Visual Game Breakers

General Discussion
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While I know its easy to get on the pitchfork filled bandwagon and start burning down these forums, I will attempt to be constructive and give Blizzard what they desperately need right now. Literal, actual feedback on specific changes that can be made to improve the game.

Rather than moan that this game is gasp different from classic, here are a few things that I think need fixing now that I’ve played the ‘final’ product and can see that simple visual tweaks could solve.

Human: The Priest. Visually he gets lost in all the fabric and blending.
Solution: Make his staff more prominent and change his run animation to match classic = staff in both hands horizontally.

Orc: The Batrider. While I think overall the Horde is visually distinct enough, I feel like the Batrider needs either a size boost or …something, to make him slightly more prominent on the screen given the threat he represents. Easier to target is the key.

Undead: Raised Skeletons: Too Dark. They bleed with blight or limbs of other units, hard to visually ID anything that isnt a skeli mage.

Night Elf: The Hippogryph. Worst offender of them all. TOOOOO much going on with this unit. Two tone feathers, ornate antlers, armor plating. Very hard to tell the difference between an unmounted and mounted hippo.
Solution: Get rid of the two tone. If possible, have two distinct hippo models. 1 unarmored when just hippo. 2 add armor when rider is mounted.

Tavern: Pitlord flames on back should be team colored. Beastmaster should be hunched a bit to help give more visual cues. FIRELORD SHOULD HAVE AN ANGRY FACE. Tinker in RoboGoblin should be the same sized goblin as the Alchemist Goblin. Currently he’s teeny tiny. Its humiliating.

Overall, I really enjoy the models and feel that if we treat this as a brand new game, we can get over some hurdles. However, visually, I feel like each unit/hero should have something iconic for our eyes to draw to and instantly recognize.

For instance, Paladins Hammer, Mountain King Beard/Shield, Shadow Hunter’s Big-Ole-Blade. These are things that will help with creating visual clarity. Each unit needs these landmarks to make this game truly playable.

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I feel like somehow not many people notice this, but the units do not move at high frame rate. Maybe most people don’t have high frame rate monitors, but even moving the mouse on one of these is a life-changing event. It’s so buttery-smooth.

That being said, when you put the foreground and background on 144FPS, and it runs on 144FPS, you quickly notice how the units don’t move at 144FPS. They look like when you lag in WoW and people move without their feet and legs animating.

It’s as if they didn’t change their animations at all, and just reskinned them. That’s cool and all, but I’m not sitting there staring at tiny units with a microscope. I am watching them move all over the map. The way they move is HORRIBLE. It certainly isn’t 144FPS. It’s probably 30 if I had to guess. And it’s not a performance issue. It’s a development / laziness issue.

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I agree. Animations are a huge step towards creating clarity, especially with so much going on. A Rifleman’s gun should kick him back, a ghouls arm should swing wildly, legs should move like…legs.

Our eyeballs need smooth.

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