NEW Cinematic for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King!

[Chrisp-3DT]

For all you Warcrafters that have not yet seen it, here is the NEW Cinematic Trailer for Wrath of the Lich King....Blizzard sure nows how to knock-up a jaw dropping trailer.

- Click Here (http://www.wow-europe.com/wrath/intro.xml) -

[oddity]

I don't see the point in this fancy cinematics when the graphics in the game itself are ****. Compare it to similar MMOs such as Lotro and it's looks terrible. Barely an improvement from the original Everquest 10 years ago.

[power091999]

I don't see the point in this fancy cinematics when the graphics in the game itself are ****. Compare it to similar MMOs such as Lotro and it's looks terrible. Barely an improvement from the original Everquest 10 years ago.

I understand what you are saying, but you have to understand.

You have 10,000,000 subscribers. All that need to have a computer that can run it. Plus they have a certain art style they want to stay with.

Upgrade your requirements, and lets just say even 10,000 people don't have the ability to run the game anymore. $15 a month x 10,000 people = $150,000 per month.

Blizzard knows exactly what they are doing.

[Demetrio]

$15 a month x 10,000 people = $150,000

You want to say : $15*10.000.000=$150.000.000 per month
and in Europe is not $15 but 15€ :)
An don't forget the game itself.

For this new cinematic, it's absolutely a big Blizzard cinematic, it's really
impressive in art level.

I love Blizzard since Warcraft 1 !

[power091999]

Well that was my point. They have 10 million subscribers. So improve the graphics and cut out 10,000 people who don't have the proper hardware to run the new graphics.

But yes... 10 mill x $15 a month.... it's some pocket change.

[mike_k]

very cool cinematic :)

[Novak]

Thats freaking awesome....

But must agree with Oddity.. The cinematic trailers have always been cool of Blizzard.
In game screens looks not so good.. Thats why I don't buy there games anymore..

The last game I have played was Warcraft II... :D

Anyway the trailer looks amazing like always..

Greetz,
Novak

[karyB]

I don't see the point in this fancy cinematics when the graphics in the game itself are ****. Compare it to similar MMOs such as Lotro and it's looks terrible. Barely an improvement from the original Everquest 10 years ago.

It doesn't have a connection to the in game graphics. It is a marketing tool and similar to a book cover.

[oddity]

Yes, a con trick. All marketing is.
It's similar to buying an art book you thought was full of beautiful paintings because they put a fantastic painting on the front cover, but all the ones inside were rubbish.
Graphics have reached a stage now where developers should only be allowed to make cinematics that use the in-game real time engine. Anything else is false advertising.
It's no different from showing trailers suggesting gameplay that that isn't actually in the real game, or a movie trailer showing big name stars when they aren't in the actual movie.




I understand what you are saying, but you have to understand.

You have 10,000,000 subscribers. All that need to have a computer that can run it. Plus they have a certain art style they want to stay with.

Upgrade your requirements, and lets just say even 10,000 people don't have the ability to run the game anymore. $15 a month x 10,000 people = $150,000 per month.



There's such a thing as scaled engines you know, where people with good hardware can turn fancy settings on and people with bad hardware can still run it. Lotro has a plethora of settings you can scale up or down, and it looks great at full.

[Gr@F!x]

Again they have proven to be one of the best. Absolutely stunning!
Does anyone know how long Blizzard works on their trailers and how many people work on it?

[neolith]

Well,everyone knows who Blizzard is and that their games never had the best graphics.But guess what,there are trials for their games,you can see screenshots on the internet before buying their games,you'd have to be really fool to buy the game and expect the same graphics as in the trailers.It's not the same as having an impressive painting on the front cover of a magasine and only mediocre works inside it,which you see only after you've spent the money on it since they DO release actual in-game screens and gameplay videos.It's like you WERE allowed to take a quick look at the inside of the magasine,in our example.I see the points you guys have and i thought this to myself,but it's not so bad either.These trailers are epic only so their games get even more attention from all over the internet and they do draw interest indeed to the point where some people buy the game only because of that,but i bet nobody expects the game to be anything like the trailer.And anyone who does is a fool.In the end,i've gotta say Blizzard's games are popular and acclaimed because of their great gameplay,not fancy graphics and that's how it should be with all games.Besides,if it's not broken why fix it?They've had lots of succesfull games this way.

[oddity]

That's not true any more, realtime graphics have reached a stage where it is actually possible to make great looking cinematics where it actually looks the same or close to it in the real game.
My point is that there is such a ridiculous difference between this trailer and the actual in-game graphics, I don't know how they get away with it.
As for the trailer itself, it's nothing but a typical dose of clichéd rpg nonsense.

[Avatar-3DT]

Whats wrong with you guys? Yes, there are marketing tricks. But where is your gamers soul? I remember playing all those ****y graphic games back in the 90's just for the love of story and for the eye candy of cinematics. I'm not a WoW player. But I played Warcraft 3 and although I hate the game itself, I loved the story and I still love the cinematics. And maybe for you this its all money and marketing but for me its nostalgy and the last remenants of an age when the story behind the game was more important than the graphics involved.

[Belchior]

Well, before i started playing WoW myself i used to joke about the graphics all the time. But boy was i wrong , even with all the low poly stuff , and the low graphics that oddity talks of. Blizzard can still create environments that look magical,epic and imerse you in a way that games with top graphic engines cant even dream of. search for Zangarmarsh for exemple .

Another thing i ear alot is that the models are too cartoony , i only say play Warcraft.

"As for the trailer itself, it's nothing but a typical dose of clichéd rpg nonsense."
In my oppinion its technically perfect , no one in the gaming industry can match such a perfect composition .

[Freespace-3DT]

I bow before the greatness of Blizzard. I am not worthy!!

[DJdude]

i agree with avatar. All the games I play are ridiculed by my roommates because their bad graphic flash games. it doesn't matter as long as its fun. I won't say much about all those mmporg games( or however its spelt ) because there all a HUGE waste of time. I once got into one of them for about two months and didn't do a thing else. My dad, who was into it himself, finally banned the game after realizing what a huge waste of time it was. Now the most I play are some short flash rpg's.

[Poker]

I really don't know how they keep on overdoing the last cinematic. I thought the Starcraft cinematic was one of a kind, but this one definitely reaches the same level of detail.

Cinematics and specific Blizzards cinematics was what pulled me into CGI.

[Identity3d]

As always blizzard have done it one again in this cinematic. The landscape of ice and snow looking just amazing i know many people think the game graphics are not great but the do give you the feeling that you are in a fantasy world. I give this 5 Stars.

[Freespace-3DT]

That's not true any more, realtime graphics have reached a stage where it is actually possible to make great looking cinematics where it actually looks the same or close to it in the real game.
My point is that there is such a ridiculous difference between this trailer and the actual in-game graphics, I don't know how they get away with it.
As for the trailer itself, it's nothing but a typical dose of clichéd rpg nonsense.

I'm sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about.

[Daye]

Seriously.

Blizzard built the game with two things in mind.

1) They wanted that style of graphics
2) To appeal to a much larger audience

Yes. They can make the game the most amazing visual representation
ever to grace a computer screen. However, the majority of users are
not going to spend several thousand dollars on a gaming rig to run it.

The majority doesn't spend $600+ USD on a new graphics board. They
don't care about overclocking, what timings their RAM is running on and
will never understand what Raid 0 / Raid 1 even is.

That being said, you can liken it to the difference between a Ferrari and
a normal car. Yeah the Ferrari is a great kick in the pants but, your market
is limited to only those who can afford it. Why sell ten cars at $100k when
you can sell ten thousand at $25k ?

Why not sell both you ask ?

Because then you have to support both which makes the job all that much
more difficult for the programmers and game designers. Ever wonder why
the consoles are so popular ? One hardware configuration per console type.
Much easier to develop for than the PC. By several orders of magnitude.

You can't argue with a companies logic when it's pulling in $150,000,000 per MONTH
in subscriber fees. They are doing it so right that every other MMORPG has
elements of WOW tied into it in some way shape or form. Every other company
WISHES it had half the success that Blizzard has with WOW.

[oddity]

1. It's nothing to do with the style of graphics. You can retain that stylisation but still make them up to modern standards.
2. It's nothing to do with performance issues, you can have graphics that can be scaled up or down according to the users hardware as many engines do.
3. It has nothing to do with good gameplay Vs graphics, they aren't mutually exclusive.

They are clever in their marketing strategy at least, targeting the lowest common denominator in society with a product designed to hook them in, and as you say they're now making megabucks.
I don't know why governments didn't think of this idea years ago and give it away for free, not to make money, but to keep the population docile and distracted and mailable with a game where they pretend to live in a fantasy land, they could even sprinkle it with subliminal messages.
I suppsoe they don't need to now since it's already happening. Aldous Huxley had it spot on.

[STANER]

I dont care about the game at all but BLIZZARD's cinematics are just a amazing:drool:

Blizzard's cinematics are huge inspiration for me, every time i see them i just want to start my 3d application and create some cool stuff..heh

I just wondering how much time did they spend to create this kind of short:crazy:

[YtooB]

That's not true any more, realtime graphics have reached a stage where it is actually possible to make great looking cinematics where it actually looks the same or close to it in the real game.
My point is that there is such a ridiculous difference between this trailer and the actual in-game graphics, I don't know how they get away with it.
As for the trailer itself, it's nothing but a typical dose of clichéd rpg nonsense.

No offense, but i think u have no idea what u're talking about. WoW has been running for about 4 years now and before that it was in production for another 4 or 5 years. So the basic math can tell that u have about 10 years old engine and limited possibilities of adding new stuff to it. Second thing is the game content which in this case is really HUGE. So it would take another few years to rework the content into a new engine. But why shoud they do it now? So the characters can have 100 times more polygons and would look as plastic and artificial as in other 90% games? I'd probably quit playing that because the beauty in the WoW graphics is not in its technical qualities. If u played the game u'd see sceneries and places that no other game can show. There can be 15k poly characters, tons of normal maps and other hi-end effects, but it's not what makes the game look good.
And scalable engines? Can u show some of them that could handle a game like this and would allow u to play it on 6 years old hardware?
And why do u compare the intro and ingame graphics? Games had animated intros since the stone age of gaming and it always looked better than the actual ingame graphics and it was kinda intentional. These sequences are just eyecandy and a reward for playing thru the game so it must look as good as possible no matter how the ingame stuff looks.
I dunno if u actually play any games or since when have u been playing them, but what u say makes really little sense to me, sorry :)

[Freespace-3DT]

As an avid gamer, I must agree with Ytoob. I've got a Quad Core system for doing graphics, so you can understand I can play basically any game on maximum quality. I've played Crysis on Very High detail, I've rushed through Devil May Cry 4 and Unreal Tournament 2007, but I find World of Warcraft to look good and I have no problem with the graphics ( the textures are awesome; no, not technically, but artistically; and some of the scenery is just breathtaking - first time I bought a Netherwing Drake and flew anywhere I wanted above a world ripped apart by portals I was more amazed than anything aforementioned games ever did to me ).

Now, cinematics is my main dish. I eat cinematics in the morning and leave room for more cinematics in the evening before going to bed and dreaming about cinematics. I make cinematics for a living. And I play games for the story and for the CINEMATICS. I'm turned off by a game not having some. The Starcraft cinematics ( bless them! ) were what got me to do 3d, 8 years ago, and it has changed my life.

So you can just go away and rant elsewhere, because here at 3DTotal, we love cinematics, and we love how they blend in with a game's atmosphere and lore. And brother, WoW's got atmosphere.

[oddity]

You're right I don't know why I bother getting into these arguments, other than a bit of fun. I've never played Wow, I never will, and I don't care how good or bad the graphics are.
You can remove everything I've said in this thread, apart from my comment on the trailer being the usual dose of generic RPG nonsense, which is entirely accurate. It may be technically above average as a visual display, but no thought or iota of genuine creativity went into to it whatsoever, and if the dialogue had been written by a 12 year old for a literature exam he'd have been lucky to get a D.

[YtooB]

You're right I don't know why I bother getting into these arguments, other than a bit of fun. I've never played Wow, I never will, and I don't care how good or bad the graphics are.
You can remove everything I've said in this thread, apart from my comment on the trailer being the usual dose of generic RPG nonsense, which is entirely accurate. It may be technically above average as a visual display, but no thought or iota of genuine creativity went into to it whatsoever, and if the dialogue had been written by a 12 year old for a literature exam he'd have been lucky to get a D.

Well, everyone has a right to have his own opinions. If u don't like it then there's nothing wrong about it. But if u want to judge it, u should have some personal experience with it. As u can't say a movie is bad or good without seeing it, u can't say the game has bad graphics if u haven't played it and haven't seen some bigger part of it.
And by the way, there is no dialogue in the video :) Just a monologue that must touch everyone who knows the story and knows what's going on. If u don't know it, then I understand that it does nothing for u :)

[Freespace-3DT]

I found the monologue of king Terenas to be superb. Especially knowing that Arthas killed his own father, then listening to what Terenas told him as a child, is very moving.

We respect your opinion, oddity. Not everyone will like WoW, and WoW cinematics. Same way that I don't like things that other people love.

So let's be fair and agree to like different things. The cinematic is still kickass and Blizzard have done a great job with it, in my opinion. I can't wait to see what they've got in store for the Starcraft 2 cinematics.

[neolith]

Dont worry,oddity,we all have the freedom of speech so nothing will be deleted.Regarding this,bottom line is:almost every other game's cinematic trailer is just something totally unrepresentative for the game itself and it's meant only to draw some attention towards the game.Just look at Age of Conan,Warhammer Online etc,their producers do the exact same thing:they pull out an impressive cinematic trailer that's nothing like the game but that does the job of getting everyone hyped up for the game.It's not something only Blizzard does but it's something Blizzard excels at.

[Freespace-3DT]

Dont worry,oddity,we all have the freedom of speech so nothing will be deleted.Regarding this,bottom line is:almost every other game's cinematic trailer is just something totally unrepresentative for the game itself and it's meant only to draw some attention towards the game.Just look at Age of Conan,Warhammer Online etc,their producers do the exact same thing:they pull out an impressive cinematic trailer that's nothing like the game but that does the job of getting everyone hyped up for the game.It's not something only Blizzard does but it's something Blizzard excels at.

True!

I'm also waiting for Starcraft II to come out. The gameplay's going to be awesome, the story awesome, but having cinematics sprinkled throughout it will be divine! I don't care that the in-game marines have 5k polys, as long as in the cinematic they have 5 million poly, because that is the way I will remember and picture them in-game.

[Avatar-3DT]

Also, beside what Freespace just said, look at Diablo 3 opening cinematic - it SUCKS. Yet the mood and the story of the game we all are acustomed with, the continuity of it, jolts some new feeling into all of us, making the waiting exciting. In the end its not the cinematics, not even the graphics but the story, the familiarity of the characters, the univers in which we have been emerged for years now. The hell with the money, a gamer's soul its only atracted to a new univers with an old story he is acustomed with.

[Aleks]

Also, beside what Freespace just said, look at Diablo 3 opening cinematic - it SUCKS.

I can't believe what I'm hearing/reading here :eek: I thought Diablo 3 opening cinematic was absolutely amazing.I watched it like twenty times or so in HD.Are you sure you watched Diablo 3 and not Diablo 2 trailer? :D

[Avatar-3DT]

Quite sure. Compared with the other Diablo cinematics in which the story transpired, Diablo 3 cinematic was sketchy and slopy. Yes, it has a few good scenes (like the one with the army or the one with the crash site) but the overall feeling was one of "What the..."? Usually a cinematic like this must leave a feeling of anticipation with the viewer. It was the case with "The Wrath of the Lich King" but, at least for me, wasn't the case with Diablo 3 opening cinematic. The feeling of anticipation arised only with the ingame trailer.

[DocMaster]

Quite sure. Compared with the other Diablo cinematics in which the story transpired, Diablo 3 cinematic was sketchy and slopy.

agree...

Does why a don´t believe than that cinematic was an "intro", its not had a story, look like only a trailer to me.

We all who play Diablo games now than the story was 85% of the game atractivness, included the cinematics. And Im shure that Blizzard know it as well.
I´m hope this cinematic they put online was only to had something to show for the release of the news of diablo 3 was on production.

(sorry about my very bad english :P )

[Avatar-3DT]

My hopes exactly. We have to admit, Diablo 3 deserves more. The ingame trailer has sturred the same feelings in me as the first Diablo. It has a sens of adventure and mistery and those dungeon look exquisite.
But since this thread doesn't take on the Diablo 3 I'll save my breath on the subject.

[al3x]

i got chills from it, i played every warcraft from warcraft 1

[Corth]

I just can't bring myself to be excited for blizzard games anymore. I'm only excited for the cinematics that the BFD puts out. The story writers at blizz need a good smack as well, I mean come on, Arthas, the most powerful being on the planet just 'shuts down' on the throne for 4+years? And the Zerg, the most powerful force in the universe, just burrows in their home planet for 4+ years? ARRGH... and the music in these cinematics, the people they have writing the scores can't change it up. Hardly any instrumental melody, and eastern singing. That's all it is now.

Blizzard for me, has reached the fail level. Their cinematics department however, still reigns supreme.

[Untamed]

I quit WoW about a year ago now and this trailer nearly got me back into it again!

Not because of the gameplay, but just because I really want to experience the warcraft storyline again... probably a bit of nostalgia from the early days of warcraft 1.

One of the most amazing things about WoW was the adventures and exploring the world. I think I can say that the memory of roaming around the world and discovering new amazing places will stick with me forever.

I think they did a fantastic job on the trailer, and it has inspired me once again to try and break into the cinematic industry!

I like how freespace said he eats cinematics for breakfast! I do too ;)

[STANER]

i love blizzard's stuff...

I really want to download all the blizzard's HD quality cinematics and why not the blur's also, can somebody post here a good direct links for that? THANKS

[Freespace-3DT]

i love blizzard's stuff...

I really want to download all the blizzard's HD quality cinematics and why not the blur's also, can somebody post here a good direct links for that? THANKS

Blizzard and Blur are leading the game cinematic industry in my opinion. To what did you want a link, Staner?

[STANER]

Blizzard and Blur are leading the game cinematic industry in my opinion. To what did you want a link, Staner?

well never mind i was just to lazy google to myself those cinematics:wall:

[AcrossTheStars]

Blizzard and Blur are leading the game cinematic industry in my opinion.

Ye only that Blur have pretty tight deadlines compared to Blizz`s ones :roll: The guys who created the intro for the Warhammer Mark of chaos are also pretty great , i think they made the opening cinematic of wrath of war too ( the game with the 4 horsemen )