction. Almost all my posts on these forums (and nearly 1,000 posts before the forum purge) are supportive toward UO's various teams over the years, including Broadsword. But a real fan isn't in it for the brownie points they might receive by helping to create an echo chamber. You don't need to be an artist to be able to recognize a fictional universe's look and feel, so the team always needs to be open to criticism.
But I also have criticism for some fans, especially Capt. Lucky because of many of his posts. It's hard for me to click "like" on almost any criticism around Stratics because it's so often acidic, laced with sarcastic remarks and lots of lols. I'm not here to make game developers feel bad. Yes it's a service, and we're customers, but be an adult about it. Constructive criticism can be a positive process. There's a whole Internet of guides out there, filled with tips and advice about critical thinking and constructive criticism. Google it.
Well, I think the problem people here have with you view here (and the tone of the view you sometimes have on other topics as well) is that it's an objective one, not a subjective one. You are saying the are IS bad. The person doing it IS doing it incorrectly. That's really not the case. You may not like it, I may not like it, but others might, and do. You may see them as not doing their jobs, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's true.
I really don't think the cartoon art has gone over very well. From the posts and threads I've seen in the past. I follow this as closely as anyone. I'd like to hear about an acceptable example of cartoon art. They need to at the very least maintain the same perspective UO has had for 18 years. At the very minimum. That's what Mesanna actually addressed in her newsletter. That they have a hard time matching art that they were able to do 20 years ago. Absurd. There's no way that is professional and looks good to have the game one perspective and the new art another. The perspective on the bunny seems to look right, I'll give it that. Now if they centered it correctly or if it's able to be raised off the floor, etc, I don't know. It's really not a stretch for everyone to see the perspective issue. Some, not all, but a lot of the art of late the art is done poorly and incorrectly. It's true. If the art doesn't fit the game for several different reasons, it's wrong. I guess a person could possibly say Hitler did a great job of unifying Germany. My personal opinion is Hitler overall did some things that were really really bad. I suppose we could debate that from perspective. Not calling anyone Hitler or Nazis or anything, don't freak out on me. I'm just saying anything, no matter how insane, can be debated.
Art direction is one of the largest factors driving any fantasy MMORPG's ambiance. Initially we're attracted to these fantasy universes for their look and feel. Thus, a recognizable brand will have less to sell the more that it becomes diluted by content unrelated to its setting.
