tetrodoxin.2134 Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 I'm glad I am not alone with this. The color palette in EoD is an eyesore. "Radioactive grass" is a term I've seen floating around some times now, but it's not just the grass. All the colors seem off and oversaturated. The color edit above is much, much better - good job. Really hope someone at Anet takes a good look at that. I won't even mention how recycled and lowres most of the environment in the guild chat looked like, because it's very unlikely that they have the ressources to give it a proper overhaul. Well, I guess I did now. 2 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poormany.4507 Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 On 10/7/2021 at 7:35 AM, zealex.9410 said: https://imgur.com/a/90dY4Lh heres a colour edit someone did and its so nicer on the eyes. The edited one looks so much better to me and much more true to the Shing-Jea aesthetic in GW1. I did not get any "tropical paradise" vibes from Shing-Jea in GW1, as they seem to be going for, more like farmland, wealthy estates, a snowy mountain, and Seitung as a trading port. I don't see how the environment would have completely changed into a tropical setting all over the island, especially in the southern half (even in 250 years). The northern half, which was a coastline, I could see being more tropical and bright in the present, but not really the southern farmland/monastery/trading post half. On 10/7/2021 at 8:03 AM, Teratus.2859 said: Tbh i'm more curious about how there are so many Tengu still over there despite all the lore around Canthan xenophobia and the hunting of other races etc. Not only that but these Tengu seem to be living side by side with humans comfortably. It goes against a lot of what we suspected Cantha to be based on the previous lore we had about the region and the actions of the Ministry of purity. And we know that what happened to the Tengu on mainland Cantha also spilled over into Shing Jia Island as well. Agreed - Them showing the map as probably being confined to the southeastern section of the island makes this even more confusing, as it seems like the Tengu have expanded their settlements from their initial settlement at Aerie in the far west of the island. I would have expected them to be in hiding or more withdrawn in their own village(s), not openly walking around and normally living alongside humans, given they were just being hunted down like animals less than 250 years ago (as mentioned in the Sunqua Peak fractal lore about the tense xenophobic climate in Cantha even after GW1 and Winds of Change). 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson.4036 Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 So ArenaNet was looking for a new art director three months ago? https://gamejobs.co/Art-Director-at-ArenaNet-4623 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetrodoxin.2134 Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 9 hours ago, Shin Ryu.5802 said: Reading this thread got me to wondering, "why with so many underwhelming new elite specializations and their larger actual gameplay problems are people getting so focused on the choice of background foliage colors? The simple answer to this is that there are already a few dozen threads dedicated to giving feedback for those elite specs. Why should all the EoD feedback be just about elite specs? It's just one fraction of the expansion. No, the reason why people mention the visual design of EoD is actually the visual design of EoD, believe it or not. On a sidenote; giving feedback to Arenanet always felt like talking to a brick wall, but the past has shown that some of the feedback actually gets through that wall. There's always hope 😉 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson.4036 Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Plus, one of the things we may be holding on to after being disappointed with the underwhelming elite specs is, "Well, at least we'll have these new zones as we return to Cantha." But the tranquil beauty of Shing Jea island is instead garish. So instead of seeking solace, we find another disappointment. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faridah.8431 Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 (edited) I've been saying pretty much every year since the game launched that it's like an alternate universe versions of Tyria (the world) from GW1. It really does not at all feel like the same world to me. And I'm not just talking 250 years of evolution here. Case in point: see Shing Jea color palate. Edited October 11, 2021 by Faridah.8431 1 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usernameisapain.7163 Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 12 hours ago, Faridah.8431 said: I've been saying pretty much every year since the game launched that it's like an alternate universe versions of Tyria (the world) from GW1. It really does not at all feel like the same world to me. And I'm not just talking 250 years of evolution here. Case in point: see Shing Jea color palate. I think a lot of OGGW-heads feel the same, I am certainly in the same boat. I came to like GW2 for what it is, but it always felt like a different beast altogether, and it never gripped me the same as GW did. Arguably GW, especially pre-nightfall had perhaps the best mmo-community that I have witnessed, and it was still pretty darn good post-nightfall. Shing Jea colour Palette is definitely all over the place. The live-stream did nothing to address these concerns, but I am an optimist, I got the expansion, and I'll give it a fair try. However considering the amount of complaints that are everywhere about the saturation, I sincerely hope that Anet tones it down, irregardless of whatever shaders and bloom they have active during the showcasings. 2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shin Ryu.5802 Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 Fair question: What IS behind this visual decision? Short answer: Magic pollution. It makes things look...different. The basic graphic design challenge isn't just to advance Cantha 200-250 years forward in the game world, but to represent the various impacts of major events in Tyria. Events such as the death of Zhaitan, then Mordremoth, then the exploding Bloodstone (Balthazar hoovered up most of it, but a lot of it still leaked out into the world), then the destruction of Balthazar, then the death of Kralkatorrik more fully releasing all of the above. And then just for good measure, the mutually destructive kaiju battle between Jormag and Primordus. Aurene (and possibly Kuunavang) might have mitigated the fallout, but they didn't stop it. So why Cantha and not everywhere else in Tyria? Well, Canthans are apparently harnessing the magic of jade from the Jade Sea. It's quite possible they might not have fully considered the consequences of using cursed jade as an energy source. I'm thinking the use of color was one of the easier ways to portray the overabundance of magic. It was either that or add more Ley-Line Anomaly-like creatures, make everything weird and sparkly, add magic storm effects, etc. If there's a better way to represent "too much ambient magic," it's probably worth mentioning. Some people hate it because Too Much Color, and others yearn for Cantha Classic. Both are perfectly valid; I really like Shing Jea Classic in particular. However, things change; killing five elder dragons had Consequences. I think bumping up the color saturation is a reasonable way to visually represent the unintended side effects of bathing a region that was already becoming awash in magic with even more magic. Basically, magical fallout, or "magic pollution." 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben K.6238 Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 I wouldn't advise ANet to justify questionable art direction using lore. It's too easy to turn people off with a bad first impression. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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