Game Art

[Mechtec.3827]

I find my self, taking the time to look around the the beauty of the surroundings, not just run in and out to accomplish the mission. just wonderingif more do the same?

[Randulf.7614]

Not as much as I used to, but it's partly because I have so many things I need to be doing in/out of game. There was a time I'd stop an absorb the ambience of every area - in fact I didn't leave Amnoon for a bout a week or two on PoF launch. I still try when a new expac drops to take time and explore the early part of a map and absorb all the details, the architecture etc for about a week until I start to move forward. I think mounts I have become too convenient to skip around and I fall into a bad habit of not slowing down voluntarily too often.

GW2 is very ambient and very pretty in places so it is worthwhile to stop and smell the roses 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Randulf.7614

[Biziut.3594]

Mmm, Yes. Quite often actually. I love to unwind in some high up places with a nice view, especially out of map, strike a heroic pose or sit and listen to my custom gw2 soundtrack playlist. Sometimes while chatting with guild, sometimes when doing day to day chores and sometimes just for the view itself. ^^

[Lucy.3728]

Yes. I sometimes switch to best quality settings just to enjoy the view more and accept the fps drop xD

The nights on desert maps are art.

When I returned to this game after a break of 7 years and played PoF, I was so distracted by the beautiful scenery that my playthrough took much longer than HoT, for example, which I found ugly in most places. Nothing to linger over and look around.
PoF has many beautiful spots.

In Orr, I did a search for someone that took me into the depths of the sea, and the colors were so beautiful. https://i.postimg.cc/pLFnyS9J/gw945.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/6tDPbv9D/gw954.jpg
Orr can be beautiful in its creepiness. https://i.postimg.cc/XVnB8rdW/gw445.jpg

In IBS, the moment Jormag's huge head appeared through the fog... goosebumps and it was so creepy and fascinating. https://i.postimg.cc/2rbwQY68/gw322-Jormag.jpg

Standing on the airship in Dragon Fall and circling the island is also a beautiful sight.

Or just spending time on your skiff. https://i.postimg.cc/TY8BMMJV/gw245.jpg

[starlinvf.1358]

When you can just sit down in a high spot and watch all the ants go about their business below, you've done a good job on your art style.

[rotheche.2964]

On 12/29/2023 at 9:03 AM, Mechtec.3827 said:

I find my self, taking the time to look around the the beauty of the surroundings, not just run in and out to accomplish the mission. just wonderingif more do the same?

Yup. I love the world in this game - any area, you can find a place to sit and enjoy the view.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

i used to do it alot more, but unfortunately movement creep has made players stop thinking about it, since you can move through areas so fast that sometimes the surrounding environment doesn't even fully load before you're already on your way to the next one.

 

when we had to walk everywhere, it was far easier to notice every little detail about the game.

Edited January 1 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Teknomancer.4895]

Before mounts were introduced to the game and your only travel options were on foot or via waypoint, there was a lot more opportunity to take in the view. That also made Core Tyria feel much bigger, since there was no zooming through a map in under a minute. Getting around took a lot longer and while I don't want to go back to that, it was a limitation that really showed off a lot more of the art in the game. HoT was mostly on foot too, but the glider started to allow parts of the map to be "good enough for a flyover view" and little more.

The direction of the art changed with PoF because Elona's maps were designed around the mounts, but it still has the level of visual quality that you sometimes slow down for. It almost feels like the art department felt free to make nice things again, instead of just finding new kinds of knots to tie thorny vines into during HoT. Later content more or less goes all in on the drive-by art style: good enough to be passable while on the way to somewhere else, but nothing special or interesting enough on its own to bother slowing down to look at.

Shing Jea and the Jade Sea are the only visually interesting parts of Cantha, NKC is just a boring C&P cityscape maze and Echovald is Tangled Depths 2.0 (grey instead of green, upward verticality instead of underground). Drizzlewood and Grothmar have some of that slow-down-and-admire-the-view feel to them, but if you want to see spectacular views in the Shiverpeaks you can for the most part take a pass on both Bjora and Bitterfrost.

[Ashantara.8731]

2 hours ago, Teknomancer.4895 said:

Shing Jea and the Jade Sea are the only visually interesting parts of Cantha, NKC is just a boring C&P cityscape maze and Echovald is Tangled Depths 2.0

Shing Jea is sooo ugly, a true color cacophony (plants radiate and look fake). Dragon's End is a boring blob with nothing of interest on it, except the cave in the southwest. NKC is a color and design cacophony par excellence, with sloppily placed textures and elements. The Echovald Wilds are the only remotely beautiful place in EoD.

[Teknomancer.4895]

4 minutes ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

Shing Jea is sooo ugly, a true color cacophony (plants radiate and look fake). Dragon's End is a boring blob with nothing of interest on it, except the cave in the southwest. NKC is a color and design cacophony par excellence, with sloppily placed textures and elements. The Echovald Wilds are the only remotely beautiful place in EoD.

SJ is definitely a riot of clashing colors, but it feels alive. Echovald was always a petrified forest, and it definitely has a dead & fossilized feel. At least in the Jade Sea you can see the sky, and a palette that gets outside of the dun-colored spectrum. To each their own I suppose, but definitely no argument on NKC, it's an annoying mess that I avoid whenever possible. 🤮